More thrifty sewing

BEFORE

AFTER

Another one bites the dust!  Well, kinda.  I just finished up modifying my past project, which was the wool jumper I made for my son.  The wool was freecycled, the bottons thrifted and the lining was from a recycled shirt.  The snaps kept popping off so I just decided to make separate pants instead.  I wanted to continue with the cute details so I added a cute butt detail which, amazingly, worked out with a single try.  Yay.  The elastic band was tricky because I cut the elastic too short so I ended up needing to sew it to the pants instead sewing the seam and stringing it through.  I didn't have any spare elastic band because I took it off a pants, so I had to make it work.  Anyway, I think it did work out in the end.

   

The back

Wearing the outfit

 It seems like the little guy had a fun few minutes wearing and his Dad even said it looked almost like a uniform and that I should make him a Battlestar Galactica uniform ^.^  Maybe I will look into making a uniform for my little viper nugget!

My Machine!

Let me introduce you to my current love. Brother XR9500PRW, internet, internet, XR.  So far, out of all the machines I have had the pleasure of owning, I would whole heartedly recommend this one to anyone who is interested in learning how to sew.  I would say it is a really great machine for beginner to intermediate skill level.  It is a computerized machine so you don't need to turn any dials and it tells you if there is an error.  So far I have sewn a wide variety of fabric thicknesses and I haven't had a single problem.  The first machine I used was literally a vintage singer that still had the pedal that needed to pushed back and forth to run the machine.  I didn't do much on that machine because it was a single stitch only.  Then next was one my mother still has but it was also pretty old, maybe for the 90's?  It wasn't until the past 2 years that I really started sewing and learning proper ways to do garments.  Learning I used the Brother 2600i I believe, and that was an okay machine. It served it's purpose, which was practice.  However it met it's end when I tried to seriously sew some upholstery fabric.  Turns out, it is not a good machine for thicker fabrics.  Sure it was inexpensive but it couldn't cut it for serious, everyday sewing.  Now with my new Project Runway machine, I don't have any issues!

On an end note, if anyone who knows me is interested in learning some basics, please let me know and I can show you how to set up your machine and get you started.  :-)

Being sick and having a sick baby hasn't left me much time for finding new music.  Maybe next time!  Although, I have been digging Wire, but I'm too tired to look for a video on youtube!

Home Remedy: Onion

This week, everyone in my home has been sick.  Luckily it hasn't been all at the same time.  I was sick, then hubby and now son.  We  have been doing the onion remedy.  Sure it smells like onions in here but we also haven't gotten full fledged sick either.  This past weekend when I felt like we were going to be getting sick I took an onion, cut it in half and placed it on the bedside table for the night.  The next day I was basically better.  Hubby woke up feeling better but his symptoms came back that evening so again, the onion was on the side table.  That next morning he was feeling better so we stopped with the onion for 2 nights.  Well guess what happens?  Hubby gets sick again.  Out comes the onion for another night and in the morning he is feeling better.  Now it is our sons turn :-(  Tonight we have the onion in his room but his symptoms are a little worse then ours were so I really hope the onion comes through for him too. 

I got the idea for the onion from a picture floating around facebook that claims the onion will, in a sense, suck up all the germs in the air protecting you from sickness.  It also comes along with a "personal" account of someone using it and being completely healed in the morning while the onion was completely black.  This hasn't really been the case for us.  The onion just drys out, probably because the winter air is dry.  I wish it was black though, then I could "see" the proof.  But with or without the blackness it seems to be working for us and I recommend you try it too.  Unless you want a sick day, sometimes it's nice to stay home and drink broth.  :-)

4 or more years.

It is 6 minutes until my forth anniversary.  He has been in my life in one way or another for the past 10 years.  We have seen many things.  Distance, silence, happiness, tears, nostalgia, live music, good food, and personal growth.  This past year has been as hard as it has been amazing.  We became new parents but then almost immediately we had to spend a week in the hospital, away from our son.  These things happening at the beginning of the year was almost a fore warning of how things would be for the rest of the year.  There were constant ups and downs, but I am grateful.  It is almost as though we have reached the summit now, and we can finally rest and move on from all of our struggles with a new clarity.  Everything that happened, needed to happen and now I know we can take on the next phase of our lives together with confidence and certainty.  If I can make it through the cold season unscathed, that would be awesome.

Tonight we did everything we could possibly fit in in the time we had.  Live music, we ate twice and had a serious discussion over tea, where we only briefly mentioned how we were missing our little guy.  It was nice to be two adults just enjoying each others company again.  I can't wait to do it again next year.  :-)

 Headphones are a must...

