We’ve all most likely seen some pretty fantastic mumu (really mu’u mu’u) before-and-afters in our days, because let’s be honest–they can’t be beat when it comes to refashioning! They often have happy prints and oodles of fabric, and they make the most hysterical “before” shots ever. This is my second epic mumu refashion, and it promises to be just as loved as the first.

I found this delightful representation of 1970′s leisure at my local thrift shop for $4, and was immediately drawn to the wonderful mustard floral and piped yoke! Detail like that is special and it was a design element not to be overlooked or wasted!  Although the fit isn’t perfect (I added front and back darts), it looks really cute, and love the retro house-dress feel!

Instead of finding a pattern to work from like I usually do, I just took some scissors to that beauty with this vintage inspiration in mind, and it ended up pretty close to the mark.

1. Cut where you want your bodice/skirt seam to be (allow for seam allowance).
2. Add darts (front and back), and take in side seams. I actually removed the sleeves, took in the sides seams, adjusted the sleeves and then re-inserted them for a better fit).
3. Gather skirt to fit bodice circumference.
4. Sew bodice to skirt right sides together.
5. Add a back zipper, make any adjustments needed, and then rock it like it’s 1949!

Pretty fun and flirty, right? Can’t go wrong with some mumu love, I always say. Pretty sure it won’t be the last time I cut up one of those babies! Don’t forget to hop on over to both Kristin and Jessica for more Vintage May delight, and especially check out my posting partner Delia, for the sweet bonnet she made for her girly!

I lost a few design details that I was sad about (the pointed yoke and pocket flaps), but I think overall it turned out so handsome.  I basically cut that sucker up along all seams, completely unpicked the collar, and then used Kwik Sew 3146 to size it all down (I love that pattern, it’s a real winner).  It’s kind of amazing that just omitting the button holes and front placket + sleeve hems saved so much time.

Ah man, I love those boys. And no offense Babe, but that shirt paired with those skinny jeans and curls? The Boy wore it best!

These flashy little studs are so cool! I’ve been wanting some yellow earrings for a while, and these are just my thang thang. And they were so easy too!

All I did: Cut up tiny little snippets of foil (I used the mystery-shed-foil as well as my Jones foil–both worked famously), and then stuck them on a small ball of clay. That’s it.  I baked them @ 275 for 15 minutes, and then gorilla glued those pretties to some cheap findings I had on hand. Oh, I also slapped on some gloss finish for same added sheen after all was said and done.

Sorry there are no model shots; I hadn’t washed my hair in like two days yesterday, and ain’t nobody want to see a close up of that.  Hey when you’re susceptible to unpredictable compulsions of crafting, you can’t be relied upon to shower regularly.

What craft is seizing you today?

If you’re inclined to up and sew a Perfect Tee, there’s a couple slots left and today is the last day to sign up!

Want a quick recap of the last three weeks at the Tribe’s? It involves multiple rolls of toilet paper in any given room for quick access.  We’ve been sick. Like, beastly sick. I’ve been in and out of bed for three weeks, which is unheard of for me, I’m usually annoyingly healthy. I’ve suspected everything from mono to mold, and after starting antibiotics on Monday, today was really truly the first day I could stand up for more than 5 minutes at a time.  The good news is I read like 4 books, and the other news is I’m going through some major sewing withdrawals.  I did bust out some crazy Easter sewing a few weeks back (I think actually that’s what did me in now that I think about it), and will eventually get my kids clean enough to photograph. But when I woke up today I was absolutely pining to get my craft on a bit before trying to reclaim the house from absolute squalor and catching up on my decluttering project.  Without even thinking I grabbed these pants from my refashion pile and started seam-ripping those cursed flat-felled seams.

I thrifted these brown cords about a month ago with plans to skinnify them. I did that first thing, but then was unsatisfied with the dark brown. It just felt stuffy, and after an hour of wear I wanted a change. I decided to throw these suckers in a bucket for a bleach bath and see what happened.  I think somewhere in the back of my mind was this acid wash look that I’d seen somewhere recently, and Ialso kept thinking about that time my mom let my older sister dry her dark washed jeans in the dryer with a bleach soaked rag. I didn’t really know how the cords would bleach, but I knew I wanted a splotchy uneven leach, so I reckoned the confined space of a bucket would lend itself to the look.

It worked so awesome.  I just came in every 15 minutes or so and gave it a stir but otherwise just let it sit.  Overall, it bleached into my favorite terracotta color, with the darker splotches turning a rusty maroon.

