T-Shirt Refashion

I wish I had taken before pictures and Pictures along the way. But honestly I wasn't sure how this would turn out. So here is a shirt exactly like the one I cut up only a different color.

men's extra large

I used the extra for the ruffle and flowers.

I kept the original hem but ruffled the sleeves and gave them a new hem.

Since this was my first refashion of this kind I call it a success! A few tips, try on your shirt before cutting extra and use a favorite shirt as a pattern. plus take into account the stretchiness of both fabrics. And last try on before deciding where to place flowers. I would have liked mine a little higher.

A Messenger Bag for a Reverse Walker

So my oldest boy uses a reverse walker, he had a nasty bag zip tied to it from the school P.T.(physical therapist). It was ugly,could hold all his stuff, so all it did was lighten his back pack but he still had to use one. I decided to make him one. Since I'm not clever enough to actually design a pattern I used See and Sew B4583 and left off the strap. instead I did 3 straps that button, those I did come up with on my own.

inside

I am super happy with it and now he doesn't have to carry a heavy backpack!

Easiest Dress I ever made

The top fabric is vintage, it belonged to my Grandma.

This dress was super easy! 

In the middle of sewing this my serger ran out of thread and I had to re- thread it for the first time since I got it! It was such a pain in the butt, because it's not a self threader! However I stopped freaking out and was able to do 2 of the threads(the other 2 were still fine)! I am loving sewing!

Dress For E

This Dress took me 2 days total. Over all it wasn't the easiest but it wasn't the hardest either. It was my first time doing pockets and working with bias tape. I love the finished product!

Notice the fabric Flowers. You can find that tutorial here.

Here is the finished dress

She is planning on wearing it to the Daddy Daughter Dance at school next week!

Penguin Purse or Softy

We had a little friend turning six this week. She loves penguins but is also very girly and loves dress up and accessories. I needed a gift she would love that was simple, inexpensive, cute, and versatile. And could be made in the time left before the baby woke up and the kids came home from school (about 30 minutes). I gathered up some felt scraps, did a google search for a template, and plugged in my sewing machine. A fast and free birthday gift was soon hatched! If you don't have a sewing machine, you could even hot glue the whole thing together! And it is simple enough your kids could make it themselves with a little supervision.

Presenting the 15 minute pink penguin purse!

For the body shape I used a template that I found HERE.
You can enlarge or shrink it if you want, left original size it is about 6 inches long.

Cut out the pieces, trace onto some felt, and cut out the felt. I also grabbed a ribbon for making a handle. Make two bodies, two feet, two eyes, and one each of the beak and tummy.

Place the front embellishments on the top body piece. Pin in place and sew!

Arrange the feet and handle on the bottom body piece and pin in place.

Put the top body piece on, pin the two together, and sew around the outside edge from one end of the handle to the other leaving the top open. Unless you are making a softy, not a purse, then stuff in some filling and sew all the way around!

Ta-da! Now put something cool inside and give to your favorite little person. This penguin is going to hold a pair of glamorous sunglasses, but she can do double duty as a candy bar keeper, door hanger, or tiny accessory bag.

A little girls dress

ok I used a pattern, and it was supposed to be easy, but it took so long that I have been working on it for over a month, here and there!This was not for a class, thank heavens I improvised alot!

Take Along Fabric Dollhouse

A Christmas gift for my littlest one:

The perfect home for Little People, Calico Critters, Nesting Dolls, or Polly Pockets! I am hoping this will be an easy take-along to church, in the car, or to Grandma's house. The best part? All made from scraps in my stash, a free gift!
I used the tutorial by UK Lass. Hers is pretty thorough, so I am not going to do my own, just tell you to go there instead! Check out the flickr group she links to at the bottom for many, many more examples. Actually, mine doesn't look to great next to many of those, so maybe don't go look? Either way, you should make one. It took me a total of about 4 hours to make. I think I could do it in two now that I know what I am doing. Maybe a car garage, a barn, or a little grocery store? The possibilities are endless!

Linking into Made by You Mondays on Skip to my Lou!


And Linky Love on No Time for Flashcards!

Tween Room Makeover

Over the summer my 8 yr old daughter started watching "Trading Spaces Kids." We have now blocked tat channel, for my sanity sake. Ever since, she has been begging me to give her room a make over. In a day, so she can be suprised. She was so enthusiastic for the project, she asked her only birthday presents this year be the ones that would go towards her big room makeover. She told me what she wanted, and I spent a few months preparing and making a few accessories. Then I locked her out for a weekend and went to work. She now a happy 9 yr old with a fairy garden room that she actually wants to keep clean!

