Remember Housewife Challenge #4? The one where I said I was actually going to use my sewing machine…but then didn’t really follow through on (except for one Christmas dress)?
Well this weekend I got serious. Really serious. Because I actually do want to do it; I don’t want my hobbies take a back burner to everything else. Often, I don’t start projects because they seem so big and daunting and where am I going to find a whole hour in the day to make a dress? Well, I realized that I’m looking at it all wrong. It’s not about the big picture, it’s about taking the first step. I realized all I have to do is commit to 20 minutes, 2-3 times per week sewing and I’ll have at least one new thing each week. So now I am going to sew at least 20 minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
So far, so good. I planned to only sew for 20 minutes, but probably spent 45 on Monday, because I was on a roll. I started simple with a new pillow and pillowcase for Nora’s “big girl” bed.
And then used the fabric I cut off of my thrift-ed Betsy Johnson dress to make Nora a little skirt.
It wasn’t what I originally planned for the material, but I couldn’t resist the cliched cuteness of Nora and I having mother-daughter matching outfits next fall. 
It’s a little big now, since I used a 2t skirt as a guide for the elastic, but her big cloth-diapered bottom managed to hold it up for a photo shoot now.
And because those projects were so simple and fun, I decided to get fancy and try my hand at up-cycling…and I turned this [incredibly poor shopping decision]:
into this:
Let me tell you, that ruffle looks way better on Nora than it did on me.
I am so excited about how cute this dress turned out and how easy it was, which makes me ready to take on this massive pile of too-big clothes, 20 minutes at a time.
Up-cycling, here I come!
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