Can't We All Be a Bit More Crafty? And Notes on Anthropologie...

By now I'm sure we all know I've got a terrible addiction to Pinterest, looking at all the pretty pictures of food I want to make (which will be much easier due to the fact that I'm back to reading grocery store labels in English and can get large quantities of cheap basics), and all the pretty shoes and clothes that I would die for.  I'm also looking at everyone posting all these clothing options from places like Anthropologie and others, and I'm asking myself why I would pay $100+ for something that looks like I could make it for $30, tops.  (Also, I look at the clothes, specifically from Anthro, and I've decided that they throw back to the 70's a lot, with much better results in mixing colors and patterns.  Some of their stuff is just garish with no hope of my ever purchasing it.  I'm glad I didn't live my teenage years back then...yikes.)  I'm into DIY, I want to do more "DIY" and the fact that I'm back to a country where I can find craft supplies in more than two aisles of an entire department store makes me very happy.  I also want to sew!!  I was a year and a half without a sewing machine but we are back in the states and I'm sending for mine from home.  Being in super-sunny, humid Florida makes me want to tear into all my up-cycled t-shirt books but I'm not really one for hand-sewing, especially when there's a lot of it to be done.  So I'm planning on projects!  
I also ran across this website where this gal posts pictures luxurious (and luxuriously priced) celebrity outfits and where to shop to "find the look for less" touted for those of us who are "on a budget."  We should ALL be on a budget when it comes to most clothing.  I'll admit key pieces, like my anniversary boots, wonderfully hand-made in Italian leather, are worth the price tag.  But two pieces of fabric, sheer and liner, pieced into a short cocktail dress?  There's no reason it should cost your rent payment. This also makes me wonder if we're too dependent on celebrities to tell us what to wear because personally, some of the shouldn't be wearing the things they're wearing.  Hmmmm...this may be another topic for another topic for another blog post....Hmmm, indeed.
Point being, if I know I can make a top for $20 that I could otherwise buy for $90, why aren't more people realizing it and doing it themselves?  If it's a very basic-style garment, which most of these are, the patterns for them can be found everywhere online by people who have graciously posted them along with their tips to a better sewing experience, or of course, in a sewing store where they sell them and you can keep going back to you what know will end up in your size.  I know not everyone has a sewing machine, but everyone at least has someone in their family who might have one, or might be willing to teach you how to sew.  Sewing used to be a very important skill back in the 1600's and 1700's when we didn't have this lovely thing called electricity and so it was all done by hand until the treadle sewing machine came along.  With the advances we've made in technology, making a sewing machine do a perfect straight stitch and all, and all the "Activities for Dummies" volumes out there, what used to take all day can be done in 2 hours or less. Why are we willing to let ourselves spend money for one garment that we could instead spend to make 3 or 4 from larger garments, swaths of fabric, treasure linens from second-hand stores in the form of old sheets and tablecloths?  (I know, I know, it's all very old draperies ala The Sound of Music, but it's very, very do-able!)  
If making a garment more fashionable (to whoever's idea of fashion) only takes adding a sheer or lacy overlay, raising the hem or lowering the neckline, why aren't we all attempting to do it on our own, with or without some book or mentor-given  guidance?  In the future, if we need to cut some pants into shorts capris because we've worn out the hems, it'll be that much easier to do and you'll still have a pair of pants that you bought because they fit you so perfectly in the hips and the waist and hopefully, your ass isn't falling out of them.  (Side note: Pet peeve, ladies and gentlemen.  Please, don't wear slightly baggy lycra-denim pants and then a thong so that we can all see multiple inches of butt when you bend down or over to pick something up.  Or merely sit in a chair.  Not being able to see butt crack is worse only next to seeing most of your bare butt in the first place.)  
Back to my point!  It's really not that hard, and you can make the garment you want, in the color or print you want, in the exact size you need, and you're not laying down extra green in order to do so.  (Unless you go out and purchase a sewing machine for yourself, in which case it will eventually pay for itself.  You don't need a fancy one with a digital interface with a billion different types of stitches.  A basic one with everything you really need will run you less than $150.)  
So get out there, ladies! DIY! Don't spend all your money on something that you really could do yourself, and pick up a valuable skill while you're at it.
Happy Fashioning-for-Less!
Enjoy,


Allie H.

Money Choices & Respnsibility

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A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I'm posting it here because if it's a a true account of someone's life (and I hope it is), it's similar to my transition into the adult world, and I think more young people should be able to pay attention and see what they can do to make this situation their own, even if their parents are ridiculously wealthy and give them what they want, when they want it.  We need a massive change in the way we're raising our younger generations to think of money and how the way we spend it affects us.  


I graduated high school in 2002 and didn't go off to a 4-year University.  I didn't have perfect grades in high school and I'm one of a few people I know who never took the SAT's or LSAT's to get a measure of what schools would accept me in their bottom half of registration.  When I was 12 I started working on my school holidays at my mom's office in the filing room for a good 8 hour day, a couple days a month.  That graduated on to me working full days for a family friend doing the same thing, filing papers and doing mailing merges, 8 hour days, paychecks on file, all throughout my high school years.  I worked for her partway through my college years on a more regular basis as my off-college days allowed (I went to a community college where I received the basic University Studies AA), during which I still lived at home.  No student loans.  I bought used books from the bookstore as I could find them and sold them back at the end of the semester.  I still took my own lunch to college and only bought from the cafeteria on occasion.  My folks had the deal with me that I could still live at home rent free if I was working full time or going to school full time and if I was taking a full semester (12 units) my grandparents helped with tuition and fees, a deal they made with all their grandchildren that graduated high school and enrolled in college.  It wasn't my full expenses, either-less than 50%.  They, like my parents, expected that my brother and I could and had learned how to go about supporting ourselves.  


I moved out of my house after I turned 21, into a student housing apartment with two other girls to lower the rent on each of us.  I drove a crap car that I bought for $400, owned a basic cell phone which was off for several months because when I first moved out, as I was more interested in being able to pay for food, rent, and gas to drive me to my job to be able to earn a paycheck than having a constant communication device with all my friends.  I had internet and email.  My parents knew how to get a hold of me if they needed me.  I worked in the same city as my father so if I had any problems with my car, I had somewhere quick to go to.  I bought new work clothes every now and then, and by new, I mean slacks and shoes on from Target or Ross and skirts, blouses, nice shirts at second-hand stores that were in perfect condition.  I didn't and still haven't applied for a credit card and still possibly have no real form of credit for which to qualify.  I learned enough bouncing a few checks early on in my spending career that it was a good idea to constantly know how much was in my savings and checking accounts.  I survived on cheese quesadillas, Ramen, Mac and Cheese, pasta and chili, pizza bites, veggies,simple salads, grilled cheese, chicken noodle soup, & eggs or oatmeal for breakfast,homemade chicken salad (from the can) or egg salad or peanut butter and jelly for lunch.  When I was working two part time jobs both offices had coffee machine so I didn't get Starbucks coffee every day.  The only time back then that I constantly splurged on shop-bought coffee was during theatre season when I knew I would be at rehearsal for five hours at night.  I never lived anywhere I absolutely could not afford.  I got an extra-large pizza and a family sized salad once or twice a month and had leftover dinner or lunch for three days.  (Every once in a while in my first apartment we shared meals but for the most part, we bought and used our own food.)  My food treat was sushi for lunch or dinner from a moderately priced place one a month or so.  I tried to put money in savings when I could-I didn't spend it all until I had nothing left.  My folks helped me out when my first drive-able car died and bought my second one for me, still not brand new, very used for $1000.  I drove that until I got married and moved out of the country and my father drove it until it gave up and died-it gave us about three years.  Better than making payments of $1000/month for the time to buy or lease a brand new car, wouldn't you say?  Unless it's seriously classic or vintage, I'm not willing to spend much more than that on a used car.  I didn't shop at the brand name stores where garments cost $70 on sale.  Unless it's made from fabric that won't ever stain, tear, wrinkle or shrink after washing or drying and can be made into any garment, I don't think it's worth $70 for a little skirt or a flimsy blouse.  (That, and I was never into keeping up with the current fashions.  Just because someone says it's worth $500, doesn't make it pretty or necessary.)  I once I got a full time job I eased up a little bit but I still didn't spend a whole paycheck on things I wanted instead of things I needed.  I paid my bills, paid my taxes, did what I had to do before I celebrated.  I still went out with my friends, went to movies, bought new things from time to time bought I shopped for food on sale, learned new recipes to cook that were budget friendly.  I did what I could to have a good time and not blow all my cash.  


If more kids like the guy in the photo had stood up ten years ago, sharing what they considered to be reasonable, responsible spending without giving up all the perks, maybe more people in the higher tax bracket would have taken some notice.  I know there's more people out there like me-say, all the people that I hung out with in college and most of the kids I considered friends in high school.  My best friend, Kelsey, chose her current place in life to be on the east coast and she works two to three jobs as she can manage and works the jobs she can afford to afford her bliss while constantly looking for a job in the love venue of her life-theatre.  We can't be the only ones in the world in our age bracket who worked hard, played hard, and most of the time made smart choices when it came to money and spending and how to get our education to further our place in the world.  There must be more people willing to do what it takes and I surely hope that by some miracle, some of them will be voted into an office where they can make some sort of a difference someday in the way our government spends our money and makes our choices for us.  


Think and Enjoy.
Allie H.