On Trend–Shorts with Tights

I thought this was going to be a quick little project.  Nope.  But I guess it was worth the effort because I actually love them.

When I first was trying to decide what to wear with my new shorts and tights, I kept leaning towards this black turtle neck sweater.  It works, but I’m wishing I had a big statement necklace on to add a pop of color.

So next up I tried mixing prints and adding a pop of color with a cranberry colored cardigan.  I think I like this look better.

From pants that were never worn into winter shorts.

And you might be asking yourself why this project took so long?  Because the pants were sized to fit my thighs exactly.  And since I don’t have skinny thighs but still wanted the shorts to flare out, I had to add panels to each side.  If you look closely you can see the panel in this picture.

Then I sewed on the fold over hem separately so that it could be wider than the pants themselves.  This added additional and more complex steps.  Hind sight, I should have just widened the panel at the hem point and then folded up the hem…would have been much much easier.

A Sly Plaid Fox

It’s all about plaid this fall.  I wanted to make a “grandpa style” sweater with a little bit of plaid and a cute little fox.  This is what I came up with.

This was the first time he had tried the shirt on, it needs a little adjustment…it’s a tad too big right now.

I came up with the idea for the pants, knowing I wanted something to coordinate and also wanting to use up fabric I had on hand.

I did use a pattern for the base of the pants.  I added the contrasting pockets and quilted knee pads.  If I could do things over, I would add a little extra width in the waist (I took too much out while adjusting for my skinny guy) and I placed the knee pads a little too low.

This sly fox did not want his picture taken.

He may have gotten fox and wolf confused…he kept wanting to howl at the moon.

And with this senior picture pose…we say goodbye.

Upcoming Projects

It’s that time of year when you can start thinking about Halloween costumes.  And if you actually want handmade costumes for your family, it’s the time you actually need to start working on them.

I have Bella’s pretty much complete as most of hers will be store bought, and in fact we already own the main part.  In the tradition of doing family costumes, I have come up with mine to coordinate with hers.

I have been eyeing this black dress every time I see it online and wanting to get one for myself.  I think I have figured out a way to work it into my Halloween costume.  Plus I hope it will be nice enough to become a LBD I can wear over and over.  And in usual fashion instead of buying one, I plan to make one.

A trend that keeps popping up in pictures is tights worn with shorts.  I do not like wearing shorts, but for some reason I am completely drawn to these looks.

So I have an old pair of wool pants that I never wear. 

It’s on my project list to change these into shorts and try them out with some black tights.

On Trend–Animal Prints

I thought I would take a leap into a trend that has been around for a little while…animal prints.

I sewed up this little top using a silk charmeuse leopard print from fabric.com (it was only sale for $2.99/yd).

I plan to wear it out for date night tonight.  Now the only question is, what to wear over it.

Peplum Top

I have a really easy fix that anyone can do.  If you have an old dress laying around that has a defined waist, it’s an easy target to become a peplum top.

Remember this dress.

I had originally bought it for a Halloween costume.  And I even wore it for work a couple of times.  Then I tried to paint it and transformed it into this dress.

Except, I didn’t really like the paint job on it.  So I always had it in the back of my mind that this would make a great transition into a peplum top.  And lucky for me burgundy is one of the top colors this fall.

Today was not a great day for taking pictures.  The one above was the only decent one I took.  Here I’ll show you.

 

Note to self:  Be careful to stand straight or your boobs look saggy in this top.

 

It’s windy out, and how many times do I need to tell the dog to go lay down…outside of the shot.

 

Why hasn’t this camera taken the picture yet…oops there it went.

 

Is this really what I look like when I am just standing there and not smiling…all I can say is how unfortunate.

 

In theory I liked the jacket…looking at the picture it might be more balanced if I had on boots.

I’m curious to see if I will get more use out of it, now that it is a top instead of a dress.

Silky Cotton Candy Tunic

I started making another little shirt for Bella.  I want to give this girl more options than simple cotton t-shirts from Target.

I wanted to make a simple white tunic and then add some embroidered embellishments at the bottom.  Something reminiscent of the old fashioned button candy.  Trying to use up fabric I had on hand, I choose a white shiny voile.

And I mean this thing shines.  It actually looks like it should be more special occasion, and would even be a great option as a christening gown.

I held off on adding the colored embellishment for now.  Here is sort of how I envision it would be if I added it, except maybe smaller circles and two rows of dots.  With the shine this shirt puts off, I just don’t think color is the way to go, I think it leans itself more towards something metallic.

Little leopard leggings anyone?  Or maybe even some Christmas plaid pants and have it be seasonal?  We shall see.

Team Spirit

It’s been in the upper 90’s around here for the past couple of weeks.  We are attending our first football game this coming weekend.  I have lots of Nebraska apparel, mostly cold weather appropriate, because most of football season it’s cold around here.  But for the first few games it’s always incredible warm.  I have been searching for a Nebraska tank top for awhile.  But all the ones available seem to be bedazzled.  And that’s not bad, it’s just not for me.  Not to mention anything sporting related always has a huge price tag.  I am guilty of buying too many $70 sweatshirts…I just love them.

I’ve noticed the trend in team wear is getting really cutesy for women.  Dresses, skirts, chevrons, jewels, etc.  I feel that in my stage of life (i.e not in college anymore) I really can’t pull that stuff off.  I tend to lean towards more geometric prints.  So I decided to sew up a striped tank for myself.

It took a lot longer than I thought it would.  Not really because it took that long to sew, but because I haven’t had any free time to work on it.  I just finished it up today, and now the weather forecast has Saturday being nice and cool, highs in the 70’s.

Looks like I will be adding on some layers.

And really with that weather it might be hard to pull off sandals.  Which means I might have to wear tennis shoes.  My biggest problem is, I don’t feel like I can pull off the skinny jean/sneaker look.

Then again, I will probably have a sweatshirt on at some point, so maybe I will just have to bring a change in shoes…that just might be getting a little too high maintenance for football!

I guess I still have a few more days to figure it all out….but it better include the new tank top, even if all you see is the bottom poking out!

Oliver & S Popover Dress

Bella’s birthday is coming up soon.  The child needs new clothes.  There is a sew along going on, and the first week’s challenge is to remake the Oliver & S Popover Dress.  It’s a free download and a super easy pattern to sew along with.

Oliver & S Popover dress free pattern

I decided to keep it pretty simple, although I wanted to make it into a shirt, since we seem to get more use out of shirts versus dresses around here.

The stripe fabric is an old shirt of Jesse’s that I tried to adjust for myself but wasn’t happy with it, so I cut it out again and made it into a shirt for Bella.

I highly suggest you download the pattern and sew one up for a little girl in your life!