The Bun Hat

Hello Readers. Have you ever wanted to wear a hat but your bun got in the way? I know there are bigger problems in the world. But sometimes as a mom I need to put a hat on and run out the door. And sometimes I need to put my hair in a messy bun. When those 2 things intersect it can cause a problem. What I needed was a hat with room for the bun.

I started with this plain black hat. It was $1 at Walmart.

I marked the top of the hat with chalk.

I cut the top of the hat out with sharp scissors. That left me with a raw cut edge.

 I wanted to use this bias tape to cover that cut edge.

Did I try to use my machine to sew the bias tape on the hat? Yes, I did! It was easy to sew through the hat.You could sew this by hand or even hot glue it.

This is the hat with a bun hole on the top.

Here is my daughter modeling the bun hat for me. (I had a lot of trouble getting a good picture of the back of my own head.) The bun fits nicely out of the top of the hat.

 ***The Slippers***

Its cold y'all. Really really cold. I will be wearing these boot slippers every minute I am at home. They were designed to be folded down but I wanted them up to keep more of my legs covered and warm. But they had a rough seam hidden under that folded down fur. I decided to cover that seam and add a bow for fun.

Thanks for reading along now go make something fun for yourself.

The Summer Dress in Winter

Hello Readers. I found myself with a pair of soft corduroy pants. I honestly can't remember where they came from. I liked the light blue color a lot though. I also got a striped tank dress in the same light blue. So what did I do? I put them together.

These corduroy pants were great but they were approximately 12 inches too long. This is usually how it goes for me. Short girl=Short legs

My daughter gave me this dress because it was difficult to wear. The racer back was too low to work with any bra. (Yes, I tried it on with all my bras.) I decided it would be better as an under layer. It would be warm and if the bra peeked out no one would know.

 
When my daughter handed me this simple white V-neck sweater, I had an outfit idea.

I took a lot of fabric off the length of these pants and made a new hem. I made them a little more narrow through the legs too. I thought I could remove the pockets from the front but you can see the corduroy was permanently marked by the pockets. Easy-peasy!

I cut the dress in the middle so I had a shirt. It would make a great layering piece and it would fill in the deep V-neck of the white sweater. What about that lower part of the dress?

The bottom of the dress made a perfect infinity scarf. I wear a scarf almost everyday in the winter. I hate to be cold.

The whole combo was easy to wear and cozy in the cold weather.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

My Texas Tuxedo

Hello Readers. Have you ever heard of a Texas tuxedo? That is what I call a denim shirt with jeans. Denim head-to-toe. I'm not sure if that is really what cowboys wear in Texas but that is what I tried to make. I wanted it to be a little more on the feminine side than the cowboy side. You can let me now how I did in the comments.

This shirt was so lovely. I loved the light denim color. It would match everything right? I loved the ruffled neckline and the bow in the back. The shirt was a little big in the body and the neckline was too open and low. I couldn't wear it without flashing people. That isn't the look I was going for.

I took some of the excess fabric from the sides to make the shirt a little smaller. But that didn't help the neckline very much at all.

I decided to add some thin elastic to the back of the shirt on each side of the bow. I stretched the elastic as I stitched it to the neckline. When I was done the elastic gathered in a bit and pulled the neckline in the back of the shirt together. I was also going to add some the elastic to the front but...

I didn't need to. The neckline was much higher and my Texas tuxedo was ready to go.

 

Yee-haw!
 (I know this isn't a cowboy hat but it's the best I could do.)

 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Poncho to Kimono

Hello Readers. Check out this poncho. It is so pretty. It made me think of peacock feathers. I think it is one of those "One Size Fits All" things that really only looks good on like 3 real human people. And I am not one of those people.

Holy butterfly wings Batman! I could have made this into a butterfly costume for Halloween. But I didn't and it's too late now. I decided to make a kimono style jacket with real sleeves. I thought that would fit me better and be more useful too.

I cut out fabric from the slides to make a boxy body shape and to remove the seams that connected the front and back. I used my sewing machine to make the new side seams. I made the sleeves as long as possible. The sides had a pretty edge that I liked so I kept it on the ends of the sleeves. I also cut down the center to open it up like a jacket. I stitched the raw edges under and I was done.

I noticed that these green mid-rise corduroy pants matched the green at the hem of the poncho. I decided that meant this was a good time to resize them and start wearing them. The weather is getting cooler and they have been sitting waiting for me for months.

I took a little off the sides and shortened them about 5 inches.(#shortgirlproblems) They had a higher waist.

I really liked the open kimono. It is still loose but not overwhelming. It still has all those blues and greens that made me like it in the beginning.

Thanks for reading along now go make something fun for yourself.

It Has Pockets!

Hello Readers. My daughter gave me this dress. I liked the slate blue-gray color. I also loved the pockets. Don't you hate it when you don't have pockets? Women carry stuff too. We need pockets!

This dress was a little blah. The waist belt/sash would help but the round neck was too low on me. I must have small shoulders. If a shirt fits me in the chest then the neck is too low. If the neck fits then the chest is too tight. (You can understand why I am always refashioning my clothes. They don't fit.)

I decided to fold the dress in on itself in the front and back like a box pleat. That would gather the neckline in without making the chest tighter. I used my dress form and pinned the dress together in a way I thought would fit me.

I used my sewing machine to do the actual sewing. I stitched the neckband down so it would stay flat. Then I added a pretty button to dress it up a little.

This button did not photograph well. Here is a close up. It added a little pop of blue and some bling.

I liked the fit and the neck was higher. I could lean over without flashing everyone.

 

***PART 2 ***
This gray backpack has been around for quite a while. It was the bag I carried when my little guy was in his terrible 2 stage. I needed a backpack so my hands would be free to carry him out of a store kicking and screaming. It was great for that.

It also has a shoulder strap so I could carry it like a purse. The backpack straps seemed like too much for me now. There were straps everywhere. I didn't need all these straps all over the place. So what did I do?

I cut them off. I just used sharp scissors and started cutting. The cut edge was very visible so I used a gray permanent marker to make it blend in a little more.

It worked pretty well as you can see in the photo below. I really liked the bag without the extra straps in my way.

The dress and the bag were perfect for going to a parent-teacher conference. Does every parent get nervous about that kind of meeting? (It went very well.)

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- I loved this dress. It was not heavy enough for winter but it will be back in spring. The bag is great too. Very roomy when I want to carry everything.