Last month when Jill & I were brainstorming together, she mentioned that she wanted to make a wallet for her husband's birthday. Immediately I thought of a wallet I'd been thinking of making for some time. It was gosh probably over a year ago, I went to Tandy with Susan & the guy helping us wanted to show us a picture & pulled off his cuff to reveal his wallet was the cuff! I just remember thinking 1) that's rad & 2) why haven't I thought of that?
Click here to see the full outfit
Jill & I spent an afternoon working out the pattern & shooting this tutorial a few weeks ago & it's high time I share the how-to with you. This project is a perfect handmade man gift that looks super cool, is super functional & easy to make. I'm sure I'm going to find myself making a bunch of these for the men in my family for Christmas.
This tutorial includes patterns for both men's & women's sizing. I'm loving my cuff, by the way. It's perfect for going to shows or out dancing when all you need is some cash and an ID. ALSO, I fully plan on sporting one of these at the Sewing Summit in a few weeks. It's the perfect place to stash business cards.
• S U P P L I E S •
- 1-3 ounce leather
- snaps & setter
- tape
- pattern
- hole punch
- hammer
- paint brush & water
- bulldog clips
- scissors
Print out your pattern pieces (provided in download below) & tape them onto your leather. Punch holes.
Cut out your pattern pieces. Remove tape & pattern pieces.
With your paintbrush, wet the leather thoroughly along the fold.
Fold leather over & match up holes. Secure leather in place with bulldog clamps.
Sandwich tabs between folded pieces of leather & attach your top snaps.
Attach your bottom snaps & let the leather dry for 2-4 hours before removing bulldog clips.
Remove bulldog clips & insert money, cards, etc inside the flaps.
Snap in place!
If you’d rather not wear it, fold it in half & stuff in your back pocket.
• O P T I O N A L •
Make a statement by adding more snaps to your cuff. Keep your money, cards in place by sewing a line along the width of the cuff. This is perfect for traveling, concerts or going around pocket-less.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without my consent. Altering the file NOT ALLOWED. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!
This shirt was getting sort of ragged. The white wasn't as white as it could be - I'm totally clueless when it comes to keeping whites white. I try, but after about a year my whites start to look dingy. Any advice would be awesome.
I decided that it was time I either chuck the shirt or give it new life. I cut off the neckline detailing, dyed it & trimmed up the sides a bit for a more fitted look. Of course, upon cutting the neckline (which I don't regret one bit) I realized the neck was much too gaping for my taste. I had a couple of options, but being very inspired by This ILK's harness jewelry (you don't google that, btw) I thought it'd be pretty sweet to incorporate that idea into my refashion.
I used a combination of teal, turquoise & apple green Rit dye to get this color. I kept thinking of the fall brights that are so popular right now.
I used the chain to create a draped effect in the back. It brings the neckline up in the front & adds more visual interest in the back. I'll definitely be doing this on any other gaping tees I own. It took very little time & I really like the result. Here's a quick, no-photo step-by-step on how to do it:
I hardly even recognize this shirt now. Love it.
Not even a week after I spied that top, I found this baby at a thrift store close by my house. Love. Now this might not be that noticeable to some, but totally by me, I was totally put off by the super high neckline & the keyhole below. I still had dreams of the V tie neck like that Anthro one. With some unpicking here & some stitching there, I was able to make the neck tie much more modern. I also tailored the sleeves by 2 inches on each side. It's subtle, but I feel like it's in the 21st century now.
So what do you think? Was it worth the whopping $4? I think so. 
Hope that helps!!
Hello new favorite top.
I love the polka dot bow!
These shoes are vintage Sesto Meucci of Florence. I looked up the value once & they could've gone for around $150+ at some point. SCORE.
I constantly think about how lucky I am to have married my best friend.
I've worn this dress a few times, but only ever with tights or in the summer when my legs reach their darkest hue: fair (as opposed to glow-in-the-dark). It's a very utilitarian dress with pockets an elastic waist & button up top. I llike the mixture of masculine meets feminine & what drew me in to this dress in the first place were the red details. I can't seem to find a before photo of this dress, so I've used my photoshop magic to illustrate what the heinous tan did to my skin. Yikes to the Yikes power.
