When bold color combinations go wrong...

I'm still here, and still (hugely) pregnant--I'm officially full term now, at 37 weeks! But apparently along with my sense of balance, I have also lost my keen sense of color combination.

See Exhibit A, above. After I totally misread the instructions on my last Sheepy Soaker and ended up with a diaper cover that is sure to extend up to Cartoonist Baby's adorable little armpits, I made this stripey number.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, I love stripes...

Stripe Love by m1khaela featuring Anthropologie

And I love combining purple and green...

But as I was blithely knitting away, Cartoonist Husband pointed out that somehow, this particular purple and this particular green, in this particular striped configuration couldn't help but remind him of a certain Spiderman villain:

Oh well. Green-Goblinesque or no, it'll still keep her adorable little butt dry, and it's still way cuter than any disposable diapers. Here's a back view:

P.S. How about you, readers? Do you have any stories of promising color combinations gone wrong?

P.P.S. I just thought of another one, actually, also pointed out by Cartoonist Husband. Back in January I made a sweatshirt for a serger class, and I thought it might be cute to make it in red french terry with black ribbed edging. The unflattering 80s unisex pattern didn't fit at all. So I spent way too much time trying to alter it for maternity, but never got around to reattaching the second sleeve...

Mostly thanks to an unfortunate resemblance to a certain doomed class of Star Trek character:

Work Outfit: Purple Spiral Spring

Sure, you've seen my post-sewing photo shoots--but I thought it might be fun to share the occasional real-life outfit!

• Turquoise necklace: handmade birthday gift by my friend Márta Fodor. Cost: free
• Lavender cotton tie-waist cardigan w/ dark purple trim: thrifted. Cost: $4. Cost per wear: $4.
• Gray lacy camisole: Ann Taylor Loft. Cost: $14. Cost per wear: 40 cents.
• Purple ruched maternity top: from second-hand maternity shop. Cost: $16. Cost per wear: $1.60.
• Spiral-print knit skirt: Made it myself (details here). Cost (fabric and pattern): $10.50. Cost per wear: $2.62
• Purple nubuck flats: Privo by Clarks. Cost: $80. Cost per wear: $10.
• Eggplant leather tote bag: from DSW. Cost: $70. Cost per wear: 40 cents... or less (I've worn this to work about 50% of the time for 4 years.)

Total Cost: $178.50.

Total Cost Per Wear (so far): $19.02.

This is a plum-colored variation on my core work-wear uniform: colorful beaded necklace + knit top + cami (for modesty) + colorful/patterned cardigan or blazer + pencil or A-line skirt + cute comfy flats or boots.

Somewhat less often I wear a dress + cardi/blazer, and in the winter I often wear wool or corduroy trousers + top + cardigan.

My office (I work in the newspaper industry) is business casual, and we're allowed to wear denim on Fridays (my version is a pair of dark-colored lightweight denim stretch trousers). When I first started my job I wore a lot of cute retro-styled wool and cotton skirt suits, but I started feeling over-dressed and have mainly stuck to sweaters since.

Sadly, I don't own a single woven top--RTW woven tops just don't fit me in the bust, though I'm working on sewing some, of course. And pullover sweaters rarely make an appearance--I just can't play with layering or styling the way I do with cardigans.

Cost per wear is of course "cost per wear so far"--I've only just bought those shoes, and this was the first time I wore the cardigan. I like to keep a tightly edited closet (rough rule: if I don't feel fabulous in it--why do I own it?) and wear favorite pieces into the ground, especially shoes and bags.

I'm a bargain-loving gal (you may recall I bought my wedding dress for $100 on eBay), so the cheaper the cost per wear of an outfit, and the more of it that's thrifted--or better yet, hand-sewn!--the more thrilling when I get compliments on it! I'm slowly building up my arsenal of home-sewn pieces, and about 50% of my favorite RTW clothes were thrift-store finds.

So tell me: what's your spring work uniform? And how much of it is home-sewn (or thrifted, even)?