Readin' n Beadin'

I have been going through my clothes trying to figure out why I still have items taking up valuable closet real estate when I never wear them. The item pictured above is one of the results. It is part of a transformed two-piece ensemble I originally made to wear to my son Tim's high school graduation: a sarong style skirt with a short bolero type jacket, the jacket an afterthought to wear to keep my shoulders from getting sunburned during the long outdoor ceremony. I was not happy with the design after its debut - the top didn't sit right over my bust and the skirt missed the mark - too fuddy-duddy. I ended up shortening the underskirt and using the extra fabric to fill in the midriff gap of the bolero, reshaping a bit and adding beaded trim. While my son, the graduate now two years older and a rising college junior, entertained his friends upstairs, I retreated to the greenhouse with beading supplies and a book-on-tape to start my "Readin' n Beadin" tradition.
 My daughter Jean it turns out has been doing closet purging too. Everyday when she is deciding what to wear, if she pulls a top or dress, pants, skirt out but nixes, she asks herself "why?" and if the answer is obvious, the item goes into the give away pile. If she decides "not today" because it doesn't fit right or has a design/cut issue, it goes into the "go to Mom" pile, and if she likes it but realizes it is not her style but might be great on me, it too goes into the "go to Mom" pile. She brought me a few great tops over the Father's Day weekend, and I fit two pairs of her favorite jeans that are too wide at the calf and hem, and three dresses that swim on her body, one XS T-Back dress, particularly loose that she bought without trying on. It must have been mis-tagged.