Her requirements: fairies, but not the baby kind or Disney kind; colors, especially purple; a bulletin board; a writing desk; a chair for reading in; vines and floweres hanging from the ceiling and on the walls so it feels like a garden.

My requirements: cheap, easy, sibling-proof.

Supplies:

Flower garden bedding set and purple curtains- $0.00 snagged from a friend who was moving 

Desk- $0.00 handed down by a friend who was moving

Dish chair- $30.00, but jointly gifted by a friend bring my cost to $15.00

Purple bean bag chair- $2.00 from goodwill

Memo board- $2.00 for ribbon, $1.00 for fabric, made by me here

Mobiles- $2.00 for 10 pieces of cardstock, $4.00 for butterflies and flowers, made by me here

Canopy- $6.00 for ribbons, made by me here

Wallies flower fairies stickers- $14.00

Paint- $6.00 for assorted colors of acrylic paints

Total Cost: $52.00, plus about 10 hours of labor. You might be faster if you don't have 2 yr old to help!

Before:

 After:

I practiced the painting with water first.

 Flower garden mural:

 Stick on Fairies with glitter paint pixie dust:

 New desk and chair:

 Painted the tree:

Added mobiles, memo board, curtains, and bedding:

 Hung the canopy, tested out by lil' sis:

 A few more wall fairies:

 Memo board and fairy headress:

Pajama Jam

When I was growing up my  mom sewed a lot of our clothes. I could pretty much count on a new spring dress and a pair of new pajamas every year. Although I am not nearly as proficient with the sewing machine as she was, I have tried to continue that tradition with my own kids.
My theme for the handmade Christmas gifts I making this year is "stuff I've already got in the stash." What is the fancy name for that? Upcycled? Thrifty? I am good with "free."
Anyway, I pulled out all my flannel scraps and played with the patterns until I had a few prints I could make each child a pair of pajama pants with. I used my trusty simplicity pattern for the two big kids pants, and just traced a pair of pj pants that I knew already fit for my toddler.
I only made pants, because we live in the south, where fleecy, long sleeved, flannel pjs would only get used about three times all year. We do better with bare feet, t-shirt tops, and pants that can be cropped into shorts as soon as summer hits. So these pants were destined to be topped with a comfy t-shirt. I couldn't make myself wrap up a package of plain white tees to put under the tree, so I decided to spruce them up a little.
I tried my hand at reverse applique. It turned out OK, but I was unprepared with how hard it is to sew all those tiny curves and details with my plain straight line sewing machine with no quilting attachments. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, and I was pretty much done with sewing for about two weeks afterward. It took a while for me to gain my confidence back. After all that though, here are the results and tiny tutorial for you.

1. Grab a package of plain t-shirts, or use a few you already have. Wash and dry and iron (I never iron, but I did this time. it helped).

2.Turn them inside out and pin on your contrasting fabric. I cut out prints for the pajama pants scraps and outlined in pencil the lines I wanted to sew. Be careful not to pin the fabric through both layers of the t-shirt!

3. Sew over the lines you drew. If you are skilled at applique, go all out. If you are a beginner like yours truly, go for something simple!

4. Next, turn your shirt inside out and cut away the t-shirt material that is inside the shape you sewed. Your design should show through.

 5. All done! Check to make sure you like the way it looks. Add to it if you need to. Turn inside out and trim off any extra fabric or threads.

 Ta-da! Three kids pj sets, all ready for St Nicholas to deliver on Dec 6th!

Upcycled Dress second time around

Here is the second one I made. This time I used lace off of the bottom of a tank top that was in the DI pile. Love it!

Ladies Skirt into Girls Dress Upcycle Tutorial

 I bought this and it's just a smidge to short so I never wear it, so here's what I did with it!






measure you daughter right under her arms, then add an inch for seam allowace. If the zipper is on the side just cut one side. If it's on the back you'll want to cut both sides.




Sew with right sides in.





Take the left over fabric and cut into a rectangle. I just eye balled it. you will need 2 of these. they will become the sleeves.





Now pin sides over and make sure your elastic will fit though it.




Measure how long your elastic needs to be by trying the dress on your daughter. going from one side of her sholder to the other. (front to back). Feed you elastic through, ancor on one end, and then the other.





It will create a ruffle effect on the sleeve.




Pin in place on both sleeves.



This picture is not the best, but you sew all the way around the top of the dress.



And then let here wear it!