The Rainy Day Blues...and Pinks

Are you experiencing unpredictable weather in your neck of the woods?  Well, we are.  Don't get me wrong.  Hawaii is a beautiful place to be especially as we're entering the winter/humpback whale season; but lately, the weather has been slightly bipolar.   It's hot and humid one day, blustery hurricane winds the next, torrential downpour to follow, with temperatures ranging from 52-99 degrees F thrown in for good measure. 
*Disclaimer:  I know, 52 is a lot warmer than most of you experience in the winter, but....its Hawaii

Today just so happened to be a scattered shower/no school day which meant one thing:  indoor entertainment.  Luckily for me, my Little Guy enjoys crafting as much as I do.  So after a scavenger hunt through my refashion drawer we came up with this:

an old/tunic that I originally bought from a Forever 21 type junior store and

a jersey racerback tank.

 

The print and colors of this tunic were to die for but had one major problem....

 the super plunging neckline!

Since the scoop-neck neckline of the racerback is more flattering, I decided to make this the new top portion of the tunic by cutting it below the bust.

I then seam ripped the tunic above the elastic ruched waist.

With right sides together, placed the tank over the tunic and stitched all around the waist using a zig zag stitch to allow the stretch.

Snipped a few inches of the bottom and hemmed...

And the problem plunging neckline is no more.

Of course with all this cabin fever the Little Guy couldn't contain himself.

Here he is doing his best Mary Poppins impersonation while I'm trying to get a good after pic and again...

When I wasn't looking...talk about talented.

Always singing in the rain, 

lori

A Super Mario Halloween

If you've been keeping up with my blog, you already know that Halloween is kind of a big deal to me.  The warm fall colors everywhere, pumpkin added to just about everything, and the fact that I can stroll around in a costume all day without getting "the look."  I am pleased to report that Halloween is turning out to be a big deal to my Little Guy as well; which made costume coordinating super fun this year.  After much deliberation our choices for matching costumes were as follows:  Finn & Jake from "Adventure Time" (my personal fav, I might add), Iron Man & Wonder Woman,  or Scooby Doo & Shaggy. 

And the winner is.....

Mario & Luigi...again?

This albeit dynamic duo didn't make the short list for one very big reason...

we rocked it out as Mario & Luigi 2 years ago!!!  But, as the Little Guy does get 50% of his genetic code from moi...there was NO changing his mind.  Since he got to pick out his own costume, mine was the only one I had to worry about modifying.  Luckily I had these on board:

Little Guy's old Mario hat, my set of Gap overalls  I have had since high school (i know, very old school), and the refashioned t-shirt turned jacket I used last year for my Veronica Lodge costume found here.

I began by seam ripping the monogrammed "V" from the jacket (*sniff)

Once completed, I turned the jacket to the inside and pinned the opening the jacket together.  Stitched close to the edge to transform jacket back into jersey shirt.

Traced two large circles onto scrap piece of yellow felt I had hiding in my craft stash and cut out.

 I secured the yellow buttons using adhesive velcro dots (hey, they're super convenient).  With right sides of the velcro together I secured one adhesive end on the bib, positioned the yellow button to cover the fastener and pushed down to secure on the velcro adhesive.

Finally, I seam ripped the hat at the center seam to let it out a bit and make room for my noggin. 

And there you have it, Mario & Luigi; or should I say Luigi & Mario, make their Halloween debut.  Again.  Oh well, you can't win them all.

lori