A gift that’s not a gifftcard
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| Isn’t this place nice? (Bitar’s in Elmsdale, for the locals) |
Never mind the fact that J‘s birthday was in FEBRUARY and we were celebrating it almost exactly THREE MONTHS LATER in May. Kids, life, etc. you know?
I’m loving this new tradition! It was awesome to catch up without our collective kiddies running around, and it was the perfect break in the middle of a work-day.
Happy belated birthday, J! Here’s to another 25 years of friendship, totally “getting” each other, and having lunch together alone at least twice a year!
xo
Five truths about Mother’s Day
- It will never be exactly what you want it to be — even if you have low expectations — and you will feel kind of bummed out because it only happens ONCE A YEAR, you know?
- It’s basically a success if you get some time to do what you want (ALL ALONE)
- It helps to be clear about what you would like, or how you would like the day to go, because husbands? They are usually not so good with subtlety and/or planning. (They also do not seem to fully understand how much you deserve a day of spoilage, given everything you do 364 days of the year)
- A sweet homemade card from your kids is the best thing you can get, hands-down.
- (Unless you get a shiny new minivan*, a kid-free vacation*, or a shopping spree* at a craft store or a fabric store — then, it’s a tie between that and the homemade card).
Fashion Recycling Week: Day 5 (Long-sleeved shirt + saggy pants into a new summer outfit)
It’s Friday, guys! Thanks for sticking with me through Fashion Recycling Week.
(If you have absolutely no interest in re-purposing old kiddie clothes, then I’m sorry for bombarding you with my hodge-podge of projects. I think I get overexcited by my rotary cutter!)
Behold! The final project of the week, and it’s a two-piece outfit …
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| This shirt is a 6-12 month one, I believe, and C got a lot of wear out of it. I love the little necklace printed onto it. It’s way too small to be a long-sleeved top now, though, so something had to be done.
The pair of pants, I must admit, is the only item this week that HASN’T already had a long life in our family — either by C or D. They were either a hand-me-down pair or a thrifted pair, and they’ve always been too saggy for my tiny C. I’m a fan of leggings, and these are really old — more in the “baggy toddler pant” family than the “cute, modern leggings” one. |
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| I chopped off the sleeves entirely, and trimmed the edges of the shirt a bit. |
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| For the pants, I just chopped off the legs and left them as-is — instant shorts! |
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| I did, however, split open the legs of the pants and use the fabric to make a few ruffles for the bottom of the top. Ruffles! Ruffles! RUFFLESSSSS x 1,000! |
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| This is the only project this week that warranted an in-progress sewing photo, it seems? |
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| Here we go! A ruffled tunic tank, with a matching pair of navy dotted shorts. You can see that I stretched out a few scrap pieces of shorts (pants) fabric and tied little bows around the shoulders of the tank top. It took 10 seconds to do, but I think it really adds to it. |
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| Thanks for joining me this week, and I hope I’ve inspired someone (anyone?) to repurpose a few old items, and turn them into something new for spring/summer. It’s a fun, easy project, and it’s rewarding to know you’re reusing something you already have. Love the planet, LOVE RUFFLES, etc. right? |
xo
Fashion Recycling Week: Day 4 (Long-sleeved shirt to fringed summer tank)
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| C wore shirt last winter AND this winter, so I am super-bored of it. I never really loved it (it was a hand-me-down) but I liked the cute message of “Daddy digs me.” So I knew I could do something with it. |
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| I cut the sleeves off entirely, and opted to just leave them loose and open (T-shirt fabric doesn’t fray, so there’s no need to finish it). Then I took my rotary cutter, held a clear ruler against the fabric, and just chop-chop-chopped lines vertically down the shirt. |
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| I used to totally have a fringed top, except I was like, nine. It also had beads on the fringe, and I seriously considered adding beads. But C just turned two, so that might be, uh, kind of a choking hazard?
(So just pretend you hear the soft clack-clack of beads clicking together) |
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| We still have another day of repurposed clothing, guys! Stay tuned! |
xo
Fashion Recycling Week: Day 3 (T-shirt to ruffled, ruched tank)
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| This was D’s Batman T-shirt. I always liked it a lot, but he didn’t care either way. He didn’t know who or what Batman was until very recently (and he’s almost four), so we have yet to hit the Superhero stage.
C has been wearing this T-shirt for a few months now — usually *ahem* when Darling Husband dresses her — and while I have no problem with her wearing a boy’s shirt, I … also kind of have a problem with her wearing a boy’s shirt. I can’t help it! Ruffles are kind of in my DNA. |
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| I cut the sleeves off entirely to make nice, large armholes — and then folded them inward to make a skinny pocket all the way around the hole, so I could add elastic to “ruche” them in.
I also cut two strips of yellow fabric from my stash, ironed them (whaaaat?), and made a little ruffle along the front and back to girl it up. |
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| Batgirl!
(Alicia Silverstone would totally wear this, right? Thanks.) |
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| Keep checking back this week for more fashion recycling projects! |
xo
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Heather's Handmade Life 