Ten Ways to Soothe Yourself Instead of Shopping

About a week ago I got an injury while I was lifting weights. I’m trying to get workouts in with the Big Fit Girl workout app, but I’m starting pretty out of shape. Today I worked out again and the injury came back full force. It is this annoying pain in the back of my ribcage, and it really hurts! So I sat at my desk tonight and went on Facebook for a second, got out my journal, and basically felt frantic to try and soothe myself. Then it occurred to me that I have been wanting a new purse. As a (former) collector of handbags, I started looking at Nordstrom Rack and then Etsy for a new bag. I stopped myself from buying anything. Then I figured out other ways to soothe myself instead.

Ten Ways to Soothe Yourself Instead of Shopping

1. Have a snack or prep some meals. This one is good because prepping meals, baking or finding a healthy way to nourish yourself is a great place to start!

2. Write in your journal or do some art journaling. I got out my journal and wrote about how I was feeling.

3. Shop your own closet. Chances are you already have something similar to what you were thinking about buying.

4. Read a book to get some inspiration.

5. Make something with your hands. This one is a perfect go to for me, because I can sew a bag in less time than it actually takes to order one and wait for it to arrive on my doorstep.

6. Take a walk or work out.

7. Meditate. Light a candle and take some deep breaths. You could also say a prayer and connect with the Divine.

8. Do something kind for someone else. My husband wanted some cinnamon rolls tonight, so I baked some for him.

9. Listen to music or Youtube some music videos. This one is my go to, and you can have so much fun discovering new music.

10. Take a nap. If you are stressed or feeling like impulse shopping, chances are you really need to unwind instead. Get some rest and hold off on spending until you are more relaxed and can make a better decision.

Well, I did not shop tonight so it was a win for the environment and for my pocketbook! I got to save some money and do things that truly filled my well. Nurture yourself when you feel the urge to shop, or find ways to be of service to others. Shopping is not true self-care, it is merely a distraction. Take care of yourself instead of impulse shopping and your life will feel amazing!

Sew a Princess Peach Dress for Cosplay and Renaissance Faire

If there is one thing I look forward to the most in Summertime, it is the local Renaissance Faire! I’ve been noticing also how Cosplay is giving people the chance to dress up to honor the characters who represent characteristics they love. It is so easy to whip up a Princess dress. Just add a princess crown and staff, and some boots and you will be ready to rock the Ren Faires and Cosplay conventions!

I started with a pink top that I had gotten from Torrid a few years ago. You don’t have to go with pink though, however pinks or neutral tones give more of a Princess feel. I was thinking more “Princess Peach” from Mario when I did this dress. However you might have a different inspiration for your own make. I also used white unicorn fabric for the sleeves! I sourced the fabric in a secondhand fabric bundle from Etsy last year.

Here’s how I made this dress!

Materials: crop top that you want to upcycle, two to three yards of fabric depending on your waist/hip measurement, and a contrasting knit for the sleeves

Step One: You don’t have to go by exact measurements here, but make sure the fabric is 1 1/2 to 2 times longer than the bottom hem of the crop top. To make the skirt, fold the fabric in half wrong sides together, and stitch the long ends together with a straight stitch. (The fabric I used was sheer, however you don’t have to double up the fabric if you don’t want to.). Next, gather the fabric along the raw edge to create kind of a giant ruffle. Adjust the gathers to fit the crop top, then sew the vertical seam of the fabric to form the skirt. Attach onto the crop top with a straight stitch.

Step Two: Remove the sleeves off the crop top. Estimate how long you want the sleeves to be, and measure the opening of the sleeve area on the top, then cut out two pieces of fabric rectangles that match those measurements. My sleeves were cut at an angle, to give a more Princess feel. Fold one of the rectangles in half, with the open seam at the bottom. Then lay the sleeve opening on the top at the top edge of the rectangle, and trace the opening onto the fabric rectangle. Cut out the shape of the top of the sleeve, then sew the long edge of the sleeves together with right sides touching. Attach the sleeves to the top and hem the sleeves.

Step Three: Embellish the dress however you like! Add lacing detail down the front or trims. You could add a button placket to the middle of the front, or an applique design. My top already had a heart cut out, so I left it as it was.

Top Five Reasons to Upcycle Clothes

If you have sauntered through my website, you probably caught on that I love sewing upcycled clothes. I started out upcycling back in the early 2000’s. Then I went through a phase as a quilter. I always had kind of a scrappy love of using what I had on hand instead of always rushing out to buy fabric for each project. That practice of using what I had made my quilts explode with color and print as I constantly busted out my scrap stash for each quilt instead of using precuts or yardage.

