Funky T-Shirt ReFashion

November 8, 2014

Born Natural T-Shirt Funky ReFashion

This is another refashion attempt, yes, attempt (as in no plan ahead of time).

I have a couple of natural hair T-shirts that I am refashioning into something a... little more.  T-shirts with a little pizzazz was the plan.  But of course when you don’t lay your plans out ahead of time...and when you don't you simply grab the scissors to start cutting and serging pieces back together.  When you do this I find you are taking great risks.  What risk of what you may ask, of coming out with something that looks NOTHING like the picture you had in your head when you started, sigh.   But it is done.  

This particular T-shirt is from a local young lady named Daphne Pollard and her hometown small based business is called ‘Born Natural’, you can find her on Facebook here.  If you are not local you can find her T-shirts, sweatshirts, totes, tank tops and even cell phone cases here . 

As I stated this one did not come out according to plan, I mean had there been a plan PRIOR to starting.  But no worries, I plan to buy a red one (of course, being my favorite color and all) and start with a well laid out plan and hopefully come out with the picture I stared with in my head.  

So here is the T-shirt as it came from Born Natural. 

Isn't that the cutest?!  So, I somewhat planned (in other words, as I was standing there staring at it about 3 minute before I started cutting) where to make my first cut although I had no idea where this was going after that initial cut. 

                             

That first snip is always the hardest and most nerve wrecking, but there I did it.   

 

Then I cut off the sleeves.  

Then I measured one side on the front rib neck to the middle and marked it, I repeated the same on the other side.  

                   

     

This was to mark how low in the FRONT only that I wanted to cut my T-shirt, to far down and you will be showing a lot my of your ahem, natural born beauty.

Cut the front neck off.   

Then cut the back of the rib neck off.  You may dip down an inch or so if you want it to fall lower on the neck.  I did go down just a bit.

You will be left with something like this.  (this tag was ironed on so there was not cutting it off completely)

My first thought was to use this zipper yardage I bought on our anniversary trip, but decided I didn’t like it for this project.              

My second thought was to use bias binding the same color (you know, since I had some in the cabinet).   Hated that idea.                 

I left that for now and moved on to open both sides (I’ll come back to the neck).  I cut them open.           

I wanted to do something with the waist area of my T-shirt so I held a ruler up to myself and measured (I don’t know where my tape measure just disappeared to) 2 or so inches under the middle section of my bra down to my navel. 

     

I then folded that bottom piece in half (with the entire hem on the bottom), went up the number that I measured, drew a line, and then cut all four layers on that line.  .                 

     

    

   

 I ended up with this.                

Then I cut a wave in the middle piece like this (still folded the same from the previous cut).     

I then laid that piece upside down on the bottom of my T-shirt and cut my T-shirt to match.  

And I got this.                  

This is how the T-shirt looked when it was open, you see the sides are split (previous step).       

Now I sewed the middle wave part the matched wave part of the T-shirt.  

 Actually I serged them together, on the right side of the fabric (the pretty part they people will see).  That’s my baby Ricardo, he’s such a good boy.     

I ended up with this.  Apparently I did not cut the wave deep enough to get the effect I was going for.  But moving forward anyway. 

I then serged the sleeves back on, again on the right side of the fabric (T-shirt).                        

     

I ended up with this.   

             

I then took those leftover pieces from the bottom piece of the T-shirt and cut off the hem.  

I then serged 2 pieces to each other, twice (reminder there were four layers that we cut because we had it folded in half).               

Next I put each of those new pieces on each open side of the T-shirt.

     

And came out with this.          

Then I remembered the pretty little remnant piece in my stash that had sparkles in it.  Ohhhhhhhh what girl doesn’t like to sparkle a little?  Okay, okay, a lot!  

            

With the fabric folded in half and then folded in half again (out of the 4 sides of this now square piece of fabric you will have bottom with 4 open layers, one side on the fold with the opposite side also having 4 open layers and the top have 2 folded layers.  Whew, it’s clear as mud now, right? LOL)  I did the same you would do for a circle skirt.  I always ended up making mine too big so I followed some wise advice if you are small go 3 inches down, medium 4 inches down and large 5 inches down and about ½ an inch down for each bigger size.  Not sure that’s good advice because I still come out too small or too little.  So from experience on myself I know to start at about 5 inch cut.  So I put the tip of tape measure on the point of corner with fold and mark with chalk at 5 inches from one the folded edge all the way over the top side with the 2 fold edges.  I then cut that out and then open the fabric and hold it against my waist just to be sure it will fit (believe it or not some fabrics are just different with this).  

           

     

And of course that is some type of the flimsy fabric like chiffon so I had to refold it and go back to take off another inch.       

