Anywhere, anytime

Well, I had my first ortho appointment today and it went as well as it could. The fracture extends down the outer edge of my scapula (shoulder blade). The doctor said the muscle still looks good around it, so I start physical therapy tomorrow morning. I functioned on just motrin today, which was nice because I actually stayed conscious. I actually even got some sewing done. I got a little disheartened today when I read on another message board that someone said me sewing her clothes everyday was "overkill." Of course, I had to read this in the waiting room at the dr when I am already down between my general pain and physical limitations. This project has meant a lot to me and that is what I have to focus on. I decided to do it for several reasons. First, I wanted people with older kids not to be discouraged when it comes to sewing for them. By coming here, you can see all kinds of patterns sewn up for the older girl and hopefully get inspired. I also wanted pattern designers to see people WANT these older girl patterns and develop more of them. Finally, I wanted a physical chronicle of this last year of elementary school for my youngest child. And I guess, maybe this is overkill for some people, but I have loved sharing my gift of sewing with her and I have loved the feedback I have gotten from people who needed inspiration. Ok, its been a rough two days and Im sure therapy isn't going to be easy either, and maybe it was just bad timing for me to read that post, but it kind of got to me :< ( Especially, now that sewing period is exhausting. I am going to do all I can do to stick wit my goal. The following weeks outfits may be simple, but I really only have use of one hand. I can't let one person's over kill be my buzzkill. I have enough hurdles to get over in the next few weeks to regain use of my shoulder and arm than to add any more.

That being said, I had this outfit finished before my accident. I went to our city's Junior League large yard sale a few weekends ago and toward the end, they had everything you could bag for $10 (it was a huge black garbage bag.) One of the things I threw in was this pretty navy floral adult maxi dress. I loved the border print. I planned to upcycle it. Then, I saw the Anywhere Dress from Go To Patterns and knew this dress would be perfect for it. You can see the pattern here http://gotopatterns.com/collections/girls-dresses/products/the-anywhere-dress-for-girls

So, I made the cap sleeve version using the adult dress as the fabric. I love how simple and effortless it looks. This pattern was a quick and easy sew. It uses facings instead of ribbing (I know some people are really afraid of using ribbing on the neckline.). Today's blog title is Anywhere, anytime because this dress fits that bill! Here is our version.

She had to use her new puppet in these pictures. She is taking a puppetry class at our local theatre and has loved it!

So, make sure to come back tomorrow. It may not be fancy, but it will be handmade. We all need quick and easy patterns to sew up, right? So, I am definitely looking for those right now!