ruffle skirt

Have you seen this fun ruffle fabric? I have made TONS of stuff out of it. It's so cool and because the fabric is already ruffled  it's super simple.

 I Needed to make some new skirts for my 4 year old because she is growing like a weed. I simply measured her waist and cut a piece of the thick elastic just 1 inch smaller then her waist measurements. Then sew the elastic together so you have a circle. Next I measured from her waist to the middle of her knees and cut a large rectangle.  I then pinned all the way down the side, (make sure that you pin it with all the ruffles pointing down so it lays right).  You end up with a big tube.

 Next I sewed a basting stitch along the top of the skirt and pulled it so it ruffled. I ruffled it until it was the same size as the elastic that I cut earlier. Then pin the elastic and the skirt together. Next just sew the elastic on and your done! It doesn't need to be hemmed or anything.

 SO simple yet so cute.  Trying to take a picture of her in the skirt is a lot harder then actually making the skirt. I couldn't get her to hold still and these pictures are the best I could get.

Hemming Jeans

Do you do pinterest? There are tons of awesome sewing ideas.... and some not so awesome. Sometimes its hard to differentiate between the two. I have made the mistake of using certain tutorials that weren't the best. But, for every one idea that didn't work there are 10 awesome ones that worked great! So I am going to talk about a couple different tutorials on hemming jeans. I'll show you my favorite and the pro's and cons of the different ideas in my own personal opinion.

1st

The pretty poppy 

Although this method is fairly complicated and honestly took me almost 2 hours. Even though it took a long time it honestly wasn't hard. Just time consuming. So turn on your favorite show and sit on the couch with your un-picker and get started. It by far looks the best. I had no problem with fraying and it honestly looks exactly like the original hem.... because it kinda sorta is.   Her tutorial is amazing so if you are very picky about the hem and making sure it looks professional then you can find her tutorial here.

2nd

Just something I made

Although this method is much quicker to get done there were a few things about it that I didn't like. It was fast and got the job done in like 15 minutes. But after washing the jeans a few times the hem wanted to roll up exposing the fraying side underneath. And jeans tend to fray.... alot. It annoyed me that there were so many strings and that no matter what tips I followed the hem just kept rolling up. Which was annoying. I did end up undoing it and following the tutorial from the pretty poppy. I am just a little picky.  But if you want to hem maybe kids jeans with a hem that could potentially be undone to make the jeans longer as the child grows then this is the way to go. Just don't cut off the excess. Leave it so you can unpick it when your child needs the added length. She has a great tutorial here.

So both are good for different reasons. If you are more picky and get bugged about strings or the hem rolling up then go with the first option. If you are not worried about it or its maybe for kids go with the 2nd option. Hope this helps!

From Wedding Dress to Baptism Dress

  My Sister-in-law had the greatest idea. She wanted to make a baptism dress for her daughter out of her wedding dress.  Isn't that such a great idea. I mean really she wasn't wearing it anymore :) and it was made of gorgeous material with intricate embroidered flowers and hand sewn peals. Beautiful! She asked me if I was up for it and I was so flattered that she asked me. We set about trying to find pictures or a pattern that she liked.  This proved to be the hardest part! She likes beautifully simple things. We went back and forth for several weeks looking at pictures of dresses on Pintrest and going to pick out patterns but still couldn't find anything that fit her vision exactly. I gathered several pattern pieces that I thought could work.  I ended up using 4 different patterns to get the right look. One for the Bodice, a different one for the back, One for the skirt and one for the sleeves. And I ended up taping the bodice and skirt together so it would be one piece without a seam down the middle.  Sounds complicated I know but it wasn't to bad. I was just glad it was coming together and Hoped that my vision and Her vision were the same thing since we never could find an image that was exactly what she wanted.

I'm not going to lie the dress hung like this in my living room for about 4 days. I was a little stressed out about the idea of cutting up a VERY expensive wedding dress. She also has 3 daughters and wanted me to make sure I only used a third of the dress so that there was enough for the next 2 dresses. That being said I knew there was absolutely NO room for error. I finally got up the nerve to get started and I think it turned out perfect. A beautiful dress for a beautiful girl on a very very beautiful day!!

Doesn't this remind you of something from a movie. Like the secret garden or something. Seriously Stunning!

 

Aren't the pictures AMAZING! My sister-in-law is the best photographer around!  Andrea Tuft photography, Go check out her blog here. Hire her you won't regret it! 

Crochet Trim TShirt

 

 I saw a shirt I LOVED on Pintrest, and knew I had to try and make one for myself.  The blog is Trash to Couture and I LOVE her style. Her version is here. Beautiful stuff.  Here is my version.

  

Step one: Find a shirt that you love but that is maybe a little small or tighter then you want.

Step two: Find some Vintage lace that you Love. Laura from Trash to Couture uses lace trim. I actually used an old lace table runner that My mom gave me. When I saw it I instantly knew I would be making this shirt out of :) 

Step three: Cut the shirt along the inside seam and if it has sleeves chop those off. I then measured my lace trim and cut up the middle so one thick piece is now 2 thinner strips. and pinned to the rite side of the shirt all the way up to the sleeves. do the front & the back on both sides. like in the picture below. Then sew the lace on. Now line the shirt back up so it's how it was before you cut it. Pin all the way down the lace and sew the shirt back together. Make sure you leave arm holes. Now the shirt fits so much better and I'm loving the vintage look!

Halloween

 I have been so crazy busy lately. It was my babies 2nd birthday! 

And I've been doing a ton of sewing getting ready for Halloween. I showed you several of the things that I've done this year for Halloween. I showed you the Adult Belle Dress, Marida from Brave Dress and Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. I also Made a Bob Ross Costume, and another Aurora Dress. Wow, it's been busy.   

I also Made this cute little craft that I found here.  It was super cheap and easy which is my kind of craft :).  It's just several 2x4's cut different sizes and made to look like different Spooky guys. I then added glitter because honestly isn't everything better with glitter?

I also made these trick or treat bags for the kids. It's basically just a pillowcase that I made with cute Halloween fabric. I then attached ribbon handles to the top for them to be able to carry them easier. I used Iron on letters to put there names on the bags so they wouldn't fight over who's bag is who's. I did reinforce it with stitching just because the iron on part didn't seem like it would stand the test of time like I wanted it to.

Anyway that's what I've been up to. Happy Halloween everybody!!

Belle dress

 

My cousin Kelsey is so cute & is in love with Belle from beauty & the Beast. When she called asking questions about where she should get some fabric for a belle costume & I happened to be needing a babysitter around the same time, I decided to offer a trade. I told her I'd help her with her dress if she would watch the girls. She agreed. She showed up at 11 with her fabric & we got started. She liked the look of this dress but wanted it to be more modest (thank goodness). 

 She had 10 yards of fabric and we had 1 day to try & get it done. I simply measured her from the waist down. We cut 2 large sheets of fabric & sewed them together. It was probably about 4 yards of fabric for the skirt. So we had a huge skirt. We then basted down the length of the seams and 2 times down the center of each section and pulled it until we got the desired length. Then once we got the desired gathers we wanted. We put in a permanent stitch along the basted stitch so it wouldn't go anywhere. Next we made the top. It was nothing fancy just a basic t shirt type top using a combination of patterns. Then we attached the top to the skirt & threw a zipper in the back. We just made a scarf type thing to go around her shoulders. It's really nothing more than a big circle I sewed together. I let her borrow the hoop slip from my wedding dress to get the fullness in the skirt. As an after thought I decided to add this big ruffle to the bottom because it wasn't hanging quite right. Anyway that's it. Not to bad for 1 full day. It did take until about 6 to finish it so a little longer than I thought & I think by the end we were both pretty tired. But it's pretty cute. Now I always have a princess handy for those upcoming birthday parties ;) perfect!

Princesses Merida & Aurora

I love this time of year. The kids get so excited about there costumes, it's the start of the holiday season and a nice time to stay home and cuddle up. 

I got the chance to make lots of fun Halloween costumes this year which believe it or not is not something I normally do. I'm usually a buy it from the store just like everyone else kinda girl. But my girls feel like it's extra special if it's homemade & I know that is not something they will always appreciate. 

I showed you Kambrias costume here. She wanted to be sleeping beauty AKA princess Aurora. We already had a dress up Aurora dress but it needed some serious TLC so I fixed it up & this is the result you can read more about that here. 

Deja wanted to be Merida from the movie Brave. For the most part I used this pattern.  

However she wanted long sleeves and the Meridas dress has gold accents along the top sleeves and bottom along with a gold belt. 

 So, I just added some gold sequined ribbon to the sleeves, top, and as the belt. For the bottom I just added gold fabric. 

 And of course she couldn't be Merida without the curly red hair & the bow and arrow.