        

Now I measured from there as long as I want the little peplum type bottom to be.  In my case I wanted it as long as I could get it.   Again I moved my tape measure all around the bottom of the first cut.  Cut this piece out.  As I was cutting I decided to just use as much of the fabric as I could since it was so cute and sparkly.   

                         

Tadaaaaa!  

                      

               

Here’s a close up of just how purrtttty it is. 

                          

I then slipped the top of my top right side out (pretty side out) into my little peplumey skirt bottom with right sides (pretty sides) of each touching and pinned. 

                            

There’s my bob Ricardo again, hard at work.    

         

In the end, after no planning, I ended up with this little number.  

                         

Close up of the top portion with the ‘Born Natural’ logo. 

This is my attempt to style it for a run around town to look for a stove date night with the hubby.

Sorry the pics in the stores just didn't come out right, so you just get to see these 3 in our driveway.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Love and Shimmies,

Special Event or Dinner Party

Special Event or Dinner Party by stephsgotit featuring a trench coat

Monday Madness...herstory, updates, Sept. schedule

Howdy Hon,

No I have not forgotten about my dear blog!!

But I have been taking some much needed time to get my head and my heart together.  I was feeling some kind of way mentally, emotionally and physically.  But this blog was not only meant to share parts of personal life but to be fun and share knowledge/information.  That's what my whole world has become.  Learning new things and sharing those things with others.  And if no one reads it, then at least I have a location to refer back to all my notes on things, lol.  

There are so many new things coming into add our lives a new homeschool program, new grade, and yours truly will be going back to school as well.  woot-woot.  I will officially begin the Pathway  program on the 18th of this month.  I have already been officially accepted and paid my tuition for the fall quarter which is really inexpensive with this new program set up by my church.  I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!  Our church has always been big on everyone getting an education.  They realize that sometimes life and finances (or the lack there of) can get in the way and prevent higher education from happening.  Sooooo, the presidency of the church and one of the churches school's BYU-Idaho (Brigham Young University, in Idaho)  established a program for members with just such situations in life.  The program starts out with the Pathway program which each student enrolls in and must take for one full year.  There are only a few basic life courses to complete (because so many people didn't learn how to do some the of the basic things every adult needs to run a household, ex. create a budget...).  In addition we must also attend a meeting once a week during this time.  Upon completion of the Pathway program we get to enroll as official students of BYU-Idaho On-Line degree program.  We get to take any course currently being offered and the best part of all we get to do it at that same rate per credit that we had in the Pathway program.  So you darn tootin' I am in!!  

My life concerns these last couple of years have moved from computers to a interest in health and wellness.  Although my DH and friend that I should go for the CIT (Computer Information Technology) degree my heart just wasn't in it.  But I wanted to get a Bachelor's degree, I have an Applied Associates degreee in Business Computer Programming.  My intention was to start there and get my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science.  Soooo, what happened you ask,  I fell in love, completed my Associates degree, got pregnant, and started working on my Bachelor's degree at Tuskegee Institute (now University).  Somewhere along the way he did propose and I accepted.  Long story way short - I was rushed from class one day to the emergency room.  Due to my size, condition and distance between classes and stairs, it was decided that I should drop that semester and return after the baby was born.  Speed forward, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, realized my relationship was not one a child should use as an example, so I set out in the workforce to support myself and child (with the help of my loving mother).  So thus life began (I like saying that line).  Years later I got a job at a nursing home which allowed me to go to classes for CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) and I worked my way up the ladder with that company until employment ended.  Okay, that's enough herstory.  The point is although I have had many trainings, have an associates degree and have many certifications I still want that Bachelors degree.  I am going to go get it.  Thankfully the church has provided a way for me and many others to go about getting it.  Also they have added some more courses to the BYU-Idaho On-Line degree program which means I will NOT be taking CIT but I will be majoring in Health Science, yeah me!!  This scares me to death, there is a possibility of a Physics class, yikes.  I can get through the Algebra with studying but Physics... I hopefully will not have to take that one.  Of course, I could start studying Physic now so it won't be so foreign, lol, that's an idea.  I have a whole year to finish Pathway before starting the degree classes soooooo,guess  I better get to work huh?

I still intend to blog, I'll be doing so all along and keeping ahead of the schedule so things will be in place and ready.  I hope to share not only the stuff I already know but all the new things I continue to learn along the way. Including hopefully some stuff from school as well as the things you're probably checking out for blog for anyway, like sewing, crafting, recipes, natural hair, DIYs, etc,...

I'm so excited again to get back to it, I did enjoy the little I have done on this blog and hope that someday you will feel the same! 

