Quar-Inspo: Outfit Edition

 I went to the office! I dressed up!

Hair - Quarantine Braid

Earrings - Ten Thousand Villages

Necklace - Luther Rose purchased in Namibia during the LWF 12th assembly in 2017

Blazer - something cheap from Amazon, with the zipper ripped out to create somewhat of a pocket, since the blazer is lined. 

Dress - Lularoe Nicole purchased at a deep discount when Bonton went out of business (with pockets that I sewed in)

Shoes - Allbirds "Tree Loungers" SO COMFORTABLE (Full review later) 

Hot .... Pockets!

A dress that won't make you die of sweat in the summer? Yes please! This is another offering from the organic cotton company Pact. This dress is cool and comfortable, especially in the heat of summer, slightly fitted, has a cute cap sleeve and I'm a big fan of a V-neck. If maxis are your jam, it's perfect. It's not really mine, so my brilliant spouse suggested chopping off the bottom and using that to make pockets. Eureka!

I altered this dress to make it perfect (for me), chopping off about 10" of the bottom to make it a midi, hemmed it, and using that fabric to add pockets. I'm pretty pleased with the effect. The process of putting pockets in pants has been discussed in a previous post, but you can check out how to put pockets in dresses and skirts from one of my favorite sewing youtubers HERE. 

*****I also what to note that Pact DOES NOT carry sizes outside of the XS-XL range, which is a huge bummer. Most of what Pact sells are in the t-shirt and yoga pants vibe, so really it shouldn't be that hard???? I have bought a lot of casual garments in the past year for work in Coronatide, but I think for some more "office appropriate" pieces I will likely explore elsewhere. 

Mask Up!

Most of my sewing for the last 5 months have been making masks. I have used a free pattern from the sewing pattern company McCalls. I literally just spent 30 minute straight talking in this mask, in 90+ F degree heat (though we were in the shade) doing a pastoral visit with a couple - one spouse sitting outside with me, masked, and on speakerphone with the other, inside the still-locked-down living facility. That's right, I STILL have to visit through a window in the lobby by calling a special phone number so we can chat and look at each other through the window (Though I am very glad that I can do at least this much). So I talked, prayed, chatted, sweated, then gassed up my car (2nd time in 5 months).... and then it took me about a full minute of driving before I realized I still had my mask on.

It's not that hard.*

Plz excuse my mussed up collar

The McCalls Pattern can be found HERE.

*It is hard for many people for medical and other legitimite reasons. That's why the rest of us who can do it need to do it.

The Short and the Long

During this pandemic and the upheaval it's causing, I become more intentional with what I buy and what I spend money on - companies and products that are ethically sourced, fair trade, "green," or all of the above. I'm going be highlighting the things I have found that I like and I would love to hear about others!

*A brief word on Fast/ Cheap fashion. It's bad. Bad for the workers, bad for the environment, bad quality... just google it. There's lots of information out there now. Good clothes are going to cost money. Which does make ethical clothing less accessible. Which sucks, a lot.*

I found an organic cotton company call PACT. (I actually now have a pretty good min-wardrobe from them, with items that are comfortable and also look good on Zoom calls. I will feature these another time!)

Currently, I LOVE: These Men's Shorts from Pact. You'll notice I'm recommending the men's shorts, and not the women's (which I didn't bother with).  Both are the same price, but the women's shorts have a 3" inseam while the men's have a 9" inseam. Basically, women's shorts = same price, half the fabric. Come on, Pact! Be better than this! (No offence if you prefer short shorts I'm sure they're fine.) I have both blue and green, and will likely buy more.

These shorts are comfortable, cool, and have ALL THE POCKETS. I'm wearing a size small, though I could have gone up to a medium for a looser fit. Full price they are $60, but they very often have sales, and there are also so many codes available for bigger purchases.

I am also wearing a men's Pact shirt, but, that will be another post. I'm discovering that I love cotton, which is way better for my body temp regulation. Nothing is worst than sweating like crazy in synthetic material while social-distancing-hanging-out with friends on a 90 degree day!

Still blogging, still sewing: Shirts

The blog was on a bit of hiatus, but I was not. I've been working on a couple of things since I moved about 6 months ago (including using the new sewing machine my mom got me!) I've been making cute maternity shirts, because apparently there is a lackage of cute options out there. These patterns are not strictly maternity, but are flowy and gathered in the front in some way.

I've learned that I apparently suck at doing button holes on my new machine, so I will be taking a class while I'm with my family in WI to learn how. So in the meantime, I cheat a bit and use snaps, with buttons sewn on the front.

I'll start with the most recently finished (well, almost) first, this is Butterick B5763. I think I will make one of these for myself!

All I have left to do is sew on the snaps!

LLR Hacks

I am probably part of too many LuLaRoe groups! For the uninitiated, LLR is like Tupperware meets Russian roulette for clothes. I saw this shirt in a size or two bigger than I needed, but I loved it so much (because I LOVE white and black patterns) I bought it and added a seam up the back to make it less bulky, which can be seen on the pic on the right. The seam is actually straight though it doesn't look it, it's hard to take a pic of your back! This kind of shirt (called an Irma) has a hi-low hem, which makes it a challenge to layer in the winter with certain sweaters. I thought of a way to fix that using a skinny belt. Blouse the back. Tada!

Appropriate Comments that Women Pastors LOVE to hear about their bodies and what they wear!

(Nothing. The point is that this post is blank.)

In the Red

I took a chance when I ordered my first Lularoe and got a dress that is super comfortable but more red than I was expecting, a little outside of my comfort zone. But this dress should not be relegated to only Pentecost and Reformation Sunday. After some googling, here's what I've come up with for regular "around the office" wear.

pop of color belt

Neutral navy (I'm kind of in love with this outfit -
I have a feeling it's going to be in heavy rotation) 

Neutral jacket and metallic necklace 

Aaaaaaand looks great with the collar
(Janie from Womenspirit)
on Reformation Sunday!

Make Pockets Great Again

Pockets. Women's clothing often lacks them. It can be hard to find a pair of pants with a decent set. Dresses, a challenge. Jackets? Fah-gedda-bout-it (as they say in NYC). It's very frustrating. Women need to carry things on their person too. Especially on a Sunday morning! But the fashion industry has decided that pockets ruin the silhouette, or something, because women's clothes are created for looks, not function. So we have to get a little creative...

I scored some nice, cat-hair resistant $8 straight leg trousers at Burlington Coat Factory sometime in early summer during the sales to make way for summer. They had some fun zipper detailing, though most of the time my shirts would cover that up (see bottom pic). A little impractical for pants pockets, but was I going to argue for $8? Nope. Until I realized, that while these are functional zippers, there was NO POCKETS. Like, what? Why would you put in function zippers that zip NOTHING? Time to fix this situation.







With the help of my mom, I've added an interior pocket to a suit jacket, so I thought I could do something a little similar with these pants. I took some extra knit fabric scraps, folded it in half, sewed up the sides......













Here I pinned the pocket around the wrong side of the side of the inside of the zipper, matching it as best as I could. It didn't have to be perfect, but just completely closed around it. I hand-stitched the edges that didn't quite match up.
















Here is the finished pocket. After I sewed the pocket to the zipper, I took a seam ripper and spit the middle of the fabric between the two halves of the zipper, then snipped the edges clean. I only made one, because that was enough for one day!













Not a very big pocket, but that's better than nothing!! It probably would just barely take a mic pack.





Take that, patriarchy! 

Altar-rations

What do you do when you want to wear a dress you can move around in for a wedding, but the neckline is wide and shows some strap? Stitch in a little holder! For the ceremony, I wore a "Janie" from Women Spirit, so straps showing wouldn't be an issue, but I wanted to fix this for later in the evening when the collar was off.

Some ribbon, snaps, and thread are all that's needed. Stitch one part of snap to dress, thread ribbon though other half to make a flap, stitch end to dress, and voila. No more slipping straps. 

Going from sad strap to wedding ready in no time! They stayed strong through some serious dancing! 

Belt it Out!

Belts are so expensive! And yet, I have recently learned that they give variety to my already existing wardrobe and outfits by adding different colors and styles. Many belts, like at Target, run $12.99 or more, and that's just for a "skinny" belt. But occasionally they go on sale or clearance - though finding a clearance belt I like in my size can be hard. My sister and I were walking around the mall when I was back in WI and we spotted some clearance belts -  I got 4 belts for $5! What a great deal!!! One problem - the only belts left that were a size to big for me. And none of these had that extra little flap to tuck in the extra. No problem! I had an idea...

What I needed was a way to keep the extra belt bit from flapping away. I could use a small black hair tie, but that would only work on the black belt, really. I needed something clear or transparent, at least.

I bought some of these clear plastic hair ties from Walmart for around $2.50, and put it around a colored belt to make it easier to see... not quite clear, but less noticeable than black!

I tried it out today on the black patterned belt from the picture above. It worked! It helped that for most of the day I wore a lightweight layer. But there was no flapping or flopping around!

This is what I did. I wrapped the band twice around, like on the yellow belt, then I rolled the band about three quarters of the way around, till it was almost to the buckle. After I buckled the belt (since this are big, usually the very last hole) and pulled one of the loops over the extra belt, near the end. You can just barely see it on the middle and bottom picture.Just one, not both, was sufficient, since wrapping it twice around was a bit tight, though just once around would have been too loose. It hits right on the side, where the arms rest, so not in an obvious place. And there you have it!

"First Day of Fall Schedule" Pic!

