Long Sleeved Raglan Tee

Even though my son is only 2 1/2, I decided to go ahead and sew him a special long sleeved tee for his birthday. I don't have a lot of time to sew during the school year since I'm a teacher... and this year we'll have a newborn on our hands too!

The yellow fabric was a polo of my husband's that had some stains on it. The green fabric was thrifted tee that I scored for only a quarter. The number three iron-on applique was also thrifted... still new in the package for only 30c.

Awesome. But I don't really want my toddler wearing those words!

Before beginning this project, I should have checked around online for a raglan tee tutorial like this one over at Craftiness Is Not Optional. Lesson learned. Her tutorial looks great, and it would have saved me a lot of headaches rather than just winging it like I did.

By the way, the number 3 is supposed to look like that. It's the tattered look apparently!

I'm not very happy with the neckline (and hope it's big enough to fit my son's head!), and I completely messed up the sleeves. Twice. Ok, more than twice. The sleeves don't go all the way to the neckline like they're supposed to... *sigh* The sleeves also turned out pretty skinny, so I added a third strip of fabric to make them a little wider, which of course made the seams pretty strange. But I salvaged it the best I could, and I'm not too upset because after all, it was my first try at a raglan tee! Now I know what to do for next time :)

And anyway, I'm sure the only thing my son will notice is that it's green and yellow (John Deere colors). He's in love with all things John Deere. He even spotted a pair of green and yellow scissors at the thrift store the other day and exclaimed, "I want John Deere scissors!" They were actually children's pinking shears, and to tell you the truth, I should have just gotten them as they were only 50c.

Getting off my Duff and Sewing a Romper

I have just four days left of freedom before we go back to school. It has been a nice, long relaxing summer! This past month I've been pretty lazy as my nesting phase ended and ushered in the phase of laying around, doing nothing.

I decided that I would use my sewing machine today and whipped up a 12 month romper for Jonas for next summer. I haven't added the snaps around the bottom yet because I am still holding out until I find a thrifted snap-making tool.

Using Sugar Bee Crafts' tutorial as a guide, I turned this thrifted men's large Gap tee into a baby romper. I bought it originally for my first born son, because he LOVES hockey, and because my husband grew up on the south side. Whenever I see something that says "South Side" while I'm out thrifting, I pick it up if it's cheap. But seeing as how my son's closet is bursting at the seams with clothing, I decided that little baby Jonas could have this one!

If you make baby tees, basically you do the same thing to make a romper, except make it a little longer with two leg holes and reinforce the upside-down-U part in between the legs with a strip of "bias" tape (though since it's t-shirt material, you don't really have to cut it on the bias) before adding snaps. I used a 12 month romper of my first son's as a guide. It was really very easy!



I'll also show you a t-shirt and shorts set that I reconned for my older son awhile back. It's nice when kids are small; you can make multiple items of clothing from one men's tee! We usually use this outfit as PJs since t-shirt material is so soft, but sometimes he wears it outside too! Here he is playing with his cousin :)

A Precious Toddler Conversation about Sewing

Today on TV, Curious George was learning about spider webs. George decided he was going to build a monkey web and used thread to weave his web.

My 2 1/2 year old got very excited when he saw the thread and exclaimed, "Mommy uses fred on the sewing big 'chine!" and he ran over to the dining room table and pointed to my sewing machine.

And I said, "I do? What do I make with my thread?"

And he said, "Uh.... shirts!" :)

33 weeks pregnant and a t-shirt

I haven't posted in about a month because I just have been too pooped. Being pregnant while you have a crazy two year old running around really wears a girl out! I just had an ultrasound yesterday, and the doctor said the baby is quite big for his age. He's estimated to be about 6 lbs already, so I'm on par for a 9-10 pounder. Good times! They scheduled a c-section for Oct 7 due to the fact that I had third degree tearing with my first son, and apparently it's easier and quicker to recuperate from a c-section than third degree tearing. I can tell you that the months (year!) after having Joel was the most painful thing I had ever suffered through in my life, and I still have problems from it.

I haven't really done anything crafty lately. My sewing machine is just sitting here collecting dust except for the few things that my sister-in-law wanted me to mend and sew for her.

We did take a weekend vacation up to Lake Erie last weekend and visited Put-in-Bay. A long time ago I had thrifted a Put-in-Bay adult t-shirt because I knew at some point we would take a trip up there. I sewed it down to fit Joel a month or so before our trip. Here he is on the "beach" behind the Perry Monument.




And let me leave you with a chocolate ice-cream covered two year old in a thrifted shirt :)