Head to Toe in Gramma's Clothes

 

Here's one thing I'm notorious for: forgetting my hanging clothes. 

I'm genuinely embarrassed by how many times I've gone somewhere only to realize I forgot to grab my hanging clothes. Pretty sure it's happened at least three times since Casey and I have been married and for sure a few times before that too. It's a joke among my friends, "Did you remember your clothes?"

One time I got to Bossier (to visit my family) and was staying for a week and had no clothes. My mom took me shopping and Julianne ran to her mom's house and pulled some clothes from the clothing collection she keeps there and brought them to me so I could be dressed for the week. It was actually kind of fun wearing new/new-to-me clothes all week! 

But here is another fact: my gramma is the most stylish person I know.

I stay with her when I'm in Bossier and often raid her closet. She gives me the clothes she no longer wants. Those are inevitably the clothes I get the most compliments on.

This dress is one of those dresses that she no longer wanted, so she gave it to me. She also gave me the tank top underneath. She let me borrow the shoes (because the ones I brought didn't match), and I found the shades in the bag of stuff she was donating to Goodwill. (I also pulled a dress out of the bag.)

Anyways, this time I was not dressed in her clothes because I forgot mine. Just because she gave me the dress and I liked it and wanted to wear it immediately. 

But if I had forgotten my hanging clothes again, Gramma's closet would have taken care of me.

Christmas Outfits

I love dressing festive! As soon as December 1 comes around, it's time to pull out all the red and green! I've decided I don't want to wait until I'm an old lady to wear all the fun, tacky Christmas outfits. Unfortunately we've had mostly hot weather this month, so I didn't get to wear my sweaters as much as I wanted, but I did my best to dress festive anyway. Here are some of my Christmas outfits!

My candy cane sweater unfortunately made too few appearances this Christmas, but I still love it!

sweater: thrifted

skirt: Old from Forever 21

I made this Christmas tree skirt two years ago and get compliments on it every time I wear it! Worn with thrifted top and shoes.

Thrifted top, me-made skirt, and... sandals. Sigh. Christmas in Louisiana. (It was hot that night.)

Love this thrifted sweater! (It's even better because my name is Joy.)

This is probably my favorite Christmas look this year. Sweater and plaid skirt are thrifted and the hat was my mom's--it's vintage now.

Me-made gingerbread apron! My kitchen gets decked out in gingerbread for the Christmas season, so I couldn't help but pick up this fabric to make a festive apron.

Thrifted Star Wars Christmas t-shirt (if next year's Christmas is anything like this year's, I need to thrift more Christmas t-shirts) and me-made skirt. I wore those antlers to many events--they're much cooler than the hot Santa hat! Unfortunately they broke at the Christmas parade when someone on a float threw Mardi Gras beads to me. (Because Christmas parades in South Louisiana are include people throwing candy and beads and plastic cups and end with Santa being pulled by a tractor.)

My mom bought me this beautiful green dress from Dainty Jewell's. I love that I can wear it any time of year but the color is quite festive for December. Worn with cute boots that I thrifted for a few bucks.

My Christmas day outfit featuring the birthday cake I made for Jesus! The top is secondhand (I can't remember if I thrifted it or if a friend gave it to me) and the skirt was made by me out of a thrifted tablecloth.

2020 Sewing Recap

I didn't realize how many items I created this year until I made a list. I thought it would be fun to do a post with everything I sewed this year! 

Masks

Casey and I made about 350 masks in March and April. Shockingly, this didn't kill my sewjo, but I was so sick of making masks and happy to work on some fun projects instead!

Skirts

Paris Skirt 

My grandma gave me this fabric and it's so cute! I bought the gingham fabric for the waistband for a bit of contrast and love how it turned out. 

Pattern: McCalls 6706 (I added 4 inches of length and a pocket)

Fabric: I think the Paris fabric is from Walmart, but I'm not sure. Waistband fabric is from Hobby Lobby.

Map skirt 

I've always wanted a map skirt and decided to make my own! Unfortunately I made this one (and the Paris one) a size too small and haven't gotten much wear out of it because it's uncomfortably tight. 

Pattern: McCalls 6706 (I added 4 inches of length and a pocket) 

Fabric: Quilting Cotton from Hobby Lobby

Plane Skirt 

As it turns out, this isn't my style and I don't wear this skirt a whole lot. But it's still cute!

Pattern: Gathered skirt using Gertie's tutorial with an added pocket

Fabric: thrifted bedsheet

Floral skirt

I love how this skirt turned out! It's such a pretty fabric. This was also my first make to include a label! I found some vintage labels with my name (Joy) and have had fun including them in my projects.

Pattern: McCalls 6706 (I added 4 inches of length and a pocket)

Fabric: Hobby Lobby on clearance. I got it for $3 a yard!

Burnt orange skirt

I wanted a fall skirt and this fit the bill! I wore it a lot during fall.

Pattern: Gathered skirt using Gertie's tutorial with an added pocket

Fabric: Quilting cotton from Hobby Lobby

Yellow Buffalo Plaid skirt

This was my birthday skirt! I saw the fabric at Hobby Lobby and planned to go get it to make this skirt for my birthday... then we were exposed to Covid and had to quarantine, so I didn't get to make this until after my birthday. Oh well--I still got to enjoy it!

Pattern: Gathered skirt using Gertie's tutorial with an added pocket

Fabric: Quilting cotton from Hobby Lobby

Christmas Plaid Skirt 

This was my last make of the year! I finished it up between sewing Christmas presents and actually didn't finish hand sewing the waistband until Christmas Eve. We woke up to a White Christmas and it was so magical!

Pattern: McCalls 6706 (I added 4 inches of length and a pocket)

Fabric: Thrifted tablecloth

Dresses/Pinafores

Red Gingham Dress 

My bestie Julianne challenged me to make a dress. She came over and we started a sewalong at 9:00 at night and finished around 2:00 the next morning. I LOVE this dress and wear it all the time. It's so comfy. 

Pattern: Cora Half Sleeve Linen Dress (free pattern) with darts

Adjustments: After making the dress, I decided the bodice was longer than I like. So with much trial and error, I shortened it. I also used my own gathered skirt pattern and added pockets. Omitted keyhole and button on the back. I think I also shortened the sleeves.

Fabric: From Julianne

Blue Dress 

This is the only photo I have of this one because I just don't wear it much. There's something about the fit that I just don't like. I think it has to do with the sleeves? I need to take it out and try to make some changes to it so I will like it!

Pattern: Cora Half Sleeve Linen Dress (free pattern)

Adjustments: I made the bodice shorter and used the version without the darts. I also used my own gathered skirt pattern and added pockets. Omitted keyhole and button on the back. 

Fabric: From Julianne

Apple pinafore 

I kept seeing the Fleur pinafore on Instagram and had to get the pattern and try it myself! I had like 5 yards of this apple fabric and decided to give it a shot. It turned out so cute! I made a few mistakes (like stitching in the incorrect place for the button placket, see above), but nothing too noticeable. This was my first time doing buttons and buttonholes and there were EIGHT.

Pattern: Untitled Thoughts Fleur Pinafore

Adjustments: I added an inch to the bodice, and I'm not sure why. It wasn't necessary. I also added some length.

Fabric: Casey's grandmother gave this to me.

Buttons: Hobby Lobby

Burnt Orange pinafore 

The apple one was so cute that I had to make another one! This was probably my most-worn piece this fall. It's so cute and perfectly fall. After the apple one, I realized how confusing it was to have the same fabric for both the outer layer and the lining, so I used a fun rainbow stripe pattern to line the top. I also made the top in a smaller size (size 2) but kept the skirt the same size (size 6). The yellow buttons on the side are vintage! I also added pockets to this one. I wasn't sure if I'd like the look of them, but I do. Plus... pockets. 

Pattern: Untitled Thoughts Fleur Pinafore

Adjustments: Added length; Did crisscross straps for the back and omitted back panel. 

Buttons: Strap buttons from Hobby Lobby; side buttons are vintage

Other

Purses

I've made three Full Moon circle purses and of course have no photos of any of them. I've got two more in the works. These were Christmas presents for friends.

Bunny

I made this bunny for my niece's first birthday. It turned out very cute! The pattern was free from a book I borrowed from the library, and it wasn't a very well written pattern. There were a few times that the instructions were so unclear that I just had to figure it out as I went. Very disappointing. But ultimately it turned out adorable.

Pattern: From the Sunday Sews book; I had to do my own thing for the dress because I never figured out the instructions. 

Fabric: Gray linen from Hobby Lobby; dress fabric was thrifted; dress lining made out of her mom's pillow case from when she was a baby

Neckties

I discovered this necktie tutorial and have made like 8 ties! Most were for Casey, but some were for friends and family. This is a quick sew and comes together beautifully. It is a great beginner project. Casey loves having unique ties, so we always keep an eye out for cool fabric when we're shopping. (Btw, the filter I used on this photo makes the fabric look a little weird.)

Pattern: MADE Everyday Necktie. She goes through the entire process in this video and it's so easy to follow! She explains how to create your own pattern, but I decided to buy hers. Totally worth it! It comes with both the skinny and regular tie options. Casey prefers the skinny ties, but I have used the normal size pattern for gifts.

Fabric: Chateau Sew and Sew in New Orleans (They had such cute fabric!)

Princess Anna Costume

By far my favorite and most time consuming make of the year!! I've wanted a Princess Anna costume since Frozen came out, and now that I know how to sew, I had to make one myself! Eventually I want to thrift a light blue top and embellish it to be even more like her costume.

Vest: I thrifted a velvet jacket and turned it into a vest, then added gold bias tape and hand sewed the embellishment. 

Skirt: Made a gathered skirt (with an Olaf pocket!) and then added some darts to take away some bulk from the waistband. The motifs were made with heat and bond and it worked very well! (I tried fabric paint and it didn't look as nice)

Cape: This was the biggest experiment and I am THRILLED with the results. I got a lot of inspiration from this tutorial but did not use any patterns. I made some mock ups before cutting it out of my fabric. I made the cape really wide so I could actually wrap it around me to stay warm.

Fabric: Fabric for skirt and cape were from JoAnn's. Fabric for motifs and fold bias tape was from Hobby Lobby. Cape clasp was from Walmart.

I want this costume to be an ongoing project. As I progress with my sewing skills, I'd like to update pieces or recreate them completely. I really want to work on the motifs on the bodice (it's hard tell in the photos, but it's crooked) and add some more details to the cape. I'd also like to get more of the pink fabric to make her hat. I used almost every bit of the 5 yards I bought for the cape!

Current Projects

• Two Full Moon Bags | I still have two to make for Christmas presents. All the fabric is cut and prepped, so now I just have to sew them.
• Striped Corduroy Fleur Pinafore | I'm so excited about this one! All the pieces are cut and interfaced and I think I finished the top part of it. 
• Quilt top | I'm making a rainbow scrap quilt (because I love to not waste fabric) and I'm about halfway done with the quilt top. 

Whew! That's a lot! I really had no idea I made that many things this year.  I never planned to learn to sew, but it has been one of the most fun creative ventures I've done. It's so rewarding and I really enjoy it. Here's to another year! It will be so fun to look back in another year and see what all I've made!

When Life Gives You Lemons

I know the correct ending to this phrase is... "make lemonade." But the thing is, I don't like lemonade. Or lemon flavored anything, other than sprite, which, to me, tastes like neither lemon nor lime. But I digress.

I think I prefer this quote: "When life hands you lemons, make something sweet." Oh why yes, I DID make this skirt! Isn't it the cutest? I love how summer-y it is, and of course I love the pink. This skirt makes me smile, which is why I've worn it like three times this week. I've needed a reason to smile this week. The world has lots of lemons in it right now, huh?

So let's take a moment to focus on the sweet instead of the lemons.

1. First off, this skirt, obviously. Which I wore today. And two days ago. And five days ago. (I'm a #ProudOutfitRepeater.)
2. We've had beautiful sunny days lately! Oh, I love the sun pouring through the windows.
3. I've been in the office/craft room/sewing room/library working for the last two weeks so I decided to let the cats come in. (They are usually banned from this room because it's where I hide the plants they try to eat.) Having the cats in there has been so fun! Tigger loves to sleep on the sewing table and jump into my lap on occasion. It's the cutest thing. I'm going to have a whole post soon devoted solely to photos of the animals in the sewing room.

