Inspire

 

Are you inspired? Sometimes I’m driving down the road and I see a beautiful place and I imagine myself taking photographs in that place. It may be the sun-setting (or rising) that inspires me…a feeling that rises in my gut. I can FEEL this emotion come over me and I have to draw something before I forget that feeling. I have all these photographs going through my head as though they are memories but they are NOT memories because they haven’t happened yet! It’s like I am dreaming! I have to be so careful because I’m driving….LOL. I have to pull over and draw, or write these “feelings.” I try to carry a pad of paper, a sketch book, and my camera. If I have only one of these in the car at any given moment I’m usually good, but this isn’t always the case. Trying to get this feeling out of my body and my head as soon as I can is generally the best thing I can do for myself or the emotion is LOST and I will forget this powerful, inspirational moment.

On this day I stopped and took this photograph. I KNEW I was going to take my children pics this day! It was SO pretty here. It was the perfect photo area. I NEEDED to bring my kids here! The leaves were in color, the sun was pretty…I was INSPIRED. It was GO TIME!!!

I drove home to pick up the kids, the dog jumped in the car like he was saying ME TOO! Shelby had on her Super hero cape and we were off.

My beautiful Girls

In that moment I nailed a shot of my girls. I am not a pro-photographer by any means, but in that moment I got it. I took that moment of inspiration of fresh fall air and the beautiful setting and went with it! My kids will not be young forever but taking that feeling and running with it was just what I needed. Even if it means PULLING THE CAR OVER!

Do you ever feel like this? What causes you to feel inspired? Everyone needs inspiration! I have to have inspiration for my sewing and designing business too!

My children are always my biggest inspiration, to be the best, to create my best….but when it comes to inspiring surroundings sometimes an inspirational moment just HAPPENS. Sometimes it is not even a place…it could be my children laughing and playing, or a supermodel on television. She would have to be wearing something that makes me want to sew something fabulous of course. I could be shopping in the mall and see something fantastic and feel inspired!

Yesterday I HAD to purchase this very cute little babydoll top because it inspired me SEW much. I couldn’t take a picture of it. I want to make more of them. I would never copy something to the “T” but I want to create something similar it is so pretty. In fact I had sketched something similar in my sketchbook the other day which is why I snatched it off the clothing rack. I thought this was quite funny. It called to me!

I started an “INSPIRE” book….Check it out…

In addition to my regular sketch book….

I always find myself tearing pictures out of magazines and silly ads that come in the mail. I have a hard time throwing out magazines if they have just a few things in them I want to remember. I currently have an “Inspire wall” (it’s really a bulletin board) I am always changing up in my sewing room. *** This is my wall…

I like to surround myself with items that inspire me to keep me feeling in the mood to sew and get me thinking about what is next. Especially when I hit that frustrating moment— it is really nice to have a place to turn to for inspiration.

So my Inspire book. It’s just a sketch book with some random magazine cut outs of things that made me say OOOOh. Fashion items that might have a detail or two that I loved.

There are actually a few things in there that I look at now and say, why on earth did I put that in there? (not the hat, I REALLY love this style!) But I take a second glance and think– oh, I think I must have just liked the fabric choice on that design, or the hemline on that one, or the seam detail on this one. Whatever the reason, it inspired me that day  and I stuck it in the book.

And a Monet print, just because it’s Monet….so why not! I love impressionists! Monet is inspirational too!

 

Do you have an Inspire wall? Or an Inspire book? Where do you turn for inspiration? Lets hear it!

I challenge you to make an Inspire book if you don’t have one!

MWAH!

-Heidi

 

Most Beautiful

Beautiful. I think this is one of the prettiest things I have ever made….MY SHELBY of course! (one of my two beautiful daughters!)  Ok, ok so now you know what I’m getting at— here is the Coffee Shop Lace Dress by Bella Sunshine Designs. Today this popped up in my Facebook feed as the one year anniversary of taking this photo. Don’t you just love when Facebook shares your memories with you? Sometimes they are just “Plain Jane”..and sometimes I just want to cry because I melt over my babies! This photo I just OOOGLE OVER! It is by far my favorite BSD pattern! I remember when I took this photo, and every time I just stare at this pic of my daughter — I sigh — ahhhhhhhmazing.  I’m so proud of this AHHHH moment! The dress, the photo, the sunset….MY GIRL! Sorry…I’m just in AWE…E-V-E-R-Y time……Just a mom I guess. 🙂

This was an amazing evening. Shelby had so much fun with this photo shoot.  She was like a little super model!

