1 shirt, 2 shirts, old shirts, new shirts! A little how to...

We're getting ready for our big move and we've been fighting the inevitable questions like

Oh really and how long has it been since you fit in that?

College days are over... give up the holy t-shirt...

Come on, it's stained everywhere... call a rag when you see one!

Logically, given that we're in the middle of packing and moving a shirt with stains and a tiny little hole in the center like this should make the trash pile done and done...

But... I like sewing quite a bit more than I like packing and cleaning... sooooo naturally I was thinking more along the lines of the endless refashioning potential!

Then I came across this unworn brightly color, but slightly plan t-shirt and thought hum, it's still mighty cold up in the northwest this time of year (where we are moving). Perhaps a long sleeve t-shirt would get more use.

And that's how these two babies mingle, mashed and blended into 2 beautiful "new" shirts!

Shirt #1

Shirt #2

Ta-dah!!!


Adding sleeves to an regular tee is quick, easy and very functional especially when you're moving from Phoenix to Portland!


Wanna try???

Here's all I did:

First, I measured the length and circumference of the chunkiest part of Sienna's arm from the arm pit down to get the size of my sleeve strips. Measuring from the arm pit down is key here, because you'll be attaching the sleeve to the end of a short sleeve, not the shoulder.


Next, I cut the strips out of the bottom, using the natural hem of the t-shirt as the cuff of the sleeve. Then folded them in half and sewed a tube.


To attach the sleeves, I tucked my right-side-out tub through the armhole of the short sleeve shirt turned inside out.


Then pin all around making sure to line up the seams of the sleeves.


Carefully stretching from both sides as I sewed, I attached the long sleeve to the end of the short sleeve.


After those short 15 minutes or so I fold it right side out...


And there was my new long sleeve shirt!


Ha! What a walk in the park!

Like this one :)


Now, I was left with a half of a shirt and just as I was about to toss it...

Into my scraps bin (oh no, goodness sakes, not in the trash!), but yes, just before it hit that scraps bin I had an idea to refashion that part too into another dress/shirt!



So I pulled out some other left over strips of pink and purple jersey fabric I just knew I should save and pieced them together to make a cute little tiered top!

I still had the original problem of the stains and small hole in the shirt, so I used some other smaller scraps to make the waded flowers for the front and cut the shirt half slightly higher to take out the hole.


Almost PERFECT!!!

Almost is key here since I did have to fudge a little with the uneven sized scraps I was limiting myself to and the obvious fact that I really had to sneak in a few minutes here and there for this project while I was supposed to be packing not sewing :)


Shhhh... I still don't think the Mr. Seamstress knows I wasn't packing that whole time after all...

Should the case be taken to a jury think we'll just have to bring up the important facts here that I did save us money (which all husbands like), still finished my packing (which my husband mostly cares about) and even enjoyed myself just a little (favorite part of all)!!

Melting Into Spring Jumper

What's a little girl to wear when she finds that winter is melting into spring??

How about a bright, swirly jumper!?

I'm sorry for all of you who can't fathom this idea just yet, but over in our neck of the woods spring is almost here!

So naturally, Sienna and I decided to go looking for it...


And needed the perfect jumper dress for the job!


One that has bright springy colors


But still with some soft, cozy velvet


And maybe a little extra lining since as you know we haven't found Spring just yet!

Ok, this one will do...

Now, hurry Mommy, we've got to find Spring!!!

SHH!

You gotta be really quiet and pay attention...


And look very closely...


But sometimes that you can just listen and the tree will tell you if it's here...

Wait, did you just hear that...??

Oh that's too silly!

I think I just found it already!


Almost Sweetheart, almost.

Ruffly Rocker T-Dress Tutorial

Ruffles and dresses??

Plus a t-shirt refashion??

yes please!

And as a bonus, look at all the rockin' 80's scraps that I got to use from my mom's fabric stash! I seriously remember picking out the hearts print when I was a little girl for a dress that I wanted!Even though my mom never got around to making me my lightening and heart dress, I think I'll forgive her and gladly steal it back to make a lovely dress for her lovely granddaughter. Fair is fair right?

I've seen these tutu dresses and ruffly shirt dresses all over the stores this season and I just love them! So here's my little mix of the two....

Wanna try??

