Ruffled peasant top

Confessions of a Sewing Dork has a great tutorial for a ruffled peasant top. I love it. Maybe the girls and I could have coordinating tops.

Easter parade part 2

I know everyone will be thrilled to find out that Easter can be celebrated this Sunday. I finally finished all of the sewing!!!

I am so glad I made shirts to go with the girls' jumpers. They look much nicer than a plain white t-shirt. I used Butterick 3905 and it turned out nicely. I will be tweaking the instructions some to avoid sewing bias tape to the inside of the shirt as an elastic casing, but they were an easy project. This pattern is great for when you only have a little fabric left. I was able to cut a size 5 shirt with an extra inch length out of 1/2 yard. Since K is skinny, size 5 works well for her even though she is normally a 6 or 7.

The purses were made from the skirt leftovers. There was too much fabric to just throw away, but not enough to make anything to wear.

I am so happy to check Easter sewing off my list. I think I will stop to eat before starting the next project.

Lime T-shirt refashion dress

I planned on making K another t-shirt dress from the pattern I adjusted with her pink and purple dress, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head. I just had to make a dress with panels.

I took some algebra and a lot of thinking, but I finally took my adjusted pattern and cut a panel piece that worked with it. I just love this color combination. The green shirt is from my mom, the grey from my dad, and the print from the thrift store ($.59). You can't beat that price.

I added a little top stitching detail for interest around the bodice. I even had a spool of lime green thread on hand. Strange, since that is not a color I ever wear.

Once I finished the dress, it was time for the hair frou-frou. This is the easiest headband ever! I just took the hems from all three shirts and braided them. It took all of 5 minutes, but it really adds a lot to the outfit.

I am just dying to make more t-shirt dresses. I have a whole cabinet of shirts that are calling to me begging to be refashioned.

jezze: Headband tutorial

jezze: Etsy in South Africa

I love this headband. No messy side seams and it doesn't need to slip over your head, so no messy bangs. Definitely a winner!

T-shirt refashion take 2

Have you ever made something that you liked less and less the more you saw it? After K wore the t-shirt dress I made her for a day, I decided I really did not like how it fit. The neckline was too big, it was too wide, and the flowers were too floppy. Time to get out the scissors and start fixing.

First I took out almost 20" at the hem line. I have no idea why the pattern I started with had that much fabric at the hem, but it was way too much. The hem wasn't even straight. It sloped down on both sides. I don't know why I thought it would work when I first made it.

Then I took out the back of the neck band and gathered it to take out about 1". That took care of the sliding off the shoulders problem.

Finally, I sewed a gathering stitch around each of the flowers and made them into yoyo's. Yeah! No more floppy flowers.

Now K and I both love her dress! I am hoping to get a couple more made tonight and then start on a pattern for A. Fortunately, A is just a little smaller in the chest than K. I should just be able to make a couple of modifications to the pattern and be good to go.

First t-shirt refashion dress

I am finally started to sew using the stuff I picked up at the thrift store last month. It has been driving me crazy to have all that wonderful fabric and no time to sew any of it. I decided to start with a dress for K. (Being the oldest girl, she has no hand-me-downs to rely on.)

I started with Butterick 6659 nightgown pattern to get the basic shape. I went by the measurements on the envelope, but I think they are off. I am waiting on a friend to stop by to help me cut the pattern down a bit to make it fit a little better before I make any more. 

Even though it is a little big, K declared this dress a success. I can't wait to make more for her and A.

NOTE: I decided that I could not live with it being too big, so I made some modifications. You can see them here. 

Linked to:

Tooth fairy pillow

K told me last week that she finally had a loose tooth. She has been impatiently waiting for what seems like forever to her. I had to stitch up a tooth fairy pillow to celebrate.

Since K is my very girly-girl, I found a rose to embroider on her pillow. A few ruffles and a pocket finished it out. I sewed the flap of the pocket over the pocket on the sides. I'm hoping that will cut down on lost teeth.

Knowing that I have a hard time coming back to a project once I have moved on, I went ahead and designed the other kids pillows and printed the embroidery patterns. I am going to get everything ready and put them in my on-the-go craft bag. Hopefully, I can get them finished in the next month or so.

Linked to:

Whatever Goes Wednesday on Someday Crafts

Button shirt to toddler dress

This great tutorial on Craftster shows how to make the most adorable dress from a button shirt. I already have a couple of shirt set aside for sewing week next week. I can't wait!

Time for a new chore system

After surviving the holidays and the back to routine blahs, our old chore system fell apart with the nasty virus we have been passing around the last few weeks. Since everyone was getting bored with it, I wasn't too sad to see it go. Unfortunately, I didn't have any plans for a new system, so things are starting to get out of hand around here.

I wanted to use a system that was easy for both the kids ane me, didn't cost anything to set up, offered instant feedback for the kids and daily inexpensive incentives. Sounds simple, right?

I finally decided to use individual cards for each chore for K, M, and A. (D is still just happy to help with anything I ask and E will not participate in anything that I use for the younger kids. I'm still looking for something to motivate E.) I have cards for jobs before and after breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus some bonus cards. For example:

Before breakfast

• get dressed
• put away pajamas
• put away bed cup, book and warmer
• make bed
• brush hair
• clean bedroom

Each child has an envelope for jobs that need to be done and completed jobs. As they complete each job, the card will be moved to the completed envelope. I have all of the jobs for the day sorted by child and time to make it easy to refill for each new time period. I can award bonus cards to behavior or extra jobs. At the end of the day, they can trade their completed cards for a treat.

Treat ideas

• mini marshmallows
• pennies
• time at the park the next day
• computer time

Hopefully by varying the rewards, the kids won't get bored with this system so quickly. 

Belt testing

I am so proud of E and K. They both earned new belts at testing on Thursday. My camera and the lighting in the gym do not get along, but I had to post pictures (even if they are bad).

E is now a red/black belt. He had to perform his basics (kicks and punches), a form, 2 board breaks, 50 push ups, self defense, and continuous sparring for what seemed like an eternity to this mom. He was awesome! This is his last belt before black belt. I don't even want to think about what the black belt test will be like. The one I saw was unbelievable. I'm not ready to watch my baby go through that.

K is now a green belt. It is amazing to me to watch my very girly princess doing kicks and punches, a slide combination, self defense, and 30 push ups. Somehow the image of her with hair and makeup done wearing her dance recital costume keeps popping into mind.

More incredible hair styles for princesses

Since I am woefully uncreative when it comes to hairstyles, I am thrilled to when I find new ideas.

• She Does Hair
• It's a Girl Thing

Matching outfits

I just couldn't resist posting a pic of K posing with Mary Lynn with matching outfits. Thank goodness everything fit! I do not like not being able to try things on when I am sewing from new patterns.

Doll wardrobe - Roadkill rescue

One man's trash is another man's treasure. That was definitely the case with this cabinet.

 

I wanted to give K a doll wardrobe for her birthday, but couldn't see spending $350 at American Girl. No way! So I asked Scott to find me a kitchen cabinet. It was perfect!

After cutting, sanding, painting, drilling, Mod Podging and praying that everything would dry in time for her birthday -- it was finished. (Note to self: If you have a project involving painting and Mod Podge, start more than 12 hours before it needs to be dry.)

Scott and I couldn't have done it without out two helpers. (A played in the sink to "help" so she wouldn't get paint everywhere!)

 

K was thrilled! I also made her doll clothes from my fabric stash to complete the gift. I blogged about those in other posts. 

Linked to:

Creative Jewish Mom Craft Schooling Sunday

Slippers

A received some slippers for Christmas, but M and K have been feeling left out. These bear slippers from Instructables will be awesome for M and D.

K and A would both love these adorable ballet slippers from ikat bag.

It's time to restock the hair bling

The hair frou-frou in our house is getting bedraggled. Thanks to this great tutorial at The Purl Bee, K and A have some cute new barrettes. I can't wait to show them in the morning.

Embroidery sampler barrette

K's Little Keepers of the Faith club needs a project for their meeting next Wednesday, so I have been scouring the blogs to see what looked really good. I have seen several cute heart barrettes, but none had all the stitches that the girls needed to learn. I sketched out a quick design and made a prototype right before karate today. I think it turned out pretty good for a rushed job.

K loves the princess hairstyles

I showed K The Story of a Princess and Her Hair and she fell in love. She chose a heart design for church today. I was ever so grateful that it was one of the easier styles we looked at. We both thought it turned out great! We will definitely be trying more styles as we have time. I need to pick up some more elastics next time I am at the store. These styles use a lot of elastics.

The nightgowns are a hit!

I decided to give K and A their gowns today, so I could see if they fit properly. I hate to make too many things from a new pattern without trying it on. I am savings K's doll gown for her birthday. (Sorry for the messy hair. We had already taken down K's braids for today.)

Learning new techniques

I hate to waste any time or material learning new techniques, so I decided to make a nightgown for K and her doll while learning how to do lettuce edging and adding knit ruffles. My first attempt turned out great, except is was too short for K. I had measured correctly and then decided it looked too long, so I cut off some of the length. Fortunately, it will work great for A.

Then I made one for K (using the original measurements!). Note to self - mark the center of the gown before adding the ruffle.

Finally, I made a gown for K's doll. I really am not that fond of making doll clothes. They are way too small to work on. I think it turned out okay, but I am still not pleased with the neckline. I will have to work on it some more next time. Please pardon the bed-head in the photo. K asked me why her doll had messy hair when she went to bed, but it was brushed neatly when she woke up the last time I borrowed her doll for pictures.

I used the T-shirt patterns I cut for the embellished shirts, but did not add the neck band. The material was a knit duvet cover that had been damaged. The ruffled flowers are the scraps from the volunteer T-shirt. I definitely think we got our money's worth out of that shirt!

Check out all the great projects on Fireflies and Jellybeans Show Off Your Stuff Party!

Felt butterflies

Bugs and Fishes by Lupin: How To: Butterfly Brooches
These are the cutest butterflies! I think they would work great as hairclips also.