Me & Mine project: Intro and a dress for me!

You know what's weird? How mechanics have broken cars, and builders have never-ending renos.. and sewing people never make things for their own family!  I'm forever being asked if I made the dress I'm wearing, or the clothes the boys are wearing, or, well, any fabric gift we give anyone.
And I very rarely have made those things. I am always so busy sewing up custom orders, or readymades, for Croutons - so sewing stuff for us seems less exciting, and less productive (due to not earning money from it!)
But, it sucks. Really, it does. Earning money is great (and much needed) but our kids are growing fast, and I really want them to be the type of grown-ups who complain about how Mum insisted on putting them in homemade clothes! Heh. And the ones who are embarrassed when Mum turns up to pick them up from a party wearing a homemade nana-frock. My best friend in primary had a Mum who made everything for her and her three siblings. Everything from jeans to undies!
(While I wish I could be that dedicated, I can't quite, but I want to at least make the undies...)

And, with that, I announce my personal project for this year. Inspired (heavily) by my friend Hazel (and also by Talia Christine!) I'm doing a 'Me & Mine' project.
I am not setting myself any numbers, but I want to greatly increase the amount of sewing/crafting I do for my family. I want to sew clothes, repurpose things, paint and decorate things, maybe even BUILD things? Who knows where this will lead.

Behold, my first project:

 

I've been wanting to do this for a long time, this was just the kick in the pants I needed.
I took one of my favourite vintage dresses - a style I have found many times, in many sizes, and is super flattering - and traced a pattern from it.

 

I took a duvet cover I found at the Sallie a few weeks ago, and I cut out the pattern pieces.
Then I whipped it up over the course of last weekend.

I was so pleased with how quickly it came together. And even more thrilled when my dodgy pattern taking technique actually proved to be quite accurate!!

I didn't need to alter many things, and I have taken some notes on possible improvements for next time. (Oh, there WILL be a next time - soon!)

 

I'm especially pleased with the pattern placement, totally worked out how it looked in my head. Love it when that happens!
I'm excited to be able to say 'yes!' next time someone asks me if I made my dress.

(Bonus shots of Mol modelling her birthday suit, and of my swish new non-frumpy-housewife haircut. Heh.)

Curvy Fashion Friday

I'm on time! Totally doing Curvy Fashion Friday on the right day! Huzzah!

I snuck out into the garden yesterday morning, while the kids were getting ready for school and Mainly Music, and set up the tripod. My lines (yes, I have three different places I hang washing!) were so full of hanging clothing, that there was no way to escape having it in the pictures. I had a wee fiddle on Picmonkey, in hopes of making it less of an eyesore but, really, it's a bit of a reality at the moment.
(I'm sure all of you have houses overflowing with washing, in various stages of done-ness, too. You feel  me, right?)

I'm wearing one of my all time fave dresses, gifted to me by my friend Amy. She has a matching one, in a slightly different colourway. Amazing. It is one of the best fitting dresses I own, and so ridiculously comfortable (very important!).
I'm wearing a homemade cowl, Glassons tights and Number One Shoe Warehouse boots (wish I had bought more pairs - so comfy and so hard to find boots in my size, that I like!).

The kids soon realised I had disappeared, and came looking for me.
'Mum, I need a photo of my tiger!'
Washing and kids.. couldn't sum up my days much better than that : )

Curvy Style Friday.

My lovely friend, Stella, has started something beautiful. (Actually, as most of you know, everything Stella does is beautiful..) Stella has started 'Curvy Style Friday', an extension of Wardrobe Wednesday where she not only wears super cute clothes, but celebrates her curves at the same time! Sa-weet!

Soo.. my photos are not half as fabulous as Stellas, but I certainly have a shapely body to flaunt - so here I am!

I haven't been having a great relationship with my curves lately. Or with anything, much. I'm in a funk!
I've been struggling to lose some weight since having Mol and I seem to be fighting a losing battle.. a kilo off here.. two on here.. and I'm still the same weight I was two weeks after giving birth. Bummer.
I'm hoping that, along with upping the exercise and cutting back on the food, taking the odd outfit picture might help bring my self esteem (and mood) back up again.
Also hoping the three handfuls of supplements a day will help to restore some health to my body. Healthy body + happy mind = ideal. We'll see...watch this space!



Flats - The Warehouse
Skirt- Salvation Army
Belt - Kmart
Singlet - Glassons (online)
Cardi - Salvation Army

A funny aside; When I walked out wearing this outfit the other day, Otto looked at me a bit funny.
'What is that on your lips, Mum?'
'Lipgloss! Does it look nice?'
'Ummm, not really. It looks pretty weird. Does it hurt?'

Safe to say I don't wear make up very often! Hah!

A wardrobe snippet.

My dear friend, Amy, sent me a big box of goodies for Christmas. So lovely of her.
In that big box was a million vintage dresses and things for Mollie, handmade bibs in vintage fabric, kids books, a Dear Colleen tote (I've got the skill to pay the bills!) annnnnd this beautiful dress.
It fits like a glove, is super dooper pretty and I pretty much love it. I plan to wear it on Christmas day.
Thanks twinny!

