Shirt Refashion

This is by far my favorite thing to do.  It costs nothing because its something I was probably going to throw away or in this case something my sister gave me and if I mess up its not like I bought the fabric.  :)  I would be lying if I said this project went fast.  Normally it would have but for some reason if it could go wrong, it did, but I love how the finish product turned out.

On that note,  I started with my sisters purple turtle neck:

Then I cut out my pattern pieces using the existing hem and arm sleeves.

Then lets skip to almost the end.  I just had to sew on the neckline with my twin needle.  

After trying it on Lexi I decided I didnt like the sleeves so I folded them up and stitched in the ditch.  I added a little flower to spice things up a bit.

 

Here is the finished shirt and I love the way it turned out.  Lexi is asleep right now so I will get some pictures of her in it later.  

We also just got back from Florida where we enjoyed 90 degree weather so it got me in the summer mode.  Yesterday I made the cutest tank top for Lexi so I will have to post about that tomorrow maybe Ill make another one.  I finally have some time to sew before my photo shoots get busy again.

Chenille Baby Blanket

I ran across this tutorial from Aesthetic Nest for a Chenille Baby Blanket.  I am not a quilter by any means and have never really been interested in making one either, this is until I ran across this tutorial.  I love the way the blanket turned out.

I would say it took about 4-6 hours to sew these lines half inch apart across the entire blanket.  Once I got the hang of it then it went faster.  My friend Celeste and I did them together so it wasnt so tedious and boring.  

The flannel on the bottom after one wash is so soft and fluffy.  I imagine it will only get better after more washes.

I just love all the colors together.  This definitely wasnt a quick easy project but the end result is worth it and I think I will make another one.  

Bubble Skirt Tutorial

My sister brought me a ton of shirts (per my request) that she cant wear anymore.  So I have been thinking of what I want to do with them.  I decided to make a bubble skirt for Taylor.  It was one of the fastest projects.  It took me about 30 mins and it was all free!!  There are a lot of tutorials out there for bubble skirt but I decided to make my own with my twist on it.  Sorry for the terrible pictures.  I took most of them on my phone.

I started with this XL knit shirt:

Then I cut off the sleeves.

Then I cut straight across under the armpits.

Turn shirt inside out.  With wrong side out, loop bottom of entire shirt up to top keeping wrong sides together with right side facing out.  I hope that makes sense.  It should look like this.  You will have a nice tub.  I can place my hand all the way through the center of the skirt.  Pin top together all the way around.

Sew a gathering stitch all the way around the top of the skirt.  Dont back stitch you will want to be able to pull the thread.  I acheive this stitch by setting my stitch length to its longest setting and my tension to the highest setting.  The machine will naturally ruffle the fabric.  Pull your loose threads until your fabric is nicely ruffled.

For this project I used 2 inch wide black elastic purchased at Joann's.  I probably shouldnt have used elastic this wide for Taylor but she will grow into it.  I probably wouldnt use elastic smaller than 1 inch.

Measure your child's waist and cut elastic to size.  Place like sides together and sew about an inch seam.

Once you have done this try the elastic on your little girl and see if the elastic is the right size if not seam rip the stitch and adjust the stitch bigger or smaller.

Fold excess elastic over on each side and sew down so it is completely smooth.

Take skirt and elastic and match up side seams and pin and then middle of the front and back of the skirt and pin to elastic.  Make sure the smooth part of your elastic is facing outside and the folded over part is on the inside.

I decided to pin the top of the skirt to the top of the elastic so I could shorten the skirt a bit.  If you wanted it longer then pin to the bottom of elastic with about a 1/4 inch overlap.

This is what the inside will look like.  You should have a lot of excess fabric.

Continue pinning excess fabric to elastic, pleating it as you go.

Now its time to start sewing.  Sew along the bottom of the elastic with about an 1/8 in seam.  I used a heavier duty needle sewing this because I was sewing through 2 layers of knit and elastic.  I didnt want to break a needle.  Which by the way is so frustrating.  :) 

 

I decided to sew a second line just for reinforcement.  Also I trimmed the excess fabric on the inside of the elastic down to my stitch since I pinned the elastic down so far. 

Now admire your work and try it on your little one.  Now wasnt that easy!!!

This was made for a 10 month old and she still needs to grow into it a little bit.  So if you are making for an older child you would probably need more fabric.  This can also be made with almost any kind of fabric.  I am just partial to sewing with knits.

I think I will make one for Lexi since it was so easy to make.

I tried my best to show a good picture of Taylor with it on but its hard since she doesnt stand by herself.

Its a little big on her but she will grow into it nicely.  Enjoy!!

Adult to Toddler shirt - Refashion

I have a tub full of my old shirts just sitting there waiting for me to make something out of them.  I decided to finally do something with them.  I dont make many things for Lexi for some reason.  I guess I just always make things for Taylor.  So I decided I would take one of my shirts and refashion it into a shirt for Lexi.  The best thing about this project is it didnt cost a thing.

