micah 6:8 iPhone lockscreen freebie

A little freebie to start your week this week. This is my life verse. It always reminds me that striving isn't the answer. I don't have to do that, because God didn't ask me to strive or be a major success or become the most incredible superhuman woman ever in history. He asked me to do three things: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly by His side.

Download the lockscreen here.

What is your life verse? What passages get you through when you're overwhelmed?

going home & going through changes

Lately I've been making changes. I've been growing up, getting to know myself better, and creating a home that feels more like mine. Husband and I recently went to my parent's house to dog-sit while they went out of town, and I was surprised to find that their house doesn't feel like home anymore.

Mom's sweet puppy, Cali

I've been putting lots of effort into making our little house feel more like ours, and it wasn't until we returned to it after our weekend away that I realized it had transformed from a sweet house we were leasing for the next two years into my home. When I walked in the door to mom and dad's, that sense of relief and contentment that only comes from going home didn't wash over me. For the first time in my life, I felt like just a visitor. But when we got back to our sweet little house in our sweet little neighborhood, I felt it. The peace of coming home.

My little coffee station {diy mug tutorial here}

Maybe it's because I've redecorated two rooms precisely to our tastes. Drew is represented in our guest bedroom, aka the Man Cave, filled with Gamecock memorabilia. The office looks like me when you see the aqua walls and white furniture filled with books and delicate touches that remind me who I am.

I guess all the weeks of work made a bigger impact than I thought. I'm home here, in my rental with my husband and hound dog. It's ours and we're making it feel like us more all the time. And I find myself at peace here in a way I wasn't sure I ever would. Thanks, God, for putting me where I didn't want to move and helping me find home in an unexpected place.

In addition to growing up and making my house a home, I'm making lots of changes here on the blog. On Tuesday I announced that I'm transitioning to lifestyle blogging and taking the focus away from how-to. I've been thinking about another major step for weeks, and this morning it became official. The blog is getting a makeover by Rachel from Oh Simple Thoughts. I read her blog daily, and love her aesthetic. Even though part of my career involves graphic design, I've found it so frustrating to design for myself. After lots of weighing the options and asking Husband what he thinks, I finally reached out to Rachel, and I cannot wait to see what this wonderful woman does! So excited to have her help!

Does visiting your parents still feel like going home or have you made your own space home? What did you do to create your own space?

fabu-less friday: goodwill maxi turned ruche midi

I love Modcloth, Ruche, and Shabby Apple. I do not love the prices. Ruche is more affordable, but I have issues with spending money on clothes. I hate spending more than $20 on pretty much anything. However, I've been obsessing over plaid midi skirts for months, and I've been trying to convince myself to buy one.

"Ayrshire Plaid Midi Skirt" at ShopRuche.com

Luna Skirt from Shabby Apple

Office Envy skirt from Modcloth

However, none of these are even close to my $20 panic point. SO I decided to venture out into my new town and find our Goodwill. Best discovery: it's like a mile and a half away. I found a less than fabulously cut skirt that was quite a bit too large for me, but had a beautiful purple plaid for $3. I also found a great checkered pencil skirt to wear as-is.

Before and After--excuse the greasy hair in before, focus on the fab hair in after

The best thing ever happened this week...IT SNOWED! Snow is literally my favorite thing that exists on earth so when we had a two day snow day this week, I was SO happy. I took the opportunity to sew like mad on Tuesday and watch Harry Potter all day with the husband Wednesday. Being married is great for blogging, by the way. I have someone to take my pictures for me again! Thanks Drew!

This refashion wasn't very conducive to a tutorial, but I'll show you some of the steps. It was a long process and took me a day and a half to finish once I realized the original side zipper of the skirt had been damaged and was un-reusable, and my zipper foot for my sewing machine had disappeared. So after the South re-opened after Snowmaggedon yesterday I went over to Hancock, grabbed a few zippers to keep on hand plus the one I needed, and a new Coats Invisible Zipper Foot (I highly recommend this, by the way. It guides the zipper teeth through for you, saving time and frustration).

She got a donk...should've shown this from the back so you could see what a pear shape looks like!