Dress - Gift from Amy
Cute baby - Allllll mine

(And it's too hot to wear much else!)

Wardrobe!

Sunglasses - ASOS.com
Dress - Salvation Army (sleeves and hem shortened)
Brooch - Croutons.felt.co.nz
Leggings - Glassons

It's been a few weeks since I did a wardrobe post, mostly just because the number of clothes in my rotation at the moment is tiny. I don't actually fit many of my clothes still, and I'm still avoiding buying too many more in case I miraculously find the motivation to drop any of this baby weight.
That is not looking likely anytime soon though.. I may just have to give in!

I did (finally) alter this dress a few weekends ago. It had long sleeves and was a near-ankle length. I definitely like it much better like this. I think it has potential to be my fave Summer dress.

Just need a few more now.. one dress isn't going to cut it for a whole Summer.. ahh to find the time!

(We visited my favourite family home again this week - the one I photographed last year. I have another post, about the garden, planned for tomorrow. Ohhhh such a beautiful home.)

Wardrobe - Nana dresses.

Nana dresses and leggings are my go-to outfit at the moment.
I've reached that point where I know the baby/pregnancy weight is not shifting anytime soon (is it just me, or is it impossible to lose weight on no sleep?!), so I'm embracing it and wearing whatever I darn well please.
Long may this frame of mind last.
I bought this top dress at the Sallies just after having Mollie. I love its uniform styling - I had two 'nurses uniform' type dresses in my 6th form year of high school. They were my favourite dresses then, too! I guess they designed them for comfort and easy wearing, and they won.
Leggings are Glassons, boots are Warehouse and brooch is Croutons.

This next picture, was quickly snapped on the way out the door - I didn't have time to try and get a shot where we were both smiling. I'm wearing a dress my lovely friend Amy sent me, leggings from Glassons and shoes from The Warehouse.
(those last two are nearly always the same - Glassons make the best leggings, and The Warehouse is unbeatable for cheap shoes in bigger sizes!)

Mollie is rocking some sweet Squidgyums pants, and a Cotton on top. Pink AS!

Wardrobe Wednesday (late, as usual...)

I'm a day out this week, not tooo bad.
Thanks to Mollie sleeping nearly three hours, yesterday morning was spent photographing and listing bags in the felt shop. All of which was done in my pjs.. something you really don't need to see on the blog!
I decided today would need to make up for it.

I've also had a very negative body image this week, for some reason.
I've been down in the dumps about my lumps, if you will.
It is safe to say I fell off the Weight Watchers wagon pretty quickly.. and it has well and truly left me behind. (Left me exactly the same weight I was too, unfortunately.)
I'm trying ridiculously hard to remind myself it is early days/Mollie is still new/it's hard to lose weight on no sleep etc, but it's exhausting. It's a vicious wee cycle: feel stink-eat to feel better-don't lose weight. And so on and so on. Made a million times worse by my zombified state.
A few semi-decent photos of oneself goes a long way though. I might walk past a window or mirror this afternoon and feel a bit sick, but looking at these photos I feel half okay about my current body. And that's good enough to keep me going for awhile.

Sunglasses - ASOS.com $26
Striped top - Glassons $20
Dress - Glassons $50
Flats - The Warehouse $9
Necklace - Wild Bramble A gift from Abraham : )

Wardrobe Wednesday.

Thought I would make the most of the finest weather we've had in awhile, and do a WW post! Huzzah!
I had a million errands to run in town this morning, so I thought it fitting that I might pull out all the stops, and wear a dress for a change. Slowly getting braver!
This is a dress I bought not long after Mollie was born. I bought it, and about a dozen others, on one of those magical thrifting days where the whole rail seems to be filled with things your size (probably more common if you are a smaller size!) and your era of choice. I didn't really fit any of them that day, with my 2 week old darling asleep in her carseat, but I'm discovering now which will be kept and which will be sold/gifted on. I tried to choose ones with buttons predominately, for obvous reasons - so hard to find fab dresses with boob access!

Dress- Salvation Army $4.50
Leggings - Glassons $12.50
Cardi - Glassons $30
Flats - The Warehouse $9

And my sunnies? Oh, how I love these fine glasses. Smudgy fingerprints and all..

They are from ASOS and were a steal, at $26 (delivered!). Wooo!

 

Miss Mollie donned a frock also, as she seems to more and more often. Hers was slightly more dashing than mine, she doesn't need to work hr way up to being brave! Ha ha.

Dress - hand me down, originally from Pumpkin Patch
Thermal tights - also handed down.
Cardi - Salvation Army $1.50
Socks - Farmers $2


We're linking up with other stunning ladies, over here:

Wardrobe day.

