I can't believe that 2017 is right around the corner, literally! This year felt as though it's creaked by and then sped up to a ridiculous speed around August so I am kind of breathless as I think about what's next for the new year. No lies, I am relieved to say goodbye to 2016. It's been a lot of life, and I could deal with setting life to a "cruise control" mode and just enjoying time. 

I am pretty excited for 2017 but not in the way that I am usually excited for the new year. Normally,  I have very itemized goals that I want to achieve. There are lists. There are expectations and I usually fall short. Last year, I swore that I was going to take better care of myself. In a way, I followed through with allowing myself to heal. However, on the other hand, I didn't follow through with what I truly had in mind. Baby weight loss, channeling my inner fashionista, eating the way I am supposed to, getting out more. I still have residual baby weight, I don't always dress for the day (or leave the house), and I am eating chocolate wafer cookies as I write this. #winning  

Transformation Tuesday: 90s holiday dress to toddler romper

Oh my gosh, guys. I almost didn't make another Transformation Tuesday! This was easily the hardest upcycle that I've ever done and I was literally sewing against the clock (well, my self-imposed deadline of tonight). The concept of this transformation wasn't difficult however, I cut all of my pieces two weeks before I began sewing. Of course, during that time Mr. Hugo bear had a growth spurt and I had to scrap my original design when I was 85% finished and let out all of the seams. That didn't work. I have used the seam ripper enough this week for my husband to know that if I am sitting on the couch, seam ripping and binge watching Netflix, it's going sideways.

Now that we've talked about what a wild ride this week was trying to get this transformation to work for me, let's talk about the inspiration behind this romper!

Transformation Tuesday: Updated Old H&M Floral Top

Like I said this week is a little backwards so today it's Transformation Tuesday, except on a Thursday!

I've had this shirt for years. It's a thrifted H&M top that I found for $5.99 at one of my favorite Goodwills when I was living much closer to the city. The floral print of this shirt is what really drew me in a few years ago and I still love it just as much. Since I have a habit of repeat wearing my favorite clothing items (and ignoring the rest of my closet in the process) I was starting to get a little bored with the style of this shirt so I tossed it into the "do something with this" pile.

Pattern Review: See & Sew B6371

Today we are going to mix it up! Instead of our normal Tuesday series, I am going to do a pattern review instead. My transformation for Tuesday is almost done so I will post it on Thursday. There's just a few last minute details that involve seam ripping and I've been avoiding the task!

A few weeks ago, I went to Joanns thinking that the Simplicity pattern sale was in the works but I misread the ad and was really disappointed when I realized that they were still full price because I was looking for a classic doll dress pattern to get started with my Christmas sewing. I decided to take a look at the See & Sew rack and found something close to what I had in mind with the B6371 view B. Woot, woot. $2.99 for the win!

Transformation Tuesday: Old Maternity Shirt to Ruffle Tank Top

I've always had this idea that sewing a shirt is really hard and I'm just not quite up to snuff to pull it off. Lately, it seems like all of the DIY/sewing projects that I've been viewing have all been shirts and it was just the motivation that I needed to tackle an old F21 denim shirt that I bought when I was carrying Hugo. Initially, I was planning on upcycling it into some trendy pants for Hugo until I went to a consignment store and saw another girl rocking the same shirt. It really caught me off guard how good the shirt looked and I started to think that maybe there was more to this shirt than I was giving it credit. So, of course, the shirt sat in my closet for weeks until, once again, my good ole planner said that it was time to do something with it this week. I really needed to come up with a game plan but I wasn't too sure which way to go so I just started with before pictures. Really, really, awful before pictures.

Pattern Review - Simplicity 8098

Well, Thankful Thursday was short lived. Not that I'm lacking gratitude or thankfulness rather, there is just so much to be thankful for and I am so appreciative for a great many things in my life. I have noticed that it is a lot harder for me to talk about things that are so close to me now such as, why I am thankful for life, opportunities, possibilities, health, etc. and I was really conflicted about posting last Thursday's post. Introspection is a beautiful thing that causes pause and self growth but I don't know that there's a place for that level of intimacy on the blog, anymore. I would rather look back and see the evolution of when I started writing through actions and experiences instead of talking about the process of what it took to get there. This leads me to talk about where this blog is going!

Transformation Tuesday: Onesie to Knotted Hat for Baby

About a month ago or so, I purchased a new set of onesies for Hugo on clearance at H&M. H&M is my favorite store for baby clothes because they last longer than any brand that we've used with Hugo bear and it's not nearly as expensive in relation to other stores. (Yayer!) It was however, a sad day when his white striped onesie was stained during lunchtime (the week after purchase, ugh!) and no amount of oxiclean or soaking was going to save the areas heavily stained. Darn those lunchtime mandarins!

I really didn't want to throw it out since I literally just bought it and since the staining was isolated on the sleeves, I knew that I could upcycle the onesie into something else for the Hugo bear! So, the onesie sat on my dresser for awhile as I thought about what to make with it.