Make it! T-shirt Refashion

Don't you love the comfort of a great t-shirt? I know I do. But I can't stand to wear a big, shapeless sack of a t-shirt. I picked up a couple of shirts and refashioned one into a semi-peplum style top. It's so easy, you could do it too!
So, I've included a random paint tutorial, and I'll intersperse real pics where I can, though the paint pics do a better job of showing how to do this.

What mama Wears: 50s Housewife?

SO - I got this great fabric from Ikea a while back... and it didn't know what it wanted to be for a while... but then one day when I was browsing a pin-up clothing website (because, honestly, what curvy girl doesn't dream of looking like a pin-up girl from the 40s/50s/60s? really...) I realized that this gingham fabric wanted to be a circle skirt. It desperately wanted to. So much so that it needed to be sewn RIGHT. THEN.

So I did.

And then I wore it with killer heels, a white tee, pearls, fun rose cab. earrings and a swirly side updo thingamajig style for my hair.

I said to The Hubs - look at me. I'm June Frickin' Cleaver here! All I need is an apron... and a casserole or something.

I loved it.

So I'm sharing it with you.
Also - I've decided I'm going to post the WMW photos a little differently. I'm tired of doing all the photoshopping of the pics into one file, so I'm just going to put them up. Okay, the truth is, I'm lazy when it comes to PS. There, I said it.

Anyway - here's my 50s housewife look. And just so you know - I baked cookies that afternoon... but not in this skirt. Priorities!

 

Me: aka June Cleaver.

Winnah!

Just a quick note to say: I'm a Craftster Best of 2012 winner! Yay!

I'm sure I've mentioned before how much I adore the website craftster.org
It's awesome. There's every single kind of craft or project you can imagine, and some you never would have dreamed of on there.

And my big 'ol purse has made it into the best of for 2012!

I'm totally thrilled. And if you're interested, you can check out all the other UH-mazing best ofs here.

Tea.

What Mama Wears - Comfy fashion

It's pretty obvious at this point that if something's not comfortable, then I'm not likely to want to wear it. I know that there's all kinds of women who ascribe to the no-pain no-gain concept of fashion - but to be perfectly honest, if it pinches, pulls, scrapes, etc etc etc it 'aint gonna happen. The main problem then becomes, how on earth to be fashionable and still comfortable. Sweat pants, as we've discussed before, are not especially fashionable. T-shirts, while cozy and easy to wear - not high on the fashion forward list.

So here's a couple of outfits that I've managed to put together that happen to be both fashionable AND comfortable. They're comfashiontable. Or something...

Posie Peplum

Ever since I picked up that polka-dot peplum at Charlotte Rousse, I've been searching for another peplum that happens to a)fit my bustline and b)not break the bank. It's harder than you think. Then I remembered that I had a random chunk of fabric that I got for free (FREE!) off kijiji and it might be a fun little top. So I traced out a well fitting t-shirt, cut it at the waistline and added a much fuller bottom for the peplum effect. Hem all the edges and voila - a peplum that looks fashionable and fits with the comfort of a t-shirt! Fab! I wore it with a statement necklace, some fun earrings, jeans that wear like yoga pants and some easy to wear flats. Fashionable AND comfortable. I wore it all day!

Top: Homemade / Jeans: Reitman's / Flats: Payless / Necklace: Kohl's / Earrings: The Icing by Claire's

Make it! Aprons!

For my birthday this year my sister decided to enroll us both in a Wilton cake decorating class. I'm super excited about it, and one of the items on the "must have" list for the class is an apron. I decided that I would make aprons for my sister and myself to wear during our 4-week class and I thought I would share the process with you!

Make it! Hallowe'en Costume edition

SO - this year the Big'un decided that he wanted to be a Knight for Hallowe'en. And so far, the littl'un has picked complimentary costume ideas... so HE decided he wanted to be a dragon. "Mama? You can make those costumes right?"


Uh........... right. Of course I can. Mama can make almost anything (see - I put the almost in there... Mama aint a dummy either)... and so.... I give you Hallowe'en 2012 costumes - make it!

Mama's got a brand new bag!

Crafting up a storm lately, and among sewing a mini skirt for my sister before she goes on her honeymoon at the end of the month, and figuring out how to sew a shield, sword, tunic and belt for my littlest one's 2nd birthday next Friday (oh, that's a whole other post). I just wanted to share something that I've finally completed for me! That's right boys and girls - Mama's got a brand new bag!

Construction is basically the same as the Ulti-mom bag with a few design changes. Different shape, single pieces for the outside of the bag, grommets to hold up the straps (cool!) and a zipper added to the center pocket. Throw in a few coordinating little pouches and mama's ready to go!
Check it out:

 Sweet fabric I picked up from Ikea!

Grimm swapping

I've been participating in and organising a swap on my fave website Craftster for myself and other fans of  NBCs new show Grimm. There was a fair amount of interest, but due to timing etc, we've had a relatively small group for the swap. I'll admit - since it was my first time organising a swap on Craftster, I was relieved to have a small-ish group.

I did, however, go BIG when it came to crafting for this swap.

I LOVE fairy tales. I LOVE Grimm's stories, and I LOVE the new show Grimm which draws a little upon those stories, but gives it a quirky kind of twist. And I am completely, hilariously in love with one of the characters: Monroe.

Now, Monroe is the "big bad wolf"... only he's not so big, and he's not bad anymore. On the show they call them "Blutbad" (which is German for bad blood) but he says he's "reformed". Whatever the case may be, he's got some of the best lines I've heard on TV in a while.

I decided to make a few things for my partner:
1) A shell necklace similar to the one Nick buys for Juliette from the street kids in the episode Organ Grinder

Make It Yerself!

Update: Erin pointed out to me that this tutorial was missing some pretty important steps. (Uh, like HALF of them!) How embarrassing!!! So I have updated this post with a much better, COMPLETE tutorial. Sorry readers! And thanks Erin!

I complain about my purse a LOT. Most of the time it's while I'm rummaging around in the bottom, trying to find that secret corner - which I'm pretty sure actually contains a passage to Narnia because... honestly, WHERE do things go? - that my lip gloss, change purse, sunglasses, keys, etc have slipped into because they're "TOTALLY not IN here! Stupid stupid purse!" and then I say that I need 3 compartments, and I need LOTS of pockets, and I HATE when they put a zipper on the top of a purse, because, seriously, they're never strong enough... blah blah blah....

Well - I got spoiled this Christmas - my in-laws and husband's grandmother gave me a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW sewing machine! Whoopee!

So, I finally decided that I wasn't going to complain about my purse anymore, I was just going to sew it myself. So I did.

Now, I've sewn a few things.... mostly straight lines to be honest. I've NEVER sewn a bag, let alone a bag with lining.... but hey - go big or go home right? Okay, technically I was already HOME, but you get the point.

I buckled down, made up a pattern, and just went for it. And so I give you - The ULTI-MOM bag. Think Ultimate + Mom = Ulti-Mom

 

Looks pretty good huh?