Momiform Makeover Reveal!

When Lauren of Baste+Gather put out a call for moms who wanted to make themselves over, I jumped at the chance to be a part of the blog tour. Baby H turned 4 months old this week, and with fall approaching I knew I needed a kick in the butt to refine my style. Big life changes can inspire more changes...or allow certain areas of your life to fall into a rut. So here's my attempt at staying away from ruts!

The Momiform MAKEover is all about Style, Comfort, and Wearability. Twice a week I have to haul two kids across town to preschool drop off for AB. I am required to actually get out of the car (what a drag). A lot of the moms I see there are in jeans...but the majority are wearing the ubiquitous black yoga pants. I know it's hard to hear, but yoga pants are not dress pants, even if they are black. I get it. My uniform is nothing special and is downright embarrassing. If left to my own devices, there is no doubt in my mind I would show up looking like this:

Here's a good rule of thumb: if the sum total age of your clothes is higher than your age, your outfit fails. I'm never going to stop wearing jeans and tshirts, but I wanted a way to refine the look into something presentable. I also wanted a nicer option for the times I felt like wearing a dress. Bonus points if I could use patterns that will work over and over again (hence the "Momiform").

These two outfits are entirely handmade! On the left is my casual jeans look, and on the right is my dress look. Yes those are two different garage doors. We have two garages. Deal with it.

I'll start with the casual look because it's definitely my favorite!

I wanted to avoid hoodies at all costs, so my alternative is the Cambridge Cardigan (affiliate link) from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop. I sized up to a medium in order to go for that slouchy, boyfriend cardi look. It's made from ponte so it's just as comfortable as a sweatshirt, but with lots more style. The solid navy color will work with a lot of different outfits, so it's also very wearable.

To prevent myself from throwing on an ancient baggy softball tshirt, I went with an equally comfortable hack of the Willow Wrap Dress, from Love Notions, by combining it with the Renfrew from Sewaholic. I need nursing access and the wrap top is the cutest way to do it. I love that I can take off the cardigan as the day gets warmer, and still look great. And who doesn't love a fun jersey print?

The jeans are from the Jamie Jeans pattern, from Named. This is my very first pair of me-made jeans, and they were desperately needed. A year ago I put on 10lbs (on purpose) and outgrew most of my jeans. Then I got pregnant. At this point, I have two pair of skinny jeans that fit (including these) and the rest are a hold-your-breath-and-don't-eat sort of situation. The holey jeans above are held together with the good ole hair tie trick. Not good. But now I have the confidence to #sewallthejeans. A full review on these will be coming soon.

Look number 2 is a Willow Wrap Dress and an Astoria sweater. I previously reviewed the Astoria here. Who doesn't love a good wrap dress? And when it's made in a polyester ITY you can literally pull it out of a heap and still look fabulous (wearable! stylish! comfortable!). I usually choose to dress this down even further with slip-on chucks. Ideally, I'd go with navy Toms, but I'm still shopping around to score some used ones. It would also work with flats and tights when the weather cools down.

The print is busy, I know.

You might have noticed that both outfits fit the same color scheme. A year and a half after doing the Wardrobe Architect project and I'm still in love with navy/grey/pink/black. I'm starting to have a seriously coordinated wardrobe and picking a color scheme is the best thing that ever happened to my sewing!

Sooooo you might have noticed something odd about my hair in these photos...it's different in every single outfit! More on that later, because it's a not-so-funny story and I feel like blabbering on about it in a separate post.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to enter the massive giveaway below, including a chance to win one of my Sewist's Notebooks!

The Willow Wrap dress and Cambridge Cardigan patterns were given to me for free as part of this tour. Everything else was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

REMEMBER: Scroll to the bottom of this post to enter the two separate Rafflecopters! 50+ winners will be selected! Get 10% off your fabric order from now through October 1 at Michael Levine/LowPriceFabric.com with code: Makeover10

Get 20% off your pattern order now through October 1 at UpCraft Club with code: MOMIFORM Are you MAKE-ing over your Momiform? Join the fun on Instagram with hashtag #momiformmakeover

 

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Be sure to check out all the awesome series participants to get lots of momiform inspiration!