Here is my shirt.

Now here it is on Lexi refashioned.

Please excuse the mismatch attire she wanted to wear her pajama pants. 

I used my twin needle on the neckline and cut the blue fabric from the yoke of the old shirt.  I used the existing sleeve because I loved the little puff sleeves.  The neck turned out a little big but it still looks great.  Im proud of it and I think ill start sewing for Lexi more often.

Little Girl Leggings Tutorial

It was hard to do this while I had two kiddos awake and playing one minute and crying the next but I eventually got it done. 

Things you will need:

- at least 3/4 yard of knit or stretch fabric ( I used prob about 1/2 a yard for 12m leggings)

- coordinating thread

- 1 yard of 3/4 inch or 1 inch knit elastic

- ballpoint needle (for knit fabric) and ballpoint twin needle (opt.)

- scissors, pins, etc. 

Start by creating a pattern.  I wont show you how to do this but go HERE for a comprehensive tutorial.  MADE explains it way better than I ever could.

Once you have your pattern, take one end of your fabric (make sure the stretch of your fabric goes from left to right) and fold it over enough to accommodate the pattern.  Place the straight edge of the pattern on the fold, pin, and cut out.

Once that is cut out cut off the excess pieces to create a straight edge and fold over the end of the fabric again.  Flip pattern over so that you are doing the mirror image of the pattern.  Pin and cut out.

This is what your fabric pieces should look like so far.

Now its time to cut out the cuff pieces for the bottom.  Fold your fabric over once again and pin your pattern on the edge to get the correct width.  This will be folded in half, hot dog style, so you can do the height whatever you would like.  I did mine 3 inches so when folded in half it would be an inch and a half.  Unfold the cuff piece and cut out another.

Your pieces should look like this unfolded.

Next we are going to sew the cuff.

Fold in half long ways, pin and sew.  

* When sewing with knit fabric I have found that using a stretch stitch (shown below) works the best for me.  I have seen lots of people use just a zig zag stitch but I recommend doing some on a test piece and find what works best for you.  Using a straight stitch, for me, anytime I would stretch the fabric after I sewed it the stitches would break but I found the stretch stitch allowed the fabric to stretch and keep the stitches in tact. 

Repeat last step with second cuff.

Place like side of cuff to the bottom of the larger piece.  Pin and sew.

Fold piece over and iron out the seams for a more professional look.

Repeat last step with second cuff and larger piece.

Take both larger pieces and place like sides together and pin down the sides.  Shown below.  Sew down both sides just to the point.

When sewing down the sides sew one side with a larger seam and that will be the front.  The other side will be a smaller seam because it has to allow for a diaper.  

The front is about a 1/2 inch seam and the back is about a 1/4.  But after the final result I wish I would have done an even bigger seam in the front.   Its just a little baggy but it still works.

Now take those seams you just sewed and line them up.

 

First line up the crotch and pin.  Continue to pin all the way down each leg.  

Make sure the cuffs line up straight as well.

Now sew in the U shape from one cuff to the other with about a 1/4 seam.  What I have learned is to tapper in the cuff just a little bit on each side because it looks better and will hug the ankle better.  Once this is done turn them right side out and admire your work cause you are almost done.  

* You can try them on your little one to see if you need to sew them with a bigger seam or not. 

Now turn them back wrong side out.

Double fold down the top to form a casing to feed your elastic through.   My elastic is 3/4 inches so i folded it down twice to leave about an inch casing for me to work with.  Pin and flip the leggings back right side out. 

* I always cut a little more off the top of the front so the front is lower then the back. Also try these on your little one before you fold them down so you can get an estimate of how high you want the rise to be.  I always try to make them not so high waiste but high enough in the back to cover the diaper.  You may have to cut some fabric off the top or fold more under to make a shorter rise. 

Now starting at the back sew a 1 inch casing around the waist leaving about a 1 1/2 inch opening to feed the elastic through.  

*I usually use my twin ballpoint needle to sew this (see HERE for more on twin needle) .  I think it looks more professional but a single line works great as well or if you are feeling up to it just sew a 2nd line all the way around.  Also just using a plain straight stitch works just fine. 

Take your measuring tape and wrap it around your little ones waist to get their waist size then add an inch to that for overlap.  Measure and cut your elastic. 

Attach a safety pin on the end of your elastic and start feeding it into the casing.  Make sure your elastic doesnt twist as you feed it through.

Once you feed the elastic all the way through the casing pull it out enough to overlap the elastic about an inch or so.  Zig zag stitch the elastic to keep it from pulling apart.

Now stretch out your waistband so that the elastic will slide nicely into place.  Pin and sew the opening closed and viola YOUR DONE!!!

I decided to sew a piece of patterned knit in the back of the waistband as a label just to better help me know what is the front and the back. 

Now try them on your little one and admire your work.  Now that wasnt so bad.  

 

I hope that was easy to understand.  It was quite the task to to a tutorial so I hope I didnt leave anything out.  Let me know if you liked this.