Upcycled Baby Gowns

Baby sewing! That's all I've done since about 9 or 10 last night. (I do believe I'm in the nesting phase right now). Following thismamamakestuff's extremely awesome tutorial, I was able to create three baby gowns for baby Jonas for free, just using old t-shirts from around the house. Even the elastic used at the bottom of each of the gowns was thrifted :)

This first one was actually a 50c thrifted tee that I bought awhile ago. I had intended to make Joel a long sleeve shirt to wear in December, but since I never got around to it, I figured I'd turn it into a baby gown.

For two out of the three gowns, I was able to utilize the bottom hem of the shirt for the cuffs of the sleeves. For the Chris Kringle: Designer Chimneywear shirt, however, I had to hem the sleeves. I made it easier on myself by hemming the sleeve before I sewed under the arm. (Once the sleeve is sewn, the cuff is so small that it's difficult to sew. Just a little pointer from me to you!)

The second one was a shirt that's been in my closet since 1996 when my family took a trip out west. It's seen better days, but it did make a pretty cute baby gown.
I got this last t-shirt in junior high. It's by far the rattiest most well loved of the three. And guess what? Ratty t-shirts make ratty baby gowns. Who would have guessed it?!

In about four months, I'll have an actual baby that I can model these gowns on, but in the meantime, these photos will have to do :)

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Between these three tutorials, I think I can make my son some lap tees:

Made's 90 Minute Tee

Indietute's Lap Tee Pattern

Patchyapple's instructions for how to sew a lap tee neckline

P.S. My serger arrived today! I ended up getting a Brother rather than the Singer I was looking at. Now how in the heck do I use the thing?! Tips or pointers, anyone?

Update: Do you remember the book where the little train thought he could, but really he couldn't? Because that was the case with my lap tee. It was a Big. Fat. Fail. Oh well. You win some, and you lose some!

Celebrate the Boy, Y'all! T-shirt Recons

Last summer I thrifted some adult male tees that I planned to recon. I made several pairs of t-shirt pants awhile ago that I blogged about here, but then saved the rest of the tees for when he was a little older.

Guess what? He's older. He turns one in just over a week! My baby is becoming... a toddler! *chews fingernails while eyes dart around nervously*

I decided to make him some shorts outfits for this coming summer. Nothing takes the winter blues away like sewing up some t-shirts and shorts! They're not done, mind you, but I figured I'd photograph and post them now since I don't plan on finishing them until this summer. They're not hemmed, and there's no elastic in the pants. I'll wait until summer when I know exactly how tall he is.

My favorite one! Is this not the greatest t-shirt, or what?

Even though the little king fu fighter on this shirt is awesome, this one was a pain in the @ss to sew. I screwed up the collar. Twice. I also had to piece together the shorts because I was running out of fabric, so there's a strange horizontal seam going across on the butt cheeks. *Sigh*

A shirt celebrating Mommy :)

And one for daddy. Can you imagine this shirt being worn by a full-grown adult? Me either. But it was an adult shirt, I swear!

This one needs fixed once I get my serger. The bottom of the shirt came out pretty wonky. Wonkiness aside, I think it will be a nice outfit for July 4th, don't you think?

Try to contain yourself. I'm going to give you the most ghetto of all tutorials. Here it is. Enjoy!

Boys and Dryer Sheets! A Beautiful Combination

I must have jinxed myself. I was joking around yesterday about rushing out to get my serger off of craigslist rather than going to work, and then this morning I woke up with a K.I.L.L.E.R. sore throat. Since my job as a teacher entails me talking non-stop for about seven hours, I decided to not go in today. Hmpf. Maybe hubby will make the 45 minute drive to get my serger. I always feel bad about going places when I take a sick day because "if you're too sick to go to school, then you're too sick to go outside and play!" (Thanks, mom).

But in other news, how about boy's month, eh?! I'm so excited I can't quit talking about it to anyone who will listen! (Except right now I am saving my voice so I can't really talk but you know what I mean). Since I'm just laying around, sick in bed, eating bon-bons a salad, I figured I'd catch up on reading some blogs. And then I found this. It was love at first sight. It's a tute for making a boy's shirt out of a men's button up shirt!

Too bad it calls for interfacing for the collar, however I won't be buying that. I'm too much of a tight wad. I think I'll try it using used dryer sheets instead. That should work, don't you think? Has anyone ever tried it?

I was googling it when I found this handy dandy way to make applique. I have to try it asap! Basically, you sew whatever you're appliquing right sides together with a dryer sheet. Not that a dryer sheet has a right side. Then you trim the dryer sheet and make a slit in it, turn right side out, press, and voila!

