Several months ago, I was asked to see if I was interested in participating in a refashion swap between 10 bloggers. There was no question if I was game or not. OF COURSE I'm game! The idea being that we all took a button up shirt and refashioned something for someone else with it. Here's my shirt before. It was one of Chris's old shirts, too small for him now, but I was too nostalgic about it to let go of it. It was one of the shirts he wore often when we were only dating!
I was assigned to sew something for Krista of
Lazy Saturdays. She's currently 30 weeks along, so I wanted to make something maternity-friendly. Then I got to thinking, why not make it both maternity
and post-partum friendly?
After seeing a really cool mom at the park, sporting a rad top with a cape-like top (the very top that inspired
Penelope's refashioned top), a lightbulb struck. It looks cool with the extra fabric in back, but that extra fabric would be useful in the front for a pregnant gal.
The maternity side is color blocked in front and longer in front to accomodate a growing belly.
The nursing side has a flat front and flowy back, perfect for hiding bulges. The button-front allow for easy nursing access.
I'm pretty excited about this top, I sure hope it fits Krista! Be sure to check out the other participating bloggers' projects:
Grainline Studio •
Lazy Saturdays •
Cotton & Curls •
Megan Nielsen Designs •
One Little Minute •
MadMim •
See Kate Sew •
A Fashionable Stitch •
Adventures in Dressmaking
More after the jump on how to make this reversible top.
REVERSIBLE MATERNITY & NURSING TOP
For this project you will need: one oversized button up shirt with a yoke in the back, a fat half of fabric (jersey or cotton), single-fold biased tape and your sewing materials.
Measure out and cut your neck hole. I kept the necklines about the same on either side. Discard the old collar.
Turn the shirt wrong side out, lay your favorite non-maternity top (one that has a bit of give) on top of your shirt, and mark where the shirt needs to be taken in. Align your tee to the top of your button up’s new neckline.
Turn right side out, unpick about 4-6 inches (centered) of the yoke top stitching. Cut out the fabric (as seen in the diagram. Cut out a piece that is twice the width of your yoke hole and about 3 inches longer. Make it like a pie piece, getting larger towards one end.
Baste stitch along the top part of the insert and gather so it fits. Pin insert right sides to your button-up and sew together. Repeat for the other side.
nest the insert inside the yoke and secure with a straight stitch. Cut and hem (I did a rolled hem) the sleeves to desired length. Cut the hemline to be shorter on the buttoned side and longer on the inserted side. Hem (again, I did a rolled hem).
Iron out one of the folds of your biased tape and pin right sides together along your neckline. Sew along the pressed fold line.
Fold biased tape over raw edge, iron and secure with a single stitch along the folded edge of the biased tape (along the inside of the top). Press all seams and wear.
Click the button below to download the printer-friendly version of this tutorial. Enjoy!
This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without the express consent of Melissa Esplin. I love getting shout outs from around the web, but please, link with love. Do not copy this post, publish more than 2 photos or outright steal this idea for commercial publications. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!
I was so excited to see that my mom wore the shirt that I made her for her birthday and Mother's day. And it FITS!! Perfectly!
It was one of those things that I made totally guessing at all the dimensions, and it worked out nicely. I'm also thrilled to the moon that my mom would actually wear it.
I took all of these photos using my phone. The last one with photosynth - an app developed by Microsoft - made for taking panoramic images. I loved the clouds from yesterday. They were so beautiful.
Like these shoes for example. Sarah thrifted them and gave them to me. They're ridiculous and awesome at the same time. They're also pretty dang comfortable, yet I've only dared to wear them once. I'm definitely going to wear them again and show you. Promise.
Also, have you noticed the all-over-the-place white balance around here? Maybe I'm the only one that's bothered by it? Well, I lost the white insert to my Balens cap, so I've been winging it. Until today, when a nice package arrived on my doorstep. I ordered a really 
from Amazon for $11. I highly recommend it.
The white balance on this sucker is a bit blue. But I think I'm okay with it (this is straight out of the camera). Thoughts?
Have you found any cheap tools that have changed your life? I'd love to hear about them.
She looks so cute in her little dress. It's the perfect length for running around with a swimsuit underneath. Otherwise, she really should be wearing leggings underneath. She's always showing her (
Find out how to whip one up for your toddler after the jump.
