summer swimming in glen lake

Here's what we have been doing. See Sleeping Bear Dunes in the background? We enjoyed a lovely week at the cottage and plan to go back soon with more extended family. We swam even though it was a bit chilly - does that ever stop you when you're little? I remember swimming until our teeth chattered behind our blue lips and someone made us come up on the dock.

I'm so happy little f can go fishing with uncles and cousins, sitting for meals at the picnic table with everyone and play with everyone. We are so very lucky!

This also means a lot less computer time for me, so I'll post when I can... keep sewing and recycling!

thunderstorms at dinnertime

What do you do when the power goes out, just as you are about the chop the kale for dinner? And you have an electric stove? I guess we could have tried to find the camp stove, but instead we opted for a candlelit cereal dinner. Little f decided that he could just wear his headphones, since his mad drumming didn't stop the thunder from coming...

{this moment} mr. personality

One extraordinary moment from this week that I want to savor and remember.

What inspired you this week? Share your link in the comments.

Inspired by Amanda Blake Soule at soulemama.

School's out for the teacher (T), time for family summer fun!

Have a great weekend!

recycled+revamped little girls party dress to elastic waist party skirt!

This sweet little dress belongs to my niece, but she outgrew it and we wanted to use the fabric to make something that she could still wear. It was a 4. My sister and I measured one of her skirts and then I decided to cut it off below the zipper and add an elastic waist to make it more of a 6/7.

The waistband is a piece of an old t-shirt, about 3" wide and about 25" long. Again, this measurement was figured based on measuring an existing skirt. Using 1/2" elastic, I measured out at a piece that is about 3/4 as long as the waistband, overlapped the ends and stitched them together. Then I folded the waistband, right sides together and stitched the two ends together.

First, I folded the waistband and inserted the elastic. Using binder clips, I clipped the seams first and then clipped it again about halfway between the seams.

Then I used a stitch length of 4 to make a long basting stitch in both the lining and outer layers of the skirt, stitching the front and then stopping and starting again to stitch the back. Then I gently pulled one of the threads on the front to gather the skirt, and repeated on the back.

Then I attached the waistband to the skirt using the clips, starting at the seams and adjusting the gathers to fit.

And then I stitched the waistband and skirt together. It was a quick little project and turned out great!

Now it has a soft stretchy waistband that should fit for quite a while. It will be so cute with leggings and a t-shirt or a little sweater with tights and maryjanes!

hooded sweatshirt to hoodie revamp!

As I work my way through the ever growing to-do stack in my studio, I discovered this hooded sweatshirt that I got a few years ago at hoxeyville. While nursing, it was a challenge and I came up with the idea of adding a zipper. I tried it on another sweatshirt, adding a 7" zipper at the top, which was not quite enough. So, when I came up on a fleece vest with just the right size zipper, I cut it off and sewed it onto this!

Cutting a straight line up the middle of the sweatshirt was the challenging first step, but I was feeling gutsy and I really wanted a hoodie, so I started with cutting the ribbing from the sleeves and then went for it. Sewing it on was a little tricky and you can see that it bunched a little where the printing stuck to my presser foot. I lined the hood by tracing it out onto the cotton fabric, cutting it out and sewing the pieces together. Then I ironed the edges under 1/2", matched up the seams and sewed the lining to the hood.

Of course, the sleeves were too short, so I added the sleeves from another shirt to make arm warmers. It's super cozy, my favorite "old" sweatshirt now!

What are you revamping?

recycled+revamped baby clothes

Here are some of the recycled+revamped baby clothes that I sent to my friend in Baltimore. Sounds like it might be a boy, but since it's unclear, I tried to keep it neutral. Maybe you will be inspired to add some embellishments as well.

recycled chef hat

While we are talking about kitchens and hats, I thought I would show you the hat I made for little f at the hat workshop at the community sewing studio. It is made from a white dress shirt and a t-shirt.

Basically, I used a large dinner plate to cut out two large circle pieces. Then I took a smaller plate and cut it out of the center of one of the large circle pieces and then sewed the two large circles together.

Guessing at the size, I cut a strip of t-shirt about 5-6" wide and long enough to go almost around my own head. After stitching the short ends together, I folded it in half, so both raw edges were together. Matching this up to the inner circle in the hat, and stretching a bit to fit, I sewed the band onto the hat and ta-day! It looks great with his wood-grain apron too.

My little chef was so excited, he made me some vegetable stew and tea while baking some cookies. I even helped him reorganize and clean the upper shelf in his kitchen. We added a strong, shallow basket tray underneath to contain some of the extra stuff that was stuffed into the "refrigerator" under the sink.

Sweet play kitchen revamp from squirrels in wren's nest!

It all started with this cabinet which was scavenged from the alley. One of my creative friends and fellow blogger, Ashlea, made this sweet little kitchen for her daughter's second birthday. I love the fabric panels onthe bottom and the modern faucet! It even has a tile backsplash and coordinates with their kitchen, which I understand is awaiting a similar transformation, or at least a stove...