Now excuse me while I go dig through my laundry room trash looking for old dryer sheets make myself another salad.

P.S. Dryer sheets as swiffer replacements?! Rock on!

Mommy, Promise me...

... that you will never show my future girlfriends the photos of me in those silly orange pants you made. What?! You posted them on the internet?!


Ah, the things we do to torture our children.


These warm pajama-like pants came from sleeves of a sweater of mine that I outgrew long, long ago. I couldn't even fit into that sweater before I got pregnant, so I'm pretty sure I'll never fit into that sweater again!

Felted Wool Baby Mittens

It's gotten C.O.L.D. these past few days! So cold, in fact, that I am having second thoughts about going to tomorrow's half-off sale at the Volunteers of America. (You know it's cold if I'm thinking of passing on a 50% off thrifting trip!) With these frigid temperatures, I figured I better get my act in gear and sew Joel a pair of mittens.

This project is easy peasy. First, I chose a felted sweater that still had sleeves. I cut several inches off from the base of each sleeve. I figured I'd utilize the finished wrist section to make less work for myself.



Then I sewed a generic "U" shape onto each cuff and trimmed away the excess. You're done! It's a five minute project- woohoo!





Here's the little squirt passed out on daddy's lap while he played video games.

I didn't go to BlogHer

I think I'm the only blogger in the US that didn't make the trek to the Windy City last weekend. Instead of mingling with blog-stars and battling what sounds like fierce, greedy crowds, I stayed home this weekend. Here's ten things I did that I could not have done if I went to Chicago.

10. Cleaned out the basement closet and the pantry. I was inspired by a fellow blogger (can't remember who, so if it was you who just blogged about it the other day, let me know so I can give credit where credit is due).
9. Discovered I have five jars of pickles in the pantry. I can't even blame it on the pregnancy. I never craved pickles.
8. Took craploads of stuff out to the shed for a future garage sale. (And in the future, I'll probably go through it again, decide that I really do need this stuff, and bring it back into the house).
7. Sewed Joel a bean bag chair, filled with my stuffed animals rather than normal bean bag stuffing.
6. Tore off a piece of wallpaper border in the nursery, which led to a full-scale redo.
5. Sewed window treatments, painted stripes on the nursery walls, repainted a toy box, and painted a book shelf for the nursery. (I just painted that toy box green a couple months ago and now decided that it really should be brown).
4. Continued with my de-wallpaper-borderizing in the upstairs bathroom. Now I'll have to paint that room too. While I'm at it, I will go ahead and repaint our bedroom as well. Pfew.
3. Make tons and tons of Beef Vegetable Soup, froze it, and will bring it with us to Tennessee for free meals in the hotel. Also made and froze baby food green beans, carrots, and sweet peas for the little one.
2. Went to visit my mom's dad and stepmom because they were having a ginormous garage sale. Came home with lots of free stuff, including a blue and white platter, plastic fruit for Joel's toy kitchen, tons of vintage trims, rick rack, seam binding, and bias tape, some children's books, and "Cottage Style" for my reading pleasure. Will blog about that later.
1. Spent time with my family and got spit up on by my baby boy a million times.

What did you do last weekend?

Dress Reconstructed

What do you get when you cross a dress with a bulletin board? Give up?
Why, window treatments, of course! And it couldn't be simpler!

I cut the bottom 14 inches off for one panel, and next 14 inches off for the other panel (see the red lines). That was all I needed for the curtains. The top portion of the dress did not get touched, so I now have a wonderful tank top! (Which I'm probably too fat for, but that's neither here nor there).

Several years ago I purchased solid fabrics for three bulletin boards in my classroom. Paper fades, however fabric on bulletin boards work wonders! I will no longer be teaching in that building, and so I brought all that fabric home with me. I married the brown bulletin board fabric with my pretty-but-can't-squeeze-my-ginormous-hips-into-it-anymore dress, and here's what you get: *drumroll*



Please pay no mind to the painters tape and hodge podge shelf. This room is in a transitional state right now. I also am thinking about upgrading the curtain rod to one with finials, however I am not sure how that would look since the right side of the curtain rod really wouldn't have room for a finial. Plus I'm trying not to buy anything for the room and instead remix what I already have, so maybe I'll just stick with the plain white one. A coat of brown spray paint might spruce it up though.

A breakdown of the materials:
Brown and Blue Paint- from the basement. Free!
Paintbrushes/roller/paint tray- already had them from a previous project. Free!
Painters Tape- $6 something at Lowes
Window treatments- from my closet and fabric stash. Free!
Clips to hang the window treatments- previously used for the shower curtain. Free!

