A little purple bucket bag for a toddler girl

I have made this little bucket bag for my friend's little toddler girl. Her favourite colour is purple. This is the only purple fabric I have in my stash. I  added some home decor material on the top and some thrifted silver trim to embellish it. The straps are made with upcycled jeans remnants. The bag is fully lined with an upcycled bed sheet. I hope she will like it!

I quite like the combination of the purple with the green trim. Perhaps I'll make another purse for grownups with this particular fabric combination.

A New Date Night Red purse!

As mentioned before, I love red. It's my favourite colour. So when I'm thinking of an outfit for date night, or x'mas or any special occasion, I think red. I made loads of red garments but never a cute red purse. So I decided to design one.

I used this piece of remnant red faux suede for upholstery that I thrifted a few years back to make the exterior of the purse. I embellished the flap with trims from a thrifted bag of embellishments I bought earlier this year from my local thrift store. The chains are thrifted from the thrift store as well. The interior lining is a remnant quilting cotton that I have in my stash. The zipper was salvaged from a too tight skirt.

I designed the bag to be worn either as a long chained shoulder bag or it can be double chained into a hand held purse. I'm pretty happy with the look of it. Now I just need a special occasion to test this baby out!

If this prototype bag works out well, I'll make another one and add it to my little shop!

A New Summer Purse for me

I'm still in a bag making mode. I decided to make a new cross body bag for myself this summer. I have been using the same thrifted one for a while now. I decided to make a new refashioned one. Cross body bags are excellent for moms who need both hands to manage their children!

This cross body bag is part of the EcoChic line. The exterior is made with upcycled jeans, upcycled curtain material and seat upholstery fabric. The inside lining is made with an upcycled bedsheet. The zipper was thrifted and the straps are upcycled from an old camera bag.

I am pretty happy with how this bag turned out. I like the colour/fabric combination. It looks quite cheery. I will be using this tomorrow to 'road-test' it for durability and practicality.

Me-Made-Made 2017 final post: May 30 and 31 outfits

It has been a great Me-Made May 2017 challenge. Thanks again to Zoe Edwards for organizing this. Here are my outfits for the last 2 days:

May 30:
I'm wearing a me-made lace dress, a me-made pearl necklace, a pair of thrifted red leather pumps and a thrifted blazer. I don't get a lot of special occasions to wear this lace dress so I'm trying to make it more casual looking with the blazer. But I think the necklace makes it formal again.

May 31:
I'm wearing a me-refashioned chiffon tunic (from a scarf),  me-made stretch woven pants, a thrifted scarf and thrifted ankle boots.

So what I have learned from this challenge is that I still have loads of me-made clothes that I haven't worn for this challenge! Time to purge the closet!

Summer outfits challenge - 14 pieces to 30 outfits

One of the things that the Me-Made-May 2017 challenge has informed me is that I have way too much clothing in my wardrobe! In order to simplify my wardrobe, I'm trying to see if I can work 14 pieces of Me-Made/Me-refashioned/Me-tinkered clothing in a full month of outfits. the objective is after this challenge, I should have a good idea on what summer garments to toss/donate from my massive wardrobe.

I rummaged through my me-made clothes and here is my 14 pieces to 30 outfits challenge for June 1-30. I have chosen:
- 5 tops
- 4 bottoms
- 3 dresses
- 2 toppers

All in all, only 1 top (the thrifted black beaded tunic) is NOT a Me-Tinkered garment.

This summer challenge will actually include a road trip for a week. Let's see how this will work in June!

Me Made May 2017 Outfits: May 25-29

The Me Made May 2017 Challenge is almost over! Here are the outfits for the past few days:

May 25:
I'm wearing a me-refashioned silk shirt, me-altered jeans, a me-made necklace, thrifted merino wool cardigan and thrifted red patent flats.

May 26:
I'm wearing my me-made stretch cotton shirt from the Wardrobe Sudoku Contest, and me-made baby blue jeans, a me-made necklace and thrifted ankle boots.

May 27:
It's a bit cool but I was determined to wear one of my cotton voile sundress. I'm wearing a me-refashioned cardigan, me-made sundress, thrifted leggings and thrifted red patent flats.

May 28:
It's not very hot but since I would be doing indoor activities, I am wearing a me-made red linen sleeveless top I just made last week, a me-made linen blend maxi-skirt, a thrifted scarf and thrifted flats.

May 29:
I'm wearing a me-made maxi dress, me-refashioned scarf and a me-refashioned cardi.

2 more days to go!!

Me Me May 2017 outfits: May 21-24

Here are the outfits for Me Made May 2017 from May 21 to 24.

May 21:
Furniture shopping with the family. I'm wearing a me-refashioned yellow lace skirt (from a table cloth), a me-made shell necklace (from a shell I picked up in the South of France) and thrifted ankle boots. I don't wear this skirt often because I think the shape is not flattering on me. I'm going to refashion it into something else.

May 22:
Visiting an outdoor National Historic Monument with the kids today. I'm wearing a me-made cardigan jacket, me-refashioned ribbed knit top (from a turtleneck to crewneck) and a thrifted belt.

May 23:
The weather is getting warmer. I"m wearing a me-refashioned denim shirt, a pair of -me-made stretch woven pants and thrifted shoes.

May 24:
It's cool in the morning and much warmer in the afternoon. I'm wearing a me-refashioned jacket (from a pair of men's jeans), me made baby blue jeans and a thrifted scarf.

It's getting warmer and warmer. So I will probably be able to wear all those me-made sundresses soon!

Refashion: Women skirt to Girl Jeans

My daughter has all of a sudden shot up almost 5cm in height this past month. So I needed to make her some new pants for school and play.

I thrifted these 2 women long jean skirts at my local thrift store for $5 each. One of those skirts had a stain on it but I can easily cover it with some applique. The reason I like using 2nd hand denim is that they have already been washed, shrinken, broken in. The fabric is soft and durable at the same time - excellent for kids' clothes:

I used one of my daughter's current too-short pants as a guide and made a pair of jeans that is longer
and wider.

I also used some remnant red linen fabric from my previous project to make a heart-shaped applique for the side pocket. Since the serger was already threaded with red threads from the last project, I simply cut a pocket shape from the jean skirt and serged the edge in red.

The length of the jeans skirt was just a tad bit short of the side length I wanted for my daughter. So I cut a piece of remnant red knit, encased a piece of elastic inside it and serged the whole thing to the top of the pants as the waistband.

I hope my daughter likes it! If so I'll cut the other jean skirt and make another pair of mama-made pants for her. There are still lots of remnants from that first skirt that I can make lots of accessories!

Me Made May 2017 Outfits: May 18-20

Here are my outfits from May 18-20.

May 18:
Today is super hot and humid! I'm wearing a me-refashioned top (from a men's shirt), me-made linen cargo pants, a me-made necklace and thrifted shoes.

May 19:
The temperature suddenly dropped 20+ Celsius! I'm wearing a thrifted top, me-made silver knit scarf, and a me-made long skirt.

May 20:
I'm going hiking in the nearby forest with my family. I'm wearing a me-refashioned merino wool sweater (from a huge XL men's sweater) and a me-made hat.

We are very fortunate to be a very short drive to a nearby forest. My kids love going there.  All over the forest there are these white Trillium flowers that thrive on the forest ground. They are the symbols of my province.

Me Made May 2017 outfits: May 14-17

Here are my me-made and me-refashioned outfits from May 14 to 17.

May 14:
It's Mother's Day! I'm wearing a me-made dress, me-refashioned scarf, thrifted leggings and boots for a lunch with my family.

May 15:
I'm wearing a me-refashioned black dress and a me-made jacket that I made for the Wardrobe Sudoku contest.

May16:
The temperature is creeping up to the high teens. I'm wearing a me-refashioned jacket, a me-refashioned silk tunic.

May 17:
Today is super hot and humid - getting ready for a rain storm. I'm wearing a me-refashioned cardi, a me-made cotton sun dress and thrifted red patent flats.

Me Made May 2017 outfits: May 9-13

Here are the Me Made May 2017 outfits from May 9 to 13.

May 9:
Here I'm wearing a me-made white tweed jacket, me-made denim jeggings and thrifted red patent flats.

May 10:
Here I'm wearing a me-made stretch woven cotton shirt, me-made gold brocade skirt. Very office appropriate!

May 11:
I'm wearing a recently me-made cotton floral tunic, me-made charcoal jeggings and thrifted mary-janes.

May 12:
Today I'm wearing a me-refashioned jean jacket (from 1 pair of men's jeans), a me-refashioned glittery sweater skirt, and a me-refashioned green chiffon scarf (as a belt). Daytime Glamour! :-)

May 13:
It's not raining so I can bring out the white jeans! Here I'm wearing a me-made grey sweatshirt tunic, me-made white slim jeans and thrifted ankle boots. 

Me Made May 2017 Outfits: May 6-8

Here are my Me-Made May 2017 Outfits for May 6, 7, and 8:

May 6:
I was going to a Confirmation celebration at the church today. I was wearing a me-made wool dress and a me-made chiffon scarf, as well as thrifted ankle boots.

May 7:
It was still cold so I wore my me-refashioned red cashmere jacket, me-made grey stretch woven pants, a thrifted black top, thrifted scarf and a pair of thrifted patent leather pumps.

May 8:
I'm wearing a thrifted merino wool cardigan, a me-made fabric remnant scarf, and me-made red stretch woven slim pants.

I can see a trend in my outfits. I almost always have something red in the me-made outfits. It is my favourite colour so my wardrobe is full of red garments!

MAGAM May Project 2 - Girl towel dress/deck dress

My kids are a bit spoiled in some ways. They know that if they see some sort of clothing or fabric accessories or soft furnishings that they like, or something that they need at school, they can just ask me to make it. And they would 'demand' it to be made in 24 hours while they were sleeping. Of course I don't promise to make it in 24 hours just because they 'demanded' it! LOL!

A few days ago my daughter saw a girl with a deck dress made with towel-like material and wanted me to make her one. She rummaged through our linen closet and found a large thrifted yellow towel. And she asked me not only a deck dress, but a 'towel princess dress' (whatever that is).

So I simply folded the towel in quarters, cut a hole for the head, use an existing top as a guide and cut out the dress.

Then I serged all the seams and used stash red bias tape to trim the neck line. I made the dress a bit big because I wanted it to last at least 1 year. The neckline was too wide so I made a simple pleat at the back neck edge:

My daughter seemed to like this towel dress very much. She actually danced and pranced in it. More power to her! :-)

MAGAM May project 1 - Girl swimsuit

I was going to make myself something for my MAGAM (Make a Garment A month challenge) May entry. However, my daughter had been pestering me to make her something so I made her 2 things. She has swimming lessons every week and she wanted a new swimsuit. She saw another girl with a deck dress made with towel-like material and she wanted one of those.

I dug into my enormous fabric stash and found this navy polka dot swimwear fabric. I only had a very small piece of it but it was just enough to make a small child's swimsuit.

I had also just thrifted this very old girl's swimsuit pattern from 1971 for $0.99 at my local thrift store a few weeks ago. The publisher was Knit Knack of Canada. It's called 'Basic Knits #306 Girls' One and Two Piece Bathing Suit':

The patterns were printed on very sturdy paper and there were just 2 pattern pieces. I also like that the swimsuit has very low leg openings. My daughter has a nice full bum so low legged swimsuits are best for her.

It all came together very quickly. I didn't do anything fancy except that I added a full lining to the front piece. I already have swim elastic so I didn't buy anything to make this swimsuit:

I like this simple pattern because one can make modifications or add fancy design details easily. My daughter also does gymnastics so this pattern can be used to make a simple gymnastics leotard as well.

Next I'll be making my daughter a 'towel princess dress' (as she called it) for her swim classes, with one of the towels in my home. Should be interesting!

The review of this sewing pattern is at PatternReview.com.

Me Made May 2017 outfits - May 5

Today is a rainy and dreary day. I decided to just wear something easy and casual. This is a me-refashioned sweatshirt (from a huge  XL sweatshirt). I wore it with a me-made fabric remnant scarf, and thrifted leggings. The pink polka dots fabric pops some life into this dreary day.

My 2nd Bra prototype - The Maya Bra

I was going to tweak the Sew Lovely Bra that I made last week until I came across the Maya Bra. This is a FREE pattern I came across on Pinterest. AFI Atelier from Romania created this FREE for downloand bra pattern. She provided very good descriptions and instructions on this pattern on her web site. I read some bloggers who have tried this pattern and I thought I could give it a try too.

I couldn't find bra making foam or any bra making notions at my local fabric store. But they carry this 'craft foam' that was about 0.5mm thick. I thought I could try to use this for the foam bra cup.

I thrifted a bunch of bras from my local thrift store to 'harvest' the lingerie notions (straps, elastics, closures).

I used scrap woven cotton that was leftover from my red/white floral tunic, and stash peachy orange knit lining I used for my friend's dress to line the cups. I used 2 layer of the same lining for the back bands. This prove to be an error as this lining is durable but not stretchy enough. I used salvaged shoulder straps from a thrifted bra that were too short.

Even with detail instructions, I managed to made many mistakes that required me to rip out the stitching and elastics over and over again. I thought I was going blind! :-) The bra is not, unfortunately a wearable muslin. The back band is too tight, the shoulder straps are too short, the bridge is still a tad too wide even after I altered it, and the elastics were not pulled tight enough on the side of the cup. However, the cups themselves fit well enough. And with all the stuff that I have learned in making this prototype, I should be able to make a wearable bra next time with the correct notions and proper fabrics.

I think this bra can be made into a very good swim bikini top with swimwear fabrics and notions. I have lots of stash swimwear fabrics and notions. Perhaps I should try making that next!