If you don’t own this pattern yet….You need to! I will be making more of these for back to school as she will be starting kindergarten in just a few weeks.

I would get into details of the pattern, but the photo just speaks for itself…the eyelet trim, the little panel in the front…I’m just melting and itching to go sew some more….ok, happy tears…LOVE!

MWAH!

Holidayeeeee! Celabrateeeeee!

“If we took a holiday,

Took some time to celebrate.

Just one day out of life,

It would be, It would be so nice!”

Thanks Madonna, 1983. Did I take you back a little bit? Did you sing along? I bet you did…don’t lie, come on now. 😉

*sigh.

Here goes nuthin’ — WE ARE GOING on a Holiday— A Holiday Cut Out Blog tour  with Bella Sunshine Designs that is!

What does that mean? I’ve never been on a blog tour before! So let’s find out how much fun this will be…Are you with me??? You’ll find Clever Catastrophe on the blog tour right HERE <<< click that link to get to the blog tour day 1>>>>.

Every day this week, the bloggers listed above will be telling YOU how much fun they have had with this NEW pattern that just released from BSD. Thanks for coming along! Be sure to read to the end of the post for a SPECIAL CODE to get you a discount on the new pattern.

All ready for Easter!

 

 

HOLIDAYS! You either love them or hate them, but seriously….special holidays only come once a year. These special holidays we REALLY like to celebrate. What better way to celebrate than by wearing something festive? How about dressing your little one up in the CUTEST little things you can find for each holiday? That’s how I like to celebrate!

Well as you know, I love to SEW! That means that in general, if there is a big holiday coming up <<and I have the time>> I will be sewing something special for my little diva to wear. Sometimes the boys get something cool too….But my little one is just too easy to sew precious things for, and she is growing so fast…I’m trying to take advantage while I can.

Here goes— I had the chance a few weeks ago to test ANOTHER pattern from Bella Sunshine Designs. YES ANOTHER ONE! This gal is going to become a household name by the time I’m done here. I know my last few posts have been all about BSD but SO WHAT. You love it, I love it, so why not?!

The bunny cut out.

 

This is the Holiday Cut-out Dress and Top pattern. It is so simple in the design, great for beginners and good to learn from as well. The pattern ranges in size for 12 months to size 10. The dress has a loose fitted bodice so it will slide over the child’s head and shoulder straps to tie. The cut out in the back comes in 6 different shapes; star, heart, shamrock, bunny, pumpkin, and tree. the same cutout shape can be used for an applique on the front of the dress. Great for all the major holidays! The dress is simple and a quick sew. 🙂

I figured while I was testing this dress out I would whip up a few more holiday dresses….The fourth of July is one of my favorites because we love to be patriotic. This family s slightly obsessed with stars, military family, and Patriots football fans…so red, white, and blue all year round for us!

I LOVE this star cut out!!!!!!! Perfect little sun top!

 

Top/ tunic length star cut out, and bow tie shorts.

This is the top length for the cut out dress. I added 1″ in length for this to make it more of a tunic than a top. I made my girl some matching bow tie shorts (in knee length) to match the top— and when she is wearing something fitted I really prefer if she has a little more bum coverage.

Next up Halloween.

 Remember how I HAD to make matching bow tie leggings? YES this is what they were for! Here is little Miss Shelby showing off her bows and her little pumpkin applique. I love that this dress is so versatile that I can use this simple pattern for every holiday. Pair it with leggings or shorts…put it over a shirt if its cold outside!

I do have to say that the dress may look a little longer here in this pic. I honestly made this a TAD bigger because I am hoping that she will still fit into it by the time October rolls around. Honestly the fit was great if you go by the measurement charts of the pattern. I just went bigger because I made this dress 8 months in advance.

