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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

1.31.2010

My last yellow and grey post for a while

What fun it has been to be on the lookout for yellow and grey projects for a while!  I got out a pile of my yellow trims and some grey tees that need embellishment, but haven't done anything with it yet... but I did get a cute shirt made out of an antique yellow linen tablecloth.
This tablecloth is from the Goodwill Outlet ($1 or so a pound), and had stains all over it, but I picked it up because I'm a sucker for antiques at that place.  I didn't know what I would do with it, but the linen is sooooo nice and the color is interesting!  Not what I would pick out normally, but I'm so glad I bought it since it was the perfect material for a knock off of this top that I took a picture of at Forever 21 a while ago:
I forgot to take a pic of the tablecloth in its unaltered state, but here are the scraps:
It was a medium-sized tablecloth but there were stains to work around, so I only barely had enough fabric.  I used this pattern, and added gathered floops on the front:
Here it is!
Because the linen has so much body, it feels a little too 3-D... I tried it on with a sweater.
I copied this from a Forever 21 shirt, and we know they copy everything from someone else, so this is sort of a three-steps down copy.  I know Forever 21 is cheap (the original probably was $19.80 or $24.80 or something), but mine cost... less than $1.  And I bought the pattern for 0.99 when McCalls were on sale.  I am cheap.  And eco-friendly, to reuse fabric!
It has been really fun jumping on the Week of Yellow and Grey bandwagon... thanks again, Natalie!
2 comments

1.30.2010

Frumpy shirt makeover--super easy tutorial!

Take a look at this super easy tutorial for refashioning a storebought garment.  You can totally do this!
I bought this cute print top at Old Navy last week--darling yellow and grey print, but awful shaping.  Look at the dumpy sleeves and baggy shape.  It was on clearance and all the clearance stuff was 50% off, so it was like $6.
The flutter sleeves made my arms feel fat.  And there's no shape in the bodice!  Hello, waist?  But I love the fabric and the collar/yoke detail.  So here's a tutorial and some simple tips to alter storebought tops.  With all the nice finishing they do, it can be hard to make changes to garments without making them look off.  I've seen some pretty bad home alteration jobs on things at Goodwill, but those mistakes are avoidable!  Check out my pictures and tutorial:
  • I'm going to get rid of the sleeves on this top and finish the edges.  Leaving enough fabric to be turned over with a clean edge (I did about 3/4 of an inch), just cut the sleeve off to the yoke.
  • Trim the 3/4" back toward the sleeve/bodice seam, at the yoke.
    • Cut exactly at the seam of the yoke.  Yes, there will be a raw edge, but it will be exactly on the seam that used to attach the sleeve to the yoke (and it will be covered by the 1/4" bias binding on the yoke).
    Here's what the inside will look like:
    • Press the seam allowance flat at the same edge as the armpit. (This top had partial sleeves, so the underarm of the armhole was already finished.  I'm not going to change it).
    • Turn under 1/4", to match the binding on the armpit of the sleeve.
    • Sew with a scant 1/4" seam allowance, attaching the folded part.
    • ***If you don't have a sewing machine, no problem!!  You can do this by hand with a hidden whip stitch.
    So simple!
    Of course, this is specific to this type of raglan sleeve, yoked top, but the lessons to learn from these techniques can be applied to almost any storebought, finished item--sometimes it's okay to leave a (hidden) raw edge, and try to leave existing style elements (like the underarm seam) and work around them.
    Anyway, here it is.  I thought about adding elastic to the waist to cinch it in more, but I really think that the 60's retro yoke style is meant to be straight up and down (not loose, with dumpy frumpy sleeves, though).  I may still take in the side seams just at the waist.  Ta-da!
    And it fits with the Week of Yellow and Grey!!
    12 comments

    1.29.2010

    Anthropologie inspiration in yellow and grey

    As I've mentioned, I've been collecting yellow things for about a year, so now I have all kinds of pretty trims and I don't know what to do with them.  I went to Anthropologie for inspiration and found these lovely things, some helpful, some not so much...
    I could totally make my own version of those tank tops, and the sweater... it kills me, I used to have a yellow sweater in that color and that style (without the crocheted trim) from BP in Nordstrom that I got on clearance when I was... 13?  I never liked the color and rarely wore it, now I wish wish wish I still had it!!
    I looooove the lemon sheet set but their sheets are SO expensive!  And how pretty would that grey doily rug be in a room with some bright colors?
    1 comment

    1.28.2010

    Darling vintage aprons for the Week of Yellow and Grey

    In the spirit of the week, I just added these to my Etsy store!
    And
    Lovely vintage yellow to go in a domestic lady's kitchen... makes me want to drink tea and eat things with powdered sugar on them.
    2 comments

    1.26.2010

    Yellow-ing an Anthropologie tee tutorial

    In the spirit of Yellow and Grey week, I thought I'd make over a long-sleeved yellow tee I had that was waiting for some attention.  I bought this at Old Navy for $5 because I was collecting yellow things, but it was pretty boring as a crew-neck, long sleeved tee.  I used the same methods as in my other ruffle tee tutorials (here and here), but with larger ruffles, so I ended up using both the sleeve pieces.  Here was my inspiration:

    Except in YELLOW!
    So I cut up the yellow tee (always satisfying), used the sleeve pieces to make the wide ruffles, cut up small slices and yellow buttons, and made it into another ruffly tee for me!

    6 comments

    1.25.2010

    Yellow and Grey Week!!

    Natalie at Natalie's Sentiments has made this week Yellow and Grey week, which has inspired me to celebrate this wonderful color combination!  Honestly, since I saw I Love You, Man last spring I have noticed that happy sunshine yellow is BACK IN and is fabulous!  I have been collecting yellow things since then and now have quite a few t-shirts, sweaters, a miniskirt, jewelry... aaah!  It is so wonderful!  Makes me feel fresh and springy all over again.  So in celebration of Natalie's themed week...

    I thought I would share some of my favorite yellow pictures with you!



    The looks that started it all: I Love You, Man movie

    Anthro top

    Mod Cloth dress

    Anthro placemat (a great DIY project...)

    Placesetting in Cottage Living December '08

    Ruffly top at Forever 21 that I meant to copy...











    Gorgeous SoCal wedding on OnceWed



    Rubie Green goodies


    Plenty By Tracy Reese pillow (another great DIY project)


    The headboard that I made and blogged about here


    Little dress that I made out of this AMAZING print fabric from JoAnn's 45" home dec section
    And one more, just to show my dedication... here I am last May on a trip to Florida, wearing... wait for it... yellow and grey!!!


    Wow, that was a lot of photos........ and of course there's all the greatness at BLACK.WHITE.YELLOW.  But that's enough for now.  But stay tuned for more pics of my bedroom as I re-decorate with yellow and white!
    9 comments

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