Make Your Own Skinny Jeans {Tutorial}

It's happened. I've finally done it. I bought SKINNY Jeans!!! I'm a little behind on the trend, but I'm pretty sure I'm. In. Love. Especially when they're paired with my oh so comfy boots.

I was cleaning out my closet and found this poor, shapeless pair of jeans. They still fit, but have a very wide bootleg and aren't very flattering, even with my favorite pair of boots.

I usually donate my unwanted clothes...but with my new love of skinny jeans, and a perfectly functional piece of denim, I decided to do a little refashioning.

I wanted to show you how to save yourself $30, $40, $50+ dollars and refashion an unloved pair of jeans in your closet too!

And might I add....it takes under 30 minutes!

Let's get started...

Materials:

1 pair of unloved bootcut or straight leg jeans

1 pair of skinny jeans you already own (or a tape measurer)

Sewing things

You can see all of the extra fabric of the bootcut jeans compared to the skinny jeans on top. All of the bulk has to go.

Turn your jeans inside out and flatten to make the side seams even.

Place your skinny jeans on top of your inside out jeans. Make sure you line up the seat and the outer seams. You'll want to sew the inseam where your jeans aren't topstitched.

(If you don't have a pair of skinny jeans already, this is where you get out your measuring tape. You can measure around your leg and different points to gauge how wide the legs need to be for a comfortable fit and sew accordingly.)

Pin your jeans along the inseam, next to your skinny jean template. Sew along your line of pins, removing them as you go to achieve your new leg shape.

Try on your jeans to make sure they are fitting correctly and are as skinny as you would like (I ended up making mine a little tighter), then use scissors or a rotary cutter to remove the extra fabric from the legs.

Use a serger or a wide zig-zag stitch to keep your raw edges from fraying.

Slip them on and enjoy your new skinny jeans!!

 Now I can look down and see my favorite flats.

Or tuck them neatly into my favorite boots with NO bunching!

Super stylish...and super comfortable.

I love a good, quick refashion. Enjoy!

New Pretties

I have put the SHOP on a little vacation for a couple of weeks so that I can make some new pretties to go in it! I finally bought myself some new fabric, and it was soooo hard to cut into, but I'm loving what has come out of it already.

Oooooh I just love my orange and teals!! Joel Dewberry must have been inside my head when he came up with those prints...or not...I love them anyways.

With my fun fabrics, I have been putting together some new zippered bags. They could be a clutch perhaps...or a make-up bag...or an organizer for a really big purse!

I think this orange and teal one would make a sweet little summertime clutch.

The pink and green one reminds me of the hundreds of Clinique bags I've collected over the years!

The crocheting  bug has bitten again, and I'm loving making some BIG CHUNKY COWLS!

I'll be putting a few of those in the shop too.

I wore my new one out on New Year's Eve and it kept me nice and warm, and fashionable!

All of these (except my creamy cowl) are going to be in the shop soon when it reopens...but if you love one, let me know and I'll put it on hold for you! How delicious would that red cowl be with a black dress on Valentine's Day?? Just sayin.

Christmas Fudge (In 3 Minutes!)

One of my favorite blogs to read is V. and Co. . She makes the most beautiful things and has some of the funniest family stories to read. Recently she posted a recipe for Mint Fudge, made with 3 ingredients in 3 minutes...and I had to try it.

Doesn't it look yummy???

I made mine a little different....adding pecans (my favorite!) and subtracting the mint pieces. See her site for the full tutorial...

I mixed my semi-sweet chocolate chips with a can of sweetened condensed milk and microwaved until smooth.

Chopped up some fresh pecans, right off of my Granny's tree! Yummmmm.

Stirred in the pecans and sprinkled a few on top.

I cut up the fudge and placed them on my favorite Christmas platter and took them to a few Christmas parties.

What didn't get eaten at the parties got GONE at work! We just love to eat at work...it makes 3rd shift just a little bit "sweeter".

Thanks to Vanessa for sharing this quick and easy recipe!! Next time I'm trying the mint, becuase it looks oh so delicious!

Christmas Memories

Happy 2012 Everyone!!

I hope the start to your new year has been fabulous. I have taken a little break from the computer and crafting this week to spend some time with my little family (and work, and sleep)....

Here are a few of my favorite Christmas memories from the past few weeks.

Grayson's friend Jackson showed her how to drive his SUPER cool tractor.

(She's got a little more growing to do before she is successful at it)

They exchanged gifts...and fought over toys....

Gray has gotten pretty good at unwrapping boxes.

At our annual "Friends-mas" party, Gray got a little help digging into the chocolate fountain. This is a 1-year old's dream come true!

Next year's Christmas card anyone??? I love this little family picture.

Everyone at the "Friends-mas" party. What a wonderful night that was. It's great not to loose touch with high school and college friends. (I've been friends with two of these girls since we were 8!! Holy Cow!)

Is she up to something??? I think she might be.

She loves her uncle. These two have a very special relationship....if only she knew!

Uncle Adam gifted us with this monstrous piece of awesomeness. This is Newman P. Wiggles. And he's taking over our living room at home.

Gray and her Daddy. Oh how I love these two....

There will be more crafting/recipes/decorating in the following weeks. The holidays are a good time to relax, take a step back and set some goals for the coming year. I have some goals set and am ready to hit the ground running!