second guessing

With the approach of chilly weather, I'm starting to wonder if that summer sewing project could have been thought out a little better.

This morning I stared at my closet, full of dresses, and none of them seemed to suit the weather. I settled on a cheap, likely unattractive DKNY dress that I've been meaning to alter, but then never get around to. It's fine, I think, though the last time I saw it full-length was when I bought it, and since it was $20 it barely mattered how good it looked. Shorten the skirt and take in the sides, I thought, and it'll be great. Fast forward 5 months and... those initial thoughts are probably still true.

What it all comes down to is that I really need to get a full-length mirror.

Yesterday, a woman gave me a severe stinkeye while talking to her friend about me (I assume it was about me because she looked me up and down and kept motioning towards me in another language with a tone of disgust) because I was wearing a somewhat bright dress. Generally this matters very little to me because I'm the one who has to wear it and bright clothing makes me happy. I was feeling a bit "fuck you" about it this time, though, so sauntered over to stand right beside her and looked her up and down and rolled my eyes. Like a child. But, seriously, people shouldn't be making judgments about me when they're dressed like they're fresh off the boat. (That's a little harsh, I realise, but I'm not sure how else to describe the look: white socks, clunky black Mary Janes, flood knit pants, layers of long sleeved shirts... This was not a woman who paid any attention to how she looked.)

What was my point there? Maybe that was just a tangent.

Anyway, I'm going to look at what fabric I have and see if I can concentrate on fall/winter sewing. Because I'm going to freeze my ass off if I don't figure something out soon. I have a couple of woolens for a vintage Vogue short jacket and a crazy orange herringbone for a boxy skirt suit. I want to line everything so it's slightly warmer and so it stops sticking to my tights. I don't want to have to rely on coats to stay warm just yet because my coats kind of suck.

Why can't woolens be a little cheaper so I can try making a coat without worrying about how much a potential failure will cost me? Why can't I ever find vintage fabric at charity shops?