For this project you will need:
Lay the child's tee atop the large tee, mark the new side seams about 1/2 inch away from the small tee. Straight stitch along that line. Reinforce your stitches at each end. Trim of excess fabric
turn right side out and lightly press out all seams. Cut sleeves to desired length and finish. You could do a traditional hem with double needles or leave the edges raw as jersey doesn't fray.
Enjoy!
Kate knew how much I love yellow, she did a fantastic job of scoring this light yellow stripe for me. It's such a fun color!
I don't wear jumpers, at least I haven't in a very long time, so it's fun to have gotten something that pushes me out of my normal comfort zone.
I used to be far more adventurous with my wardrobe than I am now. I was the first in my high school to wear stilettos. I'll never forget sporting my camel stiletto booties; feeling super self conscious as I clicked and clacked my way down the hall turning heads and I'm sure getting plenty of disgusted looks. I was no popular girl. It'd be safe to say that I was more of a "popular loser". Most people knew who I was. Probably because I always lugged around my 30 lb portfolio the size of a small bilboard like a security blanket. But I never quite felt like I fit in. My ridiculous pairings of hot-pink golashes with 3-piece suits was my way of keeping the tame people away I guess. Oh what I would give to see snapshots of those outfits I wore back then.
Kate reminded me that I need to be more adventurous with my clothing. So for the next half of the year, that's going to be my goal.
Outfit details:
If you're interested in learning modern calligraphy based on the copperplate style, I do hope you give this course a go. It's been a team effort between Chris and me. Originally we were going to put the course on a password protected wordpress platform, but when Chris lost his job back in January, he took it as an opportunity to build what I needed from scratch.
I'm so proud of the work Chris did, especially considering he didn't really start developing sites until a year and a half ago.
Unfortunately for me, I was two strokes shy of completing the artwork when a
The bright side of having to start over that late in the project, I tend to make improvements on the old layout and I tend to do it a lot quicker. Has that ever happened to you? When you had to start completely over on a project?
I'm really happy with how this turned out. And I keep meaning to make one for our little Esplin family, but I have yet to hang up any artwork in our place, let alone make artwork for it.
We're working on buying a house, so we may be moving again. It's so exciting, but it completely destroyed my motivation to make our house "cute".
See more details of her outfit and the fit on Krista's blog, 
Todays weather has been a bit nuts. It started out a tad warm, we got a crazy dust/wind storm and then it started raining cats and dogs. I took the kids on some errands, so I got to wear my favorite rain coat.
I like to call it his train engineer outfit, but I guess it's more of a race car outfit because of the patch. I scored this lovely denim romper for $2. That's right. A steal of a deal, in my opinion.
So tell me, have you scored any fun finds? I'd love to hear!
Me, 
Chris randomly came up with the idea of making a 
I'm not sure Cordell thought of it as fun or us poking fun at him. It really is the first. Either way, it was a fun project to work on, and it's fun to doodle. The above reminds me of the silly Capitol people on the Hunger Games (we just watched that last weekend - not as awesome as the book).
Now that Father's day is the next big thing, what are you going to do for your dad(s) for Father's day? I've got a few ideas brewing.
I didn't do the button placket on mine, I'm too lazy for buttons. Instead I made the peter pan collar reach all the way around the neckline.
I also added a high-low hemline and shortened the sleeves.
I really like this fabric, it's light-weight and it's a fantastic print. I wanted to make sure that I did this pattern correctly, so I followed all the instructions (to a T - which I never do), and took my time with everything. In the end it was so worth it.
Rushing = the difference between handmade and 'homemade'. I finished all of my edges with a rolled hem. So easy (now that I've got the hang of it) and so professional.
This new top is now going to be in tight rotation this summer! Here I'm layering it with 
Outfit details:
For my mom, Mother's Day and her birthday are often times on the same day. Maybe it's lazy of me, but I usually give her a gift and a letter for both (even when they're not on the same day). This year I went out on a limb and made her a two-toned dolman top.
I completely guessed at the dimensions for the top. I still don't know if it fits her right (or if she'll want to wear it). I used leftover fabric from 
I don't know if the weather is similar in your neck of the woods, but around here no one knows if it's spring or fall. I dressed for both. Bright summery colors paired with subdued fall tones is really fun. And different. I like different.
