Applique Onesies and Shoe Sets

I had a few friends request these recently. They have upcoming baby showers to attend. Quite simple to make, just apply heat and bond to your cut out and iron it onto your shirt. Then use a zig zag stitch around the cut out.

 You can follow this easy to use tutorial and pattern from Trey & Lucy here.  The booties tutorial can be found in a previous post, or here.

 It's easy to add a ruffled butt.  I slid fabric strips through a 1 1/2 inch bias tape maker, and zig zagged the edges.  Then I set my machine's tension to the highest it would go, and my stitch length to the longest to make ruffles.  After you make your ruffles, sew them onto your onesie. 

And I'm really loving on my packaging idea!!!  It's a cupcake box.  It comes with dividers that I placed in between the shoes and the onesie.  It was a perfect fit.

Pretty Fancy Blog

The updated header is looking pretty snazzy! Thank you to LeeLou Blogs for the beautiful blog design.

Sunday Craft Roundup

Sunday Craft Roundup is a collection of my ambitions for the upcoming week!

image via My Blonde Ambition 

Fabric Flower Tutorial

image via The Purl Bee

Bunny Finger Puppets tutorial

image from Pottery Barn

Egg Dyeing Recipe Tutorial from Tatertots & Jello

image via MADE

Peeps Bunny Bunting tutorial

image via The Frugal Designer

Cutest Little Easter Egg Tree Tutorial

Tutorial: Pitter Patter....a Baby Shoe

I love shoes.  Even the ones that cover up those cute little tiny toes on babies.  About a year ago, I came across a baby booty pattern by Heather Bailey.  I've been whipping up these baby shoes ever since.  They make wonderful, unique gifts, for a new baby.  Heather offers a pattern in three sizes.  When making my shoes for a new baby, I generally stick to the 3-6 month size because I make padded inserts for the shoes.

Start with the instructions provided with the pattern, but after you get comfortable with the construction of the shoe, you can modify it to have a strap like these below, from Martha Stewart.

Photo from Martha Stewart

Pattern found here

Use a good quality wool felt.  The blends from National Nonwovens work well.  A good source can be found here.

The most exciting part about this project is adding embellishments.  Right now I'm working on a pair that I incorporated deep purple tulle and vintage swiss velvet on a tan felt shoe.  Pictures of that to follow on Monday.

New Look

Playing around with a new look right now. 

Toddler Bedding Redo

Ever since we converted my daughters crib into a daybed, I have always had a hard time outfitting it with a bedding I can live with. Toddler bedding, at least what I have found, is full of cutsie little flowers and rainbows, or Tinkerbell.  Now there is nothing wrong with a little girl who loves her Tinkerbell, but I can't bring myself to have it around, while I still have control of what goes in her room.

The Solution?
Buy a twin size comforter and cut it almost in half.
A standard twin size comforter is usually 68x86.  Toddler bedding usually runs 42X58.  My daughters bed is a crib converted into a daybed, so we are still using a crib mattress.  For her bed, I literally folded it in half, and cut it across.  Make sure the pattern on the comforter will look ok sideways.

When this was a twin size comforter, the ruffles ran the length.  Now that it's a toddler comforter, the ruffles run the width.
After cutting, tuck the ends into themselves and sew it closed. 
Obviously you now end up with 2 blankets, but one stays on the bed, and the other I let her drag around the house and snuggle on the sofa.

5CKG9KUZ6FSU

So This is Blog Heaven?

I'm a little excited, a little proud, and slightly embarrassed all rolled into one.  I've just started this blogging adventure.  I still have a lot to learn.  I may not hold a degree in journalism, but one thing I can do well is create with my own two hands. 
It was an honor to be acknowledged by Ana at Knock Off Wood.  She gave me the inspiration to make my own furniture.  I was just informed that the headboard I made also appeared on Apartment Therapy's Re-Nest. 
I guess I better come up with something else exciting. 

Drum Roll Please.....