Thanks for stopping in.  Oh, if you're interested in a schedule for the rest of the month: of course it's still all the Monday's and we're counting today as the first Monday for September (I know it's actually the 2nd Monday, just work with me here okay).  So that makes the 8th, today, Madness; 15th, Recipe Review: Spinach and Cheese Manicotti - ooohhh yummmmm; 22nd, DIY finally finish Large Picture frame thread and bobbin holder; and 29th I am doing several sew-a-longs in a couple of Facebook groups I am a part of so we will just have to see which one will get featured in this months's Marvelous Monday.  I'll also post one in the OOTD tab, so you get two of them this month, woot-woot!  In addition I  have a tutorial I am doing for one of the groups.  It's for a very simple top which is in one of my pictures already posted on the blog, so I think I will post it this month as well!!  Yes, so much coming up, I do hope you will stop by and check it all out.  Feel free to leave a commit, I would love to hear from you and if you like the direction the blog is going in.  Of course, I would not mind at all if you became a subscriber as well, tee-hee, I know, shameless!

Love and Shimmies,

Still Editing, software update, temp Break!

Howdy Hons,

Yep it's Monday, and yes I am editing the video for Stitch Fix Review Box #2.  Apparently I was late getting the update for my editing software, sigh.

I was beginning to wonder should I just give this up, this blogging thing.  I mean really, I have homeschooling for our son about to start in a month, I will be starting school for myself as well, just got a new calling in church, two new roles in Toastmasters, taking a tribal bellydance class, sewing for myself, sewing for charity, learn to play (again) and practice my autoharp and psalter for a Christmas performance with my honey, learn to play something else, and or course everyday life like cleaning (which I hate), cooking, being a better wife, a better mother, scripture study, prepare Zumba classes, bellydance troupe practice...That sounds like a full plate already without the aggravation of trying to blog.  Especially when no one sees it but me, sigh.

So that brought me to one major question.  Why did I want to do this blog in the first place?  What drives me to constantly be thinking of ways to make it better?  Why do I feel like a failure if I don't put a post up?  I keep coming back to the same simple answer.  The things I post about are things that I love, that I enjoy.  And it's my nature to share the things that bring me joy in hopes of helping to bring that same joy to others.

Sigh... soooooooo here I am.  I know I need to be more consistently with the times in which I post.  But it's hard sometimes to get on track when you know it's not being seen yet.  Of course, how can it be seen if it's not where it's supposed to be right?!

So I have decided to take the next couple of week off, BUT not just to sit around and mope.  Oh no, I am going to build up the posts and get a head start on them so that I have a better grasp at posting on a regular schedule about the things I said I wanted to post about.  I would like to add more sewing related posts as well since that is a major part of my life and there is always something to learn and share.  There are always cool DIY's to try and come up with.

So the next post is scheduled for August 11th!  That will  be the review and YouTube video complete with pictures, then the recipe I promised, also with pictures.  I am praying that this will help me get ahead of the game and thereby posting more quality for your bang.

Okay darlings, it's back to editing right now!

Love and Shimmies,

P.S. Remember I'll be on a short break and will be back on August 11th!!

Monday - ahh, yeah, late

Hello Honey,

Late this week.  Suprise there ah?

Last week was my anniversary so we were on our 4th honeymoon (as dh likes to call our anniversary trips, lol). However, I did record the 'first look' into my second stitch fix box for your review.  I will spend the week editing it and post it for ya on this upcoming Monday.  

Below is a picture of the cool serger box bag from the review I did 2 weeks ago.  Since I didn't have any takers for the freebies I decided to make one for a WAHM swap I participated in.  Actually, I did three of them trying to get it just perfect.  It was not perfect but I sent it anyway.  The teenager even took one to the earlier attempts on the bag.  This was an awesome zippered box bag.  Who knew you could install a zipper with a serger and it actually stands up like a box.  Loving it!!  The theme for the swap was 'the beach'.  Wellllllllll, that made things a bit harder, being in a city with limited fabric options.  But I finally found something at Hobby Lobby.  So I went with it.  Whadyathink (Translation: what do you think, lol)?  The little square in the middle is a matching business card holder I also made for the person I received.  I even had a greenish seahorse button for it, teehee.  I thought it was too cute!

I am finally taking another belly dance class.  This will hopefully help to get me started again sooooo... I found this cool wine colored fabric with these thin shiny gold lines.  I think these are gonna rock as a sweet pair of tribal pants.  I self drafted a pattern and made a mock up pair (that I actually wore to class).  My classes for a 6 week session will start on Thursday so I will let you know how the tribal pants work and then I'll post a tut for them.  Since I also have a workshop on Saturday I may make two pairs.  I am so excited to get these rusty hips and broken shimmy back into action.  Although I have never taken any classes on tribal style of belly dance I am looking forward to it.  I love the fluidity of their movement.  I will learn as much as I can about all styles and take what I like and leave the rest, this will help me to create my own sense of interpretation of music with the dance.  The more moves I have in my database the more choices I have to create to be free!