These photos are so grainy, and the white balance is completely off. I took these photos at 7:30 at 4000ISO. But still, my old camera would never get pictures this nice at such a poor time of day.
Since I was strapped on time, I mostly used what I had on-hand, and I was really lucky with what we had. Thursday, my man Branden baked his favorite ginger snaps. The 
I ran over to Target and found this cute box in the $1 section at the front of the store. It was the perfect size for the bread. I also picked up some tissue paper to line the box.
Once home it was a simple matter of arranging the baked goods and tissue paper into the box and using some ribbon I had on-hand to tie it up. I wrote the tag using a pointed pen and calligraphy ink. Not as pretty as Melissa's, but it's a good start. I can't wait for her class to launch (we're SO close!)! Janet loved the homemade goods, too.
Speaking of homemade: you guys, the 
Her recipes seem to be simple, too. She shared this fabulous French baguette recipe that only takes an hour to make. Seriously, who can't do that? I think I'm going to give 
The floral pattern and the fabric are fantastic. The length, however, is a bit on the matronly side. That or I wasn't styling it well enough when I brought it home with me.
I've been thinking of trying a high-low hemline for a skirt for some time, and thought this would fit the bill for a refashion. I pulled out my rolled hem foot, some starch and made quick work of the whole thing.
In all the refashion took about an hour. I was sure to go slowly as I rolled the hem. The hem is a 2mm rolled hem, so I had to be extra careful that it wouldn't go nuts on me. I'm getting pretty good at it, too. Since this was a curved hem, I sprayed and ironed the skirt with heavy starch before hemming. 
I don't own any skirts that have a high-low hemline, but now I'm convinced I need more. I love the extra coverage in the back. I don't have to worry about baring it all if I'm bending over to pick up Felix. The rolled hem (shoulda posted a detail shot) makes the skirt look like it was bought this way. It looks so professional, in my opinion. I love it!
Outfit Details:
This weekend, she got me set up with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, basil and mint. We've planted them in felt pots on our balcony, in case we move again soon. Which might be likely, based on our track record.
I also took the time to re-pot a few of the succulents I've had around the house. They were looking a bit drab.
My brother and sister-in-law gave us a beautiful ficus tree last Christmas. 
This morning, I finished potting my old and new succulents. I think they look rather nice all bunched together, no?
My plates, bowls, servingware and some cups are all white. They vary in shape and style, and sometimes vary in type of white, but all together, they look really nice together. I'm not a straight-out-of-the-box kind of gal, so I like to find special pieces to match my house anywhere. And I do look from Crate and Barrel down to thrift stores.
Just recently I scored this fantastic (and quite large) ceramic pitcher for $5 (no coupons involved, either) at Tai Pan. I believe it holds about 2.5 quarts. That's big and cheap in my opinion.
I've curated a round up of a few of my favorite white things from around the web, and featuring them over at Houzz.com. These picks are well under $100, save for a few (albeit gorgeous) exceptions. 
It's been a little challenging because of the slippery nature of the fabric, but it's been a great excuse to perfect my technique with the rolled hem foot. Each of these shirts, meant to be worn with tops underneath, were wider than they were long.
The whole style was supposed to be flowy, but my sister couldn't help but feel completely drowned by each one of those tops. I shortened the sleeves and took in the bodice by about 6 inches on each side.
The pink one had an elastic drop waist, so I cut that off and hemmed the bottom. I do hope she likes these tops more now. Aren't those prints so fun?
To fit the bill, I pulled out this little lovely that I bought when I was still in high school and was convinced I could be the next Olivia Newton-John in Grease, before she sold out and got John Travolta-d.
Do I look like I might pull out a fresh batch of cookies? Build a pinecone snowman?
I'll be 
Follow Breathing Space along on 
I would be so lost without my mother. She is a prime example of a loving and industrious mother. Between chauffeuring me to ballet lessons, piano lessons, art lessons and school it was nothing short of astonishing how she completed her college education suma cum laude. She works so hard to support us.
There's no doubt in my mind that my friend had an equally incredible mother.
This quote personifies the strength that my friend's mother passed down to him, and it's been a real honor to get a glimpse of the kind of legacy she left behind.
What quote or mantra would you say your mother lived by?