 It's finally making it's grand appearance. I made this with my own two hands, thanks to Ana White from Knock Off Wood.  I mentioned in a previous post that Ana provides free plans of knock off furniture for people like me who have expensive taste, and a poor budget.  My headboard is a knock off of the Pottery Barn Mason headboard. Ana's plans for this headboard can be found here. 
It was an experience, building my own furniture.  I wouldn't say my first time out was a really great experience, but now that I'm ready to tackle my next project, I feel a little more confident getting back out there again.  You will get smirks from the man who's missing a tooth, but never missed a meal at Home Depot, when he asks you why you need all this wood.  You will make up new curse words when your nails keep bending as your trying to hammer them into your wood.  And, you will shed a few tears when your finish didn't come out the right color, and you need to re-sand it, and start staining over again.  You will also be able to get out all your frustrations with items like chains, hammers, and chisels, while your beating the heck out of your furniture, trying to get a worn or reclaimed wood look.
I can't take all the credit for this piece.  My husband did hold some of the pieces in place for me as I hammered them, and he helped me haul it upstairs to the bedroom. 

Cost of this headboard at Pottery Barn is somewhere around $800 plus shipping.  My cost for all the wood, and stain was approx. $80.  The wood was more expensive than I was anticipating, but that's what you get when your considered a "suburb" of a major city.  For my finish, I wanted it to compliment the trim around my windows, so I first used 2 coats of an oil based stain in dark walnut.  Then my 3rd coat was a polystain (stain that has polyurethane in it) in a satin finish, also dark walnut. 

Our next project is 2 side tables like this one, also from Knock Off Wood.

All abloom!

Spring has sprung around our house, even if mother nature is only teasing us here.  There's no going back now.  Now that I live "downtown" in our little town of Frederick, I'm taking advantage of being able to walk to the local shops.  It's actually amazing there.  I wandered into a shop called Accessories Of Old a few days ago, and actually stopped breathing.  Racks and rows of every vintage notion you can imagine.  I walked out with 6 yards of Swiss made velvet ribbon from the 1930's, Czech glass buttons from the 1950's, and pristine Austrian cotton eyelet lace, for less than I would have spent at a chain fabric store for reproductions.  So if find yourself in downtown Frederick, tell Andrew I sent you.  They also have a website where you can purchase the treasures.  Just click on the link above.
A few doors down from Andrew, is our local florist, En Masse.  I was looking for flowers to compliment the dining room.  Traditional, but soft and delicate all rolled into one.  I know, not asking for much, right?  I went with traditional flowers but arranged them by 2 stems in 3 bud vases.  I think I achieved the aesthetic I was looking for.

BTW, a post about the headboard is coming today.  That means it finally made it's way up to the bedroom. YEAH!

Wood Anyone?

It's been a few days since I've posted a project, but with good reason.  A friend turned me onto a DIY blog about making knock off Pottery Barn furniture.  A talented housewife from Alaska shares her passion and talent for carpentry with the rest of the world for free.  Knock Off Wood is giving poor people with expensive taste, like me, a way to have the furniture they daydream about, while flipping through those glossy catalogs.
My Mason headboard is complete, but it is still in the basement.  It is one heavy and solid piece of furniture, and hubby has been working late.  There is no way it's getting upstairs without 2 people.  So I will not post pictures until it is in its final resting place in all it's glory.  I will give you the Pottery Barn version, and may I just say that my version is prettier.

image from Pottery Barn

Men's Shirt Dress...Modified

I thought it would be really cute to take the Men's Shirt into a Dress tutorial and add a coordinating fabric chest band and straps. I used Amy Butler's Wallflowers fabric with this denim mens shirt.

Tutorial: Repurposed Shirt into Toddler Dress

Ok, I know I said I would put it up yesterday, but writing instructions is hard work. First of all, I am a self taught sewer. I would never call myself a seamstress because I think you have to know what the heck your doing to be one of those. Even after I wrote it, I kept thinking of ways to do it better. For example the band around the waist. I should have sewn it into a band, then attatched it to the waist, leaving a small opening to put the elastic through, and then stitch it up. But this is the way it was done, and as with other tutorials I use, I never follow them exactly, making them my own way. So here's a good idea...it's up to you to make it your own.

Here we go...

While browsing for tshirts at Goodwill to make more Ruffled T-Shirt Skirts, I came across this linen/cotton blend woman's shirt. It was pretty boring but the color and texture appealed to me. I immediately envisioned a summer dress and it had to have some detail around the waist.



The easiest way to figure out the pattern you need is to have something that's in the right size and shape already. I purchased this dress from Target a few weeks back. I like the simplicity of the sleeve and its a good length.
Lay the store bought dress on top of your shirt. The shirt I am using is a size small. I am making a dress to fit a size 3T.



Trace around the dress on one side, giving a 1 inch buffer for your seams. Now put the store bought dress away, we don't need it anymore.



Fold the shirt in half. I like to pin my edges before cutting. It keeps the material from sliding around and messing up my cut. After cutting, unfold your shirt and turn it inside out.



Next, we will finish the sleeve. It's probably best to finish the edge off with an overcasting stitch first, to keep it from fraying, and it just looks better made. Again, I am not a professional, and didn't think about doing this until after the fact.
Fold over your sleeve (wrong side should be touching wrong side) Don't sew up the side seam first (like I did in this picture) I learned that the hard way and had to undo my side seam before I could do the sleeve. Pin the sleeve, and sew a 1/4 inch seam.


With your dress still inside out, sew up along the sides of the shirt. Start with the bottom (hem) and sew your way up to the armpit of the sleeve. I should really have pics of that, but I'm still new at this and it is really hard to remember to take pictures as your going along.


Finish the hem. Hey look at that...I remembered to finish the raw edge first. You could of course just fold it twice.



Time to turn your shirt right side out. Voila! It should look like a dress now. Hopefully.



Find a piece of fabric you like, and that will coordinate with the fabric your your dress. I used Amy Butler's Full Moon Polka. Cut a piece approx. 4 inches wide by the length of the waist of your dress + 2 inches. My dress is a 3T, so my waist was approx. 20 inches around. I cut a band 4 inches wide and 22 inches long. Fold it over so that right sides are touching.


Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the length. Turn your tube right side out.


Press your fabric so that the seam is running down the middle. This side will be the back side of your waist band so you don't see the seam.



Pin the fabric to your dress, so that the ends meet in the back.



Sew it to your dress on the top and bottom sides of the band. Get as close as possible to the edge. Stop sewing 1/2 inch around the back at the ends of the band. Thread your elastic through the fabric band.



Pull both ends of the elastic and sew the edges together with a few rows of zig zag stitches.




Grab the ends and fold them under (front side will touch front side) pin it to hold it in place because the elastic will be taught and will pull.



Secure the ends with a zig zag stitch, and finish sewing up the edge of the band with a straight stitch.

Sneak Peek: Repurposed Shirt into Toddler Dress

While browsing for t shirts to make more Ruffled Skirts, I came across a linen/cotton blend shirt. It was pretty boring but the color and the texture appealed to me. I also liked that it had an opening in the back of the neck and was held with a single button. I immediately envisioned a summer dress and it had to have some detailing around the waist. Grabbed some leftover Amy Butler Fabric and ended up with an adorable dress.
So here's a sneak peek of tomorrows tutorial!

Repurposed Men's Shirt into Toddler Dress Tutorial

At the rate I keep finding tutorials on how to repurpose my clothes into toddler clothes, my daughter will have a new summer wardrobe before it even hits 70 degrees. This shirt dress was inspired by Made by Lex. I followed her pattern instructions, but I added a little elastic in the band on the back. It was much easier getting it over my girls head. I also sewed buttons on my straps. The easiest way to gather the body of the dress before you sew it onto the chest band is to set your tension at the highest it will go (mine goes to 9) and to set your stitch length the longest it will go (mine goes to 5)
I made pockets, but at the last minute, decided not to put them on. The shirt is another Goodwill find for $3.71.

Repurposed T-Shirt Skirt Tutorial

There are just some tutorials out in the cyber world that are pure genius, and therefore should be shared over and over again. Perfect example: Repurposed t shirts made into a child's skirt. I've now made 4 of these skirts, the first taking about an hour to make, the rest around 20 minutes, once I got the hang of it. The idea came from the very talented Sew Much Ado. I tweaked my ruffles just a bit, but if you follow her tutorial you will get the same great results.

My husband has made it painfully clear that I am to stay out of his drawers and closets for any materials I may need. I found most of my t shirts at Goodwill. The body of the skirt is a great little t shirt from Charlotte Russe. Probably some cast off from a teenager who wears a size I haven't seen in 1o years.

Total cost of materials: $1.90. Approximate time for completion: 20-45 minutes. All the moms at the playground asking where you bought that awesome stylish skirt and looking at their faces when you tell them you made it: PRICELESS!