Well, that's about it for this week. My anniversary trip was great, I even found some fabric, of course, lol.  Oh and I am cooking the luncheon this weekend so I'll have a new recipe to report on and share with you.  So that's three things I know I'll be posting for the next three Mondays, woohoo, no excuses because these have to be done.  :-)

Ok, off to editing now, that is such an involved and slow process, sigh.

Love and shimmies,

Marvelous Monday Darlings

Howdy Hon,

What day is it?  Woot-woot, Marvelous Monday Darlings!

It's been a long weekend for me.  My goddaughter got married and who was asked to make 15 dozen deviled eggs, yep that's right, me.  In case you were wondering that's 360 deviled egss, TOTAL>>>YIKES!  I was up all night, no really, ALL NIGHT!.  We laid down at 5:30am only to be back up at 9:30am to put the finishing touches on them (I do something a little different with mine that no one else does, at the moment) and then pack them into coolers, shower, dress, and drive to a neighboring city (actually 2 before the day was over).  Then was up all day for the wedding and activities.  But it was a beautiful wedding and I am so happy for her.  We had to be back up early to drive to neighboring city again for Sunday morning branch presidency meeting,  then church service, then Linger Longer, clean up and finally the drive back home.   But I am very thankfully that due to someone else also bringing deviled eggs (of course our side only wanted mine, tee-hee) to the reception we had enough left to take to the church Linger Longer the next day.  Woo-hoo double score, because let me tell you, there is no way I could have come home and cooked that night.  Anywhoooo... here I am up late tonight typing this blog.   Yes, I could have done it earlier, but you have no idea how tired I was, everything hurt today and I was bed bound!  But no more excuse a blog (and the blogger) must be consistent! Right?? Right!!

So, let's do it! 

Today I am going to share with you one of my classes from my favorite site Craftsy! What is Craftsy?  You can go to their about page and learn a bit more about them.  But basically it's an online school of sorts.  They have hundreds of classes that you can choose from in a variety of interest.  You buy a class, of course you can start with a couple of the free classes, and anytime you are ready to learn from that class you go to the website, pull up the class (on your desk computer, laptop, IPad, smartphone or tablet) and watch it at your convenience and at your own speed.  The set up is great, you can even ask questions and talk with you instructor or fellow classmates.  And the questions stay on the right side of screen for all to see, at any time.  You just click on the question that interest you and there you will see all the responses on that question.  The videos are High Quality and a joy to watch.  The best part, THEY ARE YOURS!! They NEVER expire and you can watch them AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT!!!

I have many classes with Craftsy, free and paid.  The first one I want to review for you today is 'Beginner Serger' -Machine Basics and Techniques- with Amy Alan.

CLASS DESCRIPTION:  Sewing instructor Amy Alan introduces you to the endless potential of the serger, an overlock sewing machine. Once you discover how easy and versatile it is, you'll be hooked! Start with serger threading and maintenance, then learn basic and decorative stitches. Create a serger stitch book you can reference again and again, and get all the troubleshooting techniques you need to serge like a pro. Practice your serging on three fun skill-building projects.

I got my serger as a birthday present this year thanks to my dear sweet hubby!  I had been saving for it and planning to buy it so it was up on my wall over my desk.  Which turns out is not only a great thing to do to help me remember what I really want but, it's also a great place for dh to get ideas of what he can get as the perfect gift.  That people is a WIN WIN.  I was so excited and planning to change the appearance of all my garments to have a cleaner finish and look more professional.  Well, that was great and all but, there is a bit of knowledge that has to come first.  LOL.  Although I figured out enough on my own to be able to do my goal of nicer finishes.  I was always in fear of changing the thread spools, of having broken threads, stitches too loose or too tight.  Then what?!?!  And, let's not forgot there are so many cools things a serger can do other than overlocking our seams.  I was determined to find a way to learn all those things so I could progress faster in my skill level.  Especially since I was opening my Etsy store and would be selling things that I made.  So who did I turn to, one of my greatest institutions of learning Craftsy (YouTube being my favorite institution).

The Beginner Serger, -Machine Basics and Techniques- with Amy Alan, has been such a great help to me on my journey to becoming well acquainted with my serger thereby becoming a more professional seamtress (even if still in training, lol)!  I will be breaking this review into 2 parts.  Part 1 will be the review of the class and Part 2 will be the review of the projects that we did in this class.  I will also be giving away the 3 projects I completed for this class, FREE, to 3 lucky readers!  All you have to do is subscribe to this blog (I know you may think that this is just a shameless attempt to get subscribers, yep, you're right!).  And leave me a comment below.  

