April 1, 2014

Clearing the Clutter

Spring always seems to make me want to organize my surroundings, but this year, I've gone way beyond my routine clutter busting. I actually tried on every article of clothing that I own and made an immediate decision as to what its future was going to be. Some of the skirts were too long, some clothing was too large (yes, you read that right), some made me look hideous. It felt great to finally go through all of it and clear out the clothes that I wasn't wearing. Here's the pile going to the thrift shop.

My DH was very honest (not easy to do) and said that the long skirts made me look frumpy. I took a long, hard look in the mirror and agreed. I rolled up the skirts to evaluate whether they were worth shortening and decided that many were. Each was mid calf to floor length to begin with and I removed between 6-12" from each hemline. After hemming, I washed and twisted several of the skirts and left them to dry outside.
The skirts turned out great and I'm glad I took the time to shorten them. Knee length turned out to be a flattering length for my height.

The most complicated alteration was to this black jacket. I haven't sewn clothing in years but it looked like I should be able to adjust the shoulders fairly easy because it didn't have a lining.
I called my friend and sewing teacher Ranell for a quick consultation and decided to give it a try. I removed the sleeves, marked the new seam line with a chalk pencil, cut the new shoulder line and resewed the sleeve back into the armhole. I removed about 3/8" from each shoulder and had no trouble fitting it back together.

Have I inspired you to clear the clutter from your closet?