Old Dress, New Top

I’m very proud of this refashion!  It started as a demure green velvet dress from Land’s End.  I remember wearing it when my elder daughter was a baby, which was…um…more than 12 years ago.  The cloth is lovely–cotton velvet with a little Lycra for stretch and drape–and I just couldn’t bear to throw it away–the fit was very forgiving at holiday time.  But at 40-something, I just don’t do demure anymore.

It has an empire waist, so I decided to turn it into a tunic top.  First I converted the neckline to a V-neck.  (I really learned a lot from fellow refashioners about sewing stretchy material.)   Then I trimmed the bottom and hemmed it so it falls mid-thigh instead of just below the knee (not a flattering length for a short, round person.)  I wore it to work today!

Now I need to make myself a nice red or black skirt to go with this–when I tried wearing it over my black velvet skirt, the static cling was quite noticeable!  I need something satiny, I think.

Free Rice

Now here’s a cool idea. Several major companies (Macy’s, Apple, Office Depot, American Express, and many others) are paying to sponsor a vocabulary game. Whenever a player correctly identifies the proper synonym for the displayed word, a 10 grains of rice are donated to the UN World Food Program. Back on October 7, 830 grains of rice were donated. By the end of October, daily totals were in the tens of thousands. As of today, over 3 billion grains have been donated. How wonderful is that?

This reminds me of the marvelous story of the foolish king who knew neither his arithmetic, nor the difference a grain of rice might make to hungry people. Look for One Grain of Rice by Demi, or The King’s Chessboard, by David Birch.

Crafty girls strike again!

My immensely talented younger daughter has been crafty again. Here’s the costume she’s going to wear in her school’s production of Alice in Wonderland. She’s the Caterpillar (” ‘Who are you?’ said the Caterpillar.”) and designed and created her own costume. She’s amazing!

Meanwhile, my immensely talented older daughter has been taking dozens (hundreds?) of photos for photography class, and kindly takes photos to order for my websites. Here’s one of her photos, taken for a library website.