I rocked those bad boys out on my errands tonight, and I got three full-on double takes. Not sure if that’s good or bad, but I enjoyed them either way.  I’m sort of on a bleaching-my-dark-stuff-rampage (especially the few black items I have), and I gotta say it’s all been pretty successful! One of the books I read was David Zyla’s Color Your Style, which was a real treat (more on this later!) I love that type of stuff, it’s so fun to me.

So a week from tonight is the Perfect Tee class, and there’s still room left! Sign your little self up, it’s going to be a Party with a capital P and that rhymes with T and that stands for Tee….shirt.

*Prewash your fabric!

*see updated supply list!

Since the Stretch Yourself series, I’ve gotten a lot of really great feedback by many of you who have had success with some of the projects there. I LOVE hearing about your successes (and seeing your pics!); it makes me so happy to see my tutorials working for you all! My post about drafting a tee pattern from measurements was one of the posts I worked really hard on, and one I wanted to do a little more with. Some of you have had great success with it, but I know it’s a project that a lot of folks are just a tad intimidated to do on their own.  For a long time now I’ve thought it would be such a fun project to do in a class setting, because I could demonstrate (and demystify) all the measuring, plotting, etc, and then teach some very basic knit-sewing techniques while sewing it up. After months of toying with this idea, I finally went into the ladies at The Cotton Shops the other day and we’re making it happen!

When: May 2 and 9 from 6:00-7:30

Where: The Cotton Shops in Murray Utah (6100 S State)

Cost: $40

Registration: register in store or by telephone 801-266-6942,  see here for the hours.   Space is limited to 10, so grab your seat now! 

Details:

Straight, curvy, plump or lean—we’re all  trying to rock what Mother Nature gave us, and often it’s hard to find clothes that fit just right!  In this two-day beginner-intermediate level class, we’ll walk through simple pattern drafting together to create a custom tee pattern based off your own unique measurements and preferences (it’s easy I promise!), and then sew it up while learning basic knit-sewing techniques. Come away with a custom tee pattern and the perfect tee!

What to bring: 

• sewing machine/serger (only for May 9)
• 1 1/2 yard knit fabric + coordinating thread
• measuring tape, rotary cutter/scissors, pins/pattern weights and cutting mat if you have one!
• An acrylic ruler if you have one, but a run-of-the-mill 12″ will do in a pinch.
• A calculator (your phone should have one).
• paper scissors
• something to take notes on
• double needle for finishing (optional)
• *make sure you’re machine has a stretch needle!

The Cotton Shops has a good selection of solid two-way jersey knits, a few prints, and all the thread, notions and tools you need.  Get 15% off your total purchase at time of sign-up (or when you come in for the class).  

This will be so fun, I hope some of you will join me! Also, If you’ve followed my tutorial for drafting a tee and have any feedback (good or bad) I’d love to hear it as I prepare for the class! Leave a comment here if you do sign up so I can get excited you’ll be there!  If you have any questions about the materials needed or class specifics, email me miriam@madmim.com! See you there!

*See here, here, and waaaay back here, here and here for some of my tees made using this technique.

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been playing around with Jones Foil Paper, and am pretty excited about this stuff. It’s such a fun product, and it’s pretty versatile too. I have experimented using different adhesives with it,  but decided for my first project I wanted to use it with it’s companion foil glue, just as instructed.  Worked like a charm, and it couldn’t be easier. I just love the legit metal glimmer of the foil paper! I’m sort of at a loss how to describe it, but it’s so true-metallic–really gold not just the color gold, you know what I mean? Really brilliant, especially when it hits the light.

On to the pouch. This fold over pouch has been on my to-do list ever since last year at Sewing Summit when I saw Venessa‘s amazing pouch pattern in the flesh.  It’s really a perfect design, and it was a great printing canvas because it’s such an ideal printing size.  Large enough to do a detailed design, but small enough to make it quick and fun.  The only very simple alteration I made was to add some small leather loops sandwhiched into the top sides of the pouch so that it could double as a shoulder bag. The fabric is a wonderful unbleached cotton duck that I dyed my new faveRIGHT color Terracotta. Prepare yourself for much much more of that color, because I wanna roll up and dye in it. Couldn’t help myself, some puns are inescapable.

Printing instructions are very straight forward.  I simply free handed some very basic, doodle-ey tribal designs onto my fabric before assembling.  Start at the top and work down, and then allow the glue to completely dry. This takes a while, so take a break at this point and do something else, it takes at least an hour.  You want to make sure that the glue is completely dry, and has gone from slightly opaque to clear.

Here you can see the difference between not-dry and dry–the middle is dry (and clear), while the top section is still semi wet.