**FYI- I should also let you know that I am now an affiliate of Craftsy, but this review is my own.  I bought this class on my own and receive no compensation for it or my review.  However, now that I am an affiliate, it means that if you should decide to click on any of the links in the side bar, or special pricing post I put in the future, will lead to a small compensation to me.  If you decide to click on any of those links please know I greatly appreciate your support!!**

In this class the instructor is Amy Alan.  She has the sweetest personality I have ever seen.  She has one of those sweet smiles that you only see on babies, just a joyful countenance.  That alone makes her worth watching.  Amy is very clear, engaging, informative and enthusiastic.  She was very knowledge on the topic of sergers.  The class is done in 8 Lessons, plus a bonus lesson from Amy as a 'thank you' for taking her class.  How sweet is that!

Amy Alan, Instructor of Beginner Serging

Amy teaches sewing at Modern Domestic in Portland, Ore. and blogs at Really Handmade. She started crafting as a small child and has always made an effort to turn the everyday into art!

Lesson 1 - Introduction:  is about Amy, Craftsy, what to expect in the class and getting ready.  She also tells you about the course material provided and where to find it.  This is very vital information so that you know right off the bat what you will need to be successful in the class.  The handouts also include things such as what you will need for the projects at the end, a resource list, forms that show samples of work and useful tips to remember.  She provides worksheets for us to make a sample notebook that is based on our own experiences and our own machines.  This will be very helpful in the future trying to recreate the learned technique.  

Lesson 2 - Your Serger and How it Works:  is about threads, tensions, loopers, blades, dials, needles, changing colors and a whole lot more.  This is very helpful because you may know you sewing machine well, but I'm pretty sure there are no loopers on it, lol.  So in my case, I knew nothing about loopers nor how to recognize which thread was which looper.  Which tensions to change based on what the serge track looked like.  Changing colors was like creating a mini heart attack on demand, breath breath.   Now I can almost do it blindfolded, knowledge is power!  Understanding the cutting blade is also great to know.

Lesson 3 - Basic Stitches:  She teaches about 4, 3, and 2 thread overlock, flatlocks, rolled hem, stitch issues, and a whole lot more.  This was of course my favorite part.  I always wanted to do a rolled hem using my serger, tee-hee!  And all the different overlocks and flatlocks was simply amazing.  She was easy to understand and it was not too fast pace but no so slow you began to see sheep jumping over the fence.  It kept my attention (which isn't always easy, oh look there's a chicken).  I learned so much for this lesson and look forward to using flatlocks now.   I also appreciate the information on LOOPERS!!

Lesson 4 - Decorative Stitches:  I had no idea all this was possible with my serger.  This section went over various decorative stitches and various types of threads that can be used.  This was very interesting.  When I think decorative stitches I think of my beloved Cindy Lou (my brother's sewing machine) now she may become a little jealous that Ricardo (my brother's serger) has the ability to do a little decorating himself.  LOL, it's the battle of the machines.  Oh, back on point.  I appreciate her offering this lesson, although it was not vital in learning to use my serger it is very good to know everything that it is capable of.  Thereby giving me more options as a seamstress.  

Lesson 5 - Troubleshooting Your Serger:  is about issues with tension, machine, cleaning your machine and so much more.  This lesson should be required for all serger purchases.  You should definitely know how to do regular maintenance on your machine to keep it running smoothly.  She shows you how to clean it and what to take out and what you should NOT use to clean your machine and why.  Troubleshooting is always needed for any machine.  These are also included in the course material handouts so you will be able to reference them quickly when needed.  

Lessons 6, 7, 8:  These are your projects.  Each of these lessons is one new projects you get to make using a different technique and/or thread you just learned about (that I will be giving away FREE in part 2)!

Lesson 9:  is the BONUS lesson that Amy gives just as a 'Thank You' for taking her class.  That's a very giving person.  I enjoyed this lesson and the information that it provided.  I will only tell you that it was very informative and useful in my serger future!  You'll have to go get the class from here to find out what this lesson was about. 

That's it for Part 1 hon's.  I will have Part 2 posted next week and I will be giving away each project.  All you have to do is subscribe to the blog (I know, SMH, shamelss) and leave a comment.  You can just say, 'Hi Hon!', a comment, question or some helpful tip you have learned in using your serger.  

Well my dears, I now realize that it is 5:36am, Tuesday, phooey.  

Love and Shimmies,

P.S.  All the words in darkish red are links!  I couldn't resist not using some color for the other words!  :-)

Marvelous Monday is coming, Woot Woot!!

Just FYI hon, tee-hee!

I have review for my Craftsy class on that sought after Serger, dum dum dummmm.   LOL.

I'm looking forward to sharing how this class has help me so much with learning things like threading the serger, figuring out tensions and all the cool things one can do with this awesome machine.

Stay tuned for Marvelous Monday!!

