Why I do it

I will freely admit that I love comments. ?It is a part of what keeps me going as a blogger. ?I get jealous of other bloggers who get 10, 20, 30+ comments on posts. ?Back in the day I got tons of comments. ?I do miss that.

When I (we) started blogging I (we) did it for our family. ?It was never about me. ?I wrote about our adoption process and how things were going. ?Writing about personal stuff just filled in the gaps and made the story more real. ?Then I started helping people. ?There were people who were starting the Russian adoption process and wanted to know how and what to do. ?I was very happy to help. ?Once we got the boy home I blogged to let people know how things were going. ?I’ve always tried to be real and in turn that helped other families know that they weren’t alone. ?So you see, comments are/were vital to who I am as a blogger.

I will also admit to being a very bad commenter myself. ?I read a ton of blogs, but comment on very few. ?Like you, I have little time. ?The addition of a very large puppy had even lessened my time in front of the computer. ?For that I apologize. ?Can we both try to do a little better m’kay?

Now that we’ve kissed and made up a little, here’s a little story (and the reason I still blog).

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As you know I’m a crafty sort of gal. ?In the various and assorted crafty type things I do, I sew. ?I taught myself how to using my grandmother’s sewing machine when I was in middle school. ?I got my first sewing machine when we lived in Kansas and I’m on my 3rd one now. ?A few years ago I thought I’d foray into clothing making. ?I made a skirt for the insurance fancy dinner and it turned out wearable.

In the last year I’ve started making other clothing from actual patterns. ?Prior to the this (and that one skirt) I have stuck to stuffed animals, halloween costumes and quilts. ?I know how to sew, I have very little money to purchase new clothing… logically, I could sew my own clothing, right? ?Sure.

Late summer I purchased about 5 patterns and a whole ton of fabric to start a nice fall wardrobe. ?Stuff I could wear to church or work. ?Everything would go together. ?I would be set. ?I set off to make my first blouse and got 90% completed with it (including zipper) and tried it on. ?A little boob smashy to say the least. ?I looked at the pattern envelope and couldn’t figure out what the issue was. ?I was making a pattern for my size… right? ?I then whipped out the tape measure and holy mary mother of bejebus! ?I’m fat! ?According to the pattern envelope. ?Sure, I’ve let myself go a little bit, but oh hells no. ?My measurements were such that the largest size on the pattern wouldn’t even fit. ?I had to go back and buy more fabric and a new pattern.

Round 2… a shirt that fit (kind of, but I still wear it). ?Will I show you a photo of myself in it, maybe, but only if I’m drunk and that doesn’t happen very much anymore (I had a bad experience).

After shirt fiasco #1 & #2 I put the patterns and fabric away. ?This week I was cleaning out a cupboard and found the patterns and fabric. ?I had also gone shopping at the mall for stuff for the boy and couldn’t go into any of the stores that I like because I didn’t have money to buy anything for myself and I was depressed, but wanted new clothes to make me feel better, and then I got more depressed and so the cycle continued. ?So it was sort of fortuitous that I found all of this stuff. ?Because this time I’d be careful and not screw up.

Also, I got a new toy. ?A free serger. ?There is a whole other story about the serger (which consequently is the story I intended to tell with this post, but the shirt story is way better so I’ll tell you the serger story later this week and then we can draw this out and I’ll have more to write about and you’ll have more opportunities to tell me what a dumbass I am). ?So I carefully cut the fabric for a new blouse I was going to make. ?It took me an hour just to lay out the fabric. ?It was a silky fabric that is a pain to work with. ?I got the pieces cut and I started to put said blouse together (cursing the whole way because of my fabric choice). ?I tried on the blouse a few times to make sure it fit properly. ?It was a little big, but I thought it wouldn’t be that bad. ?Then I tried to put the collar and facing on. ?It was a cowl neck blouse with long open ended sleeves. ?I am a visual person and the pictorial representation of how to attach the collar and the words didn’t match up. ?I punted (into the far left bleachers). ?It was ok, ?It was still wearable.

Then I got handy. ?It was a silky fabric that was unravelling slightly as I put the whole thing together. ?Never fear! ?I have a new serger. ?I am also a glutton for instant gratification. ?Of course the free serger came with free thread. ?Of course the free thread didn’t match the fabric of the blouse. ?Who cares. ?It’s just finishing interior seams. ?No one will notice. ?I finished up my blouse. ?It needed a little modification because of my fat factor over estimating the size. ?The collar wasn’t that bad, it was a little long (long tunic length), it was ok. ?I would wear it dammit… I made it.

The next day I got dressed for work and put on my new blouse. ?I second guessed myself a little. ?I wasn’t sure what people would think. ?Oh there goes crazy Elle again wearing stuff that she really shouldn’t. ?I didn’t care. ?I would wear my new blouse proudly. ?Then I went into the bathroom to finish getting ready. ?I lifted up my arm to put on my make-up and sho nuff, that shirt would be coming off. ?Those open ended sleeves? ?Yeah, you could see the serger stitching. ?Wouldn’t be so bad except my shirt was a dark olive green and the serger thread was red and navy.

In the end, I made world’s ugliest shirt. ?And that is why I blog. ?To tell dumb on myself.