Put on your party hats folks, cause here comes the fun part. Press your foil paper on top of the dried glue (metallic side UP), and lift off! The foil sticks to the tacky dried glue, and the foil is now apart of the design.  If you miss a part, you can just press the foil down again and it will continue to pick up the foil until all areas of the glue are covered. This is great because you can really take advantage of every square millimeter of your paper.

So pretty, right?!
Now assemble your pouch according to pattern instructions, unless like me you want to add small loops to the top sides for the purse variation.  

I LOVE how this little pouch/purse turned out  It’s such a special piece, and it’s so perfect for when I want to go somewhere without my kids. I usually just tote my “diaper bag” (which is really just a large purse), but it’s really too big for just me. This is a great size for when I fly solo, and it’s so…me!

And speaking of fabric printing… (Jazz hands) I’m teaching at Sewing Summit this year!!! Hand printing fabric! Peeps, I am SO excited to teach this class, it is going to be such a blast.  Registration is just next week, April 16th at 10:00 am.  Last year they sold out within hours, so if you want to come (which you do!) better get your trigger fingers ready.  I would love to see you guys there! (Still have jazz hands).

Hey everyone, here I am on the rooftop of my blog (what a pretty view!), and I’m shouting into my Mad Mim Megaphone (MMM) that APRIL OF 2013 IS THE VERY FIRST NATIONAL SERGER MONTH EVER! NATIONAL SERGER MONTH EVERYONE! THIS APRIL! FIRST YEAR EVER! SO COOL! Ok, I think I’ll put down my MMM, people are starting to stare. SERGER’S ROCK! Sorry just had to squeeze that in with one last fist pump.

Seriously though, sergers are wonderful machines.  They make sewing so professional, fast, durable, functional, and really just a delight.  I love mine like I love my right hand, which despite my stubby fingers and thick knuckles, is a lot.   And since you know my love affair with knits, you know that I use my serger just about as much as I use old Righty.

One of the basic serger techniques that really changed my life forever was learning that sergers can gather fabric by simply adjusting the differential feed.  Gathering can be a tedious and frustrating process, but doing it on a serger is quick and so easy to distribute the gathers neatly and evenly.  Today I get to kick off National Serger Month (which I’m honored to participate in!, and I chose to do a project that shows off this wonderful serging technique– without a serger these pillows would sort of be a nightmare, but WITH a serger, it’s  fun, easy, and so pretty. Head over to the NSM website for my project and other serger DIYS, ways that you can participate, serger basics, sweepstakes and other promotions. It’s going to be a serger sensation!

Materials for textured  basket weave pillow case:

• 1 1/3 yd soft jersey knit for front gathers, and
• 1 yd knit (or soft cotton) for pillow body and back (can use the same knit as pillow front).
• Wonder Tape
• quilters tape 
• measuring tool
• rotary cutter and mat (or scissors of course)
• serger with matching thread
• sewing machine with matching thread

Cut your fabric for gathered front:

• cut 3 rectangles measuring 10.25″ X 20″ for horizontal gathered squares
• and 3 measuring 8.875″ (8 and 7/8′s) X 20″ for vertical gathered squares

Cut your fabric for body and back:

• 1 rectangle measuring 26.5″ X 19″
• 2 rectangles measuring 17.5″ X 19″

To gather with your serger: set your differential feed dial to its highest setting,  adjust your needle thread tensions to their highest number, and lastly, increase your stitch length to the longest possible.

1.Gather the long edges of all your rectangles for gathered front.

2. On each gathered edge, knot one end of serger tail, and then pull out center serger stitching line on opposite side so you can adjust the gathers to the right measurements:

2b. For horizontal gathered squares (10.25 X 20 rectangles), cut a length of Wonder Tape 8 and 7/8′s” and press one end to the left edge and the other edge to the right edge. Pull center serger thread to adjust gathers to fit length of tape. Press tape down, matching gathered edge to tape edge. Repeat for opposite gathered edge of fabric.

Repeat whole process for vertical gathered squares ( 8.875″ X 20″ rectangles), except cut lengths of Wonder Tape to be 10.25″.

4. Serge three squares together to form top row (horizontal,vertical, horizontal) right sides together, pressing the Wonder Tape that’s already applied to secure edges (no pinning  needed!) before stitching.  Repeat for bottom row (vertical, horizontal, vertical) and then serge top row to bottom. *Note: all squares should end up 8 7/8″ by 10 1/4″ after gathering.

Attach gathered front to pillow body by pinning around all sides, and then along all seam lines, taking care to straighten and pin seams as you go.  Serge or baste along outside edges, and then stitch squares to body by sewing in the ditch of all seams.