Love and Shimmies,

 P.S.  I mistakenly bought the same pattern twice (no suprise, did same thing with stamps, lol) soooo I was thinking of reviewing it and giving one away.  What do you think??

Monday Love

Well,well...

Is it Monday already?  O_o

Brianna and I have been trying to touch base all weekend but have missed each other at every end.  I will post her OOTD as soon as our paths connect.

Sooooooo, what's been on my heart today?  Excitement AND terror.  Due to this new program being offered by our church there is now a super affordable way to get a college degree, woohoo, right?  So, brace yourself, or at least I had to brace myself, I signed up at the information meeting Sunday night.  Now I have to wait for to see if enough people will sign up for the program between our two stakes.  We only need 15 people so I am sure that between the two we should be able to get it.  

I've been out of school a lonnnngggggggg time and remember very little from when I was there, high school nor college,sigh.  That's where the terror comes in.  Out of most of the certifications I've taken in the last few years I have had to take twice.  I just don't remember large amounts of information quickly.  My mother would say, "You've been out of school too long."  Bear in mind she was what I called a 'professional student'.  Always learning always growing.  Me?  I love learning new things but, not reading it all.  I love learning by doing, putting my hands on it.  I'm a visual learner and learn best by remembering quirky things like what color shirt the teacher had on that I didn't like when she said... or how a loud thunder clap echoed in the room when I was highlighting the answer to this question.   I just have a weird memory to locking information in.  Sigh, but the best thing I've learned about myself these last few years is that when I get an idea of 'oh, I wanna do that', I know no matter how terrified I am I am going to do EXACTLY that.  

So it's off to school I go, if it all works out with enough people.  The next step while waiting was to figure out what to take.  There are only a select few degrees being offered with on-line degrees through the church's school.  Since none were in the area of fitness and health, which I thought I'd be interested in persueing being that I have a primary group fitness instructor certification and all, bellydancer (although not much lately), it seemed a perfect fit.  However, that is not one of the programs being offered in this on-line opportunity right now.  So, narrowed it down after talking with dh to two.  Then one.  Since I have an Associates Degree in Applied Technology for Business Computer Programing, we decided it would be best for me to take the bachelor program (well, I figured if I was gonna do it it must be for bachelors degree) for Computer Information Technology. Ok, ummmmmmmmm, yeah.  LOL, well in for a penny in for a pound.  Especially since dh told his second club he was done because his wife would be going back to come this September.  Well, I am certainly committed now, lol. Yikes! 

Once it settled in I had to put in a little Balance Essential Oil, from my wonderful doTerra oils.  Ahhhh, fell much calmer.  

Nothing to do but wait now.

This posting what's going on is much easier than posting the intended Monday posts.  But, not as exciting to me as tutorial or recipes and certainly not as much as posting sewing reviews or how-to's.  So my assignment for the next week (you know before school starts, lol) I will have to get ahead of the game.  I need to line up the intended post weeks in advance so we have much more interesting posts to share and you have more interesting things to read about.

Sigh, better get busy then.

Love and shimmies, 

P.S.  Typing this from IPad so can't make all colorful and pretty.  Also, sorry if any misspelled words.

Missed it by that much...Monday

Monday, argh, Tuesday, rats, 'Missed it by that much chief!'

This blogging thing is serious business.  When things don't go right you gotta be prepared, you gotta have backups.

I have to admit, I am feeling some kind of way and have been for the last few months.  I have not studied, have not written speeches, have not cooked much, have not practiced my Zumba or Bellydance, and last but not least have not sewn...in weeks.  All of which I truly love! 

Major mental and emotional issues going on over here. 

If you'll just hang in there with me for a little longer, I promise to get my act together.   I must, this is not working for me!

Good news alert! Our beautiful and youngest daughter, Brianna, has volunteered to take over most of the OOTD tab on the blog.  Brianna is a young woman working hard to make her life move in the direction of her long time dream of becoming a fashion designer.  She has a great flare for putting stylish outfits together with great statement accessories and an amazing talent at mixing colors and different patterns together (she always has, even as a young scrapbooker I marveled at her ability to mix patterns, I never could [and still can't]).  I pretty much only dress to go out in public (outside of going to the mailbox, which does not require any sass or style) twice a week.  That's for a meeting and for church.  Which I hav'nt been dolling up for.  Hey don't judge me, I am a stay at home mom, there is no reason to doll up every day for a 16 year old.  I'm sure it won't help with convincing him to do his school work.  So, anywhooo, as a result I have neglected the OOTD tab (even more so than not consistently posting the weekly blog posts).

The two of us with work the natural hair tab together, with tips, techiques, product recipes, protective hairstyles, and hair product reviews (that'll be her, lol, I'm strictly a make my own hair products kind a girl...except for my backup which is Shea Moisture line).

