The Story of the Aggie Overalls

Or How I Learned that I am not crafty

I think they have generally gone out of style because I wasn't able to find any decent pictures through Google searching, but about 8 years ago when I started college at A&M it was very popular for students to purchase normal denim overalls (ugh!) then decorate them pretty wildly with maroon and white fabric and paint with their name, Aggie sayings and their class year. They look a little something like this, only girls' ended up much cuter! Usually. My roommate, Kasia, and I, being the proudest members of the Fightin Texas Aggie Class of 2006 set out to make some of our own. I swear to y'all I dress in a pretty conservative, preppy, in-style way the vast majority of the time. I am not a hick and never wore overalls to class or anything like that. But it was tradition at games. So we set out for Wal-Mart to get the overalls. Hobby Lobby to pick up the fabrics and ribbons and at Michael's we got some iron on transfers and paint, for a grand total exceeding $50. That's a lot for an unemployed freshman. We came home to our dorm room which was decorated in matching blue and yellow floral Polo everything and set about planning out our overalls designs. From the beginning I was nervous and insecure about what I could make out of mine because my handwriting, while much improved from when I earned a D in penmanship in 1st grade, is not the cute girly style I wanted it to be. I had Kasia outline most of what I wanted to make. Once I had a plan I started getting really excited. I just knew I was going to be a darling Aggie girl in my overalls.

Oh how wrong I was! The carnage that resulted once the crafting of it began can scarcely be appreciated without witnessing it. The first thing that happened left me physically as well as emotionally scarred. You can tell because I'm still talking about it 8 years later! I was trying to make an iron on transfer ATM out of some cute fabric with our mascot Reveille on it. All we had though was one of those made-for-dorms 3 inch tall ironing boards so I was sitting Indian style on the floor using it when I slipped and burned the heck out of my calf with the iron. If I had done that today you would have heard obscenities for days, but in those days I think I just went straight to crying. The scar on my calf remains. It took quite a bit to console me but eventually I went back to work and got the fabric ironed on. Next step was to outline it in paint and add a few more details with the ribbon. I'm left handed and have always smeared my writing as I go. Any of y'all have that problem? When you use markers does the pinky side of your hand end up looking like it was used in a prize fight? Mine does. And even though i tried my hardest I ended up smearing paint around my project causing a great deal of frustration.

Keep in mind that Miss Perfect roommate is having no trouble with her overalls and is just about to leave them to start drying. Thinking I need a break I do some dramatic flop onto my bed knocking my cute yellow throw pillow with the big navy buttons off my bed and onto the floor where it falls smack dab in the middle of Kasia's overalls and gets maroon paint all over it. Somehow her overalls were not wrecked in the process. I apologize profusely and get back to work. After a couple hours more I have something that isn't completely awful looking so I put on the finishing touches and then let it dry. My high school sweetheart (who I dated until the end of Freshman year) comes over and admires my work and takes me out while the overalls stay and dry. No don't ask me how the next little disaster happens but somehow upon arriving back home I take off the little black dress that is still hanging in my closet and the red kitten heels with the bows (remember this is 2002) and one of them ends up, you guessed where, on my overalls smudging the paint that wasn't too bad and gets ruined in the process with a huge white smudge on the toe. At this point I gather up the throw pillow, the red heels, the overalls with all my hard work poured into them, the rest of the fabric, paint, ribbon and brushes that I had spent about a week's allowance on and haul them down the three flights of stairs where they got dropped into the dumpster. The end. I did take a few pictures of the casualties that I would gladly show you so you'd understand but they're stuck on my college years desk top that will no longer turn on but that my dad won't let me get rid of for fear that my identity will be stollen.

If you were me, you would give up crafting, too, right? I did, for about 6 years. Slowly but surely over the last year and half though I've been drawn back to trying my hand at a few crafts. If it's fool proof, and doesn't involve any real artistry, I've done alright at them. I made an adorable Minnie Mouse costume, some decorations for our house, a few Christmas gifts, and yesterday I just finished a birthday present for my good friend. I'd post a picture but she might read and I haven't given it to her yet. I find myself drawn to the craft blogs on my reader more and more and reading with hope some of the ideas in my Martha Stewart Living and other magazines. If you remember, I resolved to learn to sew in 2010 and I'll let you know if that successfully opens any more doors to projects. If you are working on a craft that you think even I could possibly succeed at, please post it in the comments section. Even though it's been years, you can see that I still have quite a bit to overcome in order to consider myself a crafter.