Friday Night Photos #118

Almost all of my pictures today are of crafty stuff--I spent a lot of time over the last week with my sewing machine (and a needle and thread). Last weekend, we didn't have anything going on; and after all the crap that is 2023, I took most of the weekend to enjoy one of my favorite hobbies: sewing.

Lately, I've really been into altering my jeans. I love repurposing old clothes and when I recently lost weight, I kept the clothes that were too big--just for that purpose. I've added an extra waistband to several pairs after discovering just how comfy it is--the jeans stay over my hipbones, so I don't have to keep tugging on them. They just feel very well-fitted.

I've also added gussets to the sides of the calves to several pairs. I had a few pairs of jeans that I really liked, but they were straight-leg cut. The gussets flare them out a bit, giving me more room in the calf (I have huge calves, and sometimes jeans don't fit me *because of the calf*--not the waist, not the thighs, but the calf!).

Rather than using matching denim, I picked a few contrasting fabrics:

This one is with lace from a bedsheet. I've been wanting to use it for a while (with denim) but I just hadn't figured out what to do with it. I really like how these turned out!

I'm not sure how I feel about these ones (below). I think they'll look better once I finish them (I have to sew along the edges of the seams so that they lie flat). My mom had given me a shirt that she was going to donate; I wasn't crazy about the shirt, but I decided to incorporate it into something else. I knew I wanted to use the grommets for something, and I decided to try using them on the hem of a pair of jeans.

And these (below) are my favorite pair. These were my "goal jeans" for YEARS. They're a pair of Silver brand skinny jeans, and I was so excited to be able to wear them when I reached my goal weight in 2015. Now that skinny jeans aren't "in" anymore (I can't even describe how happy I am about that!), I was very resistant to getting rid of them. Besides the sentiment, I just really love how comfy these are. I was so worried I was going to ruin them, but I knew I wouldn't wear them if I just left them as skinny jeans. (Thrift stores are LOADED with skinny jeans right now. 

I used denim that was the same color, but I turned the gussets over and used the wrong side of the fabric on the outside. I love the contrast of denim! 

I was kind of dreading sewing along the seams (to flatten them) because it's really hard to get my sewing machine that deep inside the leg of a pair of jeans. Then I remembered--hey, I have hands and people used to sew *everything* by hand. So, I got out a needle and thread and then sewed each side with contrasting thread, which you can see better below (on the left is before sewing along those seams.

I've also been wanting to try embroidering fun things on a pair of jeans. I basically want to cover a pair of jeans with patches, contrasting fabric, and embroidery--a total mess, but intentional. I had never done embroidery before, but I browsed around Pinterest and tried to just copy the look of other ones I found cute. I was using this piece of denim as practice, but I may just turn it into a patch.

Last week, I posted a picture of the passion fruit Jerry bought for me. I had been excited to eat them, despite the fact that they looked small and probably underripe (I have no idea how to "age" a passion fruit). Well, I cut into one and I was surprised to see just how little fruit is in there! It was probably a tablespoon altogether. But it looked just like I remembered--yellow snot with ants in it ;)  The last time I'd had a passion fruit was in Punta Cana--they were much bigger (the size of my hand) and sweeter than these--but these still tasted SO good.

Passion fruits were served breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Punta Cana--I thought they looked gross so I didn't even try one until halfway through our vacation. I was SO missing out! I ate about a million and half of them after that.

Noah and I went to some garage sales this morning with my mom and Noah bought this cat-backpack. It's surrounded by mesh, so the cats can see and smell outside. (I used to have a cool-looking "astronaut" one, but it wasn't ideal for cats. It just looked fun.) This is much better! Noah took Estelle outside and she LOVED looking around. We unzipped the top so she could stick her head out and she found the apple tree fascinating.

I also bought a puzzle. It's been ages since I put together a puzzle! When I was in so much chronic pain, I had to stop doing them (it hurt my hands, shoulders, neck, and back). I absolutely love putting together puzzles, and this one is 2,000 pieces--so it shouldn't be too easy ;)  I used to do 1,000 piece puzzles and I didn't even know there were puzzles with 2,000; I'm looking forward to working on this one. I may have to do it in the garage to keep the cats away, but that actually sounds really nice. I can open the garage doors so I can feel a nice breeze while I work on it. That sounds like a very relaxing summer evening, actually! Jerry would like it, too.

Anyway, that's all I've got. Hopefully I'll have more variety next week; but despite the few pictures, this past week has been refreshing. Have a great weekend! xo