a skirt refashion that is a sort of fail

I totally forgot to take a before picture but the skirt was the same style as the skirt I refashioned a few weeks ago.

I made it pretty much the same way as the last dress... I took in the skirt until it fit Sutton's body. Using the excess material I made the straps and ruffled sleeves.

Again with the wrinkles. You probably think I don't own an iron. I do, I'm just lazy.

I used the contrasting material from the bottom of the skirt to make a pleated ruffle between the straps.

I used more contrasting material on the back because I am sort of a prude when it comes to modesty, especially when it comes to my children. Only, I think it looks a little weird and doesn't cover that much. I may just take it off.

But that isn't the worst part. Look closer. Notice how the ruffled sleeves are totally uneven? Crappy workmanship right there.

The sash was part of the original skirt. All in all, it's not so bad. Just don't look too close!

Luckily Sutton isn't as nit-picky as I am!

refashion: ladies skirt to girls dress

I haven't done a refashion in a long time!

Please pardon the wrinkles! I didn't realize how bad it was until I downloaded the photos.

I found this skirt at Salvation Army for $1.50. I knew immediately that I wanted to make it into a dress for Sutton.

Black clothes are hard to come by for kids, especially little girls. Which is unfortunate because I really love black on little girls, it feels unexpected. The other day I was shopping at a kids consignment store and a woman that was perusing the racks next to me asked, "Do parents of girls ever tire of pink?" Uh, YES! I am not opposed to pink but I like variety and thankfully so does Sutton.


Utilizing the finished top of the skirt and the hem, I took in one side seam and used the leftover fabric to make straps and cap sleeves.


I really love the gathering detail at the waist.


I left the original waistline intact but after I finished I realized that I would have to cut the underarm for comfort. It was a last minute adjustment on a Saturday night but it came out okay.


I need to get back into doing refashions. They are quick and simple projects. I love the instant gratification!


They make Sutton pretty happy too!

braided

One of my goals last year was to learn how to french braid. I didn't accomplish it in 2010 but I have now. Better late than never!

My mom showed me some braiding tips when she was here and I have been practicing since. My braiding is far from perfect but I'm working on it. Next, I want to figure out how to do a crown braid. I loved wearing my hair in a crown braid when I was little. This is me in preschool with a crown braid. I sure wish my hair had stayed that color!!


It is (surprisingly) easier to braid my own hair than to braid Sutton's. She hates the process but she loves the result.

Here I did a braid on either side of her head. She called it a braid headband. I love not having hair hanging in her face.



Sutton especially loved this next one. Two french braids clipped together. I made the yellow rosette clip a couple of months ago. Too bad Sutton lost it in the backyard five minutes after we took this picture. :)


While we are on the subject of hair, today I am sporting the "three twisted buns" look I have seen popping up all over the blog world, seen first at cup of jo. My curls add to the messy look but it sure is comfortable to have the hair off my neck and a fun change from my usual ponytail.


It's very fitting I am posting about braids on a Wednesday. I just found a flickr group called braid wednesday- lots of great inspiration there! I think I should join to make sure I keep up on my new skill! Who's with me?

christmas morning

I know Christmas is over and everyone is currently talking New Years resolutions but I couldn't finish up the year without sharing Sutton's reaction to the doll house. Especially because it wasn't exactly what I had been expecting.

This is what our house looked like Christmas morning. The doll house is obviously for Sutton. The basket ball hoop is Ezra's, he is our little athlete and has LOVED the hoop so far. It looks like we don't love Liam, our oldest, since there is no large, non wrapped present for him but he is only interested in Legos and Star Wars and Star Wars Legos so all of his presents were under the tree. :)


Sutton came down the stairs, tossed the "babies" she was carrying for her brother and walked to the doll house. She said, with complete nonchalance, "It's a doll house. I like it."



This from the girl that when her Dad announced yesterday we would be eating pancakes for lunch, her eyes grew huge and she squealed. I definitely expected her to show more excitement but she played with it all that day and in every spare moment since so I think it is safe to say she loves it. It is actually being loved and enjoyed by all the kids. Liam and Ezra try to play with her but Sutton isn't super keen on that though because Ezra tears everything apart and Liam gives the barbies swirlies in the pretend toilet.

Sutton is now the proud owner of eight Barbies (she had one, she received six hand-me-downs and a brand-new Barbie from my sister). She plays with all of them at the same time. It's like a sorority house for princesses!

upcycled hats

We are in a bit of a cold spell here... well cold for North Carolina in early November- mid 50's. Sutton asked me to buy her a hat. Of course there is no way am I going to buy a hat when I can make one for free!

I remembered a tutorial that my friend Jennifer did last winter. I dug through the 'clothing to be recycled' pile and pulled out two sweaters. The hats were very simple to make.

I grabbed some felt and made some flowers. For the white flower I used this tutorial. I made up the purple and pink one myself. I much prefer the white flower (I love it's texture and volume) but Sutton insisted on having at least one hat with a pink and purple flower so of course she prefers that one!

nightgowns

Poor Sutton has been wearing hand-me-down pajamas from her big brother for years. She has never minded until the last few months. The problem is that I have a hard time spending money just for something my kids sleep in and I rarely find pajamas on sale. I have made pajama pants for the kids before but the other day my husband suggested nightgowns. Of course! Little girls love nightgowns. Why didn't I think of that?

I did a quick search for 'free nightgown pattern' and some how found my way to this site and this dress tutorial. The dress is adorable and without the elastic around the waist it works perfect for nightgowns also. I have made many peasant style tops and dresses for myself and Sutton in the past but this tutorial may be the simplest I have seen and comes together very quickly!

I made each one slightly different. The blue jersey with the scalloped edge was the first attempt and it was a little big, but it's okay because she'll be able to wear it for years. I made the floral nightgowns a little smaller and each have a ruffle at the bottom. All the material was given to my by my mother-in-law, in fact, the peachy-pink floral is a vintage bed sheet. Sutton thinks the nightgowns are fantastic and wants to wear them all day!


Happy Labor Day weekend! Enjoy the extra time off work/school. I know I will!

my little supers

I usually take a nap Sunday afternoon. Yesterday though I wasn't feeling very tired (miracle!) so I decided to venture into my sewing room. I hadn't touched my sewing machine in so long I just stood there trying to figure out what to work on. Cue Liam and Sutton coming in and begging for capes. I figured, why not?

don't you just love the post church throw-on-whatever-you-can-find mismatched outfits?

These are not the cute, well-made capes that you have seen around the blogosphere. I let the kids pick out whatever material they liked. Liam's is a cheap dress lining material and Suttons is some pink polyester stuff I inherited from my MIL. Because I was trying to get the capes done before the kids lost interest and I lost my energy, I quickly serged the all raw edges (except for Ezra's cape which I made from jersey), added a free handed felt letter applique with double sided fusible stuff (I use Steam-A-Seam), and sticky velcro dot finished them off.


I was unsure whether Ezra would like a cape. The child has refused to wear bibs since infancy (I am not even exaggerating!) but he loved it. He ran and jumped just like the big kids.


I even allowed a little furniture jumping which is usually off limits at our house. Sometimes it's fun to ignore the rules!

fabric bow tutorial

This might be one of my favorite scrap buster projects. It is so easy and quick (it took me less than 20 minutes and that was stopping to take pictures!). This time I added the fabric bow to a headband for Sutton. Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

1. Cut a rectangle of fabric. Mine was 4"x7". The 4" measurement is the width of the bow. Adjust the dimensions to get the desired size of bow.
2. Fold your rectangle in half, wrong sides together. Stitch along the edges leaving a couple inches open for turning.
3. Clip corners.
4. Turn square right side out and press. Topstitch the opening closed.

5. Accordion fold your square adjusting as needed till it looks right.
6. Dab a bit of hot glue in the folds and squeeze.

7. Cut a 2.25"x5" strip of fabric (the length isn't really important two or three inches would probably be okay).
8. Fold the strip lengthwise and sew creating a fabric tube.
9. Turn right side out and press with the seam in the center back.
10. Wrap and glue strip around bow.

11. If you are just making a bow, you are now done!
12. If you are adding the bow to a headband, glue and wrap tail of strip around headband, pulling taught.
13. Trim the tail, fold raw edge under and glue.
14. You could also glue or hand sew onto a clip.

heart headband

Today is Sutton's preschool Valentine party. Last night I made her this heart headband to wear. Inspired by Katiedid's headbands she made for her girls. May I brag for a second? I actually know Katie in real life and she is even more cool and talented than she appears on her blog. For reals!

Anyhow, the headband consists of felts circles overlapped and sewn together with a double heart on one side. I added about 1 1/2" length of elastic to the underside. I wish I had made the circles a little smaller but Sutton was excited to wear it.


Although, a little shy when I wanted to take her picture.

I wimped out this year and did store bought valentines. In lieu of candy we bought these adorable pinwheels at the dollar store.

I am a master...

at wasting time. First thing tomorrow morning we are leaving for Alabama to spend Thanksgiving with Michael's sister. Instead of spending my day packing and cleaning I did some sewing. But not the birthday gifts or Christmas presents (sorry Anne!!) I did more refashioning. I know, I have a problem! And now I am blogging and baking cookies. What? I can't go on a road trip without baked goodies! Anyhow, I bought this dress a couple of months ago at Salvation Army for $2. It was three sizes too big but I liked it. The top anyway. On the body, the dress looks like pajamas.

before:

after:

I guess the JCPenney catalogs I modeled for as a child didn't help me develop hot modeling skills because my posing is lame. But Michael really liked this shot because he said "it looks like the smiley Erin I know and love." Ahh. So sweet.

All I did was hack off the bottom, take in the sides, hem it and make a tie. Super easy.

With all the left over material I got the bright idea to make a pioneer bonnet for Sutton. Which would have been adorable but apparently her head is MASSIVE! I used the small version of this pattern found at Pickup Some Creativity.

Ezra makes a cute little pioneer girl though. Anyone with a baby girl want this cute bonnet?

So I whipped up another one (it is a quick project) in the larger size and it fits perfectly! I love it. When Sutton first tried it on, she looked in the mirror and said "I look... great... sort of". Ha! She warmed up to it though.

Also Chris (the author of the bonnet pattern) is having her first giveaway- a cute little girls bag. Go check it out!

halloween

I was so entertained by my kids while we were trick or treating that I forgot to take pictures! Bad mom! There were a couple of houses that went all out and were pretty creepy. Only I didn't realize they were that creepy until we were already close the the houses (our neighborhood has long semi-steep driveways). Liam would pull his hat low so he couldn't see the scary stuff. His plan back fired a little because he couldn't see to walk either! Sutton forced me to carry her. I was laughing so hard at the two of them. See? Laughing at my kids fear? I am a bad mom!

Anyhow these poorly lit and staged photos are all I have. Oh well!

Gandolf and Belle (notice the bottom of Sutton's dress? It's totally wet. Trick or Treating in the rain? Not so fun!)

Gandolf

The up-do (thanks Lindsay!) looked much prettier before the rain!

My beautiful Belle.

one down one to go

For the last 8 months or so Sutton has insisted she will be Belle for Halloween. Last week, without a pattern, I turned an old sheet and 8 yards of tulle into the awesomest Belle ever (pardon my pride, I am REALLY happy with how this turned out). I probably spent at least five hours on the costume. Two days ago Sutton announced that she wanted to be a ballerina. I was not happy to hear that and happily I was able to convince her to where the Belle dress. She was pleased with it once she was dressed. I curled her hair and even put a touch of make-up on her.


Liam just recently made his final choice for his costume. He started describing it for me as he sketched "a wizard with no wand but a long staff. a pointy hat and a long beard. a belt and a money pouch."

Once I saw his sketch I said "you want to be Gandolf". Liam has no idea who Gandolf is. He has never seen Lord of the Rings (he is only 6) but somehow that is exactly what he was describing:

Creating a beard will be the most challenging part of this costume. I think I will use Merrilee's beard idea. The rest will be cake. I bought a braided belt at Salvation Army for $1.50 and I think I have enough fabric in my stash for the tunic, cape and hat. The staff will be found in the back yard.

I have no idea what Ezra will be. A friend of mine made the coolest Where the Wild Things Are costume for her baby. A brilliant idea but I don't want to copy her. I am running out of time...