wipe that scowl off your face, young lady

Well, Like my Duds? Week might be officially over, but, as you can see, I can't quite wipe the scowl off my face. Is this that thing our mothers talked about--our faces freezing into ugly, wrinkly expressions?

This shirt is more of a semi-dud/mostly not-dud that I sewed a couple weeks ago. I've worn it once, so that pretty much qualifies it as a non-dud, right? I mean, that's my defense when I buy something at the thrift store, and my husband says, "I've never even seen you wear that?" "No, no, dear. I've worn it." (Once. . . and that makes it worth the $3 I spent on it. . . right?)

The pattern is this vintage McCall's maternity pattern I thrifted last year. The fabric is some quilting cotton I bought at JoAnn's for some other project that I never finished. I know, I know. Can you believe I'd start a project and leave it unfinished? It's a disgrace to the profession.

I like the thick straps, but the top band was much too big (since apparently it was intended for a gargantuan pregnant woman, and I'm neither pregnant nor gargantuan) and kept doing that droopy thing between my shoulder blades. So, I sewed a big strip of elastic into the band between the back straps--acting like a kind of make-shift smocking. It causes a bit of reverse pregnancy, but it still works. (Can't you imagine a Saturday Night Live skit about reverse pregnancy? "Have you heard about Cindy? She just found out she's got reverse pregnancy." "Oh, the poor thing." How would you sit down?)

I decided to add pockets to this shirt. But I was stupid and decided to make my pockets out of this thick knit scrap fabric I had lying around (thinking they might weight down a bit of the bulk). Instead, they peek out below the hemline when my hands are in them. Because--I'm not sure if you realize this--knit stretches. So hands placed into knit pockets stretch down to your knees like monkey hands. Good thing I can do a killer gorilla impression.