Everyone in my Facebook news feed is sharing "first day of school" pictures, so I decided to share my own "first day" picture, since our fall programming started on September 11th, that was as close to a "First Day" as I was going to be! And it sort of felt like being thrown into a first day of school, since it was the first day of our seminary student, and our second official Sunday for our minister of music, AND I had just gotten back from vacation, leaving right after the senior pastor had gotten back from HIS vacation!

As you can see, my cats are so proud that this is my 4th Rally Day at St. Paul Lutheran!

Sorry for the poor quality - it's a cell phone, and it's SO EARLY IN THE MORNING! 

I'm Snow Crafty, Part 2.5

The little project that I did during the snow day was altering this sleeveless purple shirt I found on clearance. The side seam was open a third of the way up, which at first I didn't mind since it didn't reveal anything and I would tuck it in anyway. But it made tucking hard and added some awkward looking volume on the bottom. So I sew up the side seem, which posed a challenge, since the seam was curved. But after I did it, it tucked so much better, as seen here. I unfortunately don't have a before picture. I'm also wearing the same skirt I made which I posted about earlier. 

The high neckline makes it look good with a collar too!

Somehow the pic ended up upside down... anyway, the seam ripper shows where the original slit started that I sewed until the two rounded sides separated. Nice work, no? 

I'm Snow Crafty, Part 2

....aaaaaaand we have elastic! 

So I was able to put the elastic in the casing and attach it to each headband, and viola! We have headbands! See Part 1 for pattern information. I'm not normally a headband person, but that may just have to change in the near future. 

Please excuse the sneaky little pink thread

I'm Snow Crafty, Part 1

Snow day!

No church today, we got 2 feet of snow or more! So this was a great time to try out a new pattern I got from home. While at the shop where my mom sells her bags and purses, my sister bought an adorable headband. We found the pattern and I decided to try it. Unfortunately I hadn't gotten any of the right size elastic, so I will have to finish them later. I'm making view "C" without the flowers. I even made one of them to be reversible! 

Here is an idea of what the finished product will look like. So stay tuned for part 2 after a fabric run!

What else did I do on my snow days? I also altered a top that I got on clearance a while ago, didn't take any before photos, but maybe I'll post it the next time I wear it. 

Don't go chasing...

...Waterfall knit cardigans.

..and the cat's butt again. 

Simplicity Sew Simple A1047

The knit I used was a bit too heavy for for this pattern, but it still looks pretty good, if a little stiff and extra volume-y. I might also go a size smaller. I think I made a large, and had to take it in a bit. It has a lot of material in the front! But has a nice angle to it. I would make it again. But I might try experimenting with sleeve length and make them longer. 

I got this pattern from Walmart for just a $1. 

Midweek Service Skirt

Pencil Skirt, view B, black knit. McCalls M6654

This skirt is super stretchy and comfortable, and easy to make. No pockets, but that's ok. The knit I used was medium or light weight, so it's getting a little cold out to wear this skirt much longer. I will probably wear it more in spring, summer, fall.


Tonight was our first of 3 Advent evening prayer services, using the Holden evening prayer service from Marty Haugen. Always a favorite. I decided not to go for an all-black look (that is usually reserved for Lent!), but I don't have a ton of blue. So black-and-white and grey it is.

Jesus is coming... better look good!

Skirt and cat butt (in the corner)

Happy Advent! Today I wore for the first time a skirt I sewed from some lovely material from my mom. Recently I happened to find a shirt that had the same turquoise blue in the pattern, which coordinates nicely (but can't see too much of in the picture). The pattern did not take long to make at all. And as a bonus, this pattern was $1 at Walmart, and it even has an elastic waist and pockets! So handy, and so easy.

My $2 Halloween Costume!

Purple/blue/denim-ish shirt from Walmart on clearance - $1
Red hankie from Dollar Store - $1
= Pretty decent (and super easy) Rosie the Riveter costume. 

Perfection in Purple

... or "this will probably be my go-to Lent shirt." Who am I kidding. I already wear this shirt often, since I love purple. I am very pleased with the result. I actually made this weeks ago but was too busy to post about it. 

I am in love with this pattern. So many options! And it's super easy. I of course chose "View E." I think I'm going to try view "B" next. It looks like it would also work well a collar. 

This material has been sitting at my parent's house for ages. My Mom bought it while we were on a trip to Europe with my school. I think we decided it must have been Zurich, Switzerland. I vaguely remember it, since it was back when I was in high school. I think it was from a little fabric shop in this really cute, old-looking part of the city. Mom's been afraid to use it, but I decided to be brave and take the plunge!

The fabric is very interesting - different shades of purple but not tie-dye-ish. it also has a nice stretch in one direction. 

The V part of the neck was kind of challenging, but it turned out. It was also my first time using fusible interfacing for the neck part to keep the flappy neck facing from flapping around, obviously. It looks good with or without blazer, obviously. An all around perfect shirt!

Thanks for the pattern and the material, Mom!