Archive of ‘Shopping’ category

Fabulegs Leggings Review, Must Buy All the Leggings!


If you’re addicted to leggings (like me) you may have heard of Fabulegs leggings. I am a hoarder of leggings, so I decided to write a Fabulegs leggings review. Fabulegs is an an independent company that makes leggings in “one size”, “tall and curvy”, and childrens’ sizes. What sets this company apart from Lularoe is that the customer can pre-order leggings in their size rather than searching through multiple groups to find what they want. This post contains affiliate links. If you haven’t visited them yet, visit Fabulegs Leggings here!

EDITED to add that Fabulegs no longer has a rewards program, unfortunately it was discontinued. I wish I had known before they discontinued it so I could redeem the points I had earned 🙁

fox fabulegs leggings

My Favorites Fabulegs: the Foxes!

Fit and Sizing

The texture of these leggings has a cooler feel, more like peachskin, while Lularoe feels fuzzier. Fabulegs are generally opaque unless stretched tightly across the knee (see the picture below). I haven’t had any problems with see-through leggings from Fabulegs.

fabulegs leggings review

Stretched over knee

At this time I only own the “one size” Fabulegs leggings, so I can only compare that size to the one size Lularoe leggings. They are the basically the same width-wise but the rise is higher in the front and back of the Fabulegs leggings, meaning that Fabulegs leggings will sit higher on the waistline. The Fabulegs group has an album with more pictures comparing the sizing of Fabulegs leggings to Lularoe leggings HERE.

Recently, Melissa (the owner of Fabulegs leggings) announced that they will be adding a new size: “XOS” (or “tween”) to fit sizes 0-4. I was excited to hear the news; I fall into the Lularoe sizing gap. My Lularoe “one size” leggings are a little big and always end up sliding down while most of their “tween” sized leggings are a little tight. She also announced that the one sized leggings will be slightly widened.

fabulegs vs lularoe leggings

Lularoe leggings on the top, Fabulegs fox leggings below. Note the rise.

 

How to Buy Fabulegs Leggings

One very important thing that differentiates Fabulegs from Lularoe is that Fabulegs sells directly to the customer. Fabulegs customers pre-order and buy retail leggings directly from the Fabulegs website–no consultants are involved. The Fabulegs cycle generally works like this:

  • A photo folder is added to Melissa’s Facebook group with design ideas to vote for. Voting is not necessary for purchasing but it’s fun to vote for what you love.
  • Melissa posts an album with designs previews for the month.
  • Pre-orders start on her website (http://www.fabulegsmelissa.com). If you miss the pre-order you can get another chance to buy when she puts extra leggings up for retail sale on her website.
  • The pre-order closes and the leggings are printed and shipped to Melissa
  • Melissa ships out her pre-orders and adds retail stock to the website.

fabulegs_fox_leggings

My favorites, by far.

Fabulegs vs. Lularoe Leggings

My favorite part: there’s less pressure when buying from Fabulegs. Fabulegs doesn’t limit their production of a certain design like Lularoe does. The pricing is fair–currently it’s below Lularoe’s legging price-point.

Because of the design voting process, it’s a lot less likely that questionable patterns will be produced and languish in Melissa’s inventory for eternity (a la Lularoe’s cellphone leggings, their strange Dorito-style triangle pattern leggings, and their infamous “turdma”leggings).

fabulegs leggings solar system print

FabuLegs Solar System Leggings

Sometimes the pattern scale can be slightly off. For example, the pattern scale of the solar system leggings looks slightly small, while others appear a little large. Pattern scaling is difficult. If the pattern is too small you can’t see it; if it’s too big the likelihood of awkward pattern placement increases. Also, it’s difficult to tell how the pattern will look on the leggings with the small swatch shown on the Fabulegs product page. However, pattern scaling is usually subjective.

Pattern placement is always a struggle when you’re making any garment from pre-printed fabric (i.e. printing the fabric in rolls and then cutting pieces out to produce your garment). Production costs usually increase and fabric waste increases the pickier you are about pattern placement. One of the prints I received looks slightly pixelated (the peacock leggings). Other than that, the prints I’ve received are nice and crisp.

peacock fabulegs leggings

fabulegs peacock leggings

Pixilation not noticeable from a distance!

Top row, Fabulegs sloth in one size, Lularoe Dinosaurs in one size (made in Vietnam).

Bottom row, Fabulegs foxes in one size, Lularoe leggings one size (made in China)

In Conclusion

Fabulegs has experienced exponential growth since starting up, and Melissa has kept up with the inevitable growing pains of her company well. She always keeps the Fabulegs group updated with what’s going on. I’m so excited to see all the new patterns for 2017!

 

Where to Buy Fabulegs Leggings

  • FabulegsMelissa.com, retail (ready to ship) stock on her website here
  • Stay updated on new patterns and pre-orders on her Facebook group here.
  • Buy or Sell Fabulegs leggings in her Fabulegs Facebook Buy, Sell or trade group. This is the place to go to find older patterns.
  • Sometimes Fabulegs leggings will be listed on Mercari.
  • eBay sometimes, but be sure to check her buy / sell / trade Facebook group first!

Fabulegs Leggings on eBay


Pusheen Box Winter 2016 Adorable-ness


A surprise visitor came via mail today, my very first Pusheen box arrived! This is the Pusheen box winter 2016 edition (holiday season). Spoiler below to make sure you don’t accidentally see this before you’ve opened your box.

I am in love with the packaging! It has feet! I was worried that the box might get dirty during shipment but it came encased with clear plastic. I’ll probably use the empty box for storage in my sewing room.

pusheen box winter 2016

(more…)

Outdoors Online Scam, Yeti Tumbler Seller (campingandfishingoutlet.com)


Update: The BBB has officially started an investigation on the complaints about the Outdoors Online scam, which promised customers Yeti tumblers but didn’t deliver.

I Make the Purchase…

An ad for shiny Yeti tumblers offered by Outdoors Online caught my eye the other day on Facebook. Pink (!!!), Tiffany blue, camouflage tumblers, outdoors online.com had them all! I’m a Yeti novice, I’ve seen them around but never looked into them closely. 

I’m one of those people that obsessively researches before purchasing anything, because the rare times I make impulse purchases they end up being disastrous. This is one of those times I jumped before reading… I made my purchase and waited for a few days but didn’t receive any updates about my order.

A Closer Look at Outdoors Online

I decided to take a peek at their Facebook page and noticed their name on there (camping and fishing outlet) is different than their website name (Outdoors Online). That might be why I couldn’t find any reviews for OutdoorsOnline.com when I searched, they changed their name from Camping and Fishing Outlet to Outdoors Online fairly recently. Campingandfishingoutlet.com was registered on December (2015), and outdoorsonline.com has been around since 2002 but they may not have been the original registrants of the domain.

I came across the camping and fishing outlet BBB page and saw it had a one star rating accompanied with several negative reviews, which helps answer the question “Is Camping and Fishing Outlet Legit?”. A one star review on the better business bureau website is awful.

The Outdoors Online BBB page has racked up over 100 customer complaints relating to non-delivery. Outdoors Online has yet to respond.

outdoors online review

One thing I noticed about their Facebook page is that almost every photo is accompanied with an angry emoticon. I tried looking at comments but most of the photos don’t have any.

outdoors online scam

Nooooo! Don’t do it!!!! 😮

When you browse the site little notices like the one above will pop up every few seconds. I wonder if any of those people will receive their orders. 

There are some reviews on their shopper approved page (Shopper Approved is a third-party website that online retailers hire to allow customers to leave feedback). This link HERE is to the reviews, sorted newest to oldest. There are mixed reviews.

Most of their photos are the same ones used in Amazon listings, I’m not sure if there’s a way to tell who used which photo first though.

Powder Coated Yetis?

I visited the official Yeti website and it looks like they do not offer the tumblers in any colors, it’s third-party sellers that offer the colored paint powder coating service.

Update: January 6th, 2017

The customer complaints about the Outdoors Online scam are continuing to roll in. There are a few posts about outdoorsonline.com on the Ripoff Report website. The news site Texas Insider has picked up the story here. The BBB has also officially opened an investigation. At this time there are over 100 consumer complaints filed on the BBB website.

I’m still waiting on the results of my credit card dispute with Outdoors Online…

I’ll keep you updated with what happens. Have you had any experiences with this website? Leave a comment below!

Update: February, 2017

My credit card provider approved my chargeback and I was refunded. Hopefully everyone else has been able to receive their refunds.

I found these non-sketchy tumblers on Amazon by RTIC in case you’re still searching for a cute pink tumbler. Referral links below:

Lovely pink color:

Rtic pink tumbler

And camouflage:

Camouflage Rtic tumbler

Fuzzy Wonderz: Hatchimals’ Sketchy Cousin


If you’re searching for Hatchimals you may have stumbled across Fuzzy Wonderz, a new toy advertised to hatch out of an egg and interact with a phone application. If you visit their webpage you’ll be haunted by fuzzy wonderz ads wherever you go (the website injects an insidious cookie in your internet browser). It’s hard to find any information or reviews so far about these critters, mostly you stumble across comments from stressed out customers waiting for their orders.