In 2021 I came back to upcycling. My website was an online journal where I documented my healing journey and shared about my art and sewing. In 2021 I started over, so to speak. I got back to what brought me to sew in the first place, which was upcycling clothes. Sewing clothes is my passion! I love altering my wardrobe and constantly get ideas for fresh upcycles.

Something drew you to my website, and chances are you love upcycling clothes too, or at least you are interested in giving it a try! Here are five reasons to upcycle clothes!

1. Upcycling your wardrobe reduces your carbon footprint, especially when you stop buying so much fast fashion and embrace slow fashion as a way of life.

2. Upcycling your clothes can help you create a completely unique wardrobe. You can’t put a price tag on being able to express yourself with the clothes you wear. When I wear my upcycles out and about the city I feel like I’m confident and can take on the world. It feels so good to wear my art on my sleeve!

3. Upcycling your wardrobe is an art form! Fashion designers are also embracing upcycling as a way to express their vision, and you can see upcycled clothes everywhere from the runway to fashion magazines.

4. Personally, altering my wardrobe has increased my self-confidence by leaps and bounds. Clothes have a way of drawing your people to you! If you want to meet like minded people, wearing your me makes and expressing who you are with your wardrobe makes a first impression that is unforgettable.

5. Skills building and trying new techniques also gives you so much self-confidence, makes you more intelligent and the skills you learn build on each other. Even if you are just starting out though, your makes will be completely original and one of a kind! That is the nature of creativity when you “keep your eyes on your own paper” and just do you!

Why do you upcycle? What got you interested in giving it a shot? There are so many projects here on my website, and found across the web. Get to that sewing room and create! Then rock your makes proudly out in the world.

Weaving with Upcycled Fabrics

Ok, so this post comes from the wayback machine! I like to envision the little bit of Scooby Doo effort that went into my makes back in the early 2000’s! I didn’t know a thing about sewing at the time, and had not yet been influenced by books and online tutorials. So I just came up with ideas by experimentation.

These two weavings came from my experiments. I was working with pre worn corduroy pants, and also got a bolt of white corduroy fabric. I used procion dyes to dye the white corduroy in batches. Eventually I decided to do a couple of weavings to hang up.

The concept here is that you just need fabric strips and a glue stick along with a sewing machine. As you are weaving, dab a little glue onto the backs of the woven strips to keep them in place. Let the glue dry overnight. Then sew along the edges of the rows with a wide zig zag stitch. On the orange weaving, I worked by creating sixteen patch of woven squares, and then sewed them together to create the larger piece.

I can see weaving being really cool for the back of a jacket, as a tunic or the top of a dress, or even as patches to mend clothes! Work small, work big, the process is pretty much the same!

I hope this little bit of inspiration gets you thinking creatively!

A Word from 1 Peter 3: 3-4

Over the years I have thought a lot about expectations regarding appearance. Both men and women face those expectations if they want to be accepted in society. I mean, most people have responsibilities to tend to. Work, running errands, date nights, and more!

As a seamstress I have focused much of my path on clothes. It gets me thinking a lot about the way I show up in the world. The truth is I’m really low maintenance these days. Something about turning 40, then 45, and now 46 has me shrugging off the pressure to look marvelous all the time. Yoga pants, hoodies and t shirts have replaced the way I used to get dressed to the nine’s for my day to day life.

Part of the aging process is fighting off the effects of time! There is make up and every lotion and potion imaginable. There is pressure to get plastic surgery and hold on to youth for top dollar. There is so much pressure to conform to beauty standards or face ridicule. You might even be written off completely if you don’t look just right! But looking just right changes depending on who is looking at you. One person likes a woman to look this way, another that. Pressures among groups of friends also run so high.

The great thing is you can dress how you want! If you want to wear make up and do your hair every day…that’s great! If you want to throw on a hat, (like I do), and not put that much effort in…that’s your choice. There isn’t a right or wrong way to show up in the world. Just showing up is enough! And it isn’t your job to dress to impress other people. That’s also a choice you get to make. It can be a form of resistance to wear sweatpants sometimes instead of getting all dolled up.

What are you wearing these days? The most important thing is to please yourself! Regardless of whether you dress to the nine’s or wear the same clothes day after day…treating others like you want to be treated, and lifting others up is what truly matters! Some of the worst looking people have hearts of gold! And some of the best looking people are the most heartless and cruel. Wear your he(art) on your sleeve and just do you!