I decided today was the day to brave a vintage dress.
I've been so disheartened with my post-partum frump that I've not really dared to frock it up. The one time I did wear a nana-style dress was the day someone stopped me in the supermarket and said 'Are you pregnant again? Oh wow! You are!'. Um, no. Dress back into the 'not yet pile'...

But today I feel a little closer to normal (a long way to go..) and, well, I'm so tired of skirt and tops and everything in black. There's not enough colour in my life!

So yes, I may or may not still look 5 months pregnant, but I feel a lot cheerier. And that is the most important thing, afterall.

Dress - Salvation Army $4.50
Belt - Salvation army $2
Tights - Glassons $12.50
Shoes - The Warehouse $9



Oh, and, just in case you're wondering (cause we know you are.. she's much cuter than I!)... this is what the other Larsen lady is wearing today :

Dress - Salvation army $1.50
Cardi - Gifted (bought from community handcraft shop)
Leggings - Gifted (UK brand Early days)
Shoes - Gifted (Mokpuna merino)

Wardrobe Wednesday!

A wee girl's Wardrobe Weds today. It would appear she is the only one I can get a decent photo of in this cold, dull light. Where has the sun gone? Doesn't the weather know we have to get the car serviced tomorrow and we'll need to walk everywhere? It had best buck up its ideas before then!

Mols is all wrapped up toasty, for a trip to the op shop and post office. She is wearing:
Hat and boots - a gift.
Vintage wool dress - The Sallies
Woollen long sleeve top - Farmers (dyed green by me)
Leggings - made by me.

And, weirdly enough, I realised after dressing her that we are wearing perfectly matching outfits. I guess I just had these colours on my mind today. I better try harder not to do that when she's older, aye? Shameos, Mum!

I'm wearing:
Cardi & tights - Glassons
Top - Farmers
Skirt - Kmart
Shoes - The Warehouse

(Woah, covered nearly all the cheap-o chains in this outfit!)

Wardrobe Wednesday

.. posted on a Monday night, of an outfit I wore on Sunday. Ah well, you do what you can do when you can do it when babes are this young, right?

This is what I wore yesterday.
It's nothing fancy, but I liked it because a) it felt a little like my post-pregnancy style and b) it was super comfy and warm. Both of these things make me very happy at the moment. Post-partum dressing, for me, is just not a time to be stepping too far out of my comfort zone!

My outfit details:
Cowl - Farmers $15
Top and Singlet - Glassons $20 and $10
Skirt - Thrifted years and years ago
Tights - Farmers about $15
Boots - #1 Shoe Warehouse $40

In other news.. I started my post-baby weightloss journey last week, despite a bit of criticism from husband and friends. I realise that 8 weeks is not a heck of a long time to give my body to get back to 'normal', and that Mollie needs me to eat extra and move less to provide optimum nourishment, but I also know myself. I know that, given a good excuse (like pregnancy and breastfeeding) I do not just add a few extra calories each day, I eat about double what I need to. If I'm not feeling accountable - I'm dangerous.
So, I have joined Weightwatchers and I'm hoping to (very slowly.. half a kilo a week ideally..) get back to my pre-Mollie self.
Oh how I look forward to wearing some of those clothes again!

Wardrobe Wednesday (x3!)

I think that the first few months post-baby are the hardest time in terms of finding ones style.

Pre-baby it is so much easier. You know your body, you don't always like everything about it, but you know it. You know what fits, what shapes work for it and which clothes give you the look you want to present. You know?
Pregnancy, for me, is fun. Your body might be changing shape, but there is one big focal point - your lovely round belly. It is relatively easy to put together outfits that work around that beautiful baby bump (even if it is hard to find things that fit!).
Post-partum? It's like being in someone else's body. Your chest is huge (and leaky!), your tummy is all squishy and wobbly, you have lumps and bumps where you never knew you could get lumps and bumps.. generally you're just not yourself.
For me, I don't think it's even the extra size that makes it hard (though it would be helpful in terms of fitting pre-preg clothes) but rather the overall change of body shape.
I'm so used to having a waist, albeit not tiny, and wearing dresses and high waisted skirts with belts.. safe to say that wouldn't be a good look right now. I'm really struggling to find a comfy and practical 'look' for Winter, to tide me over til I lose a bit of weight and get some of my shape back.
I'll get there though (both to the finding of the look, and the weight loss!) and i intend to keep sharing outfits  along the way, to encourage myself, and document the process.

Glasses - The Warehouse $10
Cardi - Glassons $30
Top - Kmart $15
Skirt - Kmart $15
Flats - The Warehouse $10

(I know. Trinny and Whatshername would strongly disapprove of me wearing patterns on my biggest part.. meh. sometimes 'flattering' isn't the most important thing in an outfit..)
Cardi - Sallies
Top and skirt - Kmart $15 each
Tights - Also Kmart $5

This one is my fave.

Cardi - Cotton On $25
New dress/tunic - Farmers $41 on sale
Leggings - Glassons $12.50
Shoes - The Warehouse $17

Does your style change post-baby? Do you have any handy hints and tips?