Stay warm

How awesome is my neighborhood?

























We have experienced a very cold arctic wind come through here in the mid-west.  It's not quite the cold that stings your face or makes your eye lids stick to your eyes when you blink.  Nope, not there, but it's still pretty cold.  Someone in my neighborhood is awesome and put out a few handmade hats.  This is why I love Madison.  :-D

it's winter out there!

Wow, it has been cold these past couple days.  Well cold to what I have been used to living in Wisconsin.  It's really nothing compared to what I've been seeing back home... -44 degrees Celsius! Compared to that -12 Celsius isn't bad at all but hey, I've been spoiled living here in the "south".  Either way, it's time for wool! 
This is a little thing I have been working on and planning out as I go.  I didn't use any sort of pattern or make any plans prior to starting.  I have to say that winging it has worked out this time.  Thank God.  I really need to learn my lesson and plan out my projects ahead of time to reduce the chances of hitting a snag and completely abandoning the whole thing as a result. 
The jumper is made out of 100% recycled materials! :-D  Which makes me happy.  Here is the break down:
-Brown wool is vintage and picked up from freecycle.
-Blue wool is also vintage and picked up in the same freecycle batch.
-Lining is from a shirt is also recycled from a friend.
-Buttons were from a little thrift store I like to pop into from time to time.
Only the snaps and the thread used to keep it all together were new.  All in all I am really pleased with the outcome.  My little guy tried it on but since it's not a stretch fabric the snaps keep popping open.  I'm currently thinking about how I can remedy this.  As a last resort it will become a sweater.  

Here is another cold weather find I picked up at a local rummage sale.  Normally I am not too keen on posting clothing items but this is just so much fun that I decided to make an exception. 
Vintage mens L sweater with stripes down the side.  :-D I have been having thrift store withdrawals so when I saw the flier for the rummage sale I was basically salivating at the mouth which makes this find soooo much better.  I am addicted to thrift shopping, end of story, so what? ;-P  Oh, did I mention it was a buck?  Yup it was! I also got a couple of other shirts for a buck each as well.  Score.
I paired this sweater with a pants originally from Lands End Canvas that is currently for sale in stores, thrifted for $4.00.  Those items combined with my thrifted toggle winter coat for $7.00 and I am warm and thrifty this winter.  I can only equate the feeling of finding and wearing great thrifted pieces to those that a Vegan might feel.  That you are making a difference with the choices you make on a daily bases.  It might be a stretch but hopefully it's a little insight into why I am the way I am.  I really can't pay retail for anything besides the essentials. It's  not that I don't love shiny new items, because I do, but only at 70% off.  In my opinion retail=robbery, considering that clothing is made at a very low cost and not in the greatest conditions.  The difference is in quality.  If something is quality and you know that it was made by someone who is doing what they do well and what they feel a calling for, then yes.  Those things are worth their price tag... but in this age of consumerism that's hard to find.

Hmm, now what to share with you.  This is hard because I have been listening to so much lovely music.  Winter is the time that I really fall in love with music.  It's cold and the air is dry.  Everything outside looks so brittle and some how it makes me more receptive to music that is fitting to my feelings in this season.

It's not in English, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it anyless.  Just let your imagination take over.
Pascal Pinon - Ekki Vanmeta

First Pets and mommy projects

My little little nugget just had his first birthday!  I can't believe it's been a year already and it's so amazing and sad at the same time.  He is literally doing something new everyday.  I am so proud but it's bitter sweet.  <3

A week before he was to turn 1 I decided that I NEEDED to make him a handmade gift.  I also wanted to make him a banner that read "Happy 1st Birthday Qais!"  The latter did not get completed because I didn't realize how much work designing and sewing letters really was.  I also kept elaborating on the original idea.  When I realized that it just was not going to be finished I put all my energies into completing his gift.  After much contemplating I came up with a stuffed fishbowl! 

The body of the bowl is made out of vintage hounds tooth blue fabric that I picked up from someone on freecycle! Yay!  Also included in that batch was a lot of wool fabric, some kind of heavy duty off white fabric and other various interesting vintage fabrics that I have been making use of.  The heavy duty off white fabric is reserved for a straight jacket that my sister asked me to make.  It may sound odd,  but if you knew my sister, you would totally understand ;-P




Everything else is made from felt that I picked up at the thrift store that I used to volunteer at.  It came with several 8" x 10" sheets of various colors all for a mere $1.49!  The stuffing was left over from old couch cushions that I picked up to use for the floor cushions that I made a few years ago.  I still have tons left that I have used for several more pillows I have to show you soon. :-)

Here is the starting of the banner.  The idea developed into having the letters being attached to the string by buttons so that it can be changed for any occasion.  That will resume progress once I have finished with some tailoring for my better half.  So far 95% of the banner has been constructed out of old clothing owned by myself and a friend.  Out of the things that I owned, all of it was pre-owned as well.  So I must say that it is reusing at its finest!  The other 5% has been from the batch of freecycled fabric that I got and used for the fish bowl as well.

