I made a dress this week. I finished it last night. It.... looks.... AWFUL on me!
I am so sad!
It is a wrap-around dress from a retro 1952 Butterick pattern. It was under the category of "very easy" so I figured I could probably handle it. Oh, I handled it, all right. I cut out the pieces and kind of draped them over myself, and I wasn't too cheered by the result. I figured, though, that since I wasn't finished yet, it would probably look much better once it was sewn.
Halfway through, I repeated the process, and I still wasn't terribly impressed by the dress.
Last night I finished it and dressed myself up in my newly completed dress. It looked terrible! Everything that I try not to accentuate (broad shoulders, flat chest, very broad shoulders, non-defined waist, etc) was accentuated as the primary focus of the dress. Then whatever positive aspects I have in my appearance were completely forgotten in the massive, hugely, broad shoulders of the dress.
And the waist was too big, so it kind of sagged and drooped and looked frumpy.
Yes, I think it is safe to say it turned out to be a FRUMPY dress.
I'm sad. I was super excited about making my own dress and having it always to keep and cherish and know that I had made it myself.
I think I'll stick to skirts from now on.
I am thinking, though, that this dress will make several cute aprons!
Live and learn.

The best souvenirs from any vacation are definitely the plastic doo-dads that, no matter where you buy them or which place name is stamped into them, they always have that sticker that says, "Made in China."
But since we were unable to secure any of those during our trip to Hawaii this spring, we had to settle for actually buying something that we'd use again.
Kevin bought a conch shell that he is learning to play. And by "learning to play," I mean "blowing loud, irreverent fart noises within earshot of all our neighbors." But it's still cooler than trinkety garbage.
My souvenir purchases were made at a fabric shop. I originally went in to buy fabric to make myself a Hawaiian sundress. I did get some of that, but it has yet to be made into anything. While we were in there, Kevin picked out some fabric for me to make him an Aloha shirt. I bought a pattern off of ebay or something, and just yesterday I finished it!
It only took me 3 days to make it: 1 for cutting out the pieces, then 2 for sewing it together and learning how to do buttonholes (not that hard, once you learn).
You may notice (now that I'm bragging by pointing it out) that the fabric on the front perfectly matches where the two sides are buttoned together. Next I'd like to say it was on purpose, but that would be a lie.
I do brag, but I don't lie. :)
So now Kevin has possibly the world's coolest Aloha shirt, and I can check "Learning to make clothing" off my list of things to do during my lifetime.