4. Casey has recently gotten into cooking and baking and I am so for this. He made crawfish pasta and brownies topped with edible cookie dough this week!

I truly have a ton of things to be thankful for! So grateful to have lots of "sweet" in my life.

Secondhand September Update

Howdy! (I'm from Texas, I'm allowed to say that.)

How is it already September 25? Where did September go?

Unfortunately September in South Louisiana has been HOT. Today was 93 degrees outside. Needless to say, it feels like fall is very far away. But every once in a while a nice little breeze will come through and a few leaves will fall off the trees and I'm reminded that autumn IS on it's way. Just maybe not as fast as I would like it. Oh, I just can't wait to wear my tights and boots!

Remember how I was going to only thrift clothing this month for the #SecondhandSeptember challenge? Well, um... in the spirit of honesty... I bought a few things that aren't secondhand. I don't regret my purchases, but I do feel bad that of course I made them during the month I said I wouldn't.

(One purchase was a top I've had my eye on for a month or so now at a local clothing store. I was afraid they'd sell out of my size if I waited until October to get it! The other was at Dirt Cheap, where I bought a pair of gray boots and a pair of black boots that are the exact same style as my pink boots I bought at Target last year and wear ALL the time. I've already worn both pairs--I love that they are cute AND comfy!)

One thing I've definitely wanted to do this month is highlight my secondhand items and show that thrifted and secondhand items can be stylish and cute! I've been sharing pics on my Instagram stories when I think to take photos. And I want to share them here too!

I wore a vintage scarf and purse to dinner a few weeks ago. The scarf was found at an antique store and the purse was from my Gramma.

Speaking of vintage scarves, I also got this one at the antique shop. How fun and cute is this print?

 I love the color of this thrifted skirt. It also has POCKETS!

Saving the best for last... this vintage dress... that belonged to my mom! I'm so glad she saved it. She, however, was much tinier than I am. The cardigan is hiding the fact that the zipper doesn't completely zip all the way. (But no one was the wiser!) This is the best twirling dress!

Secondhand September

Whilst perusing Instagram the other day, I came across #SecondHandSeptember, a movement encouraging people to only shop secondhand for the month of September instead of buying anything new. I'm joining the challenge! Here are some rambles about it, plus photos featuring some of my secondhand items. (Except for that marvelous dress in the first pic, which was a bit too small, but it was a thrift find!)

(fun fact: I wore this yellow skirt to work the other day and my coworker looked at it so confused. "I had a skirt just like that," she said. I asked her if she donated it to Goodwill. She said she probably had. So there is a good possibility this was her skirt! ha! I thought it was cool.) This jacket was also a thrift find.

This year I've been making an effort to shop secondhand more than buying new things as a way to be more ethical in my clothing purchases. The little I've read about fast fashion is truly sad, but also fast fashion makes it tempting to shop more often, buying the new trend for every season. As I've gotten older, I've realized that I prefer to wear clothes that I love instead of what is specifically in style or trendy. I think this has also partly helped me decide to thrift more. Thrifting means that I can find unique pieces that no one else has!

I do, however, buy a few new things here and there, so I'm saying no to that this month. I'm excited to share my thrift hauls (if I even go thrifting or find anything - ha!) and even more so to share outfits that feature some of my secondhand pieces. I actually have a bunch. My friends know I love to dig through their piles of clothes they plan to donate, and my bestie Julianne often brings me a bag of secondhand goodies when she comes to visit. (I'm not-so-patiently waiting for cold weather so I can wear the hot pink and bright orange sweater she gave me!)

This flowy cardigan was secondhand from a friend.

When I first got into blogging around 2010, the fashion blogging world was completely different. It was just starting out and sponsored posts were the exception and not the standard. My favorite bloggers didn't wear outfits with links so you could buy the exact same pieces--rather they focused on how to take the clothing you already had and remix it to make new outfits.

