Mittens Made from Sweaters

Pic from Mossymossy.com and tutorial can be found here.

A few weeks ago I was at the dentist office waiting in the reception area for my appointment.  I over heard my dental assistant going chatting on and on with a woman patient about the mittens she makes out of old sweaters.  The gal was selling her mittens to the office employees and she mentioned how ticked she was that a gal from a church bought a pair, copied them, and then started the whole church making them for fundraising.  The only thought in my head was, "Man, I wish I could just get a glimpse of her mittens so I could make some too."  Well, I never did catch a glance, so I have to resort to the internet.  I found this great tutorial on Mossymossy.com which looks like a really fun blog to peruse through.  The directions look very clear to follow, but I just am waiting for an opportunity to run out to Goodwill and pick up some wool sweaters.  Good Luck if you make these.

Turkey Shirts

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is almost here already.  We got our first snow this weekend and managed to venture out in the blizzard to go to the fabric store-which proved to be the thing to do because we hardly had to wait in line to get our fabric cut when usually it takes up to thirty minutes to get fabric cut.  I orginally saw a version of these shirts on Pinterest and thought to that I could make something even more fantastic.  My first idea was going to be to sew felt on for the bird's beak, eyes, and feather; but then I just tried out painting free hand and it was much easier then sewing small pieces on.  I dyed the onesies brown using RIT dark brown dye on the stove top.  The dyeing part was the most fun so I'm looking forward to experimenting dye even more. 

Homemade Baby Girl Shoes

 This past weekend I worked on making a pair of cute shoes for my niece.  I found this awesome tutorial to make some cute ruffled slip on shoes. Click on the picture to go to her website fleetingthing.com.  The tutorial was very clear and concise.  I added about a half inch to the pattern to make the longer.  I had some issues with the sewing machine when I was making the ruffles so I just used some elastic on the back.  I ended up realizing that these shoes were going to be a bit too small for my chunky niece (22 Ibs at 6 months) so I didn't spend as much time on the details as I should have and Colby had to take one for the team and try on girl shoes.  

Here's mine made from one of my husband's old dress shirts. 

Update Baby Shoes

Alright,
I got around to trying to make one of the shoes from the tutorials. I tried the 'Little Man Shoes' and the tutorial was awful.  Well, the tutorial was really fine, but the pattern wasn't clear at all.  I was making the 6-12 Month size and it said to cut and add length, but didn't specify as to how much so I assumed to was the half an inch that I added every where else and I was very wrong.  The buckle doesn't even cover his feet.  I'm hoping to get them right soon.

Baby Shoes Tutorials

I've been working on making some little booties for Colby.  He's not quite to the walking stage so he doesn't need real shoes and these will keep his feet warm when we take him for walks in the stroller.  Many of the tutorials I ran across looked especially cute for little girls but I had a hard time finding some for baby boys.  Here's a list of the best ones I found:
Shwinandswin@blogspot.com

Pic from here Tutorial here

homespun-threads.com

Pic from here tutorial here

homespun-threads.com

Pic from here tutorial here

stardustshoes.blogspot.com

Pic from here tutorial here

HELLOmynameisHeather.typepad.com

Pic from here tutorial here

New Look

I've been stuck in a rut as far as style goes for quite a while.  I've always dreamed of being the well dressed one at a party, the one people look to for fashion advice, the person not afraid to mix pattern, sheen, and textures.  Alas, I am the one that blends in with the wall most days, wearing clothes from several years ago-most of which were bought by my mother-in-law.  I worry what I would wear was it not for her (she buys me nice things) but I just don't go out of my way to go shopping, especially now that I have my little man to tote around.  I decided the other day, after another long look into the mirror at my brassy dyed hair, frumpy jeans, and baggie shirt, that it was time to make a change, if not now, when.  Well, that's what I said when I decided to dye my hair blonde, and that didn't really turn out, so hopefully this will be a better outcome.  Here's a few looks that I think I have always envisioned for myself.  I've got to start the transformation with an awesome pair of boots-that's where I will start.

Here's an example of an outfit I would love, laid back yet bright and put together from Anthropologie:

Yet more from Pinterest:

and another: