When my husband makes bad art he knifes the canvas and tosses it in the trash can. I tend to shove my mistakes in a hidden place for a few weeks (or months) and then wad it up and stuff it in the trash. From the evidence I recently found at an estate sale, some people apparently hang onto botched projects for about a half century.
Unfinished vintage sewing project.
I grabbed this fabric because I liked the print, but it turned out to be an unfinished dress. At the same sale, in the attic, there was a seized up Singer "Spartan." With this information, and the physical evidence of the wonky seams on the bodice, my overactive imagination pictures a scene where the poor instructions for a collar insertion, bad skirt cutting, and some issues with stitch regulation forever destroy a woman's dream of becoming a seamstress.
The fabric print is so strong it's hard to see the style, but I'm guessing it dates to the early 1950s. Something like this but without the center front seam and skirt details:
Pattern image from mom's patterns.
Which means that it has been sitting unfinished for at least 50 years. But, I thought I could deal with another person's mistakes and make an interesting blouse and skirt out of this. (I don't think I could carry off an entire dress with that amazing print.)
The bodice was too short for a top so I added vintage fabric as a sort of peplum, but I didn't flare it out enough for my hips so I had to add side slits. It was still too big through the bust so I then slit the whole front, added front facings and overlapped the front with a button closure.
I added bias trim around the sleeve opening and a bit of trim and bright red buttons to add to the general bricolage effect.
Crazy, but I love it. The collar still need some severe pressing every time I wear it, but I find I can live with someone else's mistakes much more easily than my own.