Category: Sewing

how to make a computer tote bag from an old blazer refashion

DIY Computer Tote: A New Life for an Old Blazer + a Tutorial

Once upon a time, I decided to attend my first blogging conference.  The Haven conference is a DIY & home decor blogger’s conference held annually in Atlanta, so it seemed like the right fit for my first event.  

It seemed likely that I’d start to feel a little intimidated at some point as a result of sharing airspace with hundreds of other talented and accomplished ladies (and a few gents, too) and decided that having a piece with me that reminded me of my own talents would be like walking around carrying a little shield, preventing feelings of self-doubt to penetrate my brain.  I also knew I’d need a bag to tote around note-taking materials and conference goodies.

It only made sense that I kill two birds with one stone and (re)fashion myself a new bag to fit these needs.  Continue reading →

Sweater Dress with Side Bow Refashion

 
wool side bow sweater dress refashion after photo

My aunt recently cleaned out her closet and sewing stash and gave me the equivalent of a few suitcases worth of beautiful clothes and fabrics.  Vintage clothing made of linen, wool, and silk, and yards upon yards of wool, velvet, and a few decorator fabrics.  This beautiful blue wool sweater dress demanded to be the first to receive a makeover.

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Beach Dress Refashioned from Wrap Skirt

I’d love to report that I’m working at my new desk in my new office, but unfortunately I am not.  It’s 58 degrees in there, so I have retreated to the kitchen table.  It’s unfortunate because my dislike of trying to work at the kitchen table was one of the reasons I was so motivated to transform the office space.  But the window unit is still sitting on the floor in front of the window and I’m cold-natured to begin with, so sitting at a desk would make it hard to type as the blood retreats from my fingers into the core to keep the vital organs working.  Kind of reminds me of sitting in my old office at my former job, which was at a gym, so it was always frigid.

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Doll Refashion: Maxi Dress from a Shirt Sleeve

Last week, I shared the DIY doll clothing rack I made for our friends’ little girl’s fifth birthday.  It was easy to make and turned out to be really cute, but without clothes on it, it just looked like a funny wooden basket.  So she’d immediately understand what it was, I made a few new clothing items for her new doll and hung them on it.
 
I started out by stitching up a couple elastic waist skirts, then created my first doll refashion from a scrap of a previous human refashion.

DIY Painted Initial Pillow

Hello and happy Harry Potter’s birthday!  This month really flew by and I can’t believe that August will begin tomorrow.  July was full of vacations and family time, but it’s back to the real world, and I’m excited to share a quick and easy little project that can add a lot of personality to any room.  I’ve been meaning to share it for about two months now, but when they go by as fast as July did, it’s hard to keep up!  

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Den Redesign: New Couch and Custom Pillows

It’s a cool rainy afternoon here, so I’ve opened up the windows to listen to nature’s soundtrack as I work.  It’s quite peaceful and a nice change.  But – let’s move on to the new couch and pillows!  Our couch was delivered in early March, so some of the new-ness has worn off (and Pipsqueek broke it in quickly by throwing up on it the day we got it…but I cleaned it right away and you can’t even see a stain!), but we’re both still very excited about it and the changes we’ve made in the den so far.

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