Top 5 of 2016: Misses

Today's top 5 is not as cheerful as the last one, lol. With any creative endeavor, you are bound to have your fair share of misses, and you just learn to appreciate them for what you learned and move on. So here are the things that I've tried to move on from :) None of these are out and out fails, which I'm pretty proud of. All of these do get worn on occasion. These just aren't my favorites to reach for due to comfort or some silly mistake. Without further ado: my top 5 misses!

5. Arne & Carlos Socks - It's a bit of a stretch to call these a miss. These are just not quite as good as I hoped. This was beloved yarn, but I just winged it with no pattern and I really regret that decision. I knew my heel wasn't tall enough, so I even pulled it out and did a different heel - this improved the fit greatly, but they still slump down as I wear them. Realistically, these will not be worn in shoes so it's not a big deal - this is Florida after all. It's mostly just a bummer that something I had such high hopes for isn't all that I wanted and more, you know? I certainly still wear these when it's cooler though.

4. Dawn To Dusk Top - This is another piece that it is a stretch to call a miss since it gets worn fairly regularly. This was a top I just cut right into without making a muslin and I so wish I had taken the time now that it's all over. At that point in my life I just needed to be making something, so it is what it is, but the fit is not perfect. I didn't understand the directions fr the collar and shoulder area, so the shoulders droop down on this and I'm constantly hiking them back up when I wear this. I love the fabric though - it's such nice quality and feels great on my skin. Too bad I didn't figure out the collar in time...

3. Grassy Hollyburn Skirt - This was an unfortunate accident. This was meant to be a wearable muslin but in truth I was really hoping it would turn out great. I clearly really wanted a green skirt this year, lol (see below for more evidence), but this fabric was thrifted and it was such a simple pattern I decided to just jump right in and test it out. I got this mostly assembled only to discover it was WAY too tight in the waist. I was able to unpick the zipper and turn it into an "exposed zipper", lol, which gained enough room to get it zipped up all the way, but it's still just so tight I'm worried the zipper seams will just pop off if I sit too quickly or something so I'm always paying attention to the skirt if I wear it. It's so cute though! Uh, so frustrating. Maybe when I lose weight someday...

2. Pink Spiegel Skirt Refashion - This was an experimental refashion that just didn't pan out. All I did here was shorten a 90s Spiegel bias cut linen skirt and finish the new hem in self bias binding. All good things in theory. The issue here is the original design of the skirt. I love the color, I love the brand, I loved that it was linen and all these loves blinded me to the fact that I hated the fit. The bias cut linen sucks to my tummy area just like a knit fabric which I absolutely hate. I feel like I'm wearing a big light up tube around my stomach when I put this on ("check out this gut!") so this has never left the house on my bod. Seriously it makes me feel like an ant with a huge thorax, lol. So... no on this one...

1. Green Melissa Skirt - Ah, the saddest accident of the year. I adored everything about this project from the beginning - my favorite color, the price I paid for the fabric, my favorite skirt pattern. All parts of this pointed at a fantastic finished product ... if it hadn't been for the fact that the fabric is a stretch woven. This fabric has a decent amount of stretch to it - much more than you can get away with in a woven pattern without some major altering. The waist was so big it wouldn't stay on my hips, so I took it in at the sides until it sit mostly ok. All this taking in caused the stretch to suck around my tummy area in a most unattractive way. It's not that obvious in pictures, but I feel extremely self conscious when I wear this. I've worn it out a few times but always with a long shirt that covers my whole gut. Even with covering my stomach, I still am constantly in fear of the skirt just slipping off me as I walk. All of these are not good things. So sad. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect emerald green bottom weight fabric to replace this with. Someday...

So, let's just move past these unfortunate reminders, shall we? At least I know I certainly won't use a stretch woven again, lol. So that's something at least. Next up: highlights of the year!