Refashion Weekend

This weekend the hubs, the pup, and I went home to my mom's in Chattanooga. For a weekend trip, this requires a lot of packing, and it's mostly dog stuff. I have come to the conclusion that traveling with a pet is just like traveling with an infant: you practically have to pack up the nursery in order to have all you will need! I have also been suffering the ill effects of spring in the South with a sinus infection, so this weekend I have very little planned. However, my favorite quilt shop is just outside of Chattanooga, and I haven't been there in more than 5 years (yes, that's how long it's been since I worked on any quilts...sad, huh?) So, I AM going.

Sew-Bee-It is the cutest little quilt shop I've ever seen. It doesn't have the large selection of fabrics and supplies of some I've seen, or even a large variety in what they do have (I still LOVE them, though), but it is too cute. I went with another crafter, who has never quilted, and I almost had her converted before we left. The shop is so cozy and sweet, has beautiful quilts displayed, and the workers there are so friendly. And I did find some great prints for another project swap I am doing (to be discussed at a later date.) The odd thing was that after going to two separate quilting shops, I found the quilting motif stencil at.....Hobby Lobby. Hmm.

After enjoying a relaxing evening fingering beautiful fabrics and fighting the urge to buy all in sight, I returned to mom's to begin working on the refashioning I had brought along. I opened the door to her sewing room.....and almost died. It is quite obvious she hasn't worked in there for months, because it's too disastrous. Now, I know that craft/sewing rooms are supposed to be organized chaos, but there's no organization here. So, as part of my "refashioning" project, I refashioned mom's sewing room. Moved the ironing board closer to the sewing table, organized and sorted her projects and supplies, and soon had a room I could work in.

So using a tutorial from here, I took several shirts that are too small for me right now, and I made them fit. (No, I'm not pregnant. I have lost 10 pounds though, so soon, that will no longer be a question to consider!) One design, three different ways, three new shirts to wear. The short sleeved white one was basic, according to the tutorial post. The long sleeved one made me realize that I needed to add some width to the sleeves, plus it had a mark on it that wouldn't wash out: applique to the rescue. And the yellow tank still basically fit, I just don't really wear it, but now I can! And so, since the fabric for the white shirts came from horrible crops from Goodwill, three new shirts (from my own collection) for less than $10! Ha!