Blown out of proportion.

I have a LOT of work ahead of me if I am going to be the artist I want to be. I am "old" , but I'm not dead. Man, yesterday I went outside feeling good , I made this cute shirt (oversized ala 80's) and so I went outside with this casual, but put together look. I technically know that I have gained alot of weight, but when I saw my reflection in a store window I could not even take a second look. I remember when I used to shop in plus sized women's shops to get oversized baggy stuff and now I can actually FIT this stuff! I mean I used to get a giggle about how these women used to look at me hatefully and now they look at me like I'm one of them. People, I am going to call my cousin pronto and get on her diet. I have many friend who are curvy who look hot, but most of my friends like that are either porportioned or Jessica Rabbit. Not much of a problem design wise. All this time I have intentionally not made any new clothes for myself because I keep figuring that I will wait until I lose weight. The problem is I get invited to so many things that I don't wind up going to because I didn't have any clothes and now I go to try on clothes and now even my fat clothes don't fit. Uggh.
Here's the truth, you have to have real skills and resources to dress a plus sized woman. Most fabric is 60 inches wide while many silks and fine linens are 45 inches wide. If you have 1 yard 45 inch fabric you can make a cute skirt or a pair of pant or a dress for a shorter woman. That same yard of fabric might make a scarf or a legwarmer for a plus sized woman. Believe me, I used to be able to make a fully pleated skirt with what I now have to use as a straight skirt and lord help me if I want details! Then if you design for a plus sized woman you have to think of her as an individual, you can't just make something and go. Some plus sized women have wide hips, some have huge breasts, some have huge stomachs. Most are not well porportioned. So this requires to to put more thought into the dress than you normally thought. Uggh.
One of my friends suggested that I make good quality basic clothes and just start taking them in which is what I am going to have to do. I have to live my life.

The button knows

I remember when I first started designing I really wanted to stay away from buttons. I would do plackets and zippers only and maybe frogs and loops occasionally. When I finally got past my fear of not spacing them perfectly and the like, I couldn't get enough of them. I bought so many on ebay, I think I payed someone's college tuition! The great thing that comes from ebay is that you always finding some kind of vintage thing. I found something that was popular for a moment. I mostly saw them on infomercials though. Button covers.

It's not sliced bread, but it is FABULOUS. I accidently bought from ebay because they were the exact design I wanted but now I found a new addiction! You can sew a plain white button on your shirt and the put these on top depending on the look you are going for! Soooooo much better than dealing with that nightmare button cover kit when you are trying to make exactly what you want AND you can change them when you choose. You just snap! and you have a whole new shirt. If there is someone out there who will make them, I will buy them all....