Shirred Bubble Romper Tutorial

Good grief.  How is it the end of June?!?  One thing I love about holidays is making my littles some special outfits.  It just helps make a special day even, uh, specialer.  I got my ducks in a row this time and have the outfits done in time to share a tutorial.  Be impressed.

I have a serious obsession with the rompers that are so trendy these days.  I was thinking that maybe the Sunbean was too old for them, but I'm so happy I made this.  It's seriously adorable.  And easy!  In fact, I finished in one nap time with a cranky/sick toddler on my lap.  No exaggeration.  I love it because the top is shirred, so it's really comfy and easy to put on and take off.

I used four different fabrics, but it would be just as cute with two or even just one.  You'll need about 1/4 yard for the bodice, 1/2 yard for the bottom, and then some bias tape or scraps for the trim.

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First, cut out the pieces.  I'm no professional seamstress or pattern-maker, so this is in no way exact.

  For the bodice, measure around the child's chest, and then multiply it by about 1.5.  That will be your length.  I used a width of 5 inches, so go shorter for a smaller child and longer for a larger child.

Example:  Sunbean's chest is 21 inches x 1.5 = 31.5

I cut out one strip 31.5 x 5 inches.

Then you'll cut that strip exactly in half.  To make a space for the arms, just fold the ends together and cut out a little curve.  No need to be exact.

Then I took a pattern I had for shorts, and used the basic outline for the bottoms.  But make the top really long.  I just used the full length {or is it width?} of my half-yard.

Then you'll need to cut out the trim pieces.  I cut out a long strip {18 inches x 6 inches} to use for a sash.  You'll also need 64 inches {two 32-inch pieces} of bias tape.  The pre-packaged stuff is fine, but I cut some fabric on the bias to make my own.

So you should have a pile that looks like this:

Now for the sewing.  I started by making my bias tape.

Next you'll need to finish the top edge of both pieces of your bodice.  I turned mine under twice and stitched.

Then for the fun part:  shirring!  If you've never shirred with elastic thread, read up on Ashley's tutorial here.  Don't be scared.  It's fun!  You'll end up with two bodice pieces, nicely shirred and pressed.

The next step is to sew the bodice pieces together on the side.  If you have a serger, go ahead and finish the edges, too.

Now add one piece of bias tape to finish each armhole.  It's starting to come together!

Now for the bottom part.  Put the shorts together as you normally would, serging or otherwise finishing the edges.  You'll end up with a very high-waisted pair of shorts.

To finish the leg openings, just make a casing and pull some thin elastic through.

Almost done!  Now attach the bottom to the bodice.  You will probably need to slightly gather the bottoms to fit.  I got all fancy and topstitched the bodice, too.

To finish it off, I just added a little tie in the front.  Sew your tie piece in half, then flip and topstitch.

Tada!

All ready to run, jump, and play!

Tomorrow?  A {really!} quick project for your little man!

Easter 2012

Here are my cuties on Easter.  I made the dress with this tutorial, and it was really easy and came together in just a couple of naptimes.  I had to maximize the sibling factor and made the Little Dude a matching bow tie.

Love these two. 

This is Little Dude's official face when he is outside.  He just loves it outside.  And I just love him.

How to Print on Fabric

Do you have this problem?  I always get this 'idea' in my mind of an exact shirt I want, for me or my littles, and then I can't find it.  Or it's too expensive.  Most of the time, I just make it myself.  But sometimes that's hard, like if it's some sort of screen print.

Then, I had an idea.  I have a good printer.  Well, I think.  I like it, at least.

Why not print on fabric?  I've seen tutorials for freezer paper and the like, but I didn't ever feel like messing with that.  So why not?  Worst case scenario, I have to replace the printer.  Good thing it worked out.

Here's what I did.

First, I started with an old knit shirt.  It had little holes all over and more than one stain.

Then, I cut a piece to 8.5x11, for printing.  I also cut a piece of WonderUnder to the same size.

I ironed the two pieces together, and then taped it to a sheet of cardstock, to stabilize it for the printer.

Then I dinked around in Photoshop until I had a few things I wanted to print, crossed my fingers, and pressed 'print'.

It worked!

 

Then I just used the 'knit' stitch on my sewing machine to attach the graphics to shirts.  The top one is a cute little onesie for Little Dude, and the bottom is my new Republican shirt {go Mitt!}.  Don't be mad, Dad.

 

Here's a tip:  if you're ever in the market for a plain shirt {retailers totally missed the boat on that market}, check out the girls' section.  I can get by with a large or extra-large, and they are usually half the price of the same thing in the women's or junior's section.  So dumb.

I have no idea if this is machine-washable.  I figured I'll find out when it's time to wash them.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with my $5 project!

Quick Shirt Upcycle

 

I recently followed this tutorial to transform an old shirt of MacGyver's.  I'm loving the nautical look.

The best part is that it only took about 20 minutes.

Happy Sewing!

Vintage Bow Skirt

When I was home a few weeks ago, my mom got a new dress coat.  It was high time, since I'm pretty sure she'd had the last one since I was born, or at least very small.  I'm 28.

I'd seen this one, and knew I wanted to copy the idea.

Here I am, modeling this totally awesome coat:

I know, right?  I should have just left it as a coat.

It really was an easy project.  I just cut a panel of the coat, added some darts here and there, a high waistband, a zipper, and then, of course, a bow.

I even used the existing lining.  Here she is:

Perfect for church!

Some Pinteresting Socks

99.9% of my leisure time is spent on Pinterest.  And I know I'm not alone.

I kept seeing these pins for cute boot socks with lace and buttons.  I loved the mix of trendy and vintage.  Since they are going for an average of $40 on etsy, I figured I could make some easily enough.

And!  It's a quick project.  Behold:

It's so quick, in fact, that I didn't take any pictures.

Supplies Needed:

one yard of lace

knee socks

buttons

1. Cut the lace in half so you have two half-yard pieces.

2. Machine-sew them onto the top of the socks (make sure you stretch and sew at the same time).

3. Sew the buttons on.

Done.

So far, they haven't gotten good reviews from my critics, but I love them and that's all that matters.

Today I'm wearing them with boots, skinny jeans, and a sweater.  Cozy for a Saturday.

Blessing, Blessing, Blessing

Last week, I was ridiculously over-productive.  I have a few projects to share, but I need to sift through a kajillion photos first.

But here's a sweet project that I whipped up last week:  a trio of blessing outfits.  I already posted this on Facebook, but I'm all about over-sharing.

My dear friends Abby and Eli recently had triplets.  Just to make sure you have a clear picture here, they also have 2-year-old twins.  When we get together with them and our other good friends, we have 9 children, ages 3 and under.  It's a good time.

Anyway, Abby asked me to make some outfits for the trips, and I was happy to oblige.  The babies are tipping the scales between 5 and 6 pounds right now, so it was pretty much like sewing doll clothes.  I used a newborn pattern and then modified it a little so that they would fit.

Overall, I think they turned out pretty good.  Of course, there are things I'd change, so if any of you ever have miniature-sized babies that need a blessing outfit, give me a ring.

Wendy, Jack, and Luke.

Or is it Wendy, Luke, and Jack?

Cute Widdle Shoes

The other day, I had an appointment, and my dad offered to take the Sunbean for the morning, which turned into the entire day.  Is it not so strange when one of your children is gone for the day?  Anyway, there were lots of things I could have done with my day.

You know, like clean the floors, nap, watch TV, scrub the toilet, laundry....the list of fun goes on and on.  What did I choose to do?

Make baby shoes.

I used this tutorial, and they were really pretty easy.  My machine had no problem with the pleather {my iron?  that's a different story.}, and they came together relatively quickly.  They aren't perfect by any means, but they're pretty cute.

I got my fabric at Joann's, and found it in the clearance section.  The only thing I don't like is how the back is gray, and not the same color.  In the places where it peeks through, it bothers me.  But I didn't really feel like shelling out 35 bones a yard for the good stuff.  It cost me 75 cents to make these, so I can live with it.

But they do look adorable.

Or maybe it's just the model.

Polo Tutorial

Picture this.  One crabby toddler.  One screaming newborn.  One momma on the search for a plain navy shirt for her daughter.

The major retailers missed the boat on plain.  I just wanted a plain navy shirt to compliment the Sunbean's July 4th pants, thankyouverymuch.  Well, they don't make plain navy blue shirts for little girls.  At least at Target, Old Navy, or Kohl's.  And that's about all the aforementioned trio could handle.

So I grabbed a little boys' navy blue polo and figured I'd make it work.  For your viewing pleasure:

Fourth Festivities

 

 Well, you know how I adore making festive outfits for my little ones.  Having two just means they get to match.  This is what having kids is all about for type-a mommas like me.  I also made matching Sunday outfits, too, though Little Dude's didn't exactly turn out.  The Sunbean's was cute, though.

 On Saturday, we went to a parade in the town where my grandma lives.  I've gone to this parade for as long as I can remember.  It just doesn't feel like the 4th of July without this little lake-town celebration.  The Sunbean just thought it was loud.

It's been strange the past few years, without gathering to celebrate my grandpa's birthday.  His birthday was on the 5th, but he died on the 2nd a few years ago.  I have many happy memories of packing the lake cottage full of family.  It's different now, but we just can't miss this parade.

 Since the Sunbean is cute + sitting in a relatively kid-free area + sitting at the end of the parade, we got a haul of candy.  It was actually a little overwhelming for my pint-size tot, and she started crying because she couldn't pick it all up.  Aaaaaaadorable.

For the rest of the weekend, we grilled out with friends, played fun card games, taught sharing time, bought a tent off of craigslist, went camping in Michigan {where the Sunbean was in her first-ever golf cart parade}, had another cookout with family, and then went to fireworks.

Phew.  We're tired.

N is for Nesting: Quite the Productive Bedrest

After being on bedrest for about, uh, 20 minutes, I made the executive decision that sewing is absolutely included on the list of allowable activities.  In addition to the boppy slipcover, the peepee teepee, some random burp cloths, and a few other things for Little Dude, I added the following to the Sunbean's summer wardrobe:

The paper bag skirt, made with this tutorial.  I'm totally making one of these for myself, too.

I have been wanted to make these cute little round yolk dresses for a long time.  I bought a pattern a few years ago to make one for a wedding, and it was a total disaster.  Maybe because I started at, like, 10pm the night before we left.  But this time it worked out well!  I just ditched the pattern and did it the way I wanted.

Here's the other one.  Both of these were made with fabric from here.

I made this knot pinafore dress based on one I found on etsy, but I didn't have a pattern.  It was really easy.  The most amazing part?  I sent MacGyver to the store to pick out some fabric and this is what he came home with!  Aren't you impressed?  I sure was.

This bubble dress is another thing that's been on my list for awhile.  I used a pattern, but then ended up changing almost everything.  Sometimes these pattern-makers just don't know the best way to do things!  Also, when did I become the crazy lady who thinks she knows better than the pattern?

And last, a tuxedo shirt and ruffle pants.  Ruffle pants are pretty much a staple of the Sunbean's wardrobe, but she didn't have any for the summer yet.  The tuxedo shirt is based off of something I saw on Pinterest and one that Matilda Jane sells.

I read two books, watched a million movies, completely wiped out my PayPal account, and made this cute stuff.  Not exactly what I had planned, but not a terrible way to spend two weeks.

N is for Nesting: A Really Strange Tutorial

In my life right now, there are about 1 million pregnant people.  No, really.  Friends from high school, friends from church, friends from mom's group, friends from college.  That makes me sound like I have a lot of friends!

If you're like me, you like to stay away from the boring baby gifts.  I love giving handmade gifts, especially for a baby.  Well.  If you are looking for a unique shower gift, I've got you covered.  This one takes the cake for unique.

First, a little background.  So far, I just have a little girl.  Changing little girl diapers is a cinch; nary a leak or spray.  A few days after we brought the sweet Sunbean home from the hospital, our friends with a one-month baby boy came to visit.  And during a diaper change, that darling little boy produced a spout of urine that arched clear across my couch!  Yikes.  I saw a product similar to this, and it got my wheels turning.  So, without further adieu: