Well, not my personal close-up, but a close up of some embroidery work I've done.
First, as I seem to love to do...
...the back story!
Many years ago, I'd say 15-17 of them, I bought a khaki skirt at the Gap. At the time I was working at a bagel shop and the uniform was khaki bottoms and shop tee. It was unbearably hot at times, especially in the summer. Opening duties for me included making the bagels, some days. Our method was not to boil, but to steam the bagels after they proofed. Picture one of those tall bakery racks...now imagine shoving that rack into an oven just big enough for the rack, catching the rack on a hook at the top of the oven. It was quite an effort in itself, but now as you imagine that process, think of the pre-heated oven throwing out 800 degree heat and steaming up your eyeballs! It got hot in that place!! (So, the steaming came into play as this oven mists the rack of bagels for the first 2 minutes of the cooking process, as the rack spins on it's hook)
The point of that story? To remind you how hot is got...
During business hours, I usually ended up working the flat top grill. I was basically a short order cook.
The point of that story? To remind you how hot it can get after working first with an 800 degree oven, then standing over a 500 degree flat top grill making eggs and bacon and grilling bagels and muffins for hours on end.
AND to get back to the story of the skirt! Yes, it's all connected, believe it or not.
So it's hot...skirts and shorts are way better than pants, though working with grease does pose a bit of an issue with bare legs, so I tend to wear below the knee skirts.
But the grease, doesn't care if it's on your bare legs or your new khaki skirt, really.
So all of my work clothes usually ended up in the trash after awhile.
Except I really liked this skirt from the Gap.
When I left that job, I didn't want to get rid of the grease stained skirt.
I had the brilliant idea of dying the skirt...but dye does not stick to grease stains.
Okay, I admit this back story is getting a bit lengthy and not at all interesting, so let's get to the meat of it, shall we.
Once I failed to dye the skirt back to something I could wear in public, I decided to embellish it to hide the grease stains!!
I started the project a few years ago when a friend of mine, who owns a local bakery/cafe, decided to have a few of us girls over to hang and be crafty. Most of the work on the skirt was done then, but I've done a bit more over the past few days, since I've been cleaning up the studio and feeling crafty again.
When I picked it back up, I decided I'd like a little sparkle drink while I was at it. Some days I like to feel like a fancy lady just killing time with her needlework and period tv dramas.
Here is a close up of my favorite part...
The skirt is still obviously not a uniform color (I don't remember if it was supposed to be grey or lavender...that is how long ago I dyed it), but it's still good enough to wear out for informal gatherings or a stroll or a quick visit to the coffee shop. I think.
