That's a Wrap Arm Candy

I've been on a bracelet making binge lately.  Wrap bracelets, macrame bangles, beads; you name it.  There have been a lot of tutorials on Pinterest lately and I have a huge stash of embroidery floss and beads, plus there is a pretty nifty jewelry supply place here on the island that has neat beads, nylon thread, findings, etc, etc.  I also came across these Chan Luu Wrap Bracelets for around $200 (!!!!) and thought, "Screw that, I can make my own crappy bracelets."  So I did.

I started with some neat nylon cording with gold thread running through it.

Ooo fancy, and a whole roll with 180m only cost me 18 pesos (about a buck and a half)

 For a bracelet to wrap around 4 times, I braided 3, 60 inch pieces together, folded it in half and slipped it through a button.  Then I followed this tutorial from cutoutandkeep.net I should also mention that I have a super skinny 6 inch wrist.  Probably the last skinny thing I've got.

I used beads that I've had stashed away since my last bracelet and necklace binge, probably circa 1993.  I know, I know; pack rat.

Here are the final results.

So there you have it, 3 bracelets, for probably under a dollar.  I just saved $599 bucks ;)

Here Goes Nothin'

Welcome.  I've been on the fence about starting a blog for a bit.  I generally feel that most of the "mom blogs" out there are annoying, at best.  Most of them make me feel like I should have an opinion/clean house/dinner on the table all while being totally fashionable.  Nothing like a little pressure.  I'm going to attempt to show you the things I make.  Sometimes they turn out well, other times, I just make a mess.  The messes usually involve dinner, so you probably won't see many any recipes.  Because who needs a recipe for cereal or grilled cheese?  Plenty of places out there to figure out what to make for dinner, I'll probably see you there.

Ok, enough intro crap.  Here's what I'm working on today.  A too short dress for my almost 8 year old.  It's a 6X that I got at a thrift store a couple of years ago for a couple of bucks.  She's showing too much bum, and it's generally too hot here for leggings.  Did I mention that it's one of her favorites?  As in, "MOM!  You're not going to put my FAVORITE dress in the donation pile, are you?"  Sigh.  Note to self: clean out closets while the child is at school.

So, I'm making it into a skirt and little bolero/shrug jacket.  Here's the dress (sorry I didn't get a shot pre-chop, but you get the idea).

Choppy choppy.

  I left an inch or so above the actual "skirt" part so I could fold it over and sew, then slip some elastic through.  In hindsight I should have made a larger waist band area, as I hard a hard time sewing it due to the curly nature of knit.  No worries though, I just used a skinnier piece of elastic than I had originally planned.

For the shrug I simply cut down the middle of the top, folded it under and zig-zagged around.  I used yellow thread, I guess I could have used some cute pink, but then my drunk-like sewing would have shown up for the world to see.

And here's the after.  We'll probably get another 2 years out of it.

Future supermodel.

   Not too shabby.  I would love to know what you think!