Clothes - figuring it out

I've been miserable with my wardrobe for a long, long time. I don't like shopping in the first place. I HATE going to the mall. And to complicate matters, I'm a member of what a friend calls "the plus-size sisterhood." This makes finding clothes that match my taste even harder, because a lot of plus-size clothes either have a lot of "foo-foo" like ruffles, lace, gathers, and that kind of nonsense, or they have big, bright, gad-awful floral prints. Ew, no thank you!!

In the past, I have remedied this problem by making my own clothes. It's much easier to find nice stuff for someone my size in a pattern book than it is on a clothing rack. So I have a number of basic patterns for button-down tops, knit tops, skirts, trousers, and accessories. I like sewing, but over the last several years, other things have demanded too much of my time.

I've reached the point where I have about eight outfits I can wear to work. Three of them are almost exactly the same: white button-up shirt over a tank top and a long, full, black skirt. The rest are knit tops, all the same style in a few different colors, with the same black skirt. Getting dressed in the morning has become depressing.

I love folding my son's laundry, because he has a whole bunch of wonderful thermal-knit shirts and double-sleeve shirts that I just adore. I've desperately wished I could find shirts like that for myself. But there are only a couple of places in town that sell clothing my size, and it's mostly that awful, flower-printed, frilly stuff.

A couple of days ago, on a lark, I decided to do a Google search for "plus size clothes." On the list of sites was OneStopPlus.com which has clothes from several retailers all on one site. The best part of it was, there was *very little* of the flowery/frilly stuff I was seeing at the mall. And, the prices were good. I was such a happy camper!!

As I was browsing, though, I looked longingly at boyish knit tops with sleeves that were a different color from the body of the shirt, and oversize button-down "boyfriend" shirts, and wishing I had something to wear with them. Then it hit me: I used to have a long, straight denim skirt that I made...that style of skirt would be *perfect* with these tops! (I'm not allowed to wear jeans to work - I find them uncomfortable anyway - that's why I'm thinking skirt instead of jeans.)

So, off to the fabric store I went that afternoon to pick up some fabric for a denim skirt. Now my mind is whirling with ideas for what I can do with the other patterns in my collection. I have a pattern for a plain knit top which I could use to make a two-tone shirt or even a double-sleeve shirt. I have a couple of tunic patterns for making oversize t-shirts. I imagine I could even find a pattern for a big, loose boyfriend shirt. And for times when I'm feeling more feminine, I have several nice dress patterns.

Who knew that what started as a hobby making doll clothes would turn into the answer to my bigender wardrobe problems?  ^-^