To add the additional stitching lines, apply quilter’s tape to center of each gathered square (gathering fabric evenly as you tape) and then stitch over tape.  Remove tape by ripping off either side of tape underneath stitching.

Hem one 19″ edge of both back panels by turning under 1/2″ twice and stitching close to folded edge.  Layer front of pillow RST to layered back panels (hemmed edges towards center), pin, and then serge along all edges.

At this point the pillow can be finished, or optionally for a bordered edge, flip right sides out, and then pin a 1/2″ strip of knit down about and inch in and stitch down (feel free to piece/overlap the strip if needed to achieve necessary length!)  Allow the strip to tuck and fold, it adds to the texture!

Insert pillow, breathe a sigh of satisfaction, and feel free to try this beauty out!

Several years ago I read For Packrats Only by Don Aslett (the Master of Dejunking), and it really changed my life.  Most of it is just simple common sense and ideas of how to go about it, but there are some nuggets in there that blew my mind at the time.  Things about what you’re allowed to toss, a) never occurred to me and b) and opened my mind up to what I really need to be happy. Problem is, I forget a lot of those things, or even more frequently I just don’t take the time all the time to go through things and toss as I go. I do frequently donate stuff, but you know–it still mysteriously builds up.  It takes a lot of mental and emotional stamina to get rid of things, and sometimes I just let it go til’ I have time to go through it properly. That too is a problem because extra time is a laughable fantasy. So I’m blogging these painfully ghastly pictures here, so that I’ll have some accountability for this project, and also invite you to join me in dejunking if you so choose!  

Here’s my plan:

I’ve made a detailed list of 40 different areas in my home that I need to go through. I won’t post my full list here, but they are things like clothes hanging in closet, hair stuff drawer, pots and pans cupboard, under bed storage, top shelf in closet of death, and on and on. Basically they are very specific areas that are not too large and overwhelming, for example I would never list my entire closet of death, because that would be suicide and incredibly unrealistic. Each day of April I’m going to attack one small area and toss, reduce, and organize that jazz. I’m also going to be instagramming my little victories as well as tips and other nuggets of dejunking wisdom via Don Aslett and will hashtag it #30days2lesscrap, if you want to join me! Nothing like a hashtag party to get you motivated! I would love to see any of your reduction victories or tips!

This is the ACTUAL state of my Closet of Death, as if I would ever stage something this scary. It’s Allan’s clothes closet (not enough room in our tiny bedroom one for BOTH of our clothes), my craft closet and the only real storage in the entire house. It’s a beast.  That WILL be tamed.

Part of this (okay, a BIG part) will be going through my hobby supplies, of which I have in abundance. I really need to weed out the unneeded and organize that biz’ness. My fabric stash is getting down right hazardous, and so in between family Easter stuff I’m going to be unloading and swapping some of my stash at the Fabric Swap Event, hosted by Melissa and Leanne. There’s still room left if you want to join us!

We’re actually just barely starting to house shop a little(!!!), so this dejunking will be a great precursor to moving, if we do find a home. And it just feels so much better that have what you need and nothing more, do you agree? It’s like cleaning underneath your fingernails after a long camping trip.  And what about you, do you struggle to keep your stuff from accumulating, and how to do you go about dejunking? Do you do it bit by bit or marathon style once a year? What’s the hardest for you to let go of, and what is your least favorite to go through? And what about rewards, do you give yourself incentives to get your motivated?  Share your tips and join the toss-fest!!

PS Happy Easter! I love Easter, and love sewing Easter Best for my kids. I’m pulling a Easter-Best-Athon (#easterbestathon), and have already made three pieces this week, and have at least that many more planned! Hope you have a wonderful Easter filled with loved ones and at least a moment of quiet reflection!

For this project I began by hemming the sleeve hems, and then pinning a strip of 1/4″ elastic from the top curve of your sleeve to the bottom center of the hem (wrong side). The elastic should measure about 4 or so inches less that the height of the sleeve i.e. my sleeve was 12.5″, and my elastic was 8″.

Then beginning at the top, secure the elastic to your fabric by zigzagging back and forth a few times to make sure that sucker isn’t going anywhere (medium width and length).  Zig zag down until you can grasp the fabric behind the presser foot, and then stretch the elastic to the full length of the sleeve while you zig zag down.

When you’re finished you should get  nice and evenly distributed vertical gathers!

Again, don’t forget to stop by Andrea’s wonderful blog for more deets!

Back in December I received an incredibly sweet email from a girl named Erin who just wrote to say that she enjoyed my blog and felt a connection with me because she too had a special needs baby and understood all the stress and heartache and blessings that go with that challenge.  I’m always so touched when people take the time to reach out and say something kind, it means so much to me. Anyway, in the email she mentioned a picture that I had taken of Tiny and Twinkle, and reading her talk about it made me want to look at it again, as it’s one of my favorites as well. I know that it’s somewhere on my blog, and somewhere on my computer, but as strange as it sounds, at the time I felt like the quickest way for me to look at it was to skip on over to Miggy’s and look at Tiny’s special needs spotlight because I knew it was there. So you know how these things go, one thing leads to another; I reread the whole post, and then noticed that a few people had commented.  The last comment of the post, made by Elliesee, asked if Cornelia de Lange syndrome was a possibility for Tiny, and she mentioned that her sister had it. Now I have to say I’ve received lots of diagnostic tips and leads from well-meaning people, but I had stopped googling the various “diagnosis” because it tended to be overwhelming and not-helpful. But for some reason I looked it up, and immediately I was stunned by a physical resemblance of the children I saw that looks almost familial to my little girly. I read the diagnostic checklist and knew that this had to be it, she qualified for too many of the criteria for it to be a coincidence. And also there were things on the checklist that I hadn’t even considered to be part of her diagnosis (like her lacy-looking skin, tiny hands, and head of hair), and yet there it was listed as part of this syndrome.  So long story short, after lots of research, I quickly became convinced that we had found Tiny’s diagnosis, and as of last week we were finally able to meet with our geneticist who was able to confirm our belief, although he still wants to try and get approved to the do the (very expensive) genetic testing (I have mixed feelings about that).

All of December I felt like I was in a haze, and struggled deeply with all the implications of this syndrome and what it will mean for her future.  I was absolutely heartbroken, and grieved (all over again) for all the things that my precious daughter would likely not be able to experience.  Up until that point I had suspected those fears, but it wasn’t until then that I had to give up the hope that my daughter would ever grow out of the challenges that she was born with, as I deep down had hoped for. I was devastated that she would likely not be able to experience the very things that have brought me the most happiness in my life.  I will pause to say that we think Tiny has a mild version of the syndrome, and we really don’t know exactly how profoundly this will affect her life. At this point we’re going off of her current delays and what we know about the syndrome.  I’m certainly not ruling out any possible accomplishments, but rather am trying to be honest and realistic about all the possibilities that her CdLS and disabilities present.

Since then I’ve come a long way, and now feel very much at peace with all these possibilities. There are still moments here and there that my heart breaks a little as new idea dawns on me, but for the most part, I have faith and peace that Tiny will live a full and happy life, and that she always have the love and support of a family who adores her.  It will undoubtedly be different than I had planned or would have wanted, but this is her life, and it will nonetheless be full and happy. She is a bright, sparkling little star, and I know she’ll take it all on with bravery, spunk, and detirmination–all qualities she’s demonstrated in abundance thus far. She is one the greatest blessings of my life, and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel like the luckiest mom in the world just to have her blazing spirit in my life. She is my star.

I’ll also add to this the fact that once I came to terms with this, it all felt in some way familiar to me. I had always thought I might have a special needs child (something I vocalized to my sister nearly 10 years ago) because I felt a sort of connection with them that I can only describe as an intense compassion, love and yearning. When I was finally able to see Tiny’s situation with clarity it felt very right to me, and like I said, almost familiar, like something I knew was coming to me. I also feel for Tiny a sort of companionship (more so almost than a mother-daughter relationship), and that we were meant for each other. I won’t try and tell you what that means, only that these are the feelings that my life’s beliefs and experiences have interpreted, and they have brought me an enormous amount of comfort.

Developmentally at 21 months, Tiny has come about a million miles in the last two months. She is almost walking, eating orally (!!!!! We only supplement now through her G-tube), and is very exploratory and curious.  And although she isn’t talking at all, I feel she is understanding more and more signs and words, and has signed More, Milk, and All Done a handful of times. I am so proud of that little woman.

So that’s where we are!  A couple of weeks ago she had an echo cardiogram and they think that she has a aberrant right subclavian artery that is causing a vascular ring around her trachea and esophagus . They think this could very well be why she aspirates! So anyway this week we have an MRI to confirm that finding, and if they do then she will have surgery sometime soon after that.  Of course heart surgery isn’t something you ask for, but if this could help her, then it would be amazing.

For those of you still reading, thanks for sticking with me on a long and personal post, I don’t open up very often about our personal life, but when I do I am always so touched by the kindness and caring that I am met with. Thank you!  And if you’re out there Elliesee, and you ever find this, can I say thank you from the bottom of my heart for bravely making that comment and  helping our family find some desperately sought for answers. You were an answer to our prayers that day, and you’ll never know how much it has meant to us!