{As In the Words Of...}

It all started about a year ago, I think. I made a pair of cullottes for camp, but they were too big. So I "tailored" them and made them smaller by putting two box pleats in the sides. And they fit perfectly. "I impressed myself," as in the words of a friend. 

So, then we fast forward to a few weeks ago, when my sister and I went yard-saling with some friends from church. I found this white blouse for around a dollar. It's pictured above. 

I went to wear it this past Sunday to church, but that didn't quite work. 

 See that little "s" on the shirt?

It's a lie. This shirt might have been a small for my cousin Jake, but it sure wasn't for me. I was practically "swimming in it", as in the words of a dear sister. I like the shirt a lot, and didn't want to get rid of it. So I decided to try and fix it.

 So I started by using the same principle I'd used on my cullottes last year. I made a sort of box pleat.

 And then I pinned away up the shirt, "To be precise," as in the words of Detective Thompson from the Adventures of Tin-Tin,

 to about where my shoulders would be.

 Then I sewed across the pleat right along the hem seam. (By the way, I'm making up most of these terms. I have no idea if there really is a hem seam. I'm no sewing buff. But it seems logical to me...)

 Then I sewed up from the hem seam right along the edge of the material I'd pinned.

 And I repeated on the other side.

 And somehow I managed to finish the seams at the exact same spot. "Splendid!", as in the words of some of my friends at church.

 And there you have it! It's really hard to get a picture of your back by yourself. In this picture you can see my work area.

 And in this picture you can hopefully see the finished product. At the end of the seams, it's sort of puckered, but it doesn't bother me, because it kinda allows room to move your arms.

And a picture from the front to show how well it fits now. Not too tight, but I'm not swimming in it either. I'm so happy it worked! Sometimes I surprise myself. 

"Sometimes you surprise everyone else, too," as in the words of....well....I can't remember. 

Oh, well.