Fun Scrappy Dress

 I have to start off by saying this was one of the 

funnest projects I have done in a while.  

I wish that I came up with this clever idea but, 

alas I am short of original ideas as I spend too many hours up at night with a sick kids.  

I was searching online to find projects to re-purpose and up-cycle clothes and I stumbled upon this awesome dress from :

Cheri at I am Momma Hear me Roar.

 She was recently featured on Martha Stewart demonstrating how to contruct this dress.

Cheri shares quite a few re-purposing projects that you should go check out. 

Here are a few photos of my steps in re-creating the dress: 

 

 All of the girls were fighting over who got the dress.  So, it looks like I will be making more.  

 

 First gather all of your old t-shirts.  

 Pick a decent shirt for the top.  This works great with ones that have holes, snags, or stains on the bottom.

 Start stacking up the layers.  Play around with different colors and patterns.  This was the fun part.  I am pretty conservative with color and pattern mixing.  This was my chance to mix and match.:)  

 After you decide what shirts you are going to use, cut the top piece to fit under the breast. 

For a size 5T-6 dress I cut all of the additional strips 4" wide.  Keep the width the size of the t-shirts.  You will trim those up later.  Cheri gives a great tip: make your bottom piece the hem of one of your t-shirts so you don't have to hem it up later.  I love short cuts!

Here comes the fun part.  I have never painted fabric before.  I had some fabric paint collecting dust so a great chance to pull it out.  I used some foam stamps for stamping.  They worked great!  I have always been afraid that painting fabric had to look perfect but, I realized that if it looks faded it actually looks really cool and vintage.  I wanted that look for this project.  So, it worked great.

 I would recommend putting a piece of cardboard between the layers so it doesn't bleed through.

 Hanging to dry.  It took a couple of hours for it all to dry.

 Sew all of your strips together and trim off the excess.  

Line up the sewn dress strips to the top piece and trim down the sides.  Angle the cut out so they have room to walk and stretch the bottom.  Since I don't have a photo of this step check out 

Cheri's tutorial for more photos.

Sew the front and the back pieces together.  Then attach the bottom skirt to the top shirt piece.  

Then sew it together.  That is it!

I love how it turned out.  So fun and cute.  I love the freedom of painting your fabric.  It adds a unique look and my girls loved it! Ava all ready for school.  She couldn't wait to put it on this morning.

Such a fun and funky dress.  I am so glad for the great ideas that come from blog land to save me from my recent creative block.

I would encourage all of you to try this project. 
You could make a shorter version for a boy that would make a cool funky t-shirt. 
I had a lot of fun with this one--I hope you do too!

 -Julia

Circle Scarf

I love circle scarves!  I have been wanting to make my own for a while.  I saw that 

American Apparel has some really cool ones but, for $37--no way.   I knew I could make it for much cheaper.  A few months ago I found yellow knit fabric at Walmart of all places for $1.50 a yard on clearance.  Yep this was my chance.  I bought the whole bolt.  

 

 

You can wrap it up.  Amy this smile is for you!

 Or wear it long.  (My husband was trying to make me laugh.)

Do you want to make your own?  It's easy!  I followed this awesome and easy tutorial over on Come on Ilene.  All you need is 2 yards of fabric cut into individual yards.  Like Ilene, I agree knit is ideal because it usually comes with a wider width than other materials.  This gives your scarf lots of body.  You only have to sew 2 seams!  There is no need to finish the edges because knit doesn't fray.  

I know what you are thinking and no it doesn't get much easier than that!

I even made one for my mini that wanted one to match her favorite shirt.

 

While I was at it I sewed a green one to match my new green earrings.  I have a few others in the works just because they are too easy not to make more.

 -Julia

Pom Pom Scarf

I think in my last post I mentioned that I watch Bones.  In the last year, I have caught myself up to the current season by watching (and skimming) the previous episodes on Netflix.  I have found it is the perfect show to craft during, because you really don't need to pay a lot of attention, and the good parts are usually at the very end of the episode.  It was an episode in season six where I spied a pink pom pom scarf on Angela, and I coveted it and knew I had to have one.  After that, I started noticing poms everywhere, and thought I better get sewing quick!

