There is no such thing as a day for fat pants

I just came back a few days ago from another "Hands On" seminar with Sandra Betzina in San Francisco. It's hard to talk to non-sewists about this fantastic experience. It's about sewing, for sure, how to get better at it. Oh, but it's more. Think about it: Ten women, all ages, mothers and child-free, married and single. We start working about 8 am and at around 11 pm, some of us crawl to bed and collapse for several hours of citified sleep. During those waking hours, we talk about a lot more than just Hong Kong finishes and zippered welt pockets.

The best lesson you can learn from Sandra Betzina, however, is that there is no right day to wear "fat pants." Just forget it. Get a fat pant-emdectomy. No more.

This time we spent a long time on each other's makeovers. We brought in things we had made or things we had bought, both successes and failures. Sandra assessed everyone with her kind and critical eye. Sandra never tells anyone something she is not ready to hear. I knew some of my A-line skirts weren't working, but it took her to really make me decide to change. We took in the side seams of one of my Skirt Lady skirts by a good 4". What a difference in my silhouette. Man. I have at least 3 more to do the same thing to. In the photo above, Sandra is on the left and Vicki, another Hands On participant, is getting Sandra's up-to-the-minute advice.