Spring Scarves

I've been on kind of a clothing journey.

You see, after having my first, I was on a mission to get fit  --- so I knew any clothes I bought would be a very temporary fit. Therefore I basically just bought a couple tees I could nurse in and called it a day (or a year).

(Well I did also pick up a couple items on clearance here and there, anticipating our next pregnancy . I like to pre-pregnant shop.)

Anyway, for awhile now (about three years) I haven't felt like the clothes in my closet really fit me, my style, or lifestyle (read: nursing, spit ups and toddlerdom) any more.

So after Ruby (my second) got here, I was READY to shop!

(I was so excited, I think I started shopping too soon...my figure wasn't quite ready to allow for accurate shopping. But outside of one shirt fail, I think I did pretty good still.) (I'm still hoping to recover that shirt with some kind of creative sewing....just haven't put my finger on what it needs to make it work.)

I've been spending time trying to figure out my new style. Its kinda baffling when you realize you have a style you don't know anything about! So I've been pinteresting ideas to kinda help me in my quest to get it right on the cheap (with a few as possible of those types of buys where you think you'll wear it, but you don't). As well as my quest to have less in my closet, but do more with it. (Here's my spring style ideas board.)

When I was younger I lived for shopping, and loved to experiment with all sorts of things. I made a lot more bold moves. (And bought way too many things!)

But now at this point in my life I'm starting to see I'm really into classic, pared down looks.

The overall chicness is so perfect. But I gotta be honest, they just look easier. And right now easy is good. 

(I'm tempted to keep blathering on all day self analyzing why I like the looks I do. But I doubt its all that interesting of a read -- so I'll stop there and move on to the point of this post.)

One thing I came across that I really liked was this floral scarf. 

via

I like how the flowers clearly state "spring" but functionally it works so well for the likely still-chilly weather.

I love the scarf over the stripes, and I also would use it with lots of other looks.

I've really started enjoying scarves recently.

They are a great way to mix up those basics I've been veering towards.

AND they are way more baby friendly than necklaces --- not to mention they are great discreet-nursing helpers!!

I really liked that exact scarf....so I did some online shopping looking for a similar one. The best I could find was this one from forever 21. But I didn't want to pay for shipping (we are about an hour away from forever 21.)

So instead, I poped into our Joann Fabrics the other day and went straight to the clearance shelves. 

To my delight they were running a 50% off the clearance price sale!! (You have to love that!)

So I picked up a half yard, of two different floral prints with scarves in mind.

Know what I spent?

$4.00!

Both both!

That's $2.00 a scarf!!

Now that's the way to do fancy!

(If you are new to sewing, this is a great project. You just do a hem around the edges -- Its basically just sewing a straight line a few times.)

I got two different types of fabric: one sheer, one a dressy opaque satin.

The sheer was a little harder to sew. I had to look up how to do it (I did the rolled hem). 

I didn't try too hard to do a great job. I just got er done!

I also kinda liked the way the edges looked off the bolt, so I left the two edges undone on this one.

Here's my messy hem and a close up of the unfinished edge.

And you can't really tell when on.

Forgive my quick photo taking.

Here's the other one.

You can see the dark, dull(no-real-sheen) side                 and the shiny, a-bit-pearly side.

I hemed it so the pearly-side hem is visible on the dark side.

This fabric was easier to sew. I just did a normal hem.
It is thicker so it can stand up a bit on its own and hold more of a shape around my neck.
I feel more French in this one. (Not that I know what I'm talking about in that regard.)

Once again forgive the no-time-invested photo. 

It doesn't do that great of a job showing its shape. But you almost get the idea.

This scarf would also make a nice wrap over a sleeveless/strapless black dress.

They are fairly similar. But one is drape-i-er, and one is more malleable. One is sheer, and one is pearly. I tend to like the sheer one over black, and the pearly one with white. 

So there you have it.

$4.00 for some classy spring pizazz. 

Give this a try with some fabric you like sometime!!

You can save yourself some cash and get some creativity out in the process!