Reyna Lay Designs | Call Ajaire | Golden Rippy | Love Notions Sew Not Perfect | Scientific Seamstress | Rebel & Malice Creative Counselor | Mabey She Made It | If Only They Would Nap | Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts Shaffer Sisters | FABulous Home Sewn | Fa Sew La | Baste + Gather Lulu & Celeste | Swoodson Says | Phat Quarters | Hey June Climbing the Willow | Everything Your Mama Made & More | Näh-Connection | 110 Creations A Jennuine Life | Straight Stitch Designs | Sew Straight & Gather | KZJO'STUDIO Wild & Wanderful | Mae & K | Handmade Frenzy | HattieLu Handmade

 

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Sponsors

 

Special thanks to these major sponsors who generously donated the following items for the giveaway:

(There will a different winner for each line item so we can spread the love around!)

Janome - One Skyline S5 Sewing Machine* Indiesew - Four $50 gift certificates (four separate winners) Michael Levine / Low Price Fabric - Four $25 gift certificates (four separate winners) and 10% discount for readers through October 1 - code: Makeover10 UpCraft Club - Two $25 gift certificates (two separate winners) and 20% discount on patterns through October 1 - code: MOMIFORM

And the following pattern designers who graciously provided patterns for the series participants and/or contributed the following items for the giveaway:

Grainline Studio - Two patterns of your choice True Bias - Hudson Pants & Southport Dress patterns Colette -Two patterns of your choice Closet Case Files -Two patterns of your choice Sew Much Ado -Two patterns of your choice Sew Straight & Gather - Three patterns of your choice Golden Rippy - Two patterns of your choice 110 Creations: A Sewist's Notebook Patterns for Pirates - Two patterns of your choice Itch to Stitch - Two patterns of your choice Mouse House Creations - Two patterns of your choice Hey June Handmade -Two patterns of your choice Peekaboo Pattern Shop - Three patterns of your choice Go-to Patterns - One women's pattern of your choice GreenStyleCreations -Two patterns of your choice Puperita - One pattern of your choice Sofilantjes - Two patterns of your choice Charlotte Kan - One pattern of your choice So Sew Easy - Two patterns or one bundle of your choice OUSM Designs - Women's Thumbs-Up Tee pattern E-Beth Designs - Two patterns of your choice Muffin Head Patterns - Any pattern of your choice up to $10 GrayDay Patterns - Sandpoint Top or Athena Top pattern (your choice) Scientific Seamstress - One pattern of your choice Stitch Upon a Time - $20 gift card 5 out of 4 - Two patterns of your choice Frianki Patterns - Two patterns of your choice KZ Jo Studio - Two patterns of your choice Straight Stitch Designs - Full collection of patterns Sewing Patterns by Aivilo Charlotte - Two patterns of your choice Striped Swallow Designs - Two patterns of your choice Rose and Lee Designs - Two patterns of your choice Sewing Geek Patterns - One pattern of your choice Filles a Maman - One pattern of your choice Bella Sunshine Designs - One pattern of your choice Liola Designs - One pattern of your choice Cali Faye Collection - One pattern of your choice Tinman Patterns - Orbit Skirt pattern Felicity Sewing Patterns - Two patterns of your choice Winter Wear Designs - Two patterns of your choice Ellie Inspired - Three patterns of your choice Love Notions - One pattern of your choice a Sparkly Baby - Two patterns of your choice Terra's Treasures Designs - Two patterns of your choice

*Janome giveaway winner must be located in U.S.A. and is therefore on a separate Rafflecopter below. Machine must be picked up at a local dealer; it cannot be shipped.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This second Rafflecopter includes all the other sponsor items since they can be awarded internationally! You must enter both Rafflecopters in order to be entered to win both the sewing machine and the rest of the giveaway items. All patterns awarded will be in PDF format. Enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway