My altered clothes

I told you I would show you some of the clothes that I altered, so here they are!

Both of these sweaters were altered and they fit great now.

I made a felted flower to accent the scarf.

Sometimes you feel like a change

This time of year I always feel like I need to change something in my house. I don't know if it is because the weather outside is so blasted cold you don't want to do anything outside, or if I just undecorated my house from Christmas and I want to change things around a bit. It is hard to decorate for January because it is still cold outside and it is not quite ready for spring.

I didn't do a lot to the dining room except for take down most of the Christmas decorations.  I left some of the winter up because, it is still winter!

I found these trees for 90% off and could not resist and figured I could still leave them out because they are white and it is pretty white outside.

I left my "winter" in the window sill.

and left my crystal snow flakes and icicle snowmen hanging from the chandelier.

I then went on to the bedroom and decided I wanted to brighten it up as well. January is a great time to buy new bedding and that is usually when I have the bug to change my bedroom.

Below is a before picture.

This is a before of the other side of the room after I cleaned out the book case. This actually was the part of the room that was" bugging" me the most. I was ready to change the paint on this book case.  I used to have a red couch and I had painted the bookcase to bring some more red into the room.

Here is the after picture of the bed. I am thinking though that I need to paint those metal plaques above the bed an ivory color.  I would love to paint the bed as well but I don't know if Mr. Jones would let me do that. (this bed is the only furniture in our home that he hand picked himself, he loved the massiveness to it and I decided if he loved it so much I should let him have his choice.)

I bought a new duvet cover and used some of the pillows that I had (and added a few new ones, I am addicted to pillows.)

I found the 4 back pillows at TJ Maxx and the brown one in front at Ross's.

It is not a lot different but it is a lot brighter. I got the lamp by my chair for Christmas, it is one of those pure light's that you can see with really well, I love it when I am sitting there working on projects.

Here is the book case painted and after finishing the glazing I realized that the counter did not look to great with the new paint so I sponge painted the counter as well. It looks like a new top and matches so much better.

You can kind of see the top of it better here.

I loved the look of these puckered pillows and have tried to figure out how they did it.

I replaced the topiary with some lemon trees, no they are not real, but they kind of fake you out.

Also Mr. Jones also did a big favor for me and mounted the TV on the wall. I have wanted to do this for a long time and I really hate seeing cords, so he made an outlet up the wall. He also ran the HDMI cable up the wall so that the blue ray player cord is hidden as well. I love the hidden cords!!

So, how are your January projects going? Have a great day!!

Jean dilemma...

I don't know if anyone else has this problem with jeans, but most every pair of jeans that I have, has this gap in the back and I usually have to wear a belt so they will stay up. Even the jeans that are snug on my hips and legs are not snug at the waist.  I love all of the new stretchy jeans because they are so comfortable to wear but I don't like wearing a belt all of the time. I would have taken a picture of how the jeans looked before I solved my dilemma but I think you get the picture and it is not always pretty.

Most jeans have a waistband and there is 2 sides of the jean fabric that is sewn together to make the band.  I measured a 1 1/2 inch wide piece of elastic on my back side to see how tight I wanted the back to be, the elastic was about 6 1/2 inches long. I then made a little slit on the inside of the waistband and used a safety pin attached to the elastic to pull it through the waistband.  When I got the elastic part way through I first attached the elastic on the right side.  I ran a few stitches back an forth to secure the elastic to the right side.  I then finished pulling the safety pin through to the other slit that I had made on the left side. I pulled the safety pin through the slit and removed the safety pin from the elastic making sure to hold on to the end so it won't slip back through the slit. I then ran some stitches back and forth to secure this side. 

Can you see the little slit on the left hand side with the elastic showing through?

If your jeans have a label on the back you will need to use your seam ripper to remove the stitches on the sides. ( The elastic will then still slide through the band.)

Here is another pair of jeans that fit great in the legs and thighs but gaped at the waist.

and one more...

I have another couple of pair that need this alteration.  I love how they fit now and I don't have to wear a belt!  They are so comfortable I feel like I am wearing my sweats :)

Since losing the weight that I lost, I have a closet full of winter sweaters, turtlenecks and t-shirts that do not fit anymore.  I spent one day taking all of the "do not fit items" out of my closet and I was going to give them away, but there were so many that I wished still fit me.  So, I spent the day with my serger altering a pile of clothes.  The tops were the easiest to alter, I would just try them on put some pins in the arms and sides where they needed to be cut and then used my serger to cut off the excess.

I now have a closet full of tops that fit!!

Here is the pile of leftover fabric from my alterations.  I am thinking they would make some great rolled flowers to match some of tops!  So, I not only lost weight but my clothes lost weight as well!!

It feels awesome!!

I will have to take some pictures of my alterations when I am wearing them, they look great, but I am ready for bed right now so I will have to do it later!

Time to make something!

With the weather as cold as it is, the best thing to get through it is to make something warm!

I was able to go to visit my daughter's family on Christmas and it was so fun!  I miss them and wish they lived closer.  I especially miss seeing her cute little kids grow up. I love my grankids and we surprised them with our visit, it was so fun to see their smiling faces and receive all of the snuggles I got from them.

I was able to use them as models for my latest creations, I have been focusing on patterns and this is one that I have available.

Isn't this adorable on her! I made the scarf while I was there, because it just needed one with this outfit.

It is a pretty easy pattern and quick to make.

I left this with her, it was payment for being such a darling model!

I made matching mittens to go with it and the pattern is also available in my etsy shop.

Here is the hat.

and here are the mittens. Hope you are staying warm and have a wonderful day!

Most popular post for 2010

 My most popular post for 2010 was believe it or not me! I thought I would just update you on my progress and how it has been going.  I started the Kristi Approved program in May of 2010 and as you can see by the before photo, I needed to help myself a little bit. If you missed the original post you can go here.  In 12 weeks I lost 27 pounds and 6 inches off  my waist and 6 inches off  my hips.

There is a drastic improvement from the before and after picture.

This next picture is me at 12 weeks and then at 24 weeks.  As you can see I have been able to keep off the weight and I even lost another 10 lbs in the next 12 weeks.  My goal for the New Year is to keep my weight where it is, and to keep on Living the Life.  This program is not just for losing weight but for living a healthy life for the rest of your life.  I love it and have never felt better! Check it out here, it is a great time to work on a resolution that will change your life!

Hope you have had a wonderful year so far!!

ps. I won the contest!!!