I Made It Monday: Mum Bum Fix

Mum Bum, Long Bum, Flat Bum... whatever you call it there seems to be an interesting phenomenon plaguing women after a certain age.

Or so I thought.

I had long observed that "older"(... ahem, probably the age I am now!) women seemed to have grown much longer backsides.  Why?  How did that happen? 

Then last year my mother in law gave me a pair of her old jeans, I tried them on and OH NO! I had Mum Bum!  Whereas I am sadly lacking in the curvy derriere department (curvy anything really) I didn't wake up like that, I swear! 

Then it dawned on my.  It had nothing to do with the backside in the jeans, but everything to do with the placement of the pockets.  The pockets were so high that they gave me Mum Bum!  Well that just wouldn't do. 

The jeans were so old, soft, faded and worn that I wanted to turn them into distressed jeans (see here) and thought I'd just wear long tops.  However, as I'm unable to leave anything alone I was determined to rid these jeans of Mum Bum... and it was really easy!

I simply unpicked the pockets (there were no rivets) and moved them down.  After studying my favourite jeans, I noticed that the pockets sat just above the curve of the bottom drawing the eye to your actual bottom, not some random lower back/top of buttocks region.

When sewing the pockets back on I simply followed
the original lines of stitching

These jeans were really faded, as you can see, leaving a shadow of the Mum Bum pockets but as these were distressed jeans I didn't mind & thought it added some interest.

A really simple fix!  Goodbye Mum Bum! 

I never dreamed I would be posting a pic of my rear on the internet.
These are the lengths I'll go to for a DIY explanation!

Just make sure you sew the pockets back on at the same level or you'll look all sorts of wonky!

Have you noticed the Mum Bum phenomenon?  It's not just me, right??

Adding Length to a Top

The colour black is my one true clothing love and I wear it most often but I just can't resist green.  Emerald, Kelly, whatever you call it - I love it!

When I was in the USA a few years back and saw a fabulous green hoodie on clearance at Old Navy for less than $10 I had to have it.  Sure it was a little short, but I told myself the lie that every tall girl tells herself... it's not that short (unless I move!) & I can stretch the sleeves.  Then it shrank in the wash.  Whoops.

So rather than give it to a short friend I decided to make it work by doing some colour blocking with navy Ponte fabric I had left over from making this midi skirt. 

It's a simple fix!

Cut off the wrist bands and bottom band - carefully as it will fray! 
Sew in fabric which is the same width as the original piece and your desired length.  If the top you are adding to is a stretch fabric, then add in stretch fabric.  If it's a woven fabric, then use woven fabric.
Use a zig zag stitch if your top is stretchy and finish the edges.

 

 

A little tip:  make sure your wrist bands are the right way around when you reattach them.  One of mine is backwards which bothers me, but not enough to fix it!

Jean: Refashioned by Me / Booties: Target

Photos c/o of wonderful Husband

Ta da!  Now I have a colour block hoodie which actually fits. 

I don't know about the other tall girls out there but I feel much more comfortable when my sleeves are actually long enough!

Dress It Up With A Blazer!

Folding up with sleeves keeps the blazer casual.

Blazer: Gap (almost 10 years ago!) / Top: Target / Jeans: Refashioned by me /
Necklace: Made by Me

Laughing at my daughter just out of shot - not the best face!
Photos c/o my wonderful Husband

As a Mama of 2 little girls my everyday style is casual.  I need to be able to run around after tiny humans! 
My favourite way to make my casual outfits look a bit more pulled together and dressed up is to wear a blazer.  I'll usually fold the cuffs up to tie in with the casual look (also a great way to disguise sleeves that are a little too short!). 

From my previous corporate working life I have loads of blazers and suit jackets so rather than leave them languishing in my closet I like to take them out and about every once and a while!

How do you like to dress up your casual looks?

I Made It Monday - Distressed Denim

Welcome to the first "I Made it Monday" - this is a personal challenge to wear something I have made or refashioned every Monday.  I hope you join in!

I thought I'd start off simply with a refashion that anyone with a pair of scissors or razor can do - distressed denim. 

Jeans distressed & taken in by me / Ballet flats Target Australia

The practical Mama part of me could not bring myself to buy (let alone pay extra for) jeans with holes in them when I have so many pairs of jeans and anyone can make holes!

I love that distressed denim is back in vogue.  I remember when it was in during the late 1980's and I wanted ripped jeans in the worst pre-teen angst kind of way.  Everyone had them.  It was SO unfair that I didn't have them.  You get the idea!  However I was not allowed to buy them or "destroy perfectly good jeans". 

Well now that I'm a grown up I can do as I please with my jeans! (The irony of that sentence sounding very immature is not lost on me.)  When I saw distressed denim hit the market again I grabbed an old pair of jeans which had been given to me and were too short, which is why they are cuffed, (no money spent and no loss if they went horribly wrong!) and a pair of scissors and started to distress. 

To distress the denim I simply rubbed them with the blade of some sharp scissors until the desired level of distress was achieved.  I ripped out the knee a little, which later became a lot when my 2 year got her little hand in there and ripped them some more! 

Here's a handy hint: don't distress whilst wearing them...I think I took off some skin.  Do however, mark where you want the distressing to be whilst wearing them.



Shirt: Mix Apparel.com not a Tall size, but a good length / Necklace: Made By Me! 

Ta da!  A pair of distressed jeans of my very own and it only took me almost 30 years to get them!



Photos c/o my wonderful Husband

Have you tried to distress your own jeans?  How did it go?