Sunday, March 18, 2012

Making Over The Swatch -and maybe even Mother


Did you know watches came in Amy Butler?


They do now.

And it all happened because I realized how much I've changed since becoming a mum! Indulge me a bit - I'm going to tell you another longwinded Singapore story. Long ago, like before the children were born, I used to leave the house to go to work. I drove a non-minivan car to the office. I went to meetings and occasionally wrote letters in the name of education bigwigs. I emceed education conventions attended by parliament members. For all this fancy stuff going on in my job, a person needed to dress up, right? I had immaculate makeup. I wore tailored jackets and silk blouses and suede pumps. I carried a briefcase (it's very funny thinking about it now, given the state of my current ratty canvas messenger bag filled with Kleenex lint and old supermarket receipts and one pair of hoop earrings that I never take out, so I can put them on in an emergency while in the car at a red light. Inhale). Erm.. where was I? Oh yes - I also wore serious watches, that coordinated with my rotation of non-purse-dwelling earrings. 

Then I became a mother of three kids in rapid succession and my old persona went into the closet, literally. I look at myself in the mirror now and giggle, because I'm soooooooooooo different. I can't say I miss that Old LiEr, because she was so........ corporate and not-really-me. But I miss how I dressed - specifically, I miss having the time to choose and buy really good clothes and feel really put-together before leaving the house. Then, while packing for our recent trip to Singapore, I found these old fancy watches in a shoebox, with their batteries flat, not surprisingly. Suddenly- and it's funny how these connections come out of nowhere - it hit me that was I no longer defined by the ages of my children, especially since little Kate is out of diapers and speaks real sentences. I mean, yes, I wear Tshirts and jeans like a sad uniform, but I actually haven't worn post-maternity transition clothes in years! I'm, like, my own person again! When did that happen? I could still remember yearning, with my three-month postpartum doughy midriff, for the day when I could "dress normal" again. Could that day have actually come and, unnoticed, melted into the lazy madness of convenient, random attire (so long as it was modest) of the new Chauffeur Mum I'd gotten so used to being? No more! She might wear tees from hell, but, by gum, her wrists were getting a life! So I took those watches out, and packed them with us to Singapore to get new batteries installed by the watch guy there - the same one who'd been repairing and revitalizing my dead watches since I was a kid. 

In addition to work watches, I also had quite the collection of Swatch(es) from my days as a teacher before I even became Miss Fancypants Uppity Corporate Government Officer. Most of them were Scubas, because they were great for swimming. But I also had a number of these Pop Swatches that were just fun for days out with the girls (girlfriends, I mean; not preschoolers). The batteries in these guys were dead, too - I'd shelved these pretty babies years ago for my current, ultimate Mom-Watch: a Baby G - which I love and about which, in its defense, I will say that it handles a gazillion hand-washes and kid baths and sweat from running after little legs at the park. Well, I looked at these old Swatches and thought they were still awfully cute, so into the suitcase they also went, for a visit to the watch guy.

When I got home with what felt like seven or eight brand new (but old) watches, I decided they needed more than new batteries. They were running fine now, but their straps were old, stretched out, stained and just sad. They needed a makeover!

So out came all the print fabric from my stash, for auditions.

I cut out interfacing and ironed it onto strips of fabric. I experimented with different weights of interfacing with different weights of fabric, and left some of the ends unstablized, to reduce bulk when folding over for the metal rings later. 

Here's how I made these straps, and how I make narrow straps in general, that are very heavily stabilized. There is no way a person can sew them into complete tubes and turn them right side out when one is working with canvas, duck cloth and heavy interfacing. So I make mine by sewing all around both ends and one long edge and leaving the majority of the second long edge open (see black arrow).


Then I turned the strap out through the gigantic opening, and pressed the seam allowances in.

And then I top-stitched all around to close the huge opening, and to make it all pretty.

And for this strap, I folded in one end (remember how I left it un-interfaced so it's not bulky?) for the rectangular rings.

It's as simple as that!

Pop Swatches have these little frames that you can thread a strap through 


before popping the face on. If you own Pops, you'll be familiar with them.


I decided I'd make a few more straps because they were so fast to do.


