Challenge Accepted

Welcome back everyone! I'm back from my self imposed bloggers' maternity leave. I gave myself the intimidateing challenge of making a coat this month.

So here it is. It's not perfect but I overcame heaps of sewing fear to make it and I'm super excited to toss my old coat which literally (not figuratively) is ripping apart at the seams.

I came up with a list of must haves in my ideal winter coat and had a hard time finding a pattern to match everything. My coat needed to have:

• a hood
• front slant pockets
• thumb holes
• enough length to cover my bum
• a zipper
• stretch side panels
• be dark grey in color (This was surprisingly hard to find. There is a lot of black fabric in the coating world but I wanted to wear it with navy pants. Being my mother's daughter, I can not wear black and navy together.)

I knew if I was going to spend my precious time and money on making and not buying a coat I would need to check every "must-have" box. I went with the Jalie2795 hooded jacket pattern. The pattern calls for stretch fabric but I used non-stretch Polartech Windbloc fleece from Peak Fabrics for most of the exterior of the coat.  I also used their fleece for the soft interior of the jacket. *A note about Peak Fabrics. Their customer service is amazing! I spent half an hour on the phone deciding on fabrics while their rep texted me pictures of the fabrics in different color combos. They also sell Jalie patterns so they knew exactly what I was trying to accomplish. This is the type of individual attention that means the world to me!

Now, this pattern did not call for a lining so I added two sizes to account for the lack of stretch and the extra fluff of the fleece. I also added four inches in length to the front of the jacket and six inches in length to the back giving it a curved hem.

Here are a few of my inspirational photos from Athleta. I can proudly say I made my jacket for less than these would have cost and am so thrilled to have accepted my own challenge to make a winter coat.

Floral and Fawn Nursery

Welcome to my baby girl's nursery!

Literally, within a day of finding out I was having a girl I already knew exactly what I wanted her nursery to look and feel like.

I had to show you this screenshot of my nursery inspiration.
 Clearly I did not sleep the night I found out about her.

 There are so many sweet details that are near to my heart. I'm thrilled to get to show these to you.

FURNITURE! I had this old steamer trunk for over a year before I even got pregnant 'knowing' it would be for a future kiddo. Since finding out the gender I stripped off the fabric and painted it pink.

LIL BABY CLOTHES! My mama knit these sweaters. Some of the outfits are from mother in law The rest are hand me downs from my neighbor girl (whom I adore).

FELT! Hi, have we met? I never pass up an opportunity to make felt flowers. I love that crown.

ART! This art was perfectly made with my daughter in mind by my cousin and legit artist, Holly.

FABRICS! I fell in love with Hawthorne Threads' Fawn collection and used it to make sheets, changing pad covers, a boppy cover, pillow cases, and a blanket.

I already love my daughter so much and hope someday she can appreciate the time I put into doing this for her. For now I'm just WAITING to meet her. While I wait I thought I'd share some prayer requests and you could join me in praying for this baby. This is what her daddy and I have consistently been praying for her:

1) That she would be born naturally, healthily, without issue and would be able to breastfeed well.
2)That she understand the Gospel (life, death, and resurrection of Christ) and place her faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior at a young age.
3) That God give her genuine friendships throughout her life and those friends would be good examples.
4) If it's the Lord's will that she be married, that God already be preparing a husband who LOVES Jesus and is kind, patient, and humble. (Honestly, I'd be happy if she found a man who is half as sweet as her daddy is to me.)

I really just wanted to share some pics and prayers in this post but in the next one I'll show some before and after shots and links to tutorials that were helpful to me.

5 maternity outfits for $20

I can think of no other time in my life when I A) Desperately want to save money and B) Need a completely new and temporary wardrobe. And this amazing time is PREGNANCY.

I hope this post is an encouragement to any fellow penny pinches because I just got five entire maternity outfits for (about) $20! I happen to think these are pretty cute but you can be the judge.

1) Gap flowy shirt 2.99 and Old Navy jeans $0.69

2) Old Navy tee $0.69 and Gap jeans in LONG $6.99
(Thank you body twin for donating these, you made my pregnancy)

3) Gap top $2.24 and Liz Lange skinny jeans $0.69

4) Old Navy tee $0.69 and Old Navy shorts $0.69

5) Old Navy dress $4.99

For a grand total of $20.66 (pre-tax)!!! I feel like I should take a bow. Someone else thinks this is cool right?! Some frugal thrifter out on the interwebs?

Here's how I do what I do: I went to my neighborhood Salvation Army two Saturdays in a row. And any thrifter knows on Saturday you get the $0.69 deal. Depending on what color the "tag of the week" is, you can literally buy anything with that color of tag for almost seventy cents! And there is always a second color tag that is 25% off, which is still pretty nice. Just for a little perspective of just how much moola I kept, that one pair of Gap jeans would have cost me $74.95 and they look like they've never been worn. To whomever donated a pair of Gap pants in 4 LONG...thank you!!!

I also work as a nurse and needed a "new" complete set of nursing scrubs. I'm already a difficult size to fit because of my height but I really really didn't want to spend money on scrubs. Scrubs are thee least fun thing to spend money on. I checked e-bay on a biweekly basis as soon as I found out I was pregnant and was able to spot both pants and tops within 10 weeks for about half the price of brand new.

Completed Felt Quiet Book

 

I had the privilege of making the daughter, of one of my best friends, a felt book for her fourth birthday. It could not have made me happier watching her open it and seeing her play with each page over and over again!

I chose this cover because the birthday girl loves Lady Bug Girl.

I designed and created these first pages. Each word has a little pocket behind it that holds the pieces to decorate the tree according to the season. I used my Big Shot die cutting machine to cut out the letters and the leaf shapes.

This next page is one of my favorites. I got the pattern for this page from this blog. If you like felt books or quiet books at all you can spend a few hours getting lost in that blog AND the creator often has free patterns.

The little bucket holds the sand castle pieces which can be arranged in lots of different ways.

The particular four year old who got this book is crazy smart and loves Dumbo so I designed this page to be a bit of a learning page for her. I printed out a google image search of Dumbo and did the ol' trace and iron on freezer paper technique found here. I ended up tracing him in puff paint because I didn't think my hand stitching would be detailed enough.

This is the most fun way I could think of starting to learn fractions.

I chose a mail box for the last page because the lil girl who got this gift is my neighbor and loves to come over and check my mail box. I got the mail box pattern from my felt making idol, of course! I used Kam snaps to keep the birthday cake puzzle I created in place.

I'm working on a much simpler felt book for my baby on the way. I envision any of my future children having an overwhelming amount of handmade felt toys.

New Year New Resolution

At the beginning of 2016 I had the ambitious goal of making or altering all of my clothes, with the exception of socks and undies because...really. It's crazy how close I came to this goal. I gained oodles of valuable sewing skills and (hopefully) learned from lots of mistakes. I came "close" to this goal because I got pregnant and frankly could not sew fast enough to keep up with my changing body. This is mainly due to A) all my energy going towards growing a human and B) constant vomiting. (I have thrifted almost all my preggo gear which I'm sure you will see in future posts.)

First off, the good! I'd say the best part of this year is having some awesome clothes that fit better than anything store bought. Here are my favorite items from the year. The clothes I wore time and time again. They are ALL Jalie patterns. Because their patterns were doable and wearable, they have a brand loyal customer for life.

Also, pattern testing!!! I had the opportunity to pattern test FOUR patterns this year. Pattern testing was great because I got a peak "behind the curtain" into the world of designing patterns AND got four free patterns just by doing what I love.

Secondly, the bad. I have one big regret in my sewing extravaganza and that being buying clearance fabric. I kept thinking, "I'm new, I should't spend very much money on fabric. I could just mess it up." But truly, I found that using cheap and wonky fabrics messed things up more than I did. Often times I'd order the fabric online and never even use it. I paid much more care and attention when I was working with a quality fabric that I was actually excited about.

Lastly, the NEW. This year my goal is to master the art of royal icing and cookie decorating. I see it as a way to continue to fuel my creativity and learn something new. Days before the new year I attempted to make royal icing for the very first time. I made all the mistakes so I'd say I have a fun and hopefully tasty year ahead.

If you recognized these cookies as the dice you would use to play Dungeons and Dragons, congratulations! You are huge nerd and we would probably be great friends 😉

#49 Maternity Pattern Hack-times TWO

It's been my goal to have a homemade or thrifted maternity wardrobe. For one, I love the challenge and two, I value being frugal and saving money when I can. I've mostly accomplished this goal so far and I am okay with mostly accomplishing anything at this point. Does that sound like something a perfectionist would say? Guys, I'm growing! Pregnancy has been pretty rough, but I can see God working in my heart and character as I learn, "His grace is sufficient for me." I can't say I would have seen throwing up 10-15 times a day as a gift from God, but it has drawn me closer to Him, which is ultimately good.

I've blogged about the top on the left before

This Jalie pattern continues to be a favorite of mine. To make it maternity I used the scoop bottom that is normally only on the back of the shirt and put it on the front also. I heightened the neckline. I also lengthened the shirt by two inches (but I did that before I was preggo too). I finished it by adding 2 inches of elastic at the very bottom of my side seams.

You've seen the shorts version of the pants on the left 

I've had plenty of practice with the Chi Town Chino pattern. To make these "pregnancy ready" (below) I made a faux front pocket and zipper. This helped remove any extra bulk of fabric and helped lower the waist band to sit right under my bump. These are size 10 in the waist and hips and size 8 through the leg and I added my standard 2.5 inches to the inseam.

The fit is great but this fabric is WAY outside of my comfort zone. I got the pants fabric at a rummage sale for less than a buck and I harvested the elastic waist band off a pair of thrift store shorts I bought (also less than a buck). It was worth the $2.00 for the learning experience even if I don't wear these again. And truly, I'm just happy to have had the time and ENERGY to get these done.

#48 Romp around the Rockies

Rompers are cute. They are darling. They are an easy outfit. Ask any tall girl. WE CAN'T WEAR THEM.

Until now. 

This is the Hey June Patterns Sanibel romper (or Sanibel dress). This pattern was a joy to make. I don't know if it's because I've wanted a romper for so long, or I'm (finally) getting better at sewing, or the fact I learned a lot along the way. But man, I liked making this thing.

I used too stiff of an interfacing so it sticks out at the waist rather than lays flat.

I measured a size large. I added 2inches in length to the bodice and took off 1.25inches off the waist portion of the shorts. I have a large chest and a short waist. I did end taking the shorts in (probably to a size medium, which I should have just made from the start) When I make all these little tweaks I see why things never quite fit right in the past.