Update December 5th, 2016, Fuzzy Wonderz is in the news, here is the video from WDIV Detroit:


Below is a youtube video released by Fuzzy Wonderz. I’m not sure exactly how the hatching mechanism works, if it’s the beak like the Hatchimal or some other way. Where the egg breaks doesn’t seem to line up with the beak in the video. I’m also not sure why I’m thinking about this so much. It’s probably not a conspiracy.

While I was reading up on this I found another blog (http://www.littlecrunchy.com/2016/11/fuzzy-wonderz-real.html) that tracked down what exactly these critters are. Apparently they are Hibou pets, but the Fuzzy Wonderz manufacturers modify them to hatch like hatchimals. Behold the Little Hibou toy in all it’s glory:

I’m not sure why Fuzzy Wonderz doesn’t choose the snazzy color combinations shown below, maybe the bow tie was extra? Affiliate links below. These first few toys are meh, but your life is incomplete without the last one!

Hibou Toy

Hibou Owl Fuzzy Wonderz

And a pink Hibou owl…
Pink Interactive Hibou owl

And this is what nightmares are made of:

But not as scary as this. This should be the “it” toy this year.
William Mark’s Feisty Pets: Scary Bunny
feisty pets bunny best toy ever

Fake Hatchimals, Do They Exist?


I’m going to talk about something a little different in this post, completely un-related to sewing.  I’m usually not a fan of loud electronic toys but I’m going to admit that Hatchimals are pretty amazing. They hatch (obviously), they are interactive, and most importantly they have an on and off switch on the bottom (along with a volume control option!). Naturally they have been a hit. If I was younger I would be bothering my mom daily to make sure Santa nabbed me one. After some research it looks like there might be fake hatchimals available.

This post contains affiliate links. Feel free to blame any purchases on me!

Fake Hatchimals?

I looked on Alibaba and saw several listings for fake Hatchimals, I wasn’t aware that fake hatchimals existed but it looks like they might. The listings might just be scamming for money or they might actually have knockoff Hatchimals. I was surprised to see copies since they were just released in October! Screenshot of the fake Hatchimals below:

 

fake hatchimals

Besides being fake I’d be concerned about the safety of these toys. Lead content, overheating and exploding batteries, etc…

I’ve also read about knockoff hatchimals from the “wish” app too, I’d be cautious purchasing from there too wish can be sketchy. I’d definitely wait for January before ordering from wish so you don’t end up with a fake hatchimal. Google “wish fails”. You won’t be disappointed.

There’s a few ads floating around for Fuzzy Wonderz, The website was registered on November 11th (2016), I haven’t seen any Fuzzy Wonderz reviews yet. They look kind of like furbies with questionable haircuts.

What if You Can’t Find a Hatchimal?

Because of the overwhelming demand it’s very difficult to find Hatchimals for sale at retail prices. What if you can’t find the toy your child desperately wants for Christmas? I saw this really lovely picture shared on Facebook, it’s a letter from Santa explaining that the “egg laying process” has been slightly delayed. I think its a genius solution! Enlist a crafty friend or family member to make a little nest for their future Hatchimal. You could wrap up the nest and include the letter in the nest.

hatchimal rain check

I love, love, love this idea!

 

Where to Find a Hatchimal?

Target, Amazon, and Toys R Us. BUT at this point in time it’s really hard to come across them “in the wild”.

There’s a selling app called Mercari that has several hatchimals for sale, the prices are slightly lower than eBay prices because (currently) Mercari has no selling fees! Use the invite code NRZPMQ for $2.00 off your first purchase.

Keep an eye on Amazon too:

 

There are many for sale on eBay too. Take a close look at the seller’s feedback and if they have an unusually large number of Hatchimals for sale. If there’s a lot that might be an indication that they’ve purchased knock-offs online.

Hatcnhimal Alternatives

While there isn’t anything currently on the market that’s exactly like a hatchimal I found a few toys that might be similar to a hatchimal. Using one of these along with a raincheck from “Santa” (see above) could help lessen any distress on Christmas day.

  1. The Dino Egg Excavation Toy

     While it isn’t interactive or flashy like the hatchimal it has the potential to keep your kid occupied for the same amount of time that the hatchimal hatching process would take. Bonus points for being messy and involving dinosaurs!
  2. Jurassic Park Electronic Egg
    Jurassic Park Egg Toy
    Here’s another dinosaur toy, it’s a bit pricier but makes noise. It’s really cute too!
  3. Hatch’emsThese guys expand in the water and hatch over a period of 48 hours.  Includes a penguin, turtle, alligator, and some sort of unidentified yellow creature.
  4. Jurassic Park Dinosaur Hatchling
    Jurassic Park Hatchling
    No noise, but cute!
  5. Kitty Surprise

    I actually had one of the first incarnations of Kitty Surprise from the 90’s. These stuffed animals have a velcro pouch where you can hide the little kittens.
  6. Beagle Puppy Surprise
  7. Panda Surprise

    This one is cute too!
  8. Animal Planet Grow Eggs

    And these dinosaurs hatch in water.

Hatchimals on eBay


DIY Dress to Skirt Refashion Tutorial, Shark Edition

Ever find a dress and think “this would look so good as a skirt”? Or purchase a dress and realize the front is too low?

sourpuss shark bait dress

Yikes!

I had my eye on this awesome shark bait skater dress by Sourpuss clothing for some time now and couldn’t help it when I saw it for $25.00 and free shipping on Amazon (the seller was Ruby’s Red Ribbon-Sidecca, they are out of stock now). I glanced over the reviews and didn’t pay much attention. However when I got it I realized that the reviews were not exaggerating… the top was pretty low. For some reason I was reminded of lederhosen when I tried it on. Shark lederhosen. If I wasn’t 5’1″ the skirt would definitely be too short.

357

Time to turn this dress in to a skirt! Because this is a lightweight (stretchy) knit dress I didn’t need elastic. One less step! I’m all about making things easier on myself.

What you will need:

  • Ruler
  • Pins
  • Fabric marking pen
  • Sewing machine
  • Thread

Notes

  • You will be using the fabric from the bodice (top part of dress) to make a waistband for the skirt (bottom part).
  • A serger is awesome for this. Go buy one and blame it on me 🙂

Directions

    1. Separate the top and bottom of the dress.

366 367

    1. Place the bodice (top part) flat and mark a straight line across the bottom, then cut. If you have a fabric rotary cutter this is an awesome time to use it.369370
    2. Put the edge of your ruler flat along the line you just cut (making a 90 degree angle / perpendicular). Use a marking pen and mark on each side. I used a blue sharpie because I live dangerously.

371372

    1. Sew along the lines you just made. You are making a tube for the waistband. You’ll end up with something like this:375
    2. Decide how wide you want the waistband to be. I chose a 1 inch waistband (but could have gone larger). What is your seam allowance? Determine that measurement. Plug the two measurements into the equation below to figure out how wide your waistband should be cut:Waistband Cut Width = 2 x desired waistband width + 2 x seam allowance

      Measure and cut. My desired finished waistband width was 1 inch, seam allowance .25 inch, so I cut a strip 2.5 inches wide. It gets folded in half and the seam allowance disappears when sewed so I was left with a 1 inch waistband.377
    3. Fold your waistband in half (wrong side in). When you pin to the skirt match the side seams of the skirt and waistband together.The waistband is probably going to be smaller than the skirt. That’s good! It helps it stay up. Stretch the waistband piece to match the width of the skirt and pin. It might look strange. When you sew you will stretch the waistband piece to match the skirt.
      Before folding waistband in half.

      Before folding waistband in half.

      Waistband folded in half. About to pin to skirt. Match the side seams!

      Waistband folded in half. About to pin to skirt. Match the side seams!

      Side seams matched

      Side seams matched

      Fully pinned

      Fully pinned

    4. Sew waistband to skirt.
    5. Enjoy!

      shark skater skirt

      Shark skirt!

dress into a skirt tutorial diy

 

Impractical Anthropologie Door Knobs

If you have a boyfriend or husband who you’ve taken (or kidnapped) to the mall they might sometimes speak of “the door knob store” while having traumatic Anthropologie flash backs.

The knobs are so beautiful that they can almost stand on their own without a piece of furniture attached to them. The dresser is just the stand for what’s really important– those beautiful, beautiful drawer pulls. I’ve had dark fantasies about buying a china cabinet just to put the knobs in. I’d have pieces of wood with pre-drilled holes to display them in the cabinet… Do not tell my significant other about this.

I’ve done a lot of brainstorming to find uses for these delicate door knobs. It seems like any fixtures that are used regularly would probably cause damage. Some poor fellow is bound to accidentally break it and bring the wrath of a thousand angry wolves upon him, because “Did you know how much I paid for these knobs? They haven’t made these for years! Where am I supposed to get a new one? We’re going to have to replace ALL of them! What am I supposed to do with only three knobs? It looks awful now!”

(Sheepishly) tucked away in a shopping bag I had possibly the most frivolous door knobs ever created, the “furry companion knob”. Color: “cat”. More figurine than knob.

anthropologie cat door knob

I’ll get back to you when I find a practical purpose for these…