And then I realized I could use webbing (it's from the Winnie The Pooh collection, believe it or not) and make it all go even faster! One end was sealed with the candle method, and the other was folded over to enclose the metal rings. So just one hem!


I hate those stitches at the top, though. My needle was wonky with this webbing material. I took all my photos before the daylight disappeared, and then went back and unpicked all the stitches and resewed that line. ICK.

Lots of mix-and-match options!


Incidentally, the Swatches never made it to the watch guy after all. Dad took one look at them and said he'd been re-battery-ing Mum's Swatches for years, and taught me how to do it. Yay. 


And that's where I am - four years after the birth of my youngest, and finally starting to toss out the old slouchy pants. My wardrobe may still scream "Clearance Rack!" but hopefully my watches won't. Your turn now - how has parenthood changed your wardrobe and what Mom, Reinvented tips can you share?


28 comments:

  1. Funky glasses! I wear pink, square glasses so no matter how mumsy I look, I'm actually trendy and hip. :)

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  2. Love the watch bands!

    Funny, I just replaced the battery in my old watch yesterday, so I could wear a watch for the first time in probably six years! For a few months, until I'll have another baby slobbering on it/trying to pull it off my wrists and I'll give it up.

    I went through a yoga pants phase, and I like to think that my current blue jeans are an improvement, even if they are maternity. The biggest wardrobe change would probably be that I went from wearing heels nearly constantly to nearly never. I still love the look of heels, even if they aren't very practical!

    Also, I don't wear necklaces. Baby pulling on them issue - wore them constantly before. Need to dig out my faves and get a few months' wear out of them before I have a baby again, since I think Lily will leave them alone!

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    1. MA: I hear you about the necklaces. I used to wear them constantly too. Then the babies came and away they went for -what - six years? I just started wearing them again maybe last year.

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  3. Well, aren't you clever? :) Those new bands are so cute! I'm afraid my jeans 'n tees wardrobe has never changed. It's what I wore both before and after kids, here on the farm. I did live in the Cities for a couple years and wore mostly dresses to work, but that was also the beginning of pant suits, which I quickly adopted. Even the couple of part-time jobs I've had after having kids allowed me to wear jeans. :)

    I'll have to think about the reinvention thing... can't come up with anything right offhand.

    Question: Did those watches require different batteries than what you could buy in the USA? I can't imagine YOU needing to take them to a "watch guy"otherwise! ;)

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    1. You can buy them in the US, I'm sure. But before I had Dad look at them, I was under the belief that only the Swatch stores could change the batteries. So I never actually SAW a Swatch battery. Now I know that all you need is a coin and a battery you could probably get from Walgreens!

      And I LOVE jeans and T-shirts! That's why I wear them all the time! Except my T-shirts are awful. And my jeans only recently (like last year) stopped being awful, because I finally went out to buy some properly-fitting ones. So ashamed.

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  4. Those are the cutest watches! I've stopped wearing a watch but those cuties totally make me want to again. I've never seen that type of watch before. Cool.

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    1. Ali, I just realized (by going to the Swatch website) that they don't make these Pop Swatches anymore. And maybe they haven't, for a while. I haven't been shopping, obviously. They used to have them in the early 2000s and before.

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  5. I love it! I need to see if I can find any of my old watches now. What a nice idea. have a great day!

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  6. love all those watches. I wore jeans and tshirts before and after baby. But I haven't bought any jeans in two years so all my current wardrobe looks so out of style :( Whenever I go for shopping now, I end up buying only baby clothes and leave the store.

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  7. The watches look great! Lets see - my lovely old corporate wardrobe was in serious need of updating BEFORE kids nearly 5 years ago :) So when I actually got to go out with my husband to a movie for the first time in 2 years last week I had a few issues. I'm now a serious jeans and t-shirt girl. Wore heels for the first time in 5 years on that date with hubbie and COULD NOT WALK!!! So embarrassing. It was like I was in my first pair of heels again. Plus I couldn't find anything remotely non-Mummy to wear - which is why I was attempting the heels with my nicest jeans and nicest t-shirt! LOL!