 Her little pumpkin in the back, aweeeeeeeee! She asked me if she could go trick or treating now. I had to tell her it was way to early for this! 😉 PS— when you purchase the pattern, you will notice there are different sizes for the cutout, I used the small cutout here and in my others on a size 3 dress, my personal preference.

Last holiday I tried….Oh Christmas tree!

How sweet is this tree??

We actually had a semi-decent day! Even though there was snow on the ground it wasn’t frigid outside. I was insisting on getting Christmas dress pictures outside while we had snow on the ground. The snow was still pretty frozen on the top so she didn’t sink in her sneakers. Tee-hee! Oh— and here are those bowtie leggings with the snaps!

So same pattern, 4 dresses —well, 3 dresses and one tunic— but so simple, so easy! I made them over just a few days time (stop and go between 4 kids and a life). The dress can be layered or not, tunic or top…lengthened if you need to (very simple to do the math) wear over leggings or shorts, and great for any holiday or occasion! I made my own matching bias tape for these dresses , which is NOT part of the pattern,  so you don’t have to make your own if it’s too much work. Double fold bias tape is about $1.99 at the fabric store for one premade package.

****QUICK NOTE**** If you’d like to make your own bias tape I used THIS tutorial. I made 1″ single fold bias tape with my bias tape makers I purchased on AMAZON, then I went back and pressed in half to make 1/2″ double fold, perfectly matching bias tape. I love that I make a bunch at a time and I have extra left over for the next fun outfit! If you don’t have bias tape makers, or don’t want to wait to get them, you CAN MAKE bias tape without them! It’s a little more tedious and takes a little more patience, but it can be done. Use this tutorial found HERE.

Back to our regularly scheduled program…I have to say that I think a beginner can handle this pattern and it’s just as much fun for an intermediate or advanced seamstress like myself as well.  I didn’t get bored at all as you can see! I like the fun of the bias tape and the applique work. It teaches a few new skills for beginners without being complicated at all. This is a good basic pattern to add to any stash. If I need to  spiff it up a little it is a very easy pattern to add to. I can easily see myself adding a ruffle, or something shiny.

ONE PATTERN! Time to go— So here it is — Make sure to go to Bella Sunshine Designs to get your copy of the Holiday Cutout Dress and Top Pattern….use the code BLOGTOUR through the end of the tour to get 20% off!

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of the Bow Tie Leggings and Shorts pattern while you are there! Both patterns will be 20% off with your special code!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and happy sewing!

 

 

***This post contains some affiliate links. This blog post was not sponsored or promoted by anyone. All opinions are my own. No one asked me, paid me or told me to post this. I blog because I love to and I shared these links because I think you will love them too. ;)))

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snap-On Bows for Bow Tie Leggings

EEK! I’ve been mildly featured in another blog….LOL! I use the term mildly just because it was just a mere mention of my name…However I feel mildly famous. 😉 Ok, maybe that was too mild.

OK, Ok. Done with silly, so here goes.

The other day I post some CUTIE little bow tie leggings that I made. If you haven’t seen that post you’ll find that post HERE. I tested this pattern for Bella Sunshine Designs and during the testing I made a pair of black and white striped leggings that were just OH-SO cute. BUT I just couldn’t decide what color to make the bows. Shelby wanted pink or purple (of course), and I wanted either red or orange. To be honest— I was also testing a dress that has to go with some holidays ((((YAHHHHH — I cannot show you yet, but I PROMISE you will see by the end of next week— OMG pattern releasing Friday March 13th..;))) Did I say that out loud? OH, darn.

Anyhoo….So you see my dilemma? I needed two pairs of leggings….and they needed to match Halloween and Christmas.

I considered just safety pinning the bows on just for the photo and making a second pair of leggings later. But really— why bother. Why not make this more versatile?

I whipped out my KAM snaps, my KAM pliers and VIOLA! Snap on, snap off! Halloween and Christmas leggings all in one. Who knew it could be this simple! If you would like to see the tutorial, please see the blog post at Bella Sunshine Designs right HERE. :))) Have fun with this!!!

The Halloween bows on the left are knit, and the Christmas bows on the right are woven. 🙂

PS—- Did you know that using such a neutral color on the leggings is the perfect addition for your little ones wardrobe. Now you can also use up a bunch of sewing scraps to make bows of every color….and another hint??? MAKE AN EXTRA BOW, stick it on a strip of fold over elastic and make a headband to match…;) Too much fun when you have a little diva….

***This post contains some affiliate links. This blog post was not sponsored or promoted by anyone. All opinions are my own. No one asked me, paid me or told me to post this. I blog because I love to and I shared these links because I think you will love them too. ;)))

 

Bow Tie Leggings and Shorts

   I’m feeling Patriotic….And wishing for Spring, and then SUMMER…and FAST…

Oh, HELLOOOOOO there! I bet you didn’t expect to find me in your mailbox today….;) Wow, I haven’t blogged in ages! Like most things, it comes and goes as a part of my life. I am always THINKING about blogging again, but finding the time is just a wonder….LIFE IN THE FAST LANE right?

Anyhoo— I’d love to get back into routine. Much like sewing….OH HOW I love to sew! I just hardly have the time. I want to devote endless hours and bury myself in fabric and just SEW. That’s me. But hey, reality check, I have 4 kids, and a husband with a new business that needs me to help run it. So I sew these days when I can. A few weeks ago I made myself participate in a Sew-a-long. I spent an hour each day pacing myself. JUST getting a little done at a time. It was fabulous! I finished a dress and was soooo proud of myself.

Then just this last week or so I was offered the opportunity to test a new pattern from a designer— the Bow-Tie leggings and Shorts from Bella Sunshine Designs. I am an upcycler so I LOVE my knits. Can I tell you how much these cute little leggings will go great with upcycle dresses??? Do you SEE HOW FLIPPING CUTE THEY ARE???? Shelby says they are “Wicked Awesome!”

Yup, that’s snow on the ground…:(

These leggings have a great fit, snug without being too snug. The pattern also has a “Slim fit pants” option, which is the same as the leggings, but gives a little more room so they aren’t so snug for those of you who like looser leggings. They also have 4 length options: shorts, knee length shorts, capris, and full length leggings. The only ones I haven’t tried are the shorts we still have quite a bit of snow on the ground here.

This is the capri length. They fit great on the bum! And look— I actually matched up my pattern pretty good! I surprised myself…It’s all in the cut. 😉

As for the sewing part— WHAT A QUICK SEW! I ran soooooo tight with my schedule the week of the test I was so worried that I wasn’t going to be able to make it. But I squeezed them out and I stitched up 4 pairs in a day! Well maybe a day and a half with my crazy schedule. I’m sure some of you will beat me on this time but HEY, that’s GOOD for me. 😉 specially because I haven’t been able to squeeze in any sewing time at all. <<<I have a few unfinished projects that just have me SCREAMING from the inside out>>>>

If you are new to sewing knits, I highly recommend joining the Bella Sunshine Designs Facebook group. Melissa is fabulous and can help you if you need it. 🙂 And I’m in there too of course, with all the other testers sharing our awesome photos. So come check our creations out.

The bows are wicked cute! I was afraid of them at first…Did you know that I’m terrified of bows like I am of zippers? They are NOT my specialty. The first bow I made was EH ok. But I followed the directions from BSD and was pretty proud of myself. It was really cute. I honestly cheated and used a dab of glue to hold it the first time. But by the second set of bows, I didn’t need glue any more! I think I’m a bow pro….:)

These are my snap on bows. 🙂 Shhhhh!

The bows can be attached in a few different ways –the pattern gives two options, machine stitch or hand stitch. The hand stitch option takes a little more time but the bows are fluffier. Well I decided that I was going to make this neutral pair of black and white stripe leggings. So then I couldn’t decide which color bow to use! So I made two different color bows and made them removable with KAM snaps. I am not going to give you a tutorial here on how I did that…I showed Miss Melissa from Bella Sunshine Designs what I did— she LOVED it— and she asked me if she could do a tutorial on her blog. When I see the blog link go up for the tutorial I will be sure link it here to share!

UPDATED: Here is the link for the Pattern Hack snap-on bow tutorial over on Bella Sunshine Designs Blog. :))

Look at how adorable these are!

So I have to say– we had fun with this pattern.  I love this pattern because it’s easy. My daughter loves this pattern because they are comfy and she will wear leggings everyday if I let her. YES every single day! Oh and the bows? UBER addicting by little girls.