That's a thing I really miss in the blogs I see today. So many posts, not only on blogs but especially on Instagram, feature gifted items with a link and a discount code so everyone else can buy the exact same thing. I'm not against sponsored posts or anything -- I did a few of those back in the day too -- but I wish that more people would focus on the idea of the outfits rather than how to copy it exactly. One of my favorite bloggers used to create an "inspiration calendar" each month using photos from bloggers with a "challenge" for the day that was inspired by the outfit. "Wear something blue." "Mix patterns." "Wear a hat." "Belt a cardigan." It was so fun to gather inspiration from outfits and create an outfit using pieces I already had that were inspired by my fave bloggers.

My grandmother gave me this cute dress when she didn't want it anymore!

I definitely just chased a rabbit there (can we call the rabbit Fred? Let's call him Fred.), but one thing I like about outfits involving thrifted pieces is that there is no way to link to the same piece. Rather, I hope, it inspires others. "I've never thought to wear my olive cardigan over my mustard dress." "I'm going to try layering a collared shirt under my favorite sweater." "I'm definitely going to wear my hair scarf as a neck scarf!" Honestly, I just browsed my "style board" on Pinterest for all those ideas.

Anyway, my blue is showing and I'm getting really wordy here, only to say I'm joining in on Secondhand September and can't wait to share more about it!

Jacket and skirt were both thrifted!

How I Figured Out My Style

Recently I decided I wanted to really nail down my style and figure out the things I love to wear and hate to wear. That way I can rid my closet of things I don't love and add to it things I feel great in! 

When it comes to clothes, I've always had a creative style. I wore some crazy things in high school and college, and now that I'm older I sometimes call my style "boring" even though it's definitely not! It's just not as crazy as it used to be, so I guess I feel like it got "boring" sometimes. 

I love to dress cute though! I know some people prefer to just wear comfy clothes out and about (I totally feel you) but I truly enjoy putting together an outfit before I leave the house. Even if it's something I've worn a thousand times but love, it just makes me feel better and gives me confidence to start my day! And now that I've figured out what I love to wear, I truly enjoy getting dressed every day.

One of the tools that helped me figure out my style was Jayde's free wardrobe workbook and e-course. (If you don't follow @jayde_archives on Instagram, you really must. Her feed is PINK!) She curates a capsule wardrobe each season and shares it on her blog. It's so inspiring! Since she does a capsule wardrobe, she makes sure to have a color palate so all her clothes can mix and match. She has a lot of pink in her wardrobe, so I love it!

Here are some things I learned about my style thanks to the exercises in the workbook!

Things I Love to Wear

• Comfy A-line dresses that require no layering
• High waisted A-line skirts (with a top tucked in)
• Boots 
• Hats (usually a beret) and hair feathers
• Small vintage cross-body purses

Things I Don't Like to Wear

• Pencil Skirts
• Tunics (I love them, but I prefer the look of them with pencil skirts... which I don't like)
• Blazers

Colors/Patterns

My Favorite Neutrals:

• white/cream
• cognac
• denim
• black
• (not a big fan of brown, gray, or navy)

My Favorite Colors:

• blush
• burgundy
• emerald
• yellow and mustard yellow
• olive

My Favorite Patterns:

• stripes
• plaid
• floral

My Modesty Standards

I love to dress modest as a way to worship God. I also believe it is a way to honor both my husband and myself! So here are my personal standards:

• skirts and dresses that come to the knee
• nothing super tight (I love the quote: "Your clothing should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady.")
• I like sleeves to be several inches long (I have a scar on my arm--if it's covered, my sleeves are the right length)
• higher neckline (no further than maybe an inch and a half below my collarbone. I just know when the neckline is good for me.)
• nothing see-through
• cover neck to knee (i.e. no cut-outs)
• no jewelry except rings or watches

My Look Book

I used Jayde's suggestion to make a Pinterest Look Book. These are outfits that I would completely, totally wear that fit my style. (It is also separate from my "Style" board, which is more like inspiration rather than specific outfits I would wear. However, many of the pins on this board are similar to outfits I would wear.)

How Has This Changed My Wardrobe?

Once I realized these things, I went into my closet and took out all the things I didn't really like. Blazers are so cute... on other people. Bye bye blazers! Bye bye tunics! (Okay I kept a few lol.) I even said goodbye to a few pairs of shoes. (None of my boots, of course.)

I have since been on the hunt for more high-waisted a-line skirts. I've decided to try to thrift them, and found three new (to me) skirts in the last two weeks (one maroon, one yellow, one multicolored patterned)! I also got a cute maroon dress. It's so much easier to shop knowing what colors and styles I like wearing! I've already worn all my new things--some a few times! (Except the yellow skirt, as it is more fitting for warm weather.)

Having a closet with items I love makes it easy to create outfits since most of the colors work well together. It also convinced me to go ahead and buy some pink boots! I wear them all the time!

I was also able to create a list of items that I'm searching for to add to my closet.

To Add to my Closet:

• Perfect denim skirt (I had one, but it got stolen when I stayed in a public dorm. I'm still bitter about it!)
• New black and white t-shirts
• Tops that are comfy but look nice that I can tuck into my skirts
• A cute LSU game day outfit
• long sleeved cream colored top
• skirts in my "colors" (I scored a maroon one at Goodwill!)

Conclusion

I feel like I'm writing a paper, ending it with a conclusion. haha. Anyhoo, ultimately it's been a fun adventure working on my closet. It's so nice to have a closet with pieces I really love that make me feel amazing. And I've been having so much fun putting together outfits! 

I think it's also been nice because I recently moved and I don't feel pressured to dress like the people around me. I used to often be around people who were very stylish, but I felt like the weirdo amongst them, so it was sometimes difficult to dress the way I wanted to with confidence. Being in a new town where people don't know me... I don't even mind sticking out! In fact it's kind of fun and I often get compliments on the way I'm dressed. 

At this point I just feel like I'm rambling, so I'll quit. But I definitely recommend using Jayde's workbook and checking out her blog if you'd like inspiration to figure out your style!

1 Black Skirt 5 Ways

This was going to be called something along the lines of "iPhone Outfits" or something like that until I realized that all the mirror selfies I've taken recently feature the same black pleather skirt. Oops. Can't help what I like though!

One thing I'd really like to do again is outfit photos. I always loved doing them! I got out of the habit though and haven't done them in a really long time. I guess I need to see if I can convince Casey to play outfit photographer! :) Every once in a while I really like my outfit and I'll take a quick mirror snap.

This winter I've fallen in love with this skirt! I bought it several years ago at Forever21 but haven't worn it much until now! And now I wear it multiple times a week...

I've also been wearing the beret (in the first photo) a ton! I saw it in a local business on Small Business Saturday and couldn't get it out of my mind. A week later we were downtown for a parade and walked past the store. I glanced in the window. It was still there. So I popped in before the parade started and bought it!

I'm working on a post about figuring out my style, so I hope to share that soon! And hopefully I'll get some real outfit pics taken soon as well!

Balloon Fest

A few weeks ago, Casey told me about a balloon fest outside of New Orleans and asked if I wanted to go. Of course I said yes! I went to one in Shreveport a few years ago with my second family and it was so fun!

You can see the photos from that balloon fest here. For some reason they are some of my most favorite photos I've ever taken. Probably because they are colorful and also because those memories are so special!

Speaking of colorful...

The best thing about festivals is the food! We got some kettle corn and corn dogs!

The sunset was beautiful, so of course we had to take some pics at golden hour.

Most people didn't realize that you could cross the bridge and go to the other side of the little creek to get up close to the balloons. But we did! So we went over there and spent a few hours talking to the balloon pilots while we waited for the balloons to fly.

Unfortunately, it ended up being too windy to inflate the balloons, so they decided to just light the fires in the baskets. It was nice and toasty standing next to them while they made the balloons twinkle!

After the festival, we headed back home, about an hour and a half drive away. At some point I realized we weren't going the right place, and Casey told me we were going to one of my favorite bakeries in NOLA—Angelo Brocato's! We found it a few months ago when we had dinner with friends in New Orleans and wanted dessert after. Casey is truly the best at finding amazing restaurants, and Angelo Brocato's is no exception!

I absolutely love their cream horn, their hot chocolate, and their cafe au lait. Casey loves the cannolis. It was a wonderful way to end the evening!