I have decided in order to help me be more consistent at least, I have committed to posting a post every Monday as stated, no matter what.  Even if what I had planned to post doesn't work then I commit myself to posting how I honestly feel at the time of posting.  So that means I need to quickly get my act together, or openly admit things in my head that I don't generally speak out loud.  Good heavens, you may learn wayyyyyy more about me than you wanted to if that happened.

So, a few hours overdue but here it is chief.  Unfiltered and raw feelings!

Love and still Broken Shimmies,

P.S. Aren't IPads great, I stayed up to type this on my IPad! Okay, okay, yes I was on Facebook clicking other links for a minute, zeesh, cut me a little slack.  When was the last time you posted your raw feelings for the world to review and moc.

Evening Gown Into Bellydance Bra and Hips Scarf Set!

Never miss an opportunity to dance!

I got this dress for $10.00 at our local Goodwill.

The moment I saw it I knew what it's future would be.  I'm a Bellydancer and have long wanted to do some refashioning for a costume.  So, I snatched this little darling up and quickly ran home with it.  I was sewwww very excited. 

Got started...rip rip...

Remove arms...Separate more parts...

Make a few snips...connect a few pieces...

And walla...

Yes I am a bellydancer, no I don't show my tummy, lol, so I have one a spaghetti top cami underneath the bra.  It's super long so it goes into my bottoms.  The two black lines on the butt are actually the ties from the bra hanging down.  Sorry we did not have good light in the room (so happy I have a new camera).  Oh, and the pants are just regular yoga pants, I'm making black tribal pants to go with the set!

A wonderfully dreamy little bra and hip scarf costume perfect for dance class practice, solo in small show for caberet.  It's even suitable for a hot little tribal fushion number.  I love it.

You can see full details and step by step pictures at Shimmy and More Blogspot.

Thanks for reading!

Love and Shimmies, 

Yes It's a Brokenhearted Monday...

Hello Honey,

Yes I know it's Monday.  A crazy one it has been too.

My project for today is a miserable fail!  But, I am still working on it.  It's sooooo cute and I want to make it sooooo bad.  And when I do I will show it to you lovelies.

This coming Sunday I have to prepare lunch for our presidency, the wives and the missionaries in our branch so I will do a Mystery Meat Monday on the next Monday. Then the following Monday I will do a McCall pattern review, one of my favorites for this summer, you're gonna love 'em!  I have to make some in a few more colors.  The last Monday of the month I will review one of my marvelous Craftsy classes like I promised earlier this month.

There is so much to look forward to in July, it's our anniversary it will be 4 years since God showed me that he indeed knew better than I did, who I needed to spend the rest of my life and all of eternity with.  My husband is the kindest  most loving and sometimes enabling, lol, man that I know.  I will also be receiving my 2nd Stitch Fix box, of course I will do another review on my YouTube channel so you can see all the wonderful things they sent for my anniversary.  I can't wait, I am soooo stoked!

I guess I should mention some of the issues of why I did not post in May.  I had been kinda blue coming into May and most all of the month.  Don't know why, not sleeping much either, again.  May is also a hard month for me due to not having my own mother here to celebrate Mother's Day with.  My mother was murdered in 1994 by my father (step).  The brutal way in which in did so, in front of my 3 year old daughter, is hard enough to have to remember.  Then this May right after the Shimmy Mob weekend, which is on World Bellydance Day.  If you don't know about this it is an event where belly dancers around the world join together in one accord to raise funds for their local women and children shelters and raise awareness about domestic violence to the world.  If you didn't know, yes it is very much a problem in this world.  In addition to fund raising we all join together on the actual day and perform the same routine all over the world all wearing the same T-shirts and black pants.  It's a wonderful event.  Well, right after that weekend, while dealing with my own personal loss, I hear that one of my favorite YouTube guru, Tamisha E. Ridge, had been murdered in her home in the wee hours of the morning by an old boyfriend, father of one of her children who had stalked her for years, while she slept.  Again a woman I thought highly of as just a person was taken by some idiot in the dark, again children were losing a very important person in their lives.  I was just heartbroken for her, her children and the rest of her family.  I just didn't want to do anything, I was just at a loss and in pain.  My own pain and in pain for her family, for her young children.  Their mother, gone, just gone...  It aches my heart still to even think about.

