fall – Preciously Paired

Floral Maxi Skirt Refashion

posted in fall, shop, women's fashion by Sara on June 3, 2015

As I’ve mentioned in the past, thrift shopping has become a weekly, sometimes bi-weekly or even tri-weekly, outing for me. I’m always on the lookout for pieces that will make a great refashion. I’m very particular about the styles and quality of clothing I pick up, so good finds are hard to come by for me. Recently, when Hanna was up visiting, we scored some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G thrift store finds and I have been dying to show you guys! We have some gorgeous maxi skirts in the works along with some other pieces that are still under wraps.

Since our refashioned pieces are “one-of-a-kind”, we wanted to give you the opportunity to claim it in your size before we actually complete the refashion. There is nothing worse then seeing something you feel you can’t live without only to realize it is not in your size!

Up for grabs right now is this beautiful floral maxi skirt, also available in a metallic gold/bronze color (both pictured below).

Each skirt features:

– Soft, silk chiffon fabric

– Partially lined (to the knee)

– Soft pleats in the front

– Elastic waistband in the back

– Custom made using your measurement for a perfect fit!

– $36 (+ $5 shipping)

Many of our refashioned pieces tend to go fast, so shoot us an email at preciouslypaired@gmail.com or visit the listing on our Instagram page (https://instagram.com/p/3eN3v6xjYl/?taken-by=preciouslypaired)to claim either of these skirts!

Whomever is the first to claim the skirt we will email an invoice to via PayPal where payment is required within 24 hours or the skirt will go to the next customer. Once payment is received, please allow 7-10 business days for us to complete your skirt.

Easy T-Shirt Maxi Dress Tutorial

posted in diy, fall, sewing, sewing for women, tutorial, women's fashion by Sara on April 21, 2015

31 weeks! I can officially count down the number of weeks before this baby is due on two hands! I feel extremely blessed that me and baby are both healthy, but man has the discomfort set in! With my body expanding and with the weather getting warmer and warmer, I figured I needed to add a few more comfort pieces to my wardrobe (that aren’t classified as pajamas) to get me through the rest of this pregnancy. First on my list: a light-weight, flowy maxi dress. It might as well be classified as pajamas because it is so comfortable– I could live in this dress! This dress is especially great because it is extremely easy to make, and will work perfectly when I’m not pregnant as well! Full tutorial below:

Supplies:

2.5 yards of stretchy knit material (I purchased mine from Girl Charlee Fabrics)
coordinating thread
double needle for your sewing machine

1. Cut your fabric. I used a maxi dress that I already had as my pattern, but you can use a t-shirt as well and simply extend the length. You’ll need a DRESS FRONT, DRESS BACK, and two SLEEVES, be sure to cut on the folded edge as illustrated above. I like to use a neckband to finish off the neckline, but you are welcome to use your preferred neckline method. Neckbands work best when using a serger, but a stretch stitch on a regular sewing machine would work too. To cut a NECKBAND, measure the circumference of the neckline and cut a 1 1/2″ strip that is about 3 inches smaller.

2. With front sides together, sewing the shoulder seams together. I used my serger to do this, but a straight stitch on your sewing machine will work great too.

3. Open your dress, with the right sides up, and match the top point of the sleeve with the shoulder seam. With right sides together, pin the edge of the sleeve to the arm hole then sewing together. Repeat for the second sleeve.

4. Fold right sides together and match up the sides of your dress. Sew from the bottom edge of the sleeve to the bottom edge of the dress.

5. Hem the sleeves and bottom of the dress to your desired length using a double needle which allows for some stretch. You could also use a stretch stitch here.

6. To add the neckband, first sew the ends of the neckband together with right sides facing one another to create a circle. Next fold the band in half, so that the right side is facing out. Pin the neckband to the outside of the neckline, stretching the neckband to fit. Remember that your neckband is suppose to be smaller that your actual neckline. This will allow the neckband to lay flat once you’ve sewn it on. Serge the neckband to the opening, pulling the neckband flat as you go. Fold the serged edge of the neckband to the inside of the dress and iron flat. For a more detailed tutorial with step-by-step pictures click over to our DIY Slouchy Tee tutorial.

It is really so easy and comfortable, I plan on making a few more to get me through the rest of this pregnancy and post-pregnancy too.

Happy sewing!!

XOXO,

Sara

Mother/Daughter Color Block Skirts

posted in color block party skirts, fall, kids, motherhood, shop, women's fashion by Sara on March 18, 2015

Ok I’m freaking out right now that my baby girl is going to turn three next month! Oh, and that I’m currently six months pregnant with a nice round baby bump… unlike the pictures falsely portray above. We did this fun little mommy/daughter shoot last November, and with all the craziness of the holidays and the first trimester sickness, it got tucked away and forgotten. I came across them the other day and thought all this cuteness needed to be shared!