This definitely a Spring scarf, airy and light, but could be worn as an accessory indoors during any season.  I made mine out of some leftover linen, but you could make yours out of any lightweight fabric.  A striped seersucker would especially cute.  To make one like mine you will need two rectangles of fabric, measuring 52 x 10 inches.  You will also need nearly 4 yards of small pom poms.

Start out by attaching the poms to one rectangle of fabric.  I used a zig-zag stitch to adhere it in place, with the tape on the outside edge, and the poms towards the inside of the fabric.

Pin the two rectangles together, with the poms on the inside.  Leave one short end open.  Then stitch the scarf with a 5/8 inch seam allowance along three sides, like a pillowcase.  Turn the scarf right side out (poking out the corners), fold in the open end and pin, and then topstitch the entire scarf.

Then SMILE so your husband can take your picture -- my favorite thing in the world!

Look how happy I am!  I think I'll be wearing this pretty much everywhere.

-Amy

Braided Infinity Scarf

You see the infinity or a version of it everywhere.  I knew I had to try it for myself.  So I found a tutorial Here. Isn't she darling?

 

I put my own spin on it and used a t-shirt instead of fabric.

It makes for a fun accessory. You can get the basic design down and really do whatever you want with it.  I like how you make each one a little different from the next. 

So I am not a fan of self portraits.  I am not very good at it either.  You should see the outakes-okay maybe I will save myself the embarrassment.  So here are a couple of pictures of how I like to wear it.  I like it to be snug around my neck.  You could definitely let it hang without wrapping it.

 I have a bag of these wood beads and thought it would be fun to add one.  What do you think?

Would you like to make your own?  Here are some photos of the alterations I made to my scarf that differ from Nette.

 I used a 2 shirts I found a while back at Walmart for $2.00.

First I cut the hem off the bottom.

With one of the t-shirts I cut several 1" strips that I ended up braiding together.  After cutting you pull and stretch each strip as long as you can. Use as many strips to obtain the thickness of braid that you want.  I also used these strips to strand the wooden bead.

 Then I made a cut under the armpit of the shirt.  This will be the infinity scarf.  Cut off one of the seams and then stretch this piece out as much as you can.

After stretching you will want to follow the rest of the instructions on Nette for the infinity scarf.

 

 All done.  It took me about an hour start to finish.  I love projects like that don't you?

 -Julia

Vintage Sheet Pillowcase

I love fabric!  I especially love vintage print fabrics (or vintage fabric, when I can find it).  The problem is, fabric is pretty expensive, especially when you want to do a large-scale project.  That's why I always keep my eye out for vintage sheets when I am thrift shopping.  Top sheets are always the best, as you don't have to deal with the elastic corners, and top sheets are much less worn compared to fitted sheets.  Look for bright colors, without patches of fading.

When trying to come up with a gift for my four beautiful nieces, my sister suggested making pillowcase kits, so that they could practice their sewing skills over the Winter Break.  I decided to use one of my vintage sheets for the project, and also some of the large ric-rac from the boxes of stuff my grandma gave me.  In order to personalize each pillowcase, I cut out each of the girls' initials from a different print and adhered it to some double-sided interfacing.  Because Olivia can't walk, let alone sit at a sewing machine, I decided to sew hers up for her, to give her big sisters a model to look at.

This isn't a full-on tutorial, but if you follow these instructions, you can sew a personalized pillowcase in no time.

Cut:

One piece that measures 34 inches x 42 inches

Hem:

Fold over the raw edge (the right side to wrong side) of the long side of the piece 1/4 inch, press, and then fold down 4 inches and press again.  Stitch right along the edge, at the bottom of the fold.

Stitch:

If you would like to embellish your pillowcase, stitch a long piece of ric-rac or ribbon, all along the hemmed seam.

Fold:

Fold the piece in half, right sides together, creating your pillowcase.  Make sure to match the hemline and ribbon or ric-rac.  Sew the pillowcase, starting at one end, turning the corner, and finishing at the corner where your fabric folded.  If you are not using a serger, zig-zag the raw edges.

Iron:

Turn right side out and iron the monogram onto the front of the pillowcase.  Stitch around the edges to secure in place.

All done!