WAIT! DID you see the matching bow I made for her hair???? Same fabric, SAME bow pattern….add a little hot glue and some fold over elastic—BAM instant hairbow headband! The end. 🙂 SO RUN to get your copy of this pattern NOW from Bella Sunshine Designs —- (that’s right, just click in the blue right there<<<<) use the coupon code LAUNCHPARTY to get 25% off! Sale ends Sunday!

MWAH!

As always— be sure to follow me on my Facebook page, my FB group, and my Etsy shop. If you aren’t handy with a sewing machine I will be happy to stitch you up a pair of these cuties—-I hope to be carrying them Ready to Ship in my shop very soon!

Please note, this post contains SOME affiliate links. The views and opinions expressed here are my own, and I was not paid to make this post. I was chosen to test this pattern for a designer, I received this pattern before it’s release and helped out during the testing phase.  I chose to blog about this awesome pattern all on my own.

Pinterest crazy

I had a moment of weakness—or shall I say a few hours of PINTEREST inspiration!

Honestly I haven’t really been on Pinterest in months. With all my new listings in my Etsy shop this last week, I knew it was time to update my boards. WOWSA I felt like a Pinterest newbie all over again. You know– that time when you stayed up wicked late to pin everything you could possible think of and woke up the next morning with a Pinterest hangover? Well, not QUITE like that, but close.  I just felt so inspired all over again, one of the amazing things I love about that site! I browsed through my old boards, searched around for some NEW stuff, and then of course — I got HUNGRY…yes hungry. Doesn’t Pinterest make you hungry? There is always someone pinning yummy treats!

I found a few good boards of recycled blue jean crafts and was in HEAVEN– yup I’m SINGING!!! I went pinning like CRAAAAAAAZY! So I’m sorry if you are one of my followers and you opened up Pinterest this morning covered with all my blue jean pins but I couldn’t help it! I feel like sewing with blue jeans today. Thanks Pinterest for the inspiration. 🙂

Tic Tac Toe with recycled blue jeans? HOW CUTE!!! I will definitely be making some of these!

If you’d like to see my Recycled Blue Jeans Board you can find it HERE — It is loaded with TONS of goodies!

 

As Always — Don’t forget to visit me on ETSY,  SPRING SALE GOING ON!!! And LIKE my page on Facebook to keep up with all the goodies!!!! Remember to support your local crafters!

 

Knotty Barbie????

Hello? (TAP – TAP – TAP) Is this thing on?

Oh wait, let me clarify, NO THIS IS NOT AN April Fool’s joke, it’s me…and YES I’m actually blogging today. And yup you read the title right. AND YES I’m serious! Let’s just get to the point so you understand my title. I’m not messing around. But I got your attention didn’t I? Cha-ching, score one for Heidi. 🙂

 SEW— How the heck are ya? Me—I’m doing fairly well, chaos per usual. I don’t expect much less than chaos really, 4 children, trying to run a sewing business and now helping my hubby with his small engine repair shop….If you are a LOCAL  and need your landscaping equipment fixed you will find his shop HERE — YUP it’s CRAZY busy! But I like it that way— If I’m not busy, I’m lazy.

My life has truly been a CLEVER CATASTROPHE this past year, and it has been quite some time since I have blogged. My how I have missed these keys! I thought it was about time I jumped in. No time like the present right?

So what have I been up to? I PUMPED out a bunch of KNOTTY dresses last summer, and hopped on the band wagon for a few craft shows just to get my feet WET. They came out SEW flipping cute!!

Knotty dresses

And here is my little girl sporting one I made JUST for her!

Say CHEESE Shelby!!!

The fabric on these dresses were so much fun. I used recycled blue jeans up on top for the bodices, fully lined with recycled t-shirts that I tie-dyed myself just for extra COOLNESS. 🙂 The lower fabric on Shelby’s dress was this AWESOME fabric I had in my stash for probably a year or two….it was SOOOOO pretty that I was afraid to cut it. I was also saving it for a selfish SEW (AKA, something for ME), but that never happened. With a craft show around the corner I decided to cut into it. Once I envisioned it as a dress it was a done deal. There is NO GOING back as a seamstress….once I picture clothing from fabric I have to go for it.

Sew, anyhoo. The knotty dresses are neat because the knots are tied and pulled through the buttonholes in lieu of using buttons. Some people may think this is a way of just being cheap, but it’s really KNOT. It’s a way of being more versatile for children. This dress will fit more sizes because you can adjust the height of the straps as your child grows.

In the boutique world, knotty dresses are very popular. Cape Cod craft shows, not so much. Everyone LOVES my work, but I don’t think they really get it. I didn’t sell ANY dresses at my local shows. I wasn’t disappointed. Ok, well maybe a little, but I know I was testing my market—and well my local market just IS NOT IT. Handmade children’s clothing definitely sells better online!

Blue Jean Pockets

These blue jean pockets were an easy sell. Whenever I recycle the blue jeans I kept throwing all the pockets in a box, especially the little ones with snaps and what not. My daughter came in my sewing room one day, picked one up and put her change in it. I said SHELBY you are a GENIUS! I added cool fabrics to the backs of them and turned them all into little change pockets! Or tooth fairy pillows for the tiny ones…

As for the other pockets? These pocket organizers are AWESOME! How resourceful is this for using up some pockets?

DISPLAYING MY GENIUS WORK

First craft show, I dressed up my daughter’s “life- sized” Barbie to model my clothing. I thought it was a cute idea at first….but honestly it was creepy. I mean still kinda cute, but definitely felt creepy…:)

By the way— This Barbie is not really life size…she is the height of a three year old….with the waist of LESS than a 2 year old….and the boobs of a 13 year old. Seriously. She doesn’t fit well into any of my clothing anyway….I had to pin it on her in weird ways…and it looks awkward because she’s really a teenager under it all.

So I designed my own little display model as seen in the photo on the right! I took two wooden dowels, left one long for the “body” cut one into three pieces for the “arms” and one for the middle cross bar “waist” one for the bottom cross bar. I won’t really call it feet….it’s really only to help center it across the bottom. If you want measurements, I don’t remember because I did this last summer and didn’t take notes— But I know the dowels were 1″ dowels and 4′ long. I may have even used 3 dowels? Just because of cutting that second one and needing three pieces.

I drilled small holes and then used screws to hold in the cross posts. The great thing about using screws is that I can twist the cross posts so that they all stand vertically for storage. This was an unplanned design that worked to my benefit.

Lastly on this cool design, I used PLASTER in the base. Just your normal everyday Plaster of Paris. Somewhere between 2-4 cups worth? Just enough to weight it down, but also to hold in the post.

I made two of these and they came out fabulous!

In the mean time, Please check out my shop!  These Old Blues. I have more KNOTTY dresses that I would LOVE to see little girls dancing in– THEY ARE SEW CUTE! And CUTE skirts all on SALE this week just in time for SPRING. 🙂

Follow me on Facebook to keep up with my daily turn of events…:)

Anyhoo, I know my prices are set just right. I am comparable to other boutiques that sell handmade clothing. My quality is fabulous with professionally finished seams. I topstitch and serge just about everything, and I stand by my work. If someone is not happy, I keep working until I get it right. I impress myself sometimes 😉 toot-toot! Yes I just tooted my own horn. I love my work and I love what I do. I will just keep on truckin’ and building my business like I do! Maybe a few more shows this summer….we’ll see.

 

 

A Day for Bargains

“MOM, YARD SALE!!!!” Well my kid’s started it this morning. It wasn’t me I swear.

I had a few errands to run. I had to pick up a t-shirt from another mom, and bring my Boy Scout to the dump first thing this morning (8AM to be exact) and I am NOT a morning person. I usually don’t make plans before 10am….too much work to wrangle up these kiddos, but this morning we HAD to. Every weekend the local scout troops and packs take turns sorting the returnable bottles and cans at the dump and in return they get a portion of the money.

So we decided to pudge around a little bit while the big kid was working with his Scout buddies. I went and picked up my shirt and we saw a few yard sale signs on the way there. *SIGH, I was bored and I couldn’t say NO!

So what kind of crafty finds can we find today???

I found this cute little sewing box, complete with a bunch of patterns and goodies for $5!