My last post was about re purposing and we have furthered that project as well.  Our trunk as officially turned into a place to hide the little little nuggets toys.  Early on we decided that we didn't want the fact that we had a child rule our living space.  We knew we wanted to try and keep our place, "our" place and have visible toys and things to a minimum.  I have to say, so far mission accomplished but who knows how long we can hang on!  

Everyday the toys come out and every night, or mostly every night, the toys go back and we have our space back.

I am currently finishing up this post while Daddy feeds LLN his lunch and I can tell that my assistance is needed.  Back to motherhood for me, but I look forward to sharing more projects with you in the near future!

Re-purposing my life and my home

What a rocky road I walk.  I'm not going to lie, lately things have been difficult for me.  Being a new mom has brought so many unexpecteds with it that I just was not prepared for.  Having a child really does change your life, they were not lying when they said that.  I have been all over the spectrum, going from extreme joy to extreme depression in a matter of a few days sometimes.  Looking back, too many things happened in such a short period of time that I think I went in to shock mode and could not cope.  I brought home a perfect baby boy but within months needed to have 2 surgeries.  I finally understand why people were constantly asking me if I was okay.  And I was.  But reality had to come crashing down at some point, you can't be in survival mode forever right?  Luckily I have an amazing, supportive husband who is always looking out for me.  A few months ago, he took me on a trip to California to help get my mind of things and give me an early birthday present.  Then for my real birthday he allowed me to spend a month with my family in Canada, even though he would be away from our son that whole time.  Both trips were great and helped me get a break from everything and have some fun.  I know this post has been pretty deep but I think that's what is needed from time to time.  Sometimes you just need to unload and get a few things off your chest.  With that being said, it does relate to the title to this blog :-P


While were in California we went to the famous Rose Bowl Flea Market.  It happens on the second Sunday of the month so if you are ever in SoCal on that Sunday, you need to check it out. We picked up this antique globe and tons of other goodies while we were there.  My son got a few vintage hoodies and a vintage t shirt.  He will be outgrowing them soon despite the fact that he is not the size listed: 12 mo. :-(


Where ever I go I can not resist the local thrift shops so I dragged my husband around L.A and found some pretty cool things for myself as well.  Mostly clothing though, so I won't bother posting those.

Moving on to Canada, I had tons of willing thrift enthusiasts there so you know what I was doing!  Plainly, I bought to many things, I actually almost regret it. :-/  My only consultation is that I was also practical too purchasing little glass bottles that look like old medicine bottles, a tea pot, and a winter coat!  But that's besides my point right now.  When I am most excited about is the re-purposing my husband did while I was in Canada.  He turned our old wooden crate bookshelf into shelving on the wall and made other nonfunctional pieces functional.

Crates used as a bookshelf  "before"

Wooden crates used as wall shelving "after".
Inside is an original drawing from a local
artist that I need to get a frame
for.  I think it's fitting though. :-)

Not only that he got all DIY and made some shelving on an awkward wall because normal bookshelves just wouldn't work.  Check out my drawing and see what he did. :-)

I have no idea why the picture was turned and
I can't fix it. :-/

Last but not least, a potato sack I picked up at a warehouse sale by Oodles and Scads!  I love Oodles and Scads sooo much! Every time I go to one of the sales I always bring something home.  I thought this would go in the living room but I think my husband thought that would be over kill ;-P  Then I thought of putting it on top of the stairs but then he didn't like that either so it sat around until I left on my visit.  I came back and he had put it where I never would have thought... in the bathroom.  I have to admit that I like it though.  It's nice to get a chance to appreciate it, instead of just walk past. :-P

The design comes to life!

Re-decorating and re-purposing the things around me couldn't have happened at a better time.  Along with changing up the things around me I want to change and improve myself as well.  It is with a renewed intention that I move to improve my spiritual self and my physical self.  I have been stagnant for too long and it hasn't done me any favors, in fact it has done me harm.  I hope that with positive intention everyday that positiveness is drawn to me and through me in everything I do.

Now for a song that makes me feel happy and on to duties that will make those in my home happy.  Fresh laundered clothing!
Until next time :-)