-Amy

An Early Pooch Present

A couple of weeks ago I walked by our sunroom and saw our 60lb Weimaraner in our glove and hat basket.  I guess her dog bed had lost its appeal to her.  She looked comfy enough but, I wasn't digging all of the dog hair on our warm clothing.  So, I figured I better give her an early Christmas present a new dog bed.

Here is how to make a quick dog bed out of things you probably have around your house.

1 yard of 60 inch fleece.  If you have an old blanket that will do.  I would cut it 34"x60".  Make sure you pre-wash your fabric.

First you want to fold your fleece length wise.  Cut it right up the middle.  One will be the front and the other the back piece.

Now take one of the pieces and fold that length wise.  This will now become the back portion of the bed.

The 2 back pieces side by side.

Now you will be pinning the whole bed together.  Lay the front piece down and place the 2 back side by side on top of the front piece.  Pin around all of the edges.  After you get it all pinned you can stitch around the perimeter of the bed.

After you are done sewing go ahead and trim your edges.  No need to flip the raw edges to the inside.  Fleece doesn't fray.  It will hold up nicely with trimmed edges.  Easy huh?

Now take 2 old (or extra) pillows you have and place them in separate garbage bags.  This will help if for any reason they get soiled.

Now place both of your bagged pillows inside the bed.  The open slit on the back portion will make it easy to take the pillows in and out.

Then find your pooch and have them take it for a spin.  My dog wasted NO time in resting her bones on her new bed.   The best part is I can take it off and wash it any time I want.  Everyone's happy. 

Now go make your pooch one for Christmas.:)

 

 -Julia

Fall Frock Part 2 and Giveaway!!!

Here is the last installment of the sewing the Fall Frock. I am new at doing tutorials so, if you have any questions or if I left anything out let me know.  I will be sure to answer any questions you might have.

Check out the end for a giveaway!

 Sewing the dress:

 Quick tip:  Before I start sewing I finish all of my seams.  If you have a Serger than serge all of the raw edges on each piece.  This will save you a lot of time once you get going on constructing the dress.

Sew both side of the long ruffle strip together.  Then press flat.

 

To gather the ruffle I used Dana at MADE suggestion.  It makes gathering soooooo easy.  I highly recommend doing this.

 

Lay your dress front out flat.  Pin and then sew the ruffle to the middle of the dress. Then seam rip out the wide ruffle stitch that you used earlier.

Sew the "J" part of your sleeve to the front of the dress.

 Then to the back of the dress.

 

Sew the sides together starting under the sleeve all the way to the bottom of the dress.

Don't forget to press open your seams.

 Fold and iron your hems at 1/2 inch.  Your neck casing at 1inch.

 In order to sew around the big ruffle I pin the 2 sides together so it isn't flopping all around.  Then I can easily grab it and maneuver it as to not sew right over the top of it.

 Hem your sleeves and the bottom of your dress.  Then sew the neck casing.  Make sure to remember to leave an opening for your elastic.

 Start to feed your elastic through the neck casing.  

***Tip always put a safety pin on the end of the elastic you will be feeding through.  It makes it really easy to feel and pull through.

 Feed the elastic all the way through the casing.  Once you have pulled it through stitch it together with a zig-zag stitch.  Then sew the neck casing shut.

Now pat yourself on the back you are all done!  

Would you like to win your own Fall Frock?  Well I am giving it away to one of our followers.  It is a size 4T-5T.  My 3 year old is pretty tall so it might even fit a size 6.

Here is how to enter to win.

 There are several ways to earn a chance to win.  First, leave us a comment telling us the types of things that you would like us to feature on our blog.  That gives you one entry.  Next, go to Facebook and write a message on your wall, linking to our page, announcing the giveaway, then come back and leave a comment that you have done that.  There's another entry.  Post this page as a pin on Pinterest and come back and comment that you did that.  You just earned yourself another entry.  Link to it on your blog, and leave a comment that you did, and you can have another chance to win.  If you have a twitter account you can "tweet" about the giveaway with a link (then come and comment that you did this) and you can earn another entry in our drawing.

I will pick a winner at noon on Friday, using a random integer program, and will announce who won soon after.

Good Luck!

-Julia