Also, I’ve kind of developed a new found love for our color block party skirts. Not that I ever stopped loving them, it’s just with all the projects and new additions we’ve added to our shop they too got tucked away like these pictures. In fact, I hadn’t even sewn up a color block skirt since December until just recently. Now I’ve sewn over ten color block skirt in the past three weeks, and with each one I fall more in love. The “in love” kind of sense where I pour my heart and soul into every stitch to make each skirt perfect, then get little butterflies in my stomach once I ship one off to it’s owner in anticipating their excitement once it arrives. It’s a sometimes stressful, yet thrilling and rewarding kind of love– sort of like being a mom.

As some of you may remember, I quite my daytime job last June to be able to stay at home with this little girl and to pursue some of my other dreams. It was an adjustment at first, but I love it! …Ok lets be real, some days I feel like I might be going crazy. Being a mom can be really hard, then add being a housekeeper, cook, and business owner (and pregnant) on top of that and it is like insanity, but I still LOVE it! Like I said, sometimes stressful, yet ever so rewarding.

As for these lovely skirts, both are available in our shop for custom orders! Mother’s Day is coming up, and how cute would matching mother-daughter skirts be?!

XOXO,

Sara

DIY felt Halloween costumes | Preciously Paired

My DIY Halloween

posted in crafts, diy, fall, family, holidays, kids by Hanna on October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween! I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Sara and I didn’t grow up with Halloween being much of a big deal in our house. However, now that I’m a mother of young kids I’ve been trying to be more excited about it. To be honest though, I’m still not super into it to the point where I plan full family costumes, but I’m realizing that I do enjoy creating things for my girls to dress up in and doing Halloween activities that they would enjoy throughout the month.

This year I got really ambitious and decided to make both of the girl’s costumes from scratch! It took Mia forever to just decide on one thing she wanted to be, and she only finally chose a mermaid because that is what her cousin said she was going to be. Whatever the reason, I decided to roll with it. While recently organizing my craft space, I found some green felt and red yarn. I figured I would challenge myself to try and make Mia’s costume from what I had on hand. In the end, I ended up spending less then $5 on her entire costume! I got the pattern for her Arial hair/wig HERE. It totally made the outfit and was pretty easy to make.

Livy’s costume is a little bit of an inside joke. Growing up in Nevada we didn’t just celebrate Halloween but we celebrated Nevada Day as well; the day Nevada became a state. Since marrying my husband, October 31st has really been more about celebrating Nevada Day than Halloween. Before having kids we’d go to my parents house every year to celebrate. My husband is always teasing about our obsession with Nevada Day over Halloween so I thought it only fitting that one of my kids should represent a fun family tradition; not to mention it’s the 150th year of Nevada being a state!

After spending several nights making my girl’s their costumes, and as fate would have it, it just so happens that we all have been sick and Mia has had to miss most of her Halloween activities during the week. Luckily Mia is much better and Livy is almost there so we’re hoping to get out tonight for a little trick-or-treating, or at the very least sing a few rounds of “Home Means Nevada”.

Anyone else make their kid’s Halloween costumes or have any fun Halloween traditions? We’d love to hear about them!

Metal Pumpkin Tutorial

posted in crafts, decor, diy, fall, tutorial by Sara on October 27, 2014

It has been raining non-stop for the past week, and both me and my daughter have been sick. So naturally we have stayed nice and cozy indoors, sipping hot chocolate, eating lots of soup, watching episode after episode of Gilmore Girls, and crafting. Yep, this is the life… well except the being sick part… and it would be nice to actually see the sun once in a while.

Anyway, before I got sick, I attended a little blogging event at my local Orchard Supply Hardware store where I got to meet some wonderful women and learn some fun holiday craft ideas including this cute pumpkin made from pipe hanger strapping. It was too cute not to share! Besides it’s classy design, it only costs about $5 to make and you can finish it in less than 30 minutes. It having been a while since my last blog tutorial, I completely forgot to take step-by-step pictures, but this project is fairly foolproof. Believe me, it is a piece of cake! All you’ll need are the supplies listed below:

** Note: Pipe hanger strapping also comes in copper, which makes for a nice shiny orange pumpkin.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut the strapping into pieces at your desired length using snips (or anything you have that will cut metal). I cut mine by measuring out 10 of the big holes, then cut as close to the small hole making a straight edge.

2. Once you’ve cut all your straps, bend each one into a horseshoe shape so that both ends of the straps will stack flat on top of each other. (refer to images below for a better look). Since the corners of the straps are sharp, I’d recommend using a pair of gloves for this part or a pair of needle nose pliers.

3. Now, screw 1 nut onto the very end of the threaded rod, then follow it with a washer. Then begin to layer the straps onto the rod and arrange them evenly around it. I used 7 straps, but you may use as many as you’d like.

4. Once you’ve added all your straps, place another washer followed by a nut on top of the layered straps. Twist tight to secure the straps in place.

5. Next, thread another nut about 1.25″ – 1.5″ down from the top of the rod, followed by a washer. This makes a stopping point for your straps. Then thread the straps onto the top part of the rod.

6. After all the straps are threaded onto the rod, clinch them down with the last washer and nut. You may want to use a crescent wrench to make sure all the nuts are tight. At this point I played with the shape of the straps a bit more to get that perfect pumpkin shape.

You should now have something that resembles a pumpkin! You can now spray paint it, or simply leave it the way it is. I chose to spray paint mine using a Ivory Satin spray paint to better match the rest of my home’s decor. Then I added some curly twine to the stem of the pumpkin. To do this, I dipped pieces of twine in a mixture of Elmers glue and water, then wrapped in around a No.2 pencil to dry. Once dry, I glued the pieces of curled twine onto the the stem. You could also use wire, fabric, or leaves to decorate the top.

Foolproof right? It may seem a bit confusing at times on paper, but once you get into the process of making it, it all comes together quite easily. Just keep bending and twisting until it is the way you like it… you really can’t mess it up. There is no right or wrong way with these types of things. However, please feel free to leave a comment or email us if you have any questions or if something in the instructions seem unclear.

Happy Fall!!

New Halloween Print in Shop!

posted in fall, holidays, shop, Uncategorized by Hanna on October 2, 2014

We’re one month into our new school routine, the leaves are changing, my apple harvest scent is plugged in and I spent the day putting up my fall/Halloween decorations; life is very good! Mia has been loving school and her dance class. She is quite our little social bug. On the other hand Livy and I are loving the time we get to spend in the morning just the two of us and I have been having a blast planning with Sara the future shop additions and changes! Boy, are there changes coming!

The latest shop addition is this adorable Halloween print. We wanted to create something that was family friendly. With toddlers of our own who have already started the endless talk of what to be for Halloween this seemed to be the perfect fit.

To add this 8×10 print to your Halloween decor just go to our shop and since it’s our first print and officially Halloween season you can get this print for just $3 for the next week!

Now, for those of you who like to see things in an actual setting, take a look at what a great addition it made to my entryway table in my front room! Along with the Halloween print I decided to get a little crafty and do my own spider web canvas art and fabric garland. I am now officially ready to enjoy October!

Is anyone else on the ball and already have their Halloween decoration up?

Once again, thank you all for your support, comments, following and purchases! Sara and I are having so much fun with the new addition of custom illustrations to our shop and now for originally illustrated prints. We have so many ideas for future prints as well. We’d also love any ideas or requests for different kinds of prints from our lovely followers!

Linked to: http://www.thepinjunkie.com/2014/10/pin-junkie-pin-party-87.html, http://www.delineateyourdwelling.com/2014/10/link-it-or-lump-it-party-59.html

Easy Fur Vest Refashion

posted in baby, diy, fall, kids, money saving tips, sewing, thrifted by Sara on September 26, 2014

Maybe you’ve noticed, I’m kind of obsessed with fur vests. I’ve been searching high and low for a cute fur vest for Addie, but any thing I saw was $20 or more. Quite honestly I think $20 is a fairly decent price for a trendy article of clothing, but being on a strict budget it was definitely out of the question. Even to make one from scratch seemed to be rather spendy. Luckily Goodwill pulled through for me again, and I was able to find this sweater for only $4! It was a complete steal as it was in great condition and fully lined with fur. Really all I did was detached the fur inside from the sweater and add some lining to the wrong side of the fur. I used a silky smooth lining from an old skirt I had tucked away in my fabric stash…talk about thrifty! Now I just have to find one for me!

And can I just say how extremely difficult it is to photograph a 2 year old! I still have no idea how to work my DSLR camera and chasing around my daughter, baiting her to simply look at me, I probably looked like a crazy woman! It makes me chuckle just thinking about the onlookers passing by witnessing the whole fiasco. Next time I’ll gladly pay someone to do this kind of dirty work! Nonetheless, Hanna was able to work her magic to make my novice photography skill look it’s best.

Category: fall