Life As I Know It

 

Ok, I totally stole this post title from Libby but I don’t have any projects to share and I still wanted to catch up :)

I finished my crochet hat for Mike but it’s not as easy to get a pic of him as I would like so stay tuned. I started a hat for my friend’s son that I’ll be sharing soon too. I sent her a smaller version when she first had her son and she asked for the next size up. I made up the pattern and didn’t write it down so I’m trying to recreate and possibly improve on the design.

My garden is winding to a close. My orange mums are finally starting to bloom so expect some upcoming pictures, which will also be my last garden blooms post for the season. My veggie garden is winding down too. We had to do some emergency pesto making at the beginning of the week since the temps have dropped so much at night. The basil was on the verge of dying so we made a huge batch of pesto and froze it in ice cube trays so we can enjoy it through the fall and winter.

Mike and I are busy planning a trip to Portland in October. We are going to a wedding for an old friend of Mike’s that was the best man in our wedding. It will be the first time I’ve flown on a plane since our honeymoon, seven years ago. I’m excited about the trip but unsure of what to expect with all the new airline rules.

I’m getting an iPhone 5! We finally broke down and joined the smart phone crowd after resisting paying for a data plan for so long. With the changes Verizon made to their data pricing, it’s a much more reasonable rate for us to upgrade. I’m really excited to be getting the latest gadget for once. We aren’t usually early adopters when it comes to technology so it’s fun to be able to have the newest model. I preordered it so it won’t be here until October 5th and I’m (im)patiently waiting. Mike opted to get a Galaxy Nexus instead so he has been teasing me that his phone came first but I think it will be worth the wait.

We haven’t been biking outside in a couple of weeks and I would love to go on a bike ride and get some pictures of the changing leaves so hopefully we will get around to it this weekend. Hope you have a great one!

Taking in a Wide Shirt Sleeve

 

This refashion was so quick and simple I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post it. I finally decided to share because I want to show you how a super simple fix can make such a big impact. I didn’t wear this shirt and two quick seams later it is back in my closet and out of the refashion pile. You don’t have to be an expert seamstress to make a big changes in your wardrobe.

 

I can’t remember where I got this shirt. It was either from the thrift store or a garage sale. It’s originally from The Express. I love the cut of the dress shirts there. They are usually fitted in the waist and I have a hard time finding dress shirts that fit me well in that area. Most of them are cut much wider so any time I find an Express dress shirt I snap it up.

When I first went to wear this shirt and realized that it had crazy wide sleeves. My shoulders are a bit broader than I would like so anything that calls attention to them makes me uncomfortable. I loved the fitted waist but I couldn’t get over the sleeves so this shirt went into the refashion pile. I wasn’t even sure I could fix the sleeves since I didn’t have any experience with sleeve seams. Still, I decided to give it a try since this shirt wasn’t making it into my closet with these sleeves.

 

I started out by laying a shirt with normal sleeves on top. See what a big difference that is? I tried the new seam more than once before I got it right. Since I was stitching such a small seam I used a basting stitch to experiment. I set my stitch length to the longest setting and I didn’t back stitch at the beginning or end of the seam. This allowed me to pull the seam out easily if I didn’t like where it was placed. My first attempt was to sew a seam to match up with the shirt I laid on top. This took the armpit in way too much.

 

What finally worked was a diagonal line. I stitched from where I wanted the seam to end to the armpit. This took in the sleeve and still left the armpit seam intact. I ironed the seam flat (plus the rest of the shirt) and I was done.

 

The inner part of the sleeve isn’t super defined but when my arms are down you don’t notice. The most important thing is that I actually want to wear this shirt now. I will probably be layering it with cardigans and sweaters and I won’t have to worry about puffy sleeves anymore.

Wide Leg to Bootcut Pajama Pants

I do not have a lot of luck buying clothes online. More often than not they end up being too big or just not fitting like I want them too. I still am tempted by super cheap bargains but I’m trying to restrain myself unless I know how a brand will fit me. Enter these pajama pants. I got them for a steal but I hated the way they fit. The leg was too wide and the fit was just off so I felt frumpy wearing them. They ended up in the refashion pile but I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I did consider making them into a scarf but the colors weren't “fall” enough for me.

The other day I was in a sewing frenzy and these pants made their way to the top of the pile. I considered making them into legging but decided I wasn’t sure how the polka dots would look. I even googled pictures of polka dot leggings to see if I was inspired. Ultimately I decided to leave them a little looser. I have a pair of pants I wear to the gym that has a nice bootcut leg so that’s what I used for my template.

Do you see how low the crotch was on these pants? I think that contributed to the frumpiness. I decided to take them in on the inside seam since the waist band matched up pretty closely. I drew a line down the side to my black pants to mark my new seam. Then I pinned the legs of the pj pants together to keep the fabric from moving while I was sewing.

I sewed a new seam down my line. I had to make a new crotch seam and it took me a few times to get it right. I used a straight stitch and increased the length a little bit to let it stretch more. I also could have used my stretch stich but figured the seam wouldn’t stretch much since they weren’t going to be tight on my legs.

When I was finished I tried the pants on. They were still a little loose so I move the seam over to tighten them up. Once I liked the fit I chopped the extra fabric off.

Now I have a pair of comfy pajama pants that I actually want to wear! It may not seem like a huge difference but I took a pair of pants that I hated and turned them into something I love. I will now be wearing these pj pants all fall and winter.

Dress Refashion

I bought this dress at the thrift store. I loved the polka dot pattern and even though it was a little bit large, it had ties that I could cinch in the back. After I got it home and tried it on again I decided I hated the weird sleeves. They weren’t defined enough plus the skirt was too full and long. I tried it on multiple times, each time thinking I could make it work but it still ended up in the refashion pile.

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with this dress. It finally hit me one day. I have a dress that I love, it fits me really well and I always get tons of compliments when I wear it. (A secret for all my bloggy friends- I got the dress at a garage sale.) I decided to use this dress as a template for my polka dot dress. I turned the polka dot dress inside out and laid my template dress on top. Then I traced down the sides with my disappearing ink pen.

After I got my line set I turned the dress right side out and lopped off the ties. I hate those things. They get in the way when I’m wearing a cardigan and by the time I finished this dress I would have no use for them anymore.

I turned the dress inside out again and I smoothed the fabric out flat. I used a couple of pins to keep the sides together so they wouldn’t move when I started sewing.

Since I was making the dress more form fitting and it was knit I used a stretch stich to sew my new seams. It’s #5 on my sewing machine. I recently discovered this stitch and I love it for sewing knits.

I sewed down the line I drew on both sides. When I was done I tried the dress on to make sure it fit the way I wanted.  I had to play with the sleeve seam a little to get it right.

After I had all the seams the way I wanted them I chopped off the extra fabric.

And volia! Another successful refashion! I even like the longer length now so I didn’t have to hem it.

I will probably be wearing it to work with a cardi since it’s getting cool out. I can easily add tights to stay warm in this cooler fall weather.


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