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    1. Yay for movie date, Shelley! Don't you think pregnancy ruined our feet for good? I think so, anyway. And jeans+Tshirt+heels = chic casual (provided heels not stuck in gutter), so yay for you!

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  8. I too used to wear beautiful clothes. I wore heals everyday. I worked in the Fashion Industry and was always cutting edge. Now... Jeans are fancy. Most days it's workout pants and sneakers. If I wear heals it has to be for a very limited time because my poor feet can't take more than that. My kids are still young 5,4,3. They require chasing and cleaning. It's not glamourous but its still fun.

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    1. Jess, I didn't know you worked in the fashion industry! Or maybe I did, and forgot, like everything else nowadays. Well no wonder you're such a great seamstress! I can't do heels now, either. Only mules, so I can kick them off in a hurry when I need to carry a sleeping child from the car into the bedroom. Oh wait, that was two years ago. See, this is what I mean by living in my uniform.

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  9. LOVE!! see now I have to go dig out my POPs...

    Sadly, I have not Reinvented my mom wardrobe. It's still loose linen pants and t-shirts. But I do force myself to put on lipstick when I go out (on errands) and sometimes the blusher gets an airing too :)

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    1. Eh, I just realized (by looking on the swatch website) that they don't have pops anymore! I knew they phased out scubas but why the pops? They were so much fun! We still have the big ones, too - Mum wears them.

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  10. I did not know watches came in Amy Butler or Jessica Jones. :) Love it.

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    1. Thanks, Jess! I'm going to upload the photo to your flickr group tonight.

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  11. What darling watchbands! That is such a great idea, to spiff up at least one thing in the Mom Uniform. I have become so embarassingly frumpy...and have no excuse, as my kids will all be in high school this fall. It's still jeans and sweatshirts, every single day. Farm living makes a good excuse for hanging on to comfy, frumpy clothes, but ONE fun accessory, such as your cute watchbands, could go far to pep up dreary dressing. Thanks for the inspiration.

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    1. Oh Rose-Marie, some days just one is all I can do to leave the house on time to get the kids to school. And I still say three cheers for jeans! If not for them, I don't know what I'd wear!

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  12. You crack me up! I love your Singapore stories. And I have to tell you how thrilled I was to see you in Family Fun recently. When I saw that there was an article on cardboard, I knew it was you. What a catch you are for that fun magazine. Thanks for the watch band tutorial!

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    1. Thanks for being happy for me! And I still feel all excited and slightly silly about being in FF. I can't stop smiling about it.

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  13. My sisters kep getting married so I have stayed heel-worthy but I don't have many church clothes that work with heels! I'm happy to have discovered that a really too big t-shirt can be made into a gathered neck shirt pretty easily! Unhappily since I live in Houston I have no use for all those pretty cowls that make a tshirt look ok!

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  14. How about white pants? When was the last time you wore them? I can't remember but I bought a pair of white jeans this last Saturday. We'll see if I regret it :)))

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  15. I LOVE this idea! I am totally making some for me and then some for the little girls that babysit my kids! :)

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  16. I still dress up 2 days a week as an editor - that's a fun change in my routine. Otherwise, I wear basic jeans, etc., but I make sure I wear nice jewelry and my hair is decent. I stopped wearing a watch a few years back - I just look at my cell phone when I'm out of the house, or at my clock when I'm at home! But your bands are FUN and I need a thick band for a Lego storage project that I'm making. . . . so thanks for the little tip.

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  17. love all those watches. I wore jeans and tshirts before and after baby. But I haven't bought any jeans in two years so all my current wardrobe looks so out of style :( Whenever I go for shopping now, I end up buying only baby clothes and leave the store.

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  18. I'm so excited: found this post while searching online to try to figure out how to replace batteries in Pop Swatches, as I recently found all 3 that I owned in high school. What's more, I'm the mom of an 8-month-old which of course means I don't have as much time as I used to to indulge in my fabric addiction... A little project like this that will also liven up my daily mom duds is perfect perfect perfect. Thanks for sharing your great idea!

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  19. I love those watch bands! Do you have the measurements you used? What was your seam allowance? Also, where did you get the D-rings? I have some watches I need to spiff up. Thanks!

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