The first thing I do with any garment is determine what fit I'm looking for. I placed this skirt on my adjustable dress form that is set to my measurements to start pinning and marking what I was going to do. After examining the skirt, I decided that the best way to takle it was by cutting every seam entirely off except the hem. I kept the original hem because I knew that cutting from the top instead of the bottom would give me the gather I needed to get a fuller skirt like those I was getting inspiration from.

Cut ALL the seams!

After I had done that, I took the two halves of the skirt and laid them side by side. I measured about 3 inches from the top to get my next cut, and then sewed those two strips together to make what became the new waistband.

Daisy stayed like this the ENTIRE day Tuesday while I sewed. Snoring on the daybed, occasionally looking up to check out what I was up to.

Two skirt halves ready to be chopped up!

Stitching those two strips from the tops of skirt halves together to make one long strip.

Fusible interfacing is your friend!

To add stability to my waistband since this fabric has a slight stretch to it, I added fusible interfacing and then ironed the waistband almost as though I was making bias tape. I was going to attach the skirt by sandwiching it between the two sides of the waistband and sewing along the bottom edge to create a barely-there seam.

Gathering is easy--sew two lines using a long or basting stitch and then tug on the ends until you get the right amount of gather.

There is the sandwich technique!

After this, I sewed up one side seam, leaving the other open for zipper installation. I had to go purchase a new zipper and an invisible zipper foot, but then was able to install it with relative ease. I forgot to take pictures of this step, but invisible zippers are wonderful because it truly can't be seen without searching for the zipper pull. It gives homemade clothing the same feel you get from storebought, when installed correctly. This tutorial from Sew Serendipity is the best and easiest to follow invisible zipper guide I've ever consulted.

The Coats & Clark invisible zipper foot is great because it can be made to fit any machine.

Midi-skirts are great for work--not too long to be casual, and not too short to be inappropriate.

After all of the deconstruction and essentially making an entirely new skirt, I got my copycat look for a grand total of $5.99 including the new zipper. I didn't factor the foot into the total price because it was a replacement for a staple part of my sewing life. That means I saved almost 90% by doing a DIY version instead of buying the skirt retail!

Part of the reason I chose the midi length skirt was for work. Being a young female in a male dominated workforce, with somewhat of a "good ol' boy" culture, I have to work harder to be taken seriously. I never mention my age unless I have to, and am very very selective with my work clothes. If the hem is above my knee at all, I don't wear it. I rarely wear pencil skirts because when you have the kind of butt Sir Mixalot writes songs about, pencil skirts will always ride up in the back and look more sexy than savvy, which is not the professional persona I want to give off. This skirt meets my need for style and fun, which I can get away with more being in the arts, while also being a serious enough wardrobe piece to become a work wear staple.

What have you done as a woman or young professional to help your image? Have you been up to any DIY lately?

Question for other writers using Blogger! HELP!!!!

*DISCLAIMER: This post has been updated. Most recent information found at end of post.

So. I've tried coding for my grab box at least ten times. I can get the button, and the box, but the code to grab keeps not showing up in the box.

I've done everything!! When I open the gadget, the coding is missing where it is supposed to go in the box.

At the end, after the first half of the box code, the part where the code for the button starting with <a=href......blahblablah> keeps getting deleted.

I've read lots of comments....and it seems lots of blogger users are having the same problem.

This tutorial (which is amazing, by the way--the issue just seems to be a problem with Blogger) is what I used to help build it. But no matter how many times I re-try, the code just disappears from my grab box.

Goodwillista, I see your box works! What did you do to make it go? (PS I love your blog. I check in very often. Also, yes I would shop your closet--I forgot to comment so on your post.)

Help! I'm usually really tech-savvy but this is just stumping me.

Also, I'm beginning a Wordpress blog for work (which is how the grabber coding thing started--my blog is sort of our tester until we get it going). Who uses Wordpress as a platform? Is it worth the cost to be able to customize more? My company is a nonprofit so we have to be careful where we do and do not invest.

Thanks!

UPDATE: This wonderful wonderful page had the code for the second half of my gadget that made the button actually work. I kept the coding from the first tutorial linked above for the half of the code that made the button. The coding for the box came from this website.