I have a confession to make. I didn’t actually sew on a Sunday this month. In fact, I just got May’s project done today under the wire. (Phew.) It’s been kind of a busy month, and I found myself without any free Sundays to sew. Next month’s looking better. The unfortunate byproduct of waiting until today to finish my project is that my second floor has just about reached inferno conditions due to the heat wave and the fact that I’m stubbornly not putting my air conditioners in until it’s at least June–not ideal for sewing and using a hot iron. But I persevered, and now I’m happy to say that I have a new(ish) shirt.
The reason I say new(ish) is that I decided to dive into the world of alterations this month. I’ve had this shirt for eight years (shown at left) that I really like because of the pattern on the material–very organic and kind of art nouveau-y. It came from Ann Taylor, and it’s a well-made silk shirt, but apparently it was no match for my under-arm perspiration. (Seriously, what is in that stuff? Pure acid? And why does it turn some of my t-shirts’ armpits bright orange? It’s gross, really.) This winter I noticed that it had developed some holes in the armpits (in addition to, despite my best eco-friendly dry-cleaning efforts, some lovely discoloration). Saddened by this development, I was trying to figure out a way to keep the shirt from the landfill since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to donate it with holes in the pits. Then it dawned on me that perhaps I could turn it into a lovely summer blouse, since I have a shortage of those. Problem solved.