Sewing Chick: 4, Opponent: 1. Woohoo!

Sweatshops in the US

Just a quick post to let you know that I am pretty angry right now. My friend who graduated with a degree in fashion is now on the job hunt. She's looking for a job that would enable her to sew costumes for a theatre company or something similar. The problem is, many of the jobs out there don't pay. And when I say, "don't pay," I don't mean that they don't pay well. I mean that you sew for them, and you don't get a single cent. Can you say sweatshop?
If the theatre company charges admission, I don't see how they can get away with that. I can understand if it's a free show like the free Shakespeare shows in Schiller Park here in Columbus. Why would they pay the employees because they're not taking in any money? But if the company takes in money, don't you think those profits should be shared with the costume sewers? Sewing takes time, people!

Yeah, me too. I just had to get that off my chest.

Sewing Some Snazzy Sock Storage

Problem: Need somewhere to house my collection of ratty, tatty can't-bring-myself-to-throw-them-away socks.


Solution: Sew myself some handy dandy sock pockets! (*hums the Hot Pockets commercial*)


Want some snazzy storage of your own? Here's how.
Measure the top of your dresser.





I am clearly not a perfectionist-type.


I thought I might mention that you need to make sure that you don't sew your pocket shut! You need to catch all the layers of fabric while stitching up the sides of your pocket, but when you topstitch the top of your pocket, you obviously wouldn't want to sew through the bottom layer or else your pocket won't be much of a pocket!

Alternately, you could sew the pockets with right sides together, and then the stitching up the sides would be on the inside and wouldn't show. I opted to do a fancy schmancy zig zag stitch on mine, so I didn't mind it showing.



My fabrics were curtain panels but of course you could use normal-person fabric. The blue and white stripe was from a Kmart-going-out-of-business-sale, and the toile-like fabric was thrifted a couple months ago.


Now go stuff your pockets full of socks and do a little jig because you're finished!

A Kiddie Microphone Tutorial

I’m finally creating my first tutorial! I’ve mooched off of others long enough; it was high time for me to get creative. This is a ten minute project; just the way I like ‘em. Quick and easy peasy.

Go gather up the following items: small piece of black fabric, piece of silver or black ribbon (or any color would probably be okay), piece of silver fabric, tube from foil container (though a toilet paper tube would work as well, it’s just not as sturdy), a saw to cut the foil tube in half, hot glue gun, and a ball of yarn. Go ahead and grab your supplies. I’ll wait. *Whistles Jeopardy theme song.* Are you ready? Ok, let’s begin!



First I covered the ball of yarn with the piece of silver fabric (leftover from Mom and Dad’s 25th wedding anniversary lap quilt). Use your ribbon and tie the silver fabric onto the ball of yarn with a tight knot. I didn’t worry about the tail because it’s just going to be tucked into the tube anyway. In fact, I thought it was kind of cool looking. I could see making some of these to throw around like comets or meteors or something.

Next saw the foil tube in half. Yes, I actually used a saw. It’s sturdier than it looks! Then I ran a bead of hot glue around the top of the tube and secured the silver “comet” to it.



With your sewing machine, hem three sides of your black fabric. The top and bottom both need hemmed, as does one of the sides. The other side is going to be underneath so it will not matter. How big should the black piece of fabric be, you ask? Well that depends on your tube. Just make sure it’s wide enough to wrap around it with some overlap (I made mine a couple inches wider). You’ll want it to be a couple inches longer than the tube also for tucking it in at the end.

Here I used bright pink thread so that you could see the stitching better. I also thought bright pink gave it that rockin’-out-to-the-eighties vibe. (I used to have neon pink spandex, did you? No? Oh, me neither). I certainly did not use bright pink thread simply because it was still in my machine from the piggy and the crinkle toys. *Ahem* Moving right along…



Next you’ll want to hot glue the crap out of your microphone. I ran a bead along the top and along the side to make sure the black fabric stayed put. You see how the pink thread curves? I meant to do that. It’s not because I’m a half-ass sewer or anything.



Now simply tuck the remaining black fabric up into the tube and secure with more hot glue if you want to. I didn’t but that might come back to bite me in the rear later. Once Joel starts head-banging with this microphone and guitar softie, the fabric is probably going to fall out and need hot-glued. I’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

You’re finished! Go admire your handiwork. Grab your mic, some hairspray, and your cassette tape of Cyndi Lauper’s greatest hits and have a jam session in front of the bathroom mirror. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.

Double Digits! (And Some Baby Gear)

Woohoo! I just had to share with y'all that I finally made it to double digit followers (there's ten of you special peeps out there now)!!! Small potatoes, I know, however it still made me excited!

