Narrower dresser part 2: the drawers

Those of you following along with this blog back in July of TWENTY-TWELVE, you can finally release your breath. The Franken-dresser project has been completed! For those of you who haven't been around that long (or for those of you who have forgotten all the little details in the past year and a half), here's a quick recap of what happened:

Photos from this post

We had an awkward corner in our guest room that needed something, and an extra dresser that would have been perfect for the space if it were just ten inches narrower. So, we cut it in half! Using a circular saw, wood glue, putty, and a LOT of winging it, we were able to disassemble this dresser and reassemble it so it would fit in the space. We held off on doing the drawers at that time and instead hung a burlap curtain inside the dresser so we could store stuff in it without making it look cluttered.

Thing is, we never got around to narrowing the drawers. It's been like this for a year and a half.

Eventually, we switched up the function of the guest room from TV room to actual guest room, and so the bird moved into our bedroom, and at that point, we'd had it! The extra drawers had been sitting in our bedroom (so much for an oasis space, right??!) and it was TIME! The clutter was stressing us out, and since it had been long enough between the start of the project that I'd forgotten what a pain it was to use wood glue on furniture, I figured it was time to finish this puppy. Time to skinnify up some drawers!
Click to see the tutorial. 

Lengthening a pair of dress pants // blind hem

Here's a little secret about my husband (a trait at which I've hinted at the end of this post): he has this annoying habit of buying pants that are too short for him. He never had this problem a few years ago when his pants length was the same as the waist measurement, but now that he's lost some weight, he mixes up those two numbers all.the.time and ends up with pants that are too short.

There isn't a whole lot I can do with jeans except take them back, but the beauty of dress pants is that they usually have an inch or so of extra fabric hidden in the cuffs. If I can't take them back (or don't have time to, like in this situation), that extra fabric means I can usually save Tim from the embarrassment of walking out of the house in floods.

Who am I kidding; he probably wouldn't even notice!

To make the alteration not look homemade, I usually echo the type of hem that most dress pants sport: a blind hem. It's a special type of stitch done at the bottom of dress pants, curtains, and the hems of some really well-made dresses where you can barely see any stitching. It looks way professional to copy this in a hem job if you can, and thankfully it's a pretty easy process once you get the hang of it!

You just need 2 things to do a blind hem properly: a blind hem foot, and a machine that does a blind hem stitch. The captions in the below photos describe both.

A blind hem looks like a straight stitch with the occasional zigzag in one direction (stitch 4 and 5). That zigzag is intended to just barely catch the fabric of the pants, which is what makes this a blind stitch.

This is an adjustable blind hem foot. The little jutting part of metal sits at the fold of your fabric to help keep things straight. 

(you can do it without either of these things, but its a lot more complicated. I would suggest a quick internet search if you don't have them; there are a lot of really helpful youtube clips out there).

To start, undo the original hemming on the pants with a seam ripper or a sharp pair of scissors and a careful hand. Make sure to only cut the threads holding the hem on, and not the threads that bind the raw edge of the fabric (seen below)

Turn the pants inside-out and fold the cuff where you'd like the new hem to fall. I was able to add an inch to the length of these pants. Iron them if the old cuff fold is giving you trouble.

Pin that new hem in place with the head of your pins facing upward. This pin placement is very important! Make sure that your pins all enter at about the same place. I followed the stitching from the original serging.

Once both cuffs have been pinned properly, flip the cuff inside the pant leg, so that the heads of your pins now face the bottom.

If needed, run a quick iron over the legs to keep that flip in place.

Now, it's time for the magic sewing part! 

Most pant legs aren't wide enough to straddle the edge of the sewing machine, but most sewing machines can partially dismantle to allow for narrow hemming. Mine comes apart by slightly lifting up on the bottom and pulling out.

Slip the cuff onto the machine and trap the fabric underneath the blind hem foot, making sure the piece of metal sits up against the fold of your fabric (use a test piece of fabric to see if you aren't sure your placement is correct). 

Select the blind hem stitch that faces the correct way (mine needed the points facing the left), and start sewing. As you sew, because you pinned your hem with all your pins facing the same way, you can pull them out as they run up to the foot. If you don't, the pins will catch in the sewing foot and make your seam wonky, so make sure to grab them before they get sewn over.

Repeat this on both pant legs.

If the stitch is working right, you will have a series of straight stitches followed by a single zigzag jumping up and just barely catching the fold.

When you turn the pants back right-side out, that little catch will be barely noticeable! Even less so when you iron them :). Here, you can see the original hem, plus the additional inch I was able to add. Since I used a matching thread, you can't even see it!

I'm finding myself using this trick all.the.time to fix Tim's flood-ready dress pants. Now, I just need a way to salvage too-short jeans...!

the last few days: beach babysitting, fall fads, and margarita monday

Número uno.

digging holes // skipping rocks // goofy kids // finding fun wedding goodies

Forgive the tiny and weirdly spaced pics; I hate uploading directly from my phone! This weekend was my college's homecoming weekend, which meant that alumni from all over congregated in Santa Barbara for the festivities. One of those alumni was my cousin (mom's cousin, but who's getting technical?), who was celebrating her 20th reunion this year. While she celebrated with her friends on campus, I volunteered to hang out with her 3 kidlets, and we had a blast. Skipping rocks at low-tide, scavenging for leftover wedding props people left on the beach, digging holes; sometimes I forget how much fun the beach is for a kid. I mean, I love it, but it's a whole new playground when you do the beach with kids. I usually only get to see these kiddos at family weddings (of which lately we've had lots!) but a wedding is not exactly the time to really get to know family, right? Especially kids. We had a ton of fun and I can't wait to see this family again at my baby brother's wedding in November.

Número dos.

enjoying "fall" on my patio // homemade Pumpkin Spice "latte" (café au lait, really. Divine)

Fall in Santa Barbara doesn't mean the same thing as it does in other parts of the country, but we still try to participate in traditions that are quintessential "fall". Pumpkin spice-flavored everything still shows up on shelves. Scarves and sweaters and boots magically appear in stores and closets and in street fashion, although the scarves are lightweight and boots are as often seen with skirts and shorts as pants. I am guilty of snagging a jar of pumpkin butter off the Trader Joes shelves as soon as it appears and making my own pumpkin spice coffee creamer (because I can make my own creamer but can't bring myself to try pumpkin butter for some reason. Don't care enough maybe). I made my first batch this weekend and I am so glad I did. It's delicious and every bit as glorious as Starbucks only cheaper, less fat, and not as cool I guess? Who cares. I'll share the recipe on the blog next week; it's worth it.

Número tres

Former students Baylee and Katie and I yesterday at Margarita Monday! (I MISSED ALL THE REST OF YOU TOO!)

Last night, I had the pleasure of meeting up with a few former students for a little reunion catch-up over Margarita Monday (um, let me just say that you can sign me up for that again whenever). What was supposed to be just a quick meetup for coffee turned into a fun 2-hour laughfest full of equal part catching up and reminiscing. These guys are no longer my former students; they're my friends! This group of students (the Westmont Psychology class of 2014) are like my protégés; they were freshmen my first year as an instructor in the department, and I have watched and helped them grow into intelligent, well-rounded, and thoughtful men and women. I LOVE IT! The Instagram comments/tweets/Facebook messages/texts/etc from everyone I used to work with reminds me so much of how blessed I was to have had such an incredible work experience. I do not regret leaving my job at Westmont in the least, but I do certainly miss the fantastic people I worked with. I love these guys so much! 

diy // how to skinnify a t-shirt

So, I love t-shirts but hate feeling like I'm stuck in the 90's. This is too much of a flashback to the shirt with Lee Pipes and slicked back hair I sported in elementary school. *Shudder*. Non-fitted tees shouldn't be seen on a woman outside of the home, and even then? Sorry. Personally, I'm not a fan.

Talk about unflattering! Check out my midsection; I look pregnant, and I'm definitely not.

However, giant bulky t-shirts are a TON cheaper than fitted tees, and so therefore are more common in this household because I'm cheap ;) Thankfully, a little surgery can skinnify them and make them appropriate for, you know, women.

Look! I look like I have shape. Ignore the dorky face.

I love this little trick because it's pretty simple and it completely changes the look of a t-shirt. I do it all the time! I took some photos while I was fitting the shirt they gave us for our Color Run, and thought I'd share the process with you! My process is slightly more involved than simply sewing up the sides and arms because it requires deconstruction of the whole shirt, it allows for a more professional-looking finish. Take a look!

Materials:

Too-big t-shirt

Shirt that fits you well

Scissors

Sewing machine and thread (ideally same color as the shirt fabric; mine isn't so you can see better)

Step 1. Cut off sleeves of too-large t-shirt and set aside. Keep track of which sleeve came from which side. It helps if you do it while its inside-out so the subsequent steps are easier.

Step 2. Fold too-big shirt in half and place on a surface. Fold a more fitted shirt in half as well and place on top, lining up the shoulder seams.

Cut your too-big shirt near the edge of your fitted shirt, leaving at least a quarter-inch for seam allowance. Cut along the bottom as well if desired.

Step 3. Fold the sleeve of your fitted shirt inside, so you can see the shape of the armhole against your other shirt. Cut the excess fabric (you can do both at once if you're careful).

 Unfold your shirts and place your reserved sleeve inside the armhole at the desired placement. I followed the shape of my fitted shirt, but that isn't necessary.

Cut off the excess fabric from your sleeve piece, along the line of your arm hole. Again, leave a little wiggle room for seam allowance.

If your sleeve is still a tube, snip the connected material so it can open up.

Do the same for both sleeves, and keep track of which sleeve goes where!

Step 4. Open your sleeve and shirt and line up the shoulder seam with the center of the sleeve piece, right sides together. Place one pin to hold it in place

Pin the sleeve all the way around. I place my center pin and then the two pins at each end, then stretch the sleeve to fit the arm hole. It should fit with little difficulty, but it won't lay very flat since the arm is curved.

Sew along the edge of both sides. For security, I zigzag the raw edges as well, but since t-shirt knits don't fray it isn't necessary. I like to do it especially for arms and sleeves because of the extra strain they get.

It looks odd, but its so much easier than doing it with the sides attached first. It's so quick!

Step 5.  Turn the shirt inside-out and pin up the sides. Sew a quarter-inch from the edge, zigzagging if desired.

At this point, you could turn your hem under and sew for a more professional look, but since this shirt was just for our 5k I didn't bother. It won't fray anyway, so you don't HAVE to do it.

Much better!

Next week, I'll show you how to alter the neckline of a t-shirt as well, keeping the ribbing but allowing for a little more breathing room :). It's my SECOND favorite t-shirt alteration, and again, it makes a big impact on the overall look of a shirt.

What do you think?