Hey friends, Erika with a K here. In this video I’m doing a mend/upcycle “and all that jazz” kind of day, with two projects on my table: an adorable jumpsuit that technically fits, but is uncomfortably tight around my butt/hips, and my husband’s Saratoga sweatshirt (the one we got when we were where we got married). I walk you through what I planned to do and the reality of getting into alterations when you’re still building skills—because slow living isn’t about perfection, it’s about learning and making do with what you already have. And yes… we have a sweatshirt fail. I tried to work with the original zipper and made a classic user-error move: I cut the zipper out instead of seam ripping it first. That meant the zipper started shredding, I didn’t have enough room to sew it properly, and somehow I even ended up with a zipper that wasn’t long enough (which still doesn’t make sense to me). The biggest takeaway: don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself to “finish it for the video.” Sometimes the most sustainable choice is to pause, save the piece, and come back when you have more skill (and more zippers).