sigh

This question came up today on a comm that I'm on, and it's something of a pet peeve of mine.

Just hemming a pair of pants for which length is only one part of the problem is not going to suddenly make them fit.

I can hem things just fine. I've been doing it for years. But the part of women's trousers that doesn't fit me is between the waistband and the crotch (both top to bottom and side to side), and nobody has a solution for that that doesn't involve a lot of expensive alterations or the kind of sewing skills that are not the easiest things to learn (I quilt because quilts don't have to fit the human body). "Off the rack" is a joke in this situation.

If I wear misses trousers, the length fits, but the rise is such that I need a necklace for a belt. If I buy petites, the rise fits at least vertically, but the length is like capris (for full-length pants that aren't made to be capris, so it looks funny). Then there's the whole "if I buy them to be able to fasten them at the waist, I have gallons of fabric billowing out at the hips" and "if I buy them to fit at the hips, there's no way they'll fasten at the waist" issue.

I mostly wear men's jeans and khakis because they actually fit better. But men's jeans and khakis are boring. And they don't allow for being able to dress up without wearing a dress (I really hate dresses and skirts, and being short and round with a big bosom, dresses tend to hang off me and skirts of a length I'm willing to live with just make me look shorter than I am).

Anyway, it just bugs me. And I feel sorry for the poster on that comm who's got the same problem. I wish I knew what to tell her. Sympathy only goes so far.

Writer's Block: Spreading the cheer

[Error: unknown template qotd]

Yes. I have discovered through sad experience that I need a Christmas tree. These days it's a five-foot-tall artificial tree, bought for emergencies the year after I was physically unable to put up a real one and thus had that sad experience. Funny how every year after that has been an "emergency" [wry g], because I haven't bought a real tree since. If I want the smell of evergreen I just have to step out my back door, anyway.

I buy new ornament(s) every year. This year's was a round silver bell (like a sleigh bell) about two inches in diameter etched with Christmas trees. The tree's getting a bit crowded after seventeen years of this, but it makes for a nicely eclectic collection. I also have some bells that started out life on my parents' tree before I was born, and a number of ornaments I cross stitched years and years ago. As well as a couple of ornaments that were given to me.

I have an artificial wreath for the front door, too, but this year my friend L's grandson was making and selling swags to raise money for camp next summer, so I bought and put up one of those instead.

I also have a bunch of cross-stitched Santas that I put up every year. Seven to be precise. Six of them are "ethnic" -- Father Frost (my Barrayaran Santa, although he's supposed to be Russian [g]), Pere Noel, Sinter Klaas, etc. The other one is your basic American Santa.

Last but not least, I have a set of china figurines -- four angels with musical instruments and four choirboys. Like the heirloom bells, these are older than I am. My mother, when she started downsizing stuff like this a few years ago, sent them and the bells to me. I put them on top of my TV armoire every year to keep them out of reach of the cats. They're rather overtly Christian for this person who is an ex-Christian and tends to celebrate Yule rather than Christmas, but they bring back good childhood memories. They have names. I wrote each name with felt tip on the bottom of each figurine back when I was about seven.

I guess I'm just lucky. I've lived with eight different cats in my lifetime. None of them [crosses fingers in hopes of not jinxing myself] has ever done more than knock the occasional ornament off the tree.

I usually put my decorations up about the second week in December and take them down a day or two after Christmas. Both activities usually take place to the sounds of televised football in the background.