Purse Repair. DIY Sewing. Mom Pursinality Episode 1.

Frugal to the point of recklessness.

I like the bag my in-laws gifted to me a couple Christmas’ ago. Problem is, I’ve been a Mom Purse person since high school (many years before my actual state in life warranted such a title, incidentally). Folks of the Mom Purse mentality understand that paring down what’s carried in the purse is never a good solution, even when shoulder a soar from the sheer weight of the items.

And don’t bother thinking that something that hasn’t been used in a month ought to be tossed aside from the purse. No! It may be used next month. You see, folks with Mom Purses thrive on having EVERYTHING handy. You don’t need EVERYTHING every day. But you do need EVERYTHING, eventually. And if you don’t, surely someone you encounter will need it. For instance, 1 pen is never enough in a purse. This, of course, is because someone will need to borrow one when you are using yours. Hasn’t this happened to you? Let’s stop a moment, assess our lives, and realize that all of us, at some point or other have either been the beneficiary or the benefactor of a spare pen. We all need Mom Pursinalities in our lives.

Wait. We were talking about this specific purse. Sorry. I felt the need to explain Mom Purses. This particular one is lovely, but of very light weight fabric. Ergo, it burst at the seems. Several of them. As in, the weight of the necessary items in my purse caused the fabric to pull away from the seems.

Here’s an example. There’s a big hole that shouldn’t be there. This wouldn’t be a problem for a reasonable person of the Minimalist Pursinality. Like my sister. My brain will never understand this http://wechoosetolivethislife.blogspot.com/2011/06/some-summer-organization.html.

One may think that I should just get a stronger purse to suite my pursinality (oh man, I’m having fun with this pun. Sorry! It’s punny! It just came out, out of nowhere!). A new, stronger purse would that would cost money and time. So I’m going to modify this one to suit my Mom Pursinality.

My goals: repair, add compartments, reduce strain on current seams, preserve exterior appearance while enhancing shape definition.

I’ve gotten as far as repairing the burst seems. Will I ever get to the re-enforcement and enhancement stages? Stay tuned! Time will tell.

Love,
Miss Mary Clare

Baby Bib-alicious Part the Second

Previously on Baby Bib-alicious:

….Cutting? Noooo! You’ll ruin it!

Friends, I write today to assure you that the scary scissor escapade ended beautifully. As I cut a wider-than-I needed front piece for the bib (using the back of the shirt, the side that wasn’t stained, and the side seems), I realized that I could use the strips I was thereby creating as ties. And, to top it off (pun intended), the sleeves may as well remain for extra coverage.

But enough with words. You can see for yourself.

This is it. The bib. I could have stopped here, waited for babe to wake, and commenced with tying it on and feeding her the standard breakfast of bananas and yogurt. This is double-knit fabric, so it won’t unravel.

But see those scalloped edges? They are down right pretty. The cut edges seemed unfinished in contrast, and since my sewing machine was already set up, I went ahead and folded over each of them to sew it down, creating a hem. This also gave it more structure, so it may last a little longer. We’ll see!

Here’s a handy picture showing the cuts.

Here’s a list of the cuts so that you can make this bib yourself:

1. Wide front panel (remove).

2. 2-4 inches out towards the side seems from front panel, cut straight up to the shoulder seem. This becomes the ties.

3.  Chop off long sleeves, making them short sleeves.

And that’s it! Simply put on child and tie, or hem the rough edges first. A half hour, or less, well spent. A garment destined for re-use finds meaning again in life.

Love,

Miss Mary Clare

 

 

Baby Bib-alicious.

This is our daughter. The best part is her smile. She also sports a bib I recently made, using a cute little top that a friend gave us. The top was stained in front. (I had considered cutting it up for use as a rag. But it’s a cute little thing. And I feel it deserves to be worn.) Our daughter stains things when not wearing a bib. For that matter, she also stains bibs. (I’ll admit right off the bat that she gets this messy tendency from me. It’s part of her inheritance.) All our bibs – including my aprons, which are actually bibs for adults – were stained at the time. And unwashed. Somehow, I knew that these facts were destined for each other.  I enjoy helping people and things achieve their destiny (destinies?).

I sat on the couch, gazing at the top. I thought about grabbing one of those dirty bibs to use as a template for cutting a new one from the top. But the fabric scissors was closer to me than the dirty bib. I went the easy route, grabbing the scissors, flipping the garment to the side with the stain, and starting to cut. Cutting! Oh no! You’ll ruin it! Want to know what happened next? Will the garment survive the butchering? Come back soon to find out! Affectionately, Miss Mary Clare