A New Outfit and a Milestone

Here is a horribly blurry photo of an outfit that I have recently completed:


I'm always so embarrassed when I see other bloggers' wonderful photos (I'm talking to you, Baroness Von Vintage)! The lack of quality in my pictures probably has something to do with the fact that my husband is always holding a squirming baby who is trying to grab the camera...at least, that's what he blames it on! Anyway, hopefully you can see the outfit, if not the details. The skirt looked simple when I planned it, but matching up those stripes was no picnic! You'll notice that I chose not to show the back....
I made the shirt to match the now-shrunken and much-lamented white skirt. The sweater vest was purchased, but it was huge; I took in the sides, cut about 6 inches off of the bottom, and used that to make the belt. I then re-hemmed it by hand. I have done this many times to give a modern sweater a more vintage silhouette. As long as the weave on the sweater is small enough, I have had no problems altering it using my sewing machine; if the weave is large, I just hand-sew it. The secret: lots of Fray-Check and tiny stitches!

And now the milestone: my blog has a new follower (Hi, Debi; I love your blog!) who is not related to me by blood or marriage, which makes the number of family and non-family members equal! Perhaps sometime in the future, non-relatives will make up the majority...