An Easy How-to: Turning Straight Leg Jeans Into Skinnies

So gals, I'm knee-deep in boxes and my head is jam packed with last minute cramming for finals . . . I'm not gonna lie, I've been super stressed. 

Whenever things get crazy like this I usually have to stop a minute, play piano, draw or MAKE SOMETHING. Sometimes having some kind of creative outlet is all I need to help with stress. So I decided to make my stress reliever project re-fashioning a pair of children's sized overalls to fit me. 

I bought these silly overalls in the girls' section at Gap. They are size XXL girls, but they fit and cost me less than $4. Why not, right? I just felt like I looked a little juvenile in them as is. Maybe you all like the baggier look of them better, but I wanted something a little more tailored. 

So I decided to take in the seams at the leg . . .

All I did was turn the legs inside out and use a bar of soap to draw a line where I would re-stitch the seam. I drew the line on the inner side of the leg because the outside had the seam showing.

Then I stitched a straight line over the soap line.

After this, I turned them inside out and tried them on. I thought they needed to be taken in some more, so I just drew another line with the soap and stitched another straight line over it.

After testing this new size out and approving it, I then zig zagged the edge, double stitched the seam, and cut off the excess fabric.

So now I have $4 kids' overalls that look a little more grown up. Plus, I got to do something fun and creative in the midst of studying and packing. 

If you have a pair of baggy jeans that you'd rather be skinny jeans, this method would work on just about any pants. It's not the most professional alteration, but it really does look great and it's super easy. Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!

Ok, now back to cramming . . .

Nesting for Baby #4

As soon as I found out I was having a girl my first thought was how cute it would be if my three girls all wore matching dresses - yes, I know - very shallow. I went shopping shortly after my ultrasound to find said matching dresses, only to find that if I wanted the same dress in size 0-3 month through 4t, I would have to order them online special.

I'm not a fan of sewing (I have no patience for it), but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Out came my Mom's old pleater so I could make little smocked bishop dresses for all three of my girls and their little cousin who lives near us. I used this pattern.

(Here is a close-up of my very uneven haphazard stitches (I should have used a pattern for the smocking instead of eyeballing it!).

One dress done...three to go!

In addition to sewing dresses, I've also been trying to get the girls' rooms ready. I moved Capri into Cassi's room and had to do some rearranging. Cassi has a new gallery wall over her bed and some baskets for her bedtime books. As soon as I get Capri's pallet bookshelves done for over her bed, I'll post a picture of that...because they're going to look so so good!

And today I had some time to do some finger painting in Cecily's room. She needs to have a few additional touches in her room that are just for her. She'll be wearing hand-me-downs for most of her life, so the least I could do was paint her a few hearts.

Seven more weeks till my due date, so it's time to start crossing stuff off my "before baby" list!

Altering a Knit Skirt

It's not always worth the time it takes to alter clothing, but when something is given to you for free, and it's a great item, I consider that worth altering.

I got this Express bandage skirt as a hand-me-down from a friend. It was a few sizes too large, but I loved the cut and color and it was in mint condition.

I seam ripped out the side seams.

Then seam ripped out the waist and hem seam that overlapped the side seams.

I used a bar of soap to draw a line where the seam needed to be taken in about one inch from the original seam.

Before cutting off the excess fabric, I double stitched the new seam down, following the soap line,

like so.

Then I cut off the excess fabric,

only leaving the waist and hem seam that overlapped the side seam to fix.

Next I folded back over the hem and waist seam over the side seam and double stitched that down, following the original stitch from the rest of the hem/waist seam.

Now the skirt fits perfect.

Vintage Pink Lace

I bought this dress at Goodwill for $5 about two years ago while I was pregnant with Capri. It didn't fit at the time, but I knew it would after Capri was born, and I envisioned it as a cute party dress with just a few adjustments.

I hemmed it up to knee length, tore off the sash and all the lace around the top. Then, I used the discarded sash to create the halter neckline.

This is now my second pink lace dress that I've refashioned. Remember this one? 

This bag is a hand-me-down from my Grandma. The bracelet is from a local antique store.

The pearl drop earrings are vintage as well. 

West Side Story

Found this dress at a local thrift store. Almost immediately I saw its potential. Who wouldn't like to wear all this bling? I just needed to bring it up to date . . .

First, it needed hemmed up a bit so I just cut off the bottom layer of the dress.

Next, I tore off the sleeves.

Then I tore off the shoulder pads, raised the shoulder seam a tad, and tacked the armhole seam under around the shoulders.

The only thing missing was an event to wear it to.

Right in time, some dear friends offered us greatly discounted tickets to see West Side Story.

I might have been slightly overdressed, but it was an awesome night out, and I got to enjoy one of my favorite musicals ever LIVE in really amazing seats at a fraction of their cost!

I think my Friday night out with my man in this snazzy dress made me completely forget about losing my catalytic converter last week. Oh wait, I just remembered.

Dress thrifted and refashioned by me - $8

Pumps - Sam & Libby for Target - $12

Blazer - Goodwill - $3

Clutch - Goodwill - $2

Earrings - hand-me-down

Happy Monday everyone!

Taking The Pockets Out of a Dress

I have this great LBD that I bought out of desperation on an overseas trip when my airline lost my luggage. At first I loved the fact that the dress had pockets, until I kept having to tug at them to get them to lay flat. I certainly don't need extra bulk around my hips! At the time I just thought the dress was a tad too small for me.

This is me in the dress two summers and 9 pounds ago after lots of tugging to get the pockets to lay flat.

I pulled out the dress this summer to see if I could squeeze into it and decided I wasn't going to tug on those pockets ever again. I cut them out!

Taking the pockets out of a dress is so easy. I have sewed down quite a few side pockets before and am wishing I had sewed down the pockets in this dress as soon as I got back from my trip!

If you find yourself wanting to rid the bulk of pockets from a dress or skirt, all you have to do is . . .

 1. Seam rip the entire pocket out. Keep the garment turned inside out for the following steps.

2. Pin the seam together. Now that the side seam is pocketless, you will have two plain pieces of fabric with one easy seam to sew.

3. Stitch down the seam. Start a couple of inches above the seam ripped seam and then follow the lines from the previous seam to close in the pocket hole.

4. Double stitch the seam. If you aren't lucky enough to have a serger, you will need to double stitch the seam.

And you're done!

The dress is definitely too small for me now, but as soon as I lose these last few pregnancy pounds this dress will be good to go with no awkward pockets sticking out at the side.