Fashion & the Mom Body

Does anyone every buy something cute, take it home, wear it once, and then decide it wasn't so cute after all? That seems to happen to me for about 1 in 3 shirts. If the shirt was from D.I. (most are), I don't feel too horrible about getting rid of it after a year or so of suffering through wearing it. By get rid of, I usually mean give back to D.I. if it's still in good condition. If not, it gets turned into yarn. If it's more expensive (well, new, which usually means a gift), I can't bring myself to just get rid of it only for not liking it anymore.

I'm not an expert seamstress. Really, I'm not. I have no idea how to mess with patterns. I make things up as I go, poke myself with pins way too often, and still want to give up every time my machine starts acting up. Certain problems still baffle me. But enough with that.

Pinterest is the king (queen?) of craft ideas, especially when it comes to repurposing. Now, I don't ever go out and buy things to repurpose on purpose. (Haha.) I doubt I ever will after today, because it's REALLY hard to change the original design of clothing, unless you're simply making it shorter or removing something from it.

Because of my blurry camera, you can't see all my mistakes. I'm sharing these just to show that you don't have to give up on things that almost fit. If it's just a crummy old T-shirt, why not take a chance and try to change it? There are lots of ideas out there, so why not?

I HATED these sleeves. They make my "man shoulders" stand out.

No more sleeves! I end up wearing 2 shirts 90% of the time.
It's all the immodest stuff that looks good on me. Go figure.

Weird neckline.

Non-weird neckline. I had to do this by hand and improvise to get rid of a few weird puckers.
This is a knit with big enough stitches so I couldn't use the machine.

This T-shirt was given to me along with the pants.
It made me look short and fat.

It turned out a bit tighter than I wanted, but I don't look fat anymore!
There is a weird pucker under my armpit. Oh well.
P.S. Those are Ecuadorian pants, but not actually PJ's as they appear to be.

I need things that look good on me, because I am a little self conscious of how I look when I'm nursing. A few hours of sewing while James had a long day at work did the trick. All my shirts now fit me well, and I know that tailoring is not the job for me! I can certainly appreciate those who do it for a living, though. :)

Recycle Time!

Since I couldn't resist getting out all the cute little baby clothes this week, I decided to sort through them to get rid of anything stained or otherwise useless. What I came up with were 6 really gross, old onesies that were size 18 mos. Joseph never wears them at this age, and even if he did, these onesies were hand-me-downs and hopelessly stained from his uncle's messy baby food spills. I also found an old, thin, plastic crib pad (not sure what to call it). A stroke of genius happened and the toddler shoe organizer was born. Not only did I use up the bottom half (or the less stained half!) of the onesies and the pad, I also found a use for my growing collection of yo-yo flowers and ribbon. This is a great way to keep track of all the shoes that Joseph doesn't currently wear without having them on some shelf where he can pull them off and make a mess. James asked me if I found it on Pinterest. I didn't, because the only "recycling onesies" crafts I can find are with onesies that still look pretty good (adding appliques, etc.). Yes, I only have boys so far, but hey, at least the flowers are boy colors...sort of.

More than Sew Sew

I have finally found my niche in sewing. I realized that I can "fix" the few things that really bug me about sewing: following patterns, machine problems, having to buy expensive materials, and pinning, especially because I stick myself all the time! Solutions...

bean bags, knit blanket, and bag "ladies"
pillow and quilt pics to come when they're done!

1. Not using a pattern. Everything I've made recently is from leftovers or scraps, so I've been able to come up with my own designs along the way. It's fun. I'm no sewing genius, so I have ripped out a few seams here and there.

2. Machine problems? I learned that I can fix almost any minor issue as long as I have the user manual beside me. Suddenly, I feel like an expert on a machine that I haven't used very much (my mother-in-law's, since mine needs a part before it will work again!)

3. Free materials! So far, I've used up old shirts, jeans, and other random stuff to make Joseph's jean quilt, a "boyfriend" pillowcase, 2 bag "ladies", and some bean bags. I haven't had to pay a cent.

4. As for pinning, I can't always avoid that. However, the first few hours of sewing the jean quilt required no pinning whatsoever, so it made me like life just a little bit more. :) Getting stuck fingers is no fun!

I have to admit that I'm very pleased with the jean quilt so far. It's been quicker that I thought, the design looks cool, and I won't have to pay even a penny to make it, thanks to the box of old jeans, free thread I "inherited", and a flannel queen-size flat sheet that I'll use for the back. I'm so excited to keep working on it, and I think I can have it done for Christmas for my little guy!

Life is pretty good here. I did a quick "sweep through" to find stuff for the stake's "give and take" (aka free yard sale, but inside) on Saturday. I'm excited, because I got some really good stuff last time.

Culture shock: We attended a Latino wedding reception last Saturday. It went from (no joke) 4 to midnight. We stayed one hour and felt a little lame, but I was tired after eating such an amazing dinner. I want to learn how to make real refried beans like that.

It's a little sad that winter is here. I don't think I'd mind so much if it weren't so dark all the time. Short days make me grouchier than normal.

We find out the gender of our baby TOMORROW! I still really feel that it's a girl, but I guess we'll just have to see.

I Feel Crafty, Oh So Crafty

a hat and matching scarf
made before Joseph was born

Daddy's bowler hat

a headband for me!