T-shirt refashion

I've been having a rough time with sewing lately...I haven't had time to do much, I've been too tired when I do have time, and then when I finally get to it--like this morning--the results are disappointing. Last summer, the parents in my early childhood program designed and had printed beautiful t-shirts with all our names in balloons held by chickens (way more cool than they sound). I'm too big for the cute girly tees all the skinny moms wear, so I got the shapeless men's version. So, inspired by all the refashion-your-t-shirt books out there, I took scissors to it and tried to reshape it in a more flattering way. But it's a lovely soft stretchy material--not all cotton--and it turned out to be very hard to sew. It kept curling up and refusing to stay held in place by pins or stitches. In frustration, I stuffed it into the back of the closet. But it's been causing me so much guilt. I'm sure the parents would like to see me wearing my gift. And tomorrow, we're going on a group trip to the circus, and I thought it would be cool to wear my shirt; I know many of the kids and parents will wear theirs. So I finally pulled it back out again today and finished it. The sewing went much more smoothly, and I incorporated a new skill I've learned since starting it--sewing with elastic thread. But in the end, I don't like it: the shoulders aren't symmetrical; the arm elastic isn't comfortable; I don't like the neck. I was so disappointed.

So I abandoned the project and read a few blogs for inspiration. That's when I came across Amy Karol's brilliantly simple refashion. Just exactly what I needed to get out of my funk: an instantly-gratifying, super-simple project. Sure enough, I'm sitting here now in my new t-shirt cardigan, thinking I might just be able to face the sewing machine another day.