I'm loving all of the fall brights I'm seeing out there on fashion blogs. This is no fashion forward outfit, but it's comfy & I love my bright, comfy tee.
Saturday night/Sunday morning was tough. Penelope woke up screaming at about 3am & would not calm down. Chris got her, but couldn't calm her down so I went downstairs, got her and wrapped her in a big wool blanket next to me in bed. Thing about sleeping with your kids: it's fun to cuddle, but there's little to no sleep when you've got a squirmy space heater next to you. Felix slept right through all of Penelope's trauma, but then had some trauma of his own at about 4:30am. Now Chris and I were really pooped and had both kiddos in the bed with us. We were both super wasted at church, so thankfully the Sunday nap came to rescue us from our kiddo hangover.
Life is still good, though. Penelope's hilariously cute & Felix is still as happy and chubby as ever. These next two weeks are going to be a bit insane with design deadlines & preparation for Sewing Summit. I've got some fun posts coming up; but for the most part I'm taking it easy in preparation for my refashion class. Anyone going to 
Last night was the best night out I've had in a long time. 
Well, hello there, hand-me-down dollhouse that I've been meaning to refurb for 3 years! Maybe you'll actually get your time to shine now.
This challenge is the perfect opportunity for me to finally check this off my to-do list. I'm going to refurbish this darling little mushroom house, but I'm going to take the challenge one step further, though. I've not spent any money on this dollhouse (it was a hand-me-down) and I'm going to keep it that way. That's going to be tough, but I think I have enough supplies on-hand to do something really fun.
This outfit is kinda nuts. I've got a bunch of things going on all at once: the crop top, a skirt, leggings, mixed prints & white after Labor day. Call me a rebel. I just wanted to wear something fun today.
So, would you like a tour of Penelope & Felix's shared space? I'll do my best to cite all of the sources for everything, but if you find I've missed something, please feel free to ask in the comments.
Here's Penelope reviewing her shot of Felix's crib. So cute.
Here's what her bedroom looked like before Felix moved in with her. GROSS & unfinished. We were playing around with different bedding options for Penelope before we decided a toddler bed was best.
Let's start on Penelope's side.
I really need to get a pic of Felix up there. Stat.
So, there you have it: Felix & Penelope's room is COMPLETE and for just under $400 total. This total includes everything we've ever spent on this room. NOT BAD, eh? Penelope does a fantastic job of making big messes in here, but now that it's all decorated it's somehow easier to clean. Do you find that way about finished rooms?
I love that there's a lot of sentimental furniture, decorations & toys in this room. It certainly adds a lot to the personality & feeling of love that I want in my home. What do you think? How do you decorate with love?
For comparison, 
This is no secret as evidenced by my gigantic pile of belts in my closet. My cousin-in-law found two beaded belts a while ago & brought them by yesterday night. I wasted NO time incorporating them in my wardrobe. I also love the beading so much, I wore the belt backwards.
Backwards!
Yesterday, Penelope & I had fun cutting out shapes with felt. She just massacred her felt (had a good time doing it, too) and I cut out fish silhouettes & circles (bubbles). I've been so close to sharing Felix & Penelope's shared room with you, but it was missing something. A mobile. I made a little mobile to go over Felix's bed.
I wanted to keep with the orange & yellow theme, so I grabbed a bunch of felt in that same color family & went to town cutting shapes. I sewed the circles all in a line to make the bubbles and draped them over the embroidery hoop (
Overall I'm really happy how this turned out. Also, it cost nothing to make. If I were to itemize it out, it'd be under 50¢ and that would be between the embroidery floss & the embroidery hoops. The felt was free from my mom, the hoops were 6 for $1 and the floss was $3 for a million yards.
It's masculine, and fits within the theme of the room. That has been my biggest challenge with decorating Penelope & Felix's room - being gender neutral. Thankfully I started out with a mostly yellow/orange theme with 
With two minutes, my sewing machine & 3 1/2 inches of bias tape, I can wear my skinnies again. They just button in a different loop. I was getting really annoyed with scouring the house for a sturdy-enough rubber band or dealing with the muffin top that I did this.
