The sewing family thing continues to work out really well. Ryan made this cycling cap for Scott from an online Cycling Cap Pattern that we found. He picked out the fabric himself, cut it, sewed it, and gave to daddy for his birthday. It's worn under the bike helmet....or you can flip up the visor to look cool:

Also, again frustration for me with my sewing machine....it wouldn't switch stitches. I tried this, I tried that, I finally threw up my hands and said...Ryan, can you please try? It probably took him 3 minutes to get it to work. I love my little sewing technician.

The Pledge

I, Laurie, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed Laurie

Hmmm.....what have I done? While I've been dabbling for awhile, I'm giving myself a kick in the butt to stay focused. I have so many half/quarter/not-finished sewing projects it's crazy. I still haven't lost my desire for creating some kind of sewing circle, but haven't quite figured that one out yet either. So be forewarned.....if you get a phone call/e-mail from me you may want to clear a Sunday afternoon......

So here's my first project. Now it just so happens that I completed it just as I joined up so I'm counting it.

And in fact, it's the 2nd refashion of this sweatshirt. My first issue was that this plain, black sweatshirt was waaaaay too big for me. But because it supports my daughter's halau, I really wanted to wear it. So first I actually took some old pajama pants in a pretty, silky fabric and replaced the arms. I loved the fact that I reused pj's that were too big AND cut down the sweatshirt to fit a bit better at the same time. But unfortunately it didn't go over too well....the asian-inspired, black & white fabric pattern wasn't loved by the hula kumu. And while I could have kept it and been rebellious, that's not in keeping with halau culture. So I decided to find a nice island print that we can all be happy about. And because I had already put on the pinkish ruffle on the bottom (from an old skirt....again - too big), I really love how the new fabric colors tie together with sleeves, ruffles, etc.

I basically just detached the sleeves and cuffs, cut fabric to the same size, layered new fabric on top of sleeves to keep warmth, and sewed it all back together. Because I cut down the sizing of the sweatshirt, I had to gather the sleeves at the top to create a little "cap" or whatever. Clearly I'm a beginner and don't have appropriate terminology or technique....but I'm giving it a go. And I don't have to wear a boring black sweatshirt.

Recipe for a basketball jersey:

1. Find out Thursday night that Friday is Jersey day at Hoops Camp.

2. Be told by your 9-year-old son that his favorite player is Kobe Bryant (huh? has he ever even seen a Lakers game? oh well)

3. Look online to see what a Lakers jersey looks like.

4. Look for appropriate existing clothing and fabric in gold and purple.

5. Find some:

(Mom's old muscle-T - waaaay too big for mom now...how's it gonna fit him?)

(Ry's old shirt....too small now)

(Mom's old sports top......really really really old and not used anymore)

6. Check for appropriate size by looking at appropriate-fitting tank.

7. Start cutting.

8. Go online and find a Lakers logo and Kobe's name and number and download them, then print them out on cotton laser printer paper that you happen to always keep around.

9. Sew, baby, sew!

And voila:

(Tried to place name and number low enough so hair didn't cover it....turned out a little too low - oh well)

Look, it ain't perfect but it made a 9-year-old very happy....especially when somebody at camp did something wrong and the coaches made all the kids who had NON-California team jerseys do push-ups... he was thrilled.

Finally! I finished Si's costume last Friday, in time for the weekend dress-up activities. Guess it pays to know yourself well enough to plan two months to finish something that could be done in 2 weeks if enough attention was paid to it. Ry's costume was easy....bop into the store, find it, bop out.....he knew exactly what he wanted to be for the last 3 months. He has a book on a day in the life of a police officer (a real one), so he can tell you all the things that happen during a shift in Cambridge, Mass. Si was riding her bike on Saturday afternoon (no training wheels anymore!) and fell and scraped up one knee so we thought that was perfect since mermaids can accidently get too close to coral and get scraped up tails and fins. Anyway, it was a lovely Halloween - a good time was had by all.

Aargh.....this is my dining room table filled with all pieces cut out for Si's halloween costume. Can you guess what she's going to be? Of course she would have been perfectly happy picking out an Ariel costume, but mommy couldn't have any evil Disney costumes in the house (why does a parent always have to die in their movies?) so here we are. Why so early? Because believe me, I'll still be working on it at the last second the day before Halloween. One stitch at a time. So this is a call for anyone who would like to do any stitch n' *itch sessions.....come to my house with your sewing machine or I'll come to yours. We'll have coffee, tea, or whatever and muddle our way through a sewing project. Those quilting bees and knitting circles are onto something......but I can't go that route just yet.