DIY Projects That Actually Worked Sort Of

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So I hemmed my men's pants.  Despite explicit and repeated measuring, one leg is in fact longer than the other.  Also, they're too long.  I'm stepping on the back hems in my knee-high wedge boots, the only shoes that make any sense with the pants.  I'm obviously wearing the pants over the top of the boots so all you see is the leather foot and part of the wedge.  I wore them like this about twice before the waistband stretched out and the pants became too big.  They have this weird inner corset system of elastic for some kind of "comfort fit" that apparently men are into.  But it got stretched out and now they fall down.  I tried wearing them with my skinny braided “leather" belt from Old Navy with them, but it feels so dinky and inadequate with the substantial waistband of the pants.  So last night I went back to Savers to try and find pants that fit me better in the waist, but they were all too big or too small or too ugly.  So then I caved and went next door to Marshalls and got a men's faux leather Columbia wide brown belt with a big buckle (there was nothing that fit at Savers).  It cost $12.99 and is a size XL in men's belts, whatever that means.  I thought I'd look at their pants, too, but they only go up to a size 38 waist at Marshall's.  I'm looking for either a stretchy size 40 or a non-stretch 42.  This made me feel like some sort of freakish whale of a human.  I flinched every time I caught sight of myself in a mirror.  Surely I can't be this big! I've lost weight after all!  But there it is.  This morning I tried the belt on with the pants and it didn't thrill me.  I put on my women's skinny jeans instead with the black flat ankle boots.  These pants are also too big, but we are where we are.  In other news, I've embarked on a couple of other DIY projects, slightly more successful than the pants-hemming.  I bleached my thrifted blue Hanes T-shirt and it's exactly the color I hoped it would be.  My first attempt had no impact whatsoever- note to self: not enough bleach.  The second attempt involved a lot more bleach, along with some soaking in the wash before turning it on.  When I pulled it out, I was very concerned by what appeared to be blotchiness and uneven coloring.  But after a tumble-dry it came out just perfect.  This little project definitely made me feel like I was getting away with something.  This lighter shade of blue is almost aqua and resembles a long-sleeve tee I had many years ago and still miss today.  Whenever I wore it I got complements on what a good color it was for me and I've kept that color in mind ever since.  After such a successful DIY project, I felt emboldened to try something else.  I talk a lot about my obsession with blouson-style tops, the type with a band or some elastic at the hem so the top "blouses" out from the mid-hip.  While I've never come across this style as a recommended look for "apple shaped" bodies with narrow hips, trust me- it's a game-changer.  Any-hoo, I took my destroyed white T-shirt (see White T-shirt Disaster and Deodorant Safety) and very carefully cut open the bottom hem at the inside of the side seam.  Using a safety pin as shuttle, I threaded some thin elastic from the sewing store all the way around through the existing hem.  I tied it off and bingo! Blouson top.  The only problem was, this particular T-shirt wasn't big enough to "blouse" out or anywhere at all.  It looked OK in front, but tight across the back, emphasizing my fat rolls.  So I pulled the elastic out and repeated the process on a different T-shirt: one of these LOFT ones with a high-low hem and a swing shape.  With more fabric to work with it worked much better and while it's a little short in front, I am currently wearing it in public, so, decent success there.  I'm not usually one to DIY clothes- in fact, I've made a rule to never buy anything with the intention of sewing it to fix it.  But since these items were thrifted or on their way out the door, there was less financial risk involved and so I went for it.  There's something so pleasing about wearing an item of clothing that's been customized to your wants and needs.  Like with the blouson top, it can bring an item back from the donate pile (I had decided I hated those high-low hems and pushed the T-shirts into storage), or just give it that little extra tweak that makes you love it even more.  My pants situation still needs to be addressed (I'm not sure whether to bother re-hemming them and wear the belt or whether to just keep looking for a better-fitting pair), the belt may need to be returned, and I really need some boots or shoes that really work with men's pants (I ended up returning the Adidas sneakers, so out of luck there, too).  Next step: giant Zappos order to try different brands and sizes (free shipping both ways) and more pants-thrifting.  The process continues.