Just take 3-4 inches of bias tape (1/2 inch, double fold) & sew a loop onto the edge of your waistband, adjacent to the button hole. You'll want to pin the same side of each end onto the denim so it creates the kind of loop pictured above. Sew & wear! Time yourself. I betcha you can do this in less than 1 minute.
I didn't do much besides take in the sides about 2 inches. It's a much needed improvement, but I think most of the transformation is in the styling.
I haven't worn it mostly because it's been too darned hot to wear more layers than necessary. Since it was cooler yesterday, I had to give it a go.
I don't think I'll be pairing this baby without the belt anytime soon, but I like it for some strange reason. I feel like when paired with the cowl, it adds a lot more volume to my bust - not necessarily a bad thing for a girl of my proportions.
I am tempted to make the back more of a racer-back rather than keeping it plain jane sleeveless. I think that might add a bit more style to the piece. What do you think? Should I make it a racerback?
It's nice the weather is finally cooling down enough to wear more than one layer. YIPPEE!
I was playing around with my white balance settings & showing him photos every once in a while. After I showed him the first set of pics, he said something about being bald & went back to playing with Felix. This time, he was singing a song - a song that he made up. Eu sou careca - I am bald. He's hilarious.
Little did he know, I was capturing his goofy moment on video. HA! That's the best part about having a DSLR with vid capabilities! He thought I was slowly framing my image, but I was recording every bit of that funny song of his.
It's been a really long time since I've shared pictures & info on baby Felix, I thought I'd share a few stats with you. He's a chunk-monster! AKA the Feli-monster. He's 20lbs (95th percentile), 28 inches long (off the charts for his age) & his head. . . oh his head is WAAAAAAAY off the charts. He's got the average size head of an 18 month old, which explains his difficulty sitting up. He still hasn't reached that mile marker yet. It's getting a bit frustrating that he still wobbles in his high-chair, but he's getting there and I'm more than happy for him to take his time. I'm just glad he's not like my younger sister was and walking at 7 1/2 months.
Also, this video makes my heart melt. I still need to remember to shoot horizontally when I'm in video mode, but you get the idea. He just lights up whenever I talk to him. Do you see that cute gaping smile at the end? He's got me wrapped around his tiny little finger.
These earrings are the easiest on the face of the planet to make. Want the full DIY? Here we go.
Wasn't that a breeze? Now go make a million for all of your earring-wearing girlfriends. Aren't my shoes hot? They have snake-skin details on 'em & they matched my earrings rather well. My sister-in-law took this pic last night. 
This is what I wore to 
Thankfully, Ashley prints her artwork on the best paper ever (moab 100% rag 300GSM) so I had no problem with the nib skipping or the ink bleeding. Phew! But I did have to practice on a couple of sheets of paper before feeling comfortable attempting it on the real deal.
I'm going to be delivering this to Pam tonight on my way to 
So if you're planning on a little get-together or a party this fall, please use our printables, k? Also - I recommend you 
I'll be speaking in Provo tomorrow at the 
• S U P P L I E S •
Take the pointed end & insert it into the adjacent slit.
Flip it around 360º. Flatten out.
Repeat the twisting for the other end. Punch holes along guides or as close to the twist as possible.
Cut cording 2-3 inches long & tie a knot on one end. Thread the cording through the first hole.
Thread the open end of the cording through the second hole, adjust the length so it's approximately the diameter of a hair elastic. Tie a knot and trim the excess.
Secure your pony or braid with the pony holder by placing the leather on your hair first. Then twist cording & pull hair through again. Repeat until you have a firm hold.
I was inspired by Susan's gorgeous 
Now I can consider my bed fully dressed. If it were up to Chris we'd have only two pillows on there, but I feel the need for a perfect 7. Also, the three in front are all repurposed handmade sweater pillows. Kind of adds a cozy component to the bed. You can see details of each pillow here: