A crafty day

Today was a great crafty day -- even better, it was an Altered You! day. First I did some errands including a stop at my local craft store. Much to my surprise, they had two copies of Altered You! on display. I offered to sign them, and then I showed them all projects in the book that used supplies from their store. How fun.

After errands, I sat down to craft. I ignored cleaning and all the nagging things calling to me, and set aside some time to just work. Here's what I made:

Warmup project #1 Hair jewelry. I found this project on the Bluelines website (don't even get me started on how much I miss that magazine and how sad I am that this is about the only thing Martha didn't succeed at). Here's the link to the project. Here are my versions, modeled by the lovely Meredith (don't you wish you had her hair??)

The first one is a vintage pearl button (sorry about the glare) and the second one is a faux gold JHB button.

Warm up project #2: My younger daughter received the cutest pair of pajamas (when she was seven) from her best friend. She has been wearing them ever since, and now she's 13! Needless to say, she finally busted through the hip seams and we thought all was lost. But wait! It's the perfect altering opportunity. Here's the before:

Note the flared capri leg... it comes in handy in a few minutes.

I cut one leg off at about mid thigh. I turned it inside out, and sewed a double seam across the bottom. Then, I turned what used to be the bottom of the leg over by half and sewed around. This made a perfect channel for a drawstring, and I only had to sew one seam. No turning edges. Then, turn the whole thing right side out, and run a ribbon through the channel. Here's the end result: She now has a cute drawstring bag to hold her hairbrush and comb for the next sleepover. I can't wait to give it to her when she comes home from band camp!

Now that I was all warmed up, it was time to really work. The first order of business was to take my jeans that were about and inch too short to be wearable and alter them up into a pair of summer capris. (This same project is in Altered You! to solve the growth spurt clothing problem.) I trimmed about 12 inches from the bottom, and added a border of fabric to cover the raw edge. Here I am, modeling my new creation:

What's next, you ask? Of course there's more. I was also having trouble with this great bag I picked up a few years ago at Urban Outfitters. I really had to have it. It spoke to me, and whispered how useful it would be on shopping trips, when I needed to stash small purchases, or for basketball games, when I needed to bring extra water bottles, or for whenever I needed some expandable space. I listened to it, and most likely paid more that I should. I carried it dutifully, but what happened was that as I walked, the bag would bounce and spin on my hip and before I knew it the rope handles had spun together and were slowly cutting off my circulation. Slave to fashion that I am, though, I continued to carry it despite the quite obvious design flaw. Here's the bag:

And here are some Martha Stewart kitchen towels from Kmart (love, love, love Martha, except for that Blueprint/Bluelines thing).


And, here's my solution to the spinning rope handles:

Have you had enough? Thanks for letting me share. Now, I better get those chores done.