Breck's Gift #1

Josten's Gift #1

This was the first of two gifts for Josten. I know it seems like a cop-out to make a hat, but he really wanted this, I promise! He specifically asked me for it! Anyway, here it is!

Sorry It's not a better picture, I haven't taken a better one yet.

Christmas Cards!

Finally got Christmas cards done!!! What took so long this year was the fact that Josten was at school for about 19 hours everyday for the last 2 weeks, and we didn't have time to get our Christmas pictures taken! Well, we finally did them yesterday, and I finished them up this morning! Here they are!

Sienna's Christmas Present #1

This is my first finished Christmas gift, more to come very soon!

Sienna's little caplet:

Sienna's Christmas Dress

I tossed around the idea for awhile of making Sienna a Christmas dress, but never really made a sure plan to get things under way because I was a little intimidated about it for one, and for another, I didn't know if I'd have time. So I got her a little Christmas dress on clearance, and she wore it last Sunday, and I figured that was that. Well...no it wasn't. I figured I still had a good week before Christmas Sunday, and though her other dress is very cute, I still wanted to see if I could pull off the design I had in my head.

Part of what made me so intimidated was the fact that I have never actually sewn a real dress before, unless you count the little smocked dresses I made this summer, but that's totally not the same as a real, fancy, church dress.

The second thing that made me intimidated, is that I didn't have a pattern, because I of course had a specific design in mind... so I pretty much winged the whole thing.

In the end, I was pleased with how it turned out. It fits her well, though I probably won't post a picture of her in it until Sunday. I also learned a lot about sewing apparel, especially without a pattern, which will come in handy.

So here it is, the first (of many I'm sure) handmade Christmas Dress!



Oh, and another interesting tidbit about this dress - This was our Christmas table cloth from last year! It was in perfect condition except for a big stain on one end of it, and I loved it so much I didn't want it to go to waste...And it didn't! Don't worry, I used the non-stained end of it!

Hats for the Holidays

Oh boy has this holiday craft show made me busy! I wanted to be over-prepared for this show, so I could have optimum opportunity at having multiple styles and sizes on hand, so people could actually buy the ones they wanted. I ended up making 35 beanies in the end!!! I decided to do a line of holiday hats, which actually ended up only being 3 different hats (multiple sizes though), since I kind of ran out of time to amke any other sets. I've still got some fun holiday ideas for next year, which I may end up doing for market next year in the fall. I also re-stocked on some of my original ones from the market. The show went reall well for the first week, I sold quite a few which was nice, and got some special orders. The next week of the show is on saturday, which they said is usually the more busy show, so we'll see how that goes! Anyway, the top few are just some new designs I tried, very similar to my others, with a little variance here and there. The last group are my holiday hats, some are actually the holiday line, and some are just fun holiday colors.




Here are the holiday ones, the ones with the tags are the actual holiday line, and you can read their names :)




This one was fun, I tried a new stitch pattern, and thought it was cute:

More Kitchen Goodness for the Bride-To-Be

Here are the next parts of my gift for the bridal shower I mentioned earlier in the apron post. They're all part of the same gift, so they coordinate.

The first are hot pads, pretty simple to figure out; 2 pieces of fabric with batting and binding, then a simple quilting over top.



Next are dishwashing gloves. I have also wanted to do these for a very long time, and I found the perfect excuse with the shower once again! I got the tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets.

The Apron

Some of you may have noticed that I've had an apron on the to-do list at the top of my blog for quite some time now. It was never really a priority, so it just kept getting pushed aside for the last year and some. This is the apron I wanted to re-create. I saw it and LOVED it:



Well, I was recently given the perfect excuse to re-create this apron when one of my closest friends from highschool sent the invitation for her bridal shower. I'll probably eventually make one for myself too, but it's just not at the top of my to-do list right now.

Anyway, I didn't take as many pictures for this as I had first intended to do, but hopefully I can make it straight-forward enough to help you out, if you decide you want to make this.

First, you need to take maesurments. Take measurments from where you want the top to hit, to where you want it to hit near your knee. You'll also need a measurement of how wide you want it, which I got by measuring from just behind my left hip to just behind my right hip. This will be your widest measurement.

Once you have those 2 measurements, cut a rectangle of the 2 measurements (example, if the hieght measurement was 30 and the hip-to-hip measurement was 28, you'll cut out a rectangle that is 30"X28")

Once you've got your rectangle, you need to fold it in half length-wise and shape it like an apron. I don't have any exact formula for you for this part, but if you just look at the picture, I'm sure you can make it work.



So now you open it up, and you've got your apron shape. Now you need to hem the edges.

Next, you're going to cut another rectangle, but a much smaller one for the front pocket. This is just whatever your preference is. I made mine larger, and sewed down the middle to make 2 compartments. I ironed the edges in, and only sewed the hem on the top SEPERATELY, then I put it on the apron and sewed the other sides to the apron (the sewing to the apron becomes the sewing for the hem too.)



The next part is the neck strap. These are pretty easy and straight-forward. you just sew 2 strips about 2 inches thick, and attach them to the top corners of the apron. They only need to be long enough to tie a bow in the back.

Next was the trim for the bottom. The one in the picture uses pleats, but I decided to do a basic ruffle. For that, I measured twice the length of the curved bottom part of the apron, and cut a 3 1/2 to 4 inch thick strip that was the measured length. I hemmed it all up, then along the top, I adjust my sewing machiene to the highest tension and the highest stitch length, and sewed a straight line right through to the end, and came out with a ruffle.

I then sewed the ruffle to the bottom.

Next are the ties for the back. I originally wanted to do them longer, like the orignal picture, but I ran out of that material, so I had to make due with what I had. The ties that I did are both 45" long, and about 3 1/2 inches thick. You sew them up (which I did by just measuring 7 inches thick, and folding it in half then sewing one side, and turning it inside out and ironing flat), then sew them to the top of the bottom portion of the apron.

Now just cut all your threads and you're ready to get cookin' you cute little homemaker, you!

Super-Easy J. Crew Re-fashion

I was looking around on J. Crew, which, if I had to pick a store that I think defines my taste in clothes perfectly, it would be that one. Anyway, I was looking around and found this beautiful shirt:



I really liked it, among others on the site, but I decided I wanted to re-create, with a few differences. I wanted to combine this with another idea I have seen around that I love. I love when clothes have an artsy feel, and I LOVE shirts that are painted, or look like they are! So for this shirt, I decided to use the same concept and design, except I wanted to have the stems painted.

I used acryllic paint for the stems, and if you do this, make sure you put cardboard or something in between the front and back of the shirt, to prevent bleeding through on the otherr side. You have to let it dry a couple of hours, just to make sure it is set. I free-handed it so it looked sloppy and hand painted.

Once the paint was dry, I cut two 24X1 inch strips of satin, and two 5X1.5 inch strips as well. I pleated the shorter strips with an iron, and evened out the edges, then sewed down the middle. The longer strips become the petals, and the pleated sqaure becomes the center.

I hand-stitched the petals on the shirt by just folding the strip back and forth over itself in a circle pattern. I stitched it on the shirt in the middle, then stitched the pleated center on.
(Sorry I don't have pictures of the process, I couldn't find the camera until after I finished.)

And there you have it!!!


And here is a close-up of the flowers with the pleats.

Craft Gossip Feature!!!

Wow! What a week! The How-To Gal e-mailed me tonight, and let me know that the tutorial I wrote up for her blog ended up getting featured on Craft Gossip as well! Thanks Craft Gossip, and thank you How-To Gal for making it all happen!

Here's the Link to the feature:

Craft Gossip

P.S. Hopefully I'll get some more stuff up this week, I've had a lot of projects I've been working on lately, just none of them are done!

Featured on The How-To Gal!!!

Big thanks to The How-To Gal for featuring my shirt refashion! Check it out here, and be sure to check out all the cool projects she's done!

Halloween Costumes

Sorry I posted this so late, but it's been crazy with projects lately, and I have just been so busy that I didn't find time to post these as soon as I wanted. I suppose you can remember this post for next year's Halloween though!

Anyway, Breck went this year as the Mad Hatter. It was a fun costume to put together. Here's what I did:

What I used:

Foam hat from JoAnn's, Michael's has them too
Feather Boa
1 yard Crazy fabric
Boy's White Shirt
Boy's Vest
Boy's Pants
Boy's Wing-tip shoes
One of my old button-down shirts
3x5 card

For the hat, I made a band to go around it, using the fabric. I hemmed the edges, then pleated it, and hot-glued it to the hat. I took the feather boa and hot-glued it to the end of the hat leaving a little space in the front open. On the back of a 3x5 card, I wrote 10/6 which is what the Mad Hatter has on his hat. It's an old-fashioned price tag.

I made the bow tie by cutting two 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 rectangles and sewing them together, wrong sides out, but leaving a little space so that I could turn it right side out. Stitch up the hole once this is done. I ironed it flat, then sewed a little band around it to gather it in the middle. I then sewed a longer band, and attached it to the bow tie. Then you put velcro on the tips of the band.

The Jacket was an old shirt of mine, that I took in the sides, and cut up the length in front to look like a "tailed" jacket. It was of course, complete with tails in the back. I trimmed the edge of the collar, to give it a more jacket look than a shirt, and ironed it down, to give the jacket collar effect as well. I put a faux pucket and kerchiff on the front too.

The rest of it was just his normal dress clothes, though I put the shirt collar up, and ironed the tips down to look more like a mid-1800's collar.

Sienna's costume was fun.

Here's what I used:

1/2 yard white fabric
Blue Dollar Store onesy
Blue Tulle
Elastic
White Stockings
Black Mary Janes
Black ribbon

The Apron was the main thing that I made for this. I didn't use a pattern, I just looked at the picture of Alice from the Disney movie. I couldn't find an apron for a little girl like that, so I just took measurements of Sienna and where I wanted everything to hit, and it was actually pretty easy!

The skirt was a tutu, so check out my tutu post from last Christmas to see how to make those. I'm pretty sure most people know how to make those by now though, so you probably don't even need to get instructions.

Then I put black ribbon in her hair, put on her stockins, onesy and shoes, and she was ready to go!






*Note* 2-year-olds may not like a big hat with feathers...

Shout Out to Other Bloggin' Gals

This is just kind of my "Thank You" note to all those bloggin' gals who have been so sweet in the last month or so.

First of all, Thank you to Mique form 30 Handmade Days for the Shabby Apple Dress giveaway! I got it in the mail a couple of weeks ago and LOVE it!

Second, Thank you Kelsee from Pumpkin Pie Crafts for your Apron giveaway! She made this beautiful apron (pictured below), and I won it! She also made the flower pin, but I decided to stick it on my necklace for the picture! If you haven't been to her blog, stop by and wish her a happy belated birthday, she just had one! Plus, she makes really cool things, while being a wife, and mom of two!


(Sorry this picture is kind of funny, sometimes I get awkward when I'm the only one being photographed...hence the funky right foot)

Third, Thank you Disney at Ruffles and Stuff for featuring my Anthropologie inspired dress! It was such a pleasant surprise! She has an amazing blog as well, so be sure to check it out!

And Last but certainly not least, thank you to all you of who found my blog through Ruffles and Stuff (or anywhere else) and left such nice comments and became followers! You guys are great, and I was so touched to recieve such support!

You guys are the BEST!

Sienna's Valance

I finished this awhile ago, but hadn't taken a picture, because I kept spacing it. Basically, You cut and hem two pieces of fabric that are 1 1/2 to 2 times the length of the window. For the height of the peices, cut one about 3 inches taller than the other. Once all hemmed, sew them together with two different lines that are about 2 inches apart, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 inches on the top for the ruffle.

Copy Cat Design/Another Refashion

Does anyone else remember the Favorite Tee from the Gap? They may still have it, I don't know, but it used to be the biggest wardrobe essential before Down East Basics came up with the Wonder Tee. They were just basic, crew cut tees in long sleeves and short sleeves, and different colors. They lost their steam when The Wonder Tee came out with a more up to date neckline and body length. That's about when I lost my steam with them too, having a need for a longer tee shirt to fit my afore mentioned large frame.
That didn't change the fact that I had literally a dozen of them, just laying around, waiting to be worn.
Around the same time I was pondering what to do with these shirts, I was looking around at one of my favorite idea stores (I say idea store because I can't afford to shop there, so I just get "ideas" from it), Anthropologie, and was noticing their cute little dresses, that were just so basic, yet chic and comfortable. It was this one that really caught my eye:

It was then that a little light bulb went off, and I realized i could make a sleeved version of this dress with one of my "Favorite Tees". I had a different idea for the top, however, because I wanted to save this beautiful circle ruffle for another top. Here's what I did to re-create this lovely piece:

First, I cut the trunk of the shirt across where I wanted it to hit.

