Sew What?

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not one for the crafting.

That is, until lately.

Trust me, I'm as surprised as anyone.

It all started with my Halloween costume this year. We decided to have a big party, so I figured I had to have a good costume, and I figured if I made it once, I could wear it every year. Really, to be honest, at first I looked to buy a costume, but have you ever seen the adult Halloween costumes available on the open market? Every time I found myself looking I thought I had wandered into the lingerie department. Talk about scary! I never knew that Halloween was a chance to get in touch with your inner stripper. Who knew.
So, I decided to be a witch and I made this hat:

Thanks to Steve for being my anonymous model.

Which made me realize that I needed more than just a crappy dress that cannot be near open flame. So, I went to the local thrift store and looked around in the Halloween section and found that the only selection that would fit me was no better than the Halloween Lingerie department at the local time. Only this time it was used. Eww!
My next step was the women's dresses where I hit the jackpot, a black taffeta bridesmaid's dress, in my size, with an easily detachable bright yellow sash (Can you say bumblebee wedding? Sorry I missed that one).
So, I took it home, and after a lot of swearing and way too much damaged orange satin, came up with this:

Me doing my best America's Next Top Model pose.
Whoever said you couldn't learn anything from reality TV was DEAD WRONG!

And somehow, I had the sewing bug. And now I'm appliqueing t-shirts, scarves, hot water bottle covers. You name it. And I still don't know exactly why.

This is either a really good or really bad sign of my mental state. Your guess as to which is as good as mine, but in the meantime, my kids and their friends are getting their applique on.