I miss my mother. I miss her golden smile, I miss Meesha's happy go lucky smile, I miss my mother's little sayings, "There's more than one way to skin a cat", I miss Meesha's little sayings, "This is super easy you guys".  I miss how they both would help anyone they could.  They were both giving loving women with wonderful futures ahead of them.  Both murdered as they attempted to get on with their lives.  Both having just moved into new homes and beginning new lives.  I miss them both.  My mother I will always have in my heart and pictures, Meesha I will always have in my heart and hopefully her YouTube channel will remain.  I know that her FaceBook page will remain thanks to the fact that she had placed administrators on the site to help her before this hideous crime against her.  It has had a name change and we all want very much to stay connected to her.  Be aware as you surf the net that if you notice a lot of #MeeshaTaughtMe posts please know that this is not some small way to boost someone's business but it's a love and connection shared by many of this wonderful sewing teacher, mentor, designer, mother, daughter, friend, kindhearted, and loving young woman who is being missed by those whose lives she has touched around the world (this is not an exaggeration I assure you).  We love her, we miss her... although we can not ask her for her help anymore, remember, "Never throw away your scraps!"    

I just wanna add ladies (although rare, and gentlemen) if you are in an abusive relation just understand there is one thing you need to do - 'GET OUT'! Once you are out CUT ALL CONTACT.  You don't owe him (her) a darn thing.  You don't have to be nice to someone who is physically not nice to you.  All above all else, GET THE HECK OUT.  Don't wait TO BE CARRIED OUT IN A BLACK BAG! PLEASE, I BEG YOU, GET OUT AND STAY OUT!!  Don't continue to date the same kind of man again and again, because one of them is going to snap.  It you can't do it for yourself do it for your children, for your family, heck for the dog.  I don't care who, just do it!!  If you are not the one being abused then pay attention to the women you love, reach out to her, and above all believe her, HELP HER, GET HER OUT!!

I guess I'm starting to ramble as the tears are starting to flow so I will end with this, ladies know that God loves you.  You are his beautiful daughter and he DID NOT create you for some idiot to beat you down physically, mentally, nor emotionally.  Love yourself enough to know that, because that man that's beating you never will.

Love and broken Shimmies,

The Absentee Blogger, a Monday Madness.

Hello Hon,

May apology for being absent this past month.  It has just really been a hard month.  There we so many bad memories, new awful memories and deaths of people you care for, added to my own blues for this time of year...I just didn't have the strength to post or to take the required time to photograph and write for a post or recorded an video (truth is I thought I may break into uncontrollable sobs if I'd tried).  I didn't have the words to speak on what I wanted to talk about and no desire to really speak on nothing else.  I was in quite a funk!  I was mourning old loss combined with new loss (not DIRECTLY but still a valuable part of my life).  I still don't fell ready to cover it but I think I need to address it and let go of the feelings I have on this subject.  Ummm, next week, sigh, today still too fresh today.

I also have a review coming up on the classes available through Craftsy (if you don't know what that is I will explain in more details in coming weeks.  But basically it's an online site where you can not only purchase patterns for various things, it's also a great resource for learning.  You may also purchase classes from them.  This is the service that I will be reviewing in coming weeks, super convenient).  But for today I will just share with you how to sell patterns and make a little change if you have been creating your own patterns (or as I, plan to do so when you have a little more experience).  I have many classes with them so I will be reviewing my experiences with them from time to time.  I will do one of the reviews this month and the next maybe 2 months after that one, unless otherwise requested.  As far was what I am sewing this month.  I plan to do a pattern review with the awesome fabric I bought last month from my co-op fabric group.  I am supper e excited, I have wanted to make this outfit for a while now, I was just waiting to find the perfect fabric.  I will do the pattern review and probably add pictures of the process, maybe step by step also.  Or I may just do the pattern review and them a video of the step by step.  Ummm, which one would you like to see?

How to Add & Sell a Pattern on Craftsy
(This post contains affiliate links which means I will be compensated if you purchase after clicking these links.)

In addition to wonderful online courses and craft supplies, Craftsy also has an independent online pattern store that lets anyone upload and sell downloadable e-patterns with no fee!

How do you add a pattern to Craftsy and start your pattern store? It’s easy!

1. Make sure you have a Paypal account. All pattern transactions happen through Paypal, and Craftsy requires that you have a Student, Premier, or Business account in order to sell patterns.
2. Put your pattern in .pdf format. You can’t upload any patterns to the online pattern store unless they’re a .pdf file format, so if they’re currently saved as a Word doc, .jpg, or other file format, you must convert it to a .pdf before you upload it to Craftsy.
3. Include a photo. All patterns must have at least one photo to accompany them, but you can add up to five photos. Colorful, interesting photos tend to work the best for catching our members’ eyes!
4. Fill out the pattern description. We will ask you some basic questions around your pattern making it easier for Craftsy folk to find your pattern and know what your pattern is for. Make sure you have info about your pattern handy for this step.

For more information on how to sell a pattern through Craftsy, or to get started, visit Craftsy today!

Love and Shimmies,

P.S. This is another new love, making earrings, pendants and such! Oop-oop-a-doop!

Hump Day Humor!

Just a little midweek pick me up! Enjoy hon!

Love and shimmies,

Steph!!