I then, used the bottom that I cut off to cut 4 2 inch thick strips. (It doesn't really matter how thick, just as big as you want your ruffles.) I then took them to the sewing machiene, where I adjusted the tension on the machiene to the highest tension, and the stitch length to the longest length. I then only had to sew one straight line on the edge, and it came out like this:

I then sewed each ruffle to the top half of the shirt, starting with the bottom ruffle. This is how it turned out once finished with that part:

Next I found another "Favorite Tee" that I had used the trunk of to make the gaucho pants I posted about earlier. I used just one of the sleeves for the mid section, evening out the width before sewing it on.

Later, after this next picture was already taken, I decided to put vertical gathers in it every 4 inches or so. I did this by attaching elastic that was cut about an inch shorter than the width of the band, and stretching it out as I sewed down the width of the black section.

After that, I found some material that I thought would look cute with it, and cut it to the length I wanted, leaving the width the same as it had come. I hemmed up the bottom, then I measure the right size of elastic to fit around the t-shirt at the open end. I attached this elastic to the top by using the same method for the gathers above. Then I folded it in half with the wrong side facing out. I sewed the sides together, then turned right-side out again. I then attached the skirt to the top, and was just about done when I decided I wanted just a little more flare. I found this tutorial for fabric flowers, and took some black satin to make it, and I sewed on the pearl beads after I was done. I also hot-glued felt to the back to kind of seal it all in, then I attached it to a pin.

The finished product:

Just add some black skinny jeans and some pumps, and your ready to go!

Re-Fashioning Again...Skirt

I love pencil skirts. They are so sleek and classy, and can go with virtually anything. I've had the hardest time buying one. Not a whole lot of places sell the type that I like, that is, one that is a dressier skirt, rather than having zipper, button, etc. on the front like jeans. Anyway, even when I would find the dressier kind, they'd be too short, meant to hit above the knee, which of course in itself is not what I want, but it also means that it hits my 6'1" frame mid-thigh.

Well, I finally found this beauty and snatched it up. It hit me just above the knee, but that was the best I could find. So I decided to dress it up AND lengthen it by adding some pretty trim.

Now of course, since I had EXACTLY what I wanted for the trim in mind BEFORE actually shopping for trim, nothing met up to my vision. So I made the trim myself.

I made it using black satin. First, I measured how much I would need. For this kind of trim, you need 3 X the length of the measurment of whatever you are trimming. I cut the strip 4 1/2 inches wide. I then hemmed the strip, then pleated it by ironing folds into it. After ironing, I sewed the top of the strip to keep it in place. All I did after that, was treat it like normal trim and sew it to the skirt! Pretty fun and simple!



This one is so you can see the fold/iron pattern:

Diaper Stacker

If you want a tutorial for this stacker, refer to my previous "T-Shirt Stacker" post for a link. I did the same thing with this one as I did for the first, except it's smaller (for diapers) and I put bows on the top to attch it rather than a hanger.

Re-fashioning

Okay, I don't know about you guys but, though fun, shopping can be a bit frusterating for me. I get ideas in my head of how I want an outfit to look, what exact outfit I would want (without ever actually seeing it somewhere), then of course, I can't find anything close to it, when I go shopping. So I decided to start making over clothes myself. This is the first of many more projects to come like this. It will be done by buying cheap clothes that have basic lines, or a basic shape that I am looking for, and I will be using extra pieces of fabric either from the same garmet, or from a duplicate that I buy.

This one was my first; very easy, and very pleased with the outcome.

I bought this shirt at Ross for 4 bucks.


Then I cut the entire turtle-neck off (to be used as my extra fabric).
I then cut 3 1 1/2 inch thick strips from the spread out turtle neck fabric, then folded and pinned them to the neckline in this pattern (if you're looking down at the edge of the strips)


I then just sewed one straight line through the middle, at the neckline, and voila!