Wearing Mommy's Necklace and Scarf. Baby Girl Steal my Things

I had quite the learning moment today about being a mom and sharing things with my baby girl.

I remember when I was little and even into early adulthood, seeing my mom see me admire something of hers. And then she would offer it to me to wear tomorrow. And I remember thinking why should give this to meet when it's her favorite? I was shocked that she was sharing it with me.

You Know when you have something that you treasure show much best friend can't borrow it or it's your policy never to borrow it. Yeah those types of things that my mom would let me borrow and still I couldn't believe it. And then I felt a huge sense of responsibility to take care of it and make sure to return it to her in good condition, even though she reminded me to do the same thing as well.

See the scarf that she wanted to make for herself to "match mommies."

Today I had one of those moments. As we were getting ready to go pick up the boys from school my darling daughter asked me to borrow a scarf. She couldn't find any scarves in her drawer, and it's crisp cool fall weather here in Chicago in November. So she asked to borrow one of my scarves that are hanging up in the closet. And I just said sure, then I paused.

I do not borrow my scars to anyone. Some women have their shoes, others have their art, books, or their jewelry. I have mostly scarves. It's not quite out of control and any means, but I do treasure them.

And so without holding back an at all I let her borrow my wool scarf that I had gotten last year from my mom with cherry blossoms on it. It reminds me of Japan and the wonderful cold that my husband bought me but she knew about and then intern got me a scarf to match.

The scarf of course is made for an adult woman so on her it is rather long, which of course makes her three-year-old little body looks so cute in it. I to remind her that she needs to take care of it and It cannot touch the floor or get scratched or ripped. She said I know mommy I will take care of it. We got in the car she took her coat off, but the scarf state around her neck as she put her car seat. It was just too adorable.

There's few things that I don't allow her, when I find myself hoarding some of my Amber Pete's from a necklace that broke waiting for the day when I'll have time to fix it, or the turquoise bracelet that our cleaning lady also likes to beat attempt at fixing which broke again and I again am waiting for time to fix it. I find myself taking these little precious things that I do care about and making her a bracelet or a necklace from it. And seeing her enjoy it in mediately and we are things for days thereafter. It makes it all worth while seeing her smile and enjoy these little perks in life. I hope she's also learning what took me a long time to learn about quality. I don't buy costume jewelry and I don't buy polyester scarves. I do invest in quality pieces whether they are precious or semi precious. My scarves are all cotton linen or the luxurious silk. I even have a fake Ermas and a real Hermas complements of my husbands.


I want my daughter to know that you invest in these pieces because God for bid one day the world falls turns upside down hopefully they will get you through hard times in life. We're costume jewelry that's plastic, and meeting China. It is not crafted by a person but I am machine there for making it less valuable. Of course on trips and excursions I buy little bits and pieces of jewelry that were handcrafted by local artisans like my shell card turtle from Mexico. There is actually the name for artisans car things out of shell, insert here.

I want my daughter to understand what the finer things are in life, and the reason you might not necessarily be exactly 20 with the new necklaces because you're wearing one of real silver beads or real pearls or six strands of red coral. Those pieces are called classic never go out of style.

Today's money moment was not only one for me seeing my daughter enjoy beautiful things but I guess she's learning to love beautiful things to and hopefully will carry that with her for the rest of her life.

Original post: November, 2015

Make mistakes, breeze, reflect. And don't forget to laugh out loud.

Plaid Skirt Becomes a stylish Structured Scarf with a Tuck and Fold Stich

When I was about 12 years old my father went on a trip to England and Scotland visiting extended family. When he returned he brought me a traditional skirt from Scotland. On my young body I wore it with sweaters and turtlenecks in the cold Chicago Winter. 

As the years passed somehow I had kept the skirt. So many of my own treasures from many travels were lost in moves (or I wasn't encouraged to keep them). So this skirt "surviving" was a fun find for me. All these years I didn't know what to do with it. One day I was going thru my keepsake bin and came across the skirt. As I monitor fashion ideas on Pinterest, clearly  "tartan blanket scarves" are all the rage this season. And so came my "PINSpiration for a scarf." 

I came across some sewing techniques on pinterest as well. There are several pins on 4-point sewing techniques to make shapes and add structure to materials. Then I saw blouses with a tuck and fold stich. I realized the existing fold over on the traditional plaid skirt will convert nicely using this stitch method.

Tuck and fold stitchs (top) and the skirt front flap is left flat (bottom of picture). This
is intentional since when I played with the various folds, I get alot of variety for wearing
the scarf with some of the skirt left not stiched /detailed.

Early in the fall - post the suessical the musical sewing - I kept my sewing machine out and accessible. I put the skirt on and just started playing with it, folding it different ways.

I had to decide:

•  where to move the two buckles
• to keep the large skirt flap folded or flat (I made a hole so the belt hook can hold it up)
• I had to decide the distance between the tuck and fold stiches

This project ultimately took 3 -4 days. Not 8 hour days spent sewing. 3-4 days because of those previous in between interruptions from the kids needing a snack, help with a toy, a reminder to behave and play together, etc. etc. etc.

I am very very pleased with the results. It is so use-able to "dress up" or "down" and outfit. It's unique and stylish. I love LOVE love the structure on the scarf - it holds shape amazingly. Converts outfits easily into something stylish with jeans, basic black or blues. 

Plaid skirk scarf conversion, worn loose showing the buckle details.
Tuck and Fold Stitch approx 3/4 inch spacing.

Plaid skirt becomes a scarf conversion, worn snug for warmth to
shield the windy Chicago weather.

My favorite part of this project was my baby girl. She wanted a matching scarf! "Mommy , I LUV your new scarf, can you make me one?"  Me - (Gulp? From Scratch? I just got done making over 100 costumes! ) "Of course honey!"

I remembered seeing some plaid skirts in her storage bin of "older" girl clothes I had in the attic. Digging I went. And sure enough she had a red paid scarf.... perfection.

The back of baby girls scarf. Has lots of structure, to keep its shape.
The benefit of the skirt waist reinforcement and the tuck and fold stitch
throughout the balance of the material.

Her scarf, when we sized it up, didn't have enough material to wrap all the way around her head. I used left over scarps of felt from Dad's cat in the hat costume (yes, made that too, Suessical is in my blood I guess) as a "tie" on her skirt to scarf conversion.... 

Mommy and Baby Girls matching scarf. I can't imagine us
wearing "matching" clothes when she is older, so I am soaking
up her love of mommy's style now. . . while it lasts. 

The skirt had a nice trinket detail on the front, we use that as a fold over point to secure the tie. She looks adorable. And her tuck and fold stitch went smoother than mine.... practice makes perfect better.

Make Mistakes, breathe, - make her the matching scarf - reflect and Laugh.Out.Loud.