Here's what you need:

• Cotton/Stretch T-shirt
• 1/2 yrd of stretchy or knit fabric for the base of the shirt
• Long strips of coordinating fabric and tulle about 4" x 40"
• Basic sewing essentials.. thread, pins, scissors, chalk, machine etc

Here's what you do:

Step 1- take measurements

Lay the old tee flat to measure the width of the bottom.

Step 2- cut out the base for the shirt part of the dress

Use the number you got in step one to cut the stretchy/knit fabric the same width. Old shirts work great for this if you don't have matching knit fabric around. Either way, make sure you cut the fabric after you've folded it over since you measured only one side of the shirt. The length is up to you. For a 4T dress I made mine about 10" long, but my little fashionista is tall like her momma.

Step 3- cut ruffles strips

In this case, I decided to go with 4 rows of ruffles, but you can easily adjust this by making each ruffle layer shorter or longer. For each row you'll want to cut a strip 1 1/2 times the total circumference (length around) your shirt.

Here's how you figure out what size strips to cut:

Shirt bottom measurement x 2 = total length around dress
13" x 2 = 26"

Total length around dress x 1.5 = length of strip to ruffle
26" x 1.5 = 39" but let's just call it 40" for a little wiggle room :)

For 4 rows of ruffles I made mine 4" wide. This gave me plenty of seam allowance and overlap room for my 10" long skirt portion.


Step 4- ruffle your strips
Ruffle your strips using the loosest settings on your sewing machine and gathering until they are the same length as your shirt bottom.

Step 5- sew your shirt bottom and first ruffle row to the shirt
Wrap the ruffle strip around the bottom of your shirt folded right side out so that the same sides of the strip and the shirt are touching and the bottom of the ruffle ends with the bottom of the shirt.

Next, wrap the shirt bottom around the 2 layers so that the ends are the same length and pin it all in place.

Carefully sew all three layers together using the zig zag stitch on your machine and stretching slightly as you sew. Make sure you gently stretch evenly from both ends and you're not pulling at all.

Sew the sides of the skirt part together along the side as you normally would for any skirt or dress. Similarly, connect the ruffle row by sewing them together at the side.

Some of you might sew the ruffles together before attaching for a cleaner seam, but I prefer doing it this way so I can adjust the ruffles as I go until the very end.

Step 6- Mark off lines for each remaining row of ruffles

I spaced my ruffles out every 3 inches so that I would have about 1" overlap between each one.

Step 7- Attach the remaining ruffle rows
I like the rough around the edges look for this rocker dress, so I left the knitted edges unfinished for each layer since they won't fray.

I also sewed the bottom ruffle layers directly onto the bottom skirt part with the top exposed since no one will see it and it won't fray either! Easy peasy!

Step 8- Finish 'er off with a decorative flower or bow
I used the scraps of the scraps to make a little flower for the side to blend the colors and break up the dress a little.

She loved it!

Now, you might not believe this, but the hardest part of the dress came after I finished sewing it...

Let me tell you, trying to describe "rocker" to someone whose musical plate mostly comprises of Rafi and Disney sing-a-longs was a little interesting. When she started dancing around like a ballerina I couldn't decided if I made progress or not...

But when she interpreted my rocker signing as roaring like a tiger was when I really knew I was a lost cause...

Eh, oh well, so clearly Mommy was never much of a real rocker herself...

Maybe we both can at least look cute dressed up as one from time to time!

A quick winter dress for baby and me!

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, bakers man

Make me a dress as fast as you can!

(pretty please, Momma?)

You gotta roll it, pat it, mark it with a "B"


And don't forget to make one for baby AND me!


YAY!!!!

Thanks Momma!

And how could I do anything less for that squeezably round little face?


But I'll tell you, when I sat down to make her pat-a-cake dress I was stuck. All I could think of was this adorable long sleeve peasant dress I saw at the Little Bean Workshop.

And then it hit me like a pie pan to the face. Isn't copying the highest form of flattery? And I DO love so many things on Amy's blog. And what better way to honor my personal #1 copycat than to copy this cute little dress that's stuck in my head anyway??

So I did.

In almost every single way down to the perfectly fitting argyle fabric that happened to be on sale at JoAnn's all week :)

It was so incredibly easy to make that I threw one together for baby too!

Then, to spice it up with my own little spin I put 2 teeny pockets on the front just the right size for those chilled winter hands to warm up in.

Thanks for the great tutorial from Little Bean Workshop!