All the goodies inside!!! How perfect are these patterns? I love making kid’s clothing and these simple patterns suit my style—I can easily dress them up with ruffles. 🙂 I know I don’t NORMALLY use patterns, I usually draft my own but it’s always good to have something basic to start with. especially if I am trying a new design.

Found some great fabrics, cotton prints and some corduroy!!

Cute little tray??? I love the tiles. I keep saying one day I’m gonna do some mosaicing….I even bought the tile grout.

The woman had $5 price tag on the tray and the fabrics were$3-4 each but this was a yard sale and most people are not firm on their prices. She told me to make her offers on the fabric so I offered $10 for the tray and the fabric….. she was fine with that. Woo-hoo!! I can’t wait to use that corduroy for something in the fall!

 I know this shirt is wayyyyyy too big for me. But it’s a gorgeous color, and it’s NEW! I think I paid a quarter for it and it still has the extra button attached. I am already envisioning this refashion!

Any crafty finds for you today? Did you stop at any yard sales? It is a great day on the Cape for it!

Refashion Runway Sew Along— Feeling Patriotic!

More upcycles! I know…am I killing you with my upcycle posts or are you loving it?? But come on— This is like my 4th post this week right?! That’s an accomplishment!

Sewwwwww, anyhoo, I finally finished my  sew along piece for the Renegade Seamstress’ Refashion Runway! This weeks challenge was : DENIM. Um hello<<<<< THAT”S MY THING! Right? I mean my business is “These Old Blues.”

So I have to tell you first that when I saw the challenge this week was Denim, I just about flipped. As you can see above that I’m ultra excited about it! My first thought was a CORSET. I have been DYING to make a denim corset. I know people say you shouldn’t make one from denim, the fabric is too heavy, and it tends to have too much stretch. I don’t care though. I want a blue jean corset!

I started the pattern work….Now I’ve NEVER made a corset from scratch. I have upcycled other corsets but never done this whole entire process. So I’m teaching myself how to do this and realizing this is pretty hefty project. I will not be able to do a great job on this if I rush it and try to finish it in a week. So once again my corset is on the back burner—but it is in progress! I have the pattern in my muslin so I can try it out and make adjustments before cutting into the denim. I promise I will share with you all when I have it completed. 🙂

On to the project for the Refashion Runway Sew Along. I was doing laundry and thinking about what I could do that would really show off my talents. I was overwhelmed with the possibilities. As I’m folding clothes I came across this piece:

So this cute little denim jumper was getting a bit too small. My peanut is finally growing!

This is an 18-24 month jumper that fits more like a 12 month outfit. Shelby is 2 remember?? Well most of her stuff is about 18-24m anyway because she’s tiny, but she is FINALLY starting to sprout. The last time she wore this little number, every time she moved the dress hiked up and I could see her diaper hanging out. The dress still fit her width-wise, so I imagined just adding a ruffle to it.

I’ve also been imagining an awesome 4th of July outfit for her—-and then it hit me!

OOPS! Yup I cut it in half! I  was sensing that it was time for an upcycle…or “Refashion”

I cut the dress in half and decided to make a 2 piece outfit. I’ve been dreaming about stars and stripes with chevron for months now. So first I handpainted stars all over the denim top and bottom. Then added red and white chevron to both the top and bottom. Then a blue patriotic ruffled edge to the top and more blue ruffle on the bum of the skirt. I also upcycled a pair of red shorts to go under the cute little skirt. For those little bend over moments. 😉

I tried to get a close up of her cute little bow….she wasn’t happy at this point. She even pouted and told me no. I snapped the picture anyway. LOL. She really just wanted to spin around and play, but I was trying to snap pictures quickly before it started to rain again! Sorry sweetie! She IS getting better at this posing thing though.

The bow was NOT handmade by me. I purchased it from Princess Izzy Boutique on Facebook. SHE HAS FABULOUS ACCESSORIES, and is VERY reasonably priced!!! She is also on Etsy and you can find her shop HERE.

Excited! She really loves it!!!

 

As Always — Don’t forget to visit me on ETSY, and LIKE my page on Facebook to keep up with all the goodies!!!!

Still coming up soon is my Purse Renew Tutorial! It’s in progress peeps!