This adorable dress was a second-hand find at Mama Goose, a terrific second-hand clothing shop for kiddies. I loved everything about it - the fabric, the cut, the mood of it. I immediately dubbed it the Waif Dress, as we had just seen "Annie" onstage and it made me think of the orphans' hard knock life.

The dress is made of wool crepe and, due to the laundry instructions being in French and my own stubborn insistance that everything can go in the wash, it went into a load a size 6 and came out barely a 4. Izzie could fit into it, just, and she stubbornly chose to wear it one day, a gym day no less. She couldn't lift her arms. Something had to be done.

Recently, I had great success copying a pair of trousers that had gotten a little snug without taking them apart. Carefully tracing each piece and with a good knowledge of assembly procedures, I was able to craft a really nice pair of pants from the original. This was thrilling! It opened up so many options and I now look at my wardrobe in a completely different light.

This success also allowed us to take advantage of the dress disaster. We found a kid-friendly corduroy, argued quite a bit over the color (Iz wanted sparkles and bling), and settled on this spring green - a much needed color on gloomy March days.

The neckline didn't quite come out like the original, which is a bit of a bummer since the slight gathers are a lovely feature, but seeing Izzie put together her outfit this morning put to rest any reservations. She's already requesting a summer dress from the pattern, which gives me a chance to tweak the neckline.

This is a skill I'd like to refine and share and I'm contemplating how to put that into practice.

Laundry Disasters and Other Opportunities