In other news, today I made some baby gifts for my mom's best friend's step-son's wife. Pfew. That was a mouthful. She's having a little girl, so I made her two of those crinkle toys that have been such a hit lately in blogland, and I machine appliqued a heart onto a onesie. Not the best applique job but at least you can tell it's a heart so it will do! I also got her a pair of little jeans for a couple bucks. Actually, I bought those pants awhile ago with no particular baby in mind but they were so cheap and cute I had to snatch them up, knowing that someone would have a baby girl sooner or later.

Gift Bag- Free (reused from one of my showers). Tissue Paper- free, once again reused. Card- on clearance for fifty cents at The Book Loft purchased awhile ago because I knew there'd be a girl baby born eventually.

Pants were a couple bucks; onesie was from a pack of onesies someone got Joel however I never even opened them because we had so many. I figured I could use the five onesies from that pack as gifts for others as I've done here. Do you regift like that or do you think it's tacky? Oh well, she'll never know!


Fabric, Ribbons, and Thread- from the stash. Crinkly stuff- reused some cellophane that I received the other day from my coworkers as a going away present. Not that their gift to me was cellophane. They all wrote a nice comment to me, and all the little note cards were wrapped in cellophane. And there was chocolate too. Dark chocolate. My favorite!

Well what do you know...

I just found this stuffed animal bowling set like I'm working on. They're only asking forty five bucks. That's $7.50 per bowling pin. It takes me well over an hour to do each one, when you figure in hunting for just the right fabric, tracing and cutting paper templates, pinning, cutting, sewing, taking forever to get those ears turned right side out, stuffing, dropping rice everywhere, stopping to clean up spilled rice, and sewing the hole closed by hand. Let's say about an hour and a half. Here's the math.

Apparently, I'm going to spend about nine hours on this project. Probably more actually, but let's go with nine. When teaching private music lessons, I make twelve dollars a half hour (and for around here, that's cheap). If I were to charge twenty four dollars an hour to make these rabbit bowling pins, I would have to charge $216 for a set of six. And that doesn't even take into consideration the cost of the fabric and stuffing! Any takers? I didn't think so.

But it does make me feel good to know that I'm saving $45 since I do not need to buy the ready-made version. Hey, a penny saved is a penny earned!

WIP Wascally Wabbits on Wednesday

These Bunny Bowling Pins are the bane of my existence. They are so adorable, and I just had to make them, however as it turns out, sewing them is a major pain in the you-know-what. I hate stuffing softies and sewing the last hole shut. My contempt for these little buggers is multiplied because you have to fill them with rice. More rice landed on the counter and floor than in the rabbit.

The ears also were a source of contention. I did the ears of each rabbit a little differently, trying to find just the right stuff. I don't have any fusible interfacing so I tried various things like silk organza, stiff tulle, and used dryer sheets. A double layer of stiff tulle (from the bridesmaid dress) was the winner. Speaking of the bridesmaid dress, the red bunny is made from its fabric.





Another WIP is this here zippered pouch. "Wasn't this selvedge project supposed to be a water bottle sling?" you ask. Yep, I changed my mind. I thrifted a whole bag of vintage zippers and thought I'd actually use one instead of just looking at them with fear. Zippers are quite scary. I have no idea how to sew them, as evidenced by the chop job I did on this little pouch. I'm too embarrassed to show you what it looks like underneath the lace. Let's just say the stitching looks straight. If you cross your eyes and have a hangover. BTW, the lining is... you guessed it, bridesmaid dress! It's the dress that keeps going and going and going...



Lastly, here's a little growth chart I'm making. I only have one measuring tape, so this project is on hold until I can get another one. I'd like to find a vintage one at a thrift store however I won't hold my breath. This project also requires me to applique. *Gulp* Wish me luck.

Meme-y Monday

First up is a WIP that I started last night. I was so very inspired by Jodie over at Vintage RicRac. She cuts the selvedge off of fabric and then pieces it together to make such cool stuff like doll quilts, scarves, and even upholstered furniture. WOW. Check her out, for sure!


This is the beginings of a hybrid project. I'm combining two things that I wanted to try. One, the selvedge thing. Two, this water bottle sling.

Next up are some Cloth Baby Rings which are harder to make than they look! I'm not sure that I like them. I guess it depends if my son will play with them or not :)


Lastly is the kiddie apron bonanza. I had so much fun making this red and blue one for Joel, that I decided to make some more!




This one will be for a little girl in our family.


I tried out a new stitch on my machine, but the thread matches so well you can barely see it.


What did you make today?

Seal of Approval

I think he likes it!