In Which She Unearths the Sewing Machine

Owing to a combination of good prices on fabric and actually finding two patterns I think may be flattering, I am, for the first time since...prom (gosh...really? Yeah, I think so.) I am going to undertake to create for myself an article of clothing. A dress, to be exact. (Well, two dresses if you want to get all exact exact about it.)

Now, usually, as my sister will more than happily point out, I put something together and then try it on and roll my eyes and never wear said item of clothing because to me, it looks homemade. So I hereby promise, in public, that I will wear these two dresses at least two times without whining about how horrible they look. Not that I am saying ahead of time that they'll look horrible, I'm just saying I'm not going to whine.

Hopefully I can manage to make them such that this will not make me die a little inside.

Anyway, I really like the fabric so...fingers crossed. Expect to hear all the gory details and gnashing of teeth here.

Item one for your consideration:
Why is it that I can go into just about any clothing store out there and pick up an item in my current size (the same number at any store) and it fits, yet when I look at the measurements for said number on a pattern, my measurements correspond to two sizes up from that?

The fashion industry is just one big conspiracy to make women feel crappy about themselves.