An Over-all Makeover

 Hello Readers. I love over-alls. Maybe it's because they are so casual and comfortable. What ever the reason is, I love them. These over-alls were great but I didn't really like the distressing on my upper thighs though. Let's fix that.

 Before and after.

 I saw these over-alls at the thrift store and really liked the light wash. I thought the legs were a little long on me so I needed to fix that too.

I unpicked the stitches so that I could unroll the cuffs. 

I cut the white strings out of my way. Then I cut the legs shorter and then I wanted to reattach the hem pieces to the over-alls. You can see I cut about 2 inches from the legs. 

I clipped the hemline pieces back in place and headed to the serger machine. 

I used my serger to put the pant legs back together. 

You can see the seam where I put the legs back together on the left and how I wanted to place the patches to cover the holes in the legs. These patches will cover the holes, cover my legs, and make me more comfortable. 

 

I had a couple more embroidered patches that I decided to throw on these over-alls. Go big or go home!

 

I used my sewing machine to attach the patches. You could also sew them on by hand if you like that
 kind of sewing.

 

I like the patches, the shorter length, and I like my thighs covered. It's a win-win-win. 

 

I even put a heart patch on the back. I have had these little embroidered pieces for a while, I was happy to be able to use them. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

Giraffe 2 Piece

It's National Giraffe Day so let's look back at this giraffe outfit.  

What is better than one giraffe sweater? Two giraffe sweaters of course! What was I going to make with these 2 sweaters? A two piece dress!

 Before and after.

These 2 sweaters are exactly the same. They are the same size and the same maker. I really want to make one into a skirt to wear with the matching sweater. It will look like a dress.

I started by cutting the sleeves and neckline off the sweater. I was going to make a narrow pencil skirt with the body of the sweater. It is very stretchy material and that will help me get the new skirt to fit. I planned of adding an elastic waistband to finish the cut edge. 

I used my serger on the new side seams and along the top of the new skirt. 

This off-white elastic would match well to the sweater.

But when the whole outfit is together, you don't see the elastic anyway.

I thought this sweater would be good for warmth because it is cold outside! Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This is like pajamas and the sweater feels like a robe. I love them.

Sheet to Pillowcase with Zipper

 Hello Readers, I had this adorable full size sheet. Look at all the little emotional faces. It was perfect for kids. I wanted to make a pillow cover with a zipper. The zipper will keep the pillow cover from slipping off. It is annoying when the pillow slips out so let's make a stay-put cover.

Let's make a pillow cover with a zipper.

This was a simple full size flat sheet. It has gotten a few ink spots in the middle area. That's OK. We won't get upset. We can still use that fabric. I cut about 2 1/2 feet from the bottom of this sheet. I saved the rest for some curtains that I posted about last time.

This project was actually requested by a counseling center that works with children. This pillow is to lean on and be comfortable. It's also to squeeze, hit, punch and scream into because not all emotions are fun or feel good. So I want this pillow to be cute but I also want it to be strong.

 

I cut out the 2 fabric pieces and made them 1/2 an inch bigger on all 4 sides of that the pillow case I used as my guide. 

 

I had a zipper in a matching color. White is easy to match. 

 

I sewed one side of the zipper to one pieces of the pillow. I sewed the zipper face down to the fabric.

When I turn the zipper face up, the sides of the zipper will be tucked into the pillow. 

 

When both sides of the zipper are sewn in it looks like this. 

 

I top stitched both sides of the zipper so it would look nice and neat. Now I can sew the 2 pieces of the pillow cover together with right sides facing each other. 

When I turned the cover right-side out and put the pillow inside. 

I zipped the cover closed and the pillow stays inside, nice and neat. 

This pillow is ready for some wear and tear. 

Here is a friendly kid pillow ready for anything the kids need it for. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. Or a kid.

 

 

 

Sheet to Curtains

 Hello Readers. I had this super cute sheet and I thought it would make the greatest kid curtain. Sheets are big rectangles so the shape is perfect for curtains. The casing and some of the seams are already finished for me. This is a fast easy curtain that looks great too. 

 

Could these little faces be any cuter? Let's make a curtain! 

My sheet was a full size flat sheet. It has a few ink stains in the center, I will show you how I dealt with those later. (Hopefully, no one at your house played with the permanent markers, and you don't have an ink spot on your sheet. If you do, don't worry.)

I cut the sheet in half down the center. (I made sure I knew where the center was before I started cutting.) 

Sheets usually have a folded down area at the top of the sheet. I plan to use that as my casing for my curtain rod. I used my seam ripper to open the side of that folded fabric. This was easy to open, it just needs to open up about 2 inches so I can re-work that part. .

 

That folded down area is easy to open where I cut the sheet in half down the middle. I just needed to remove a few stitches along the seam.

 

I used my serger on the entire cut edge of the sheet. It started to fray quickly. The serger will keep it from fraying. You could also use a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine along the edge if you don't have a serger.

 

I turned the serged edge under twice and sewed it down with my sewing machine. I used a straight stitch for this. I just want a nice neat folded edge. The other side of the sheet has a woven finished edge and doesn't need to be sewn. What a time saver! That makes me happy. 

 

Surprise! This made an open casing to slide the curtain rod through. After I finished sewing the new side seam I tucked the edges in to make this casing nice and neat.

 

 

I had this small matching square piece of fabric left over from a previous project. (It was about 16" x 16") I wanted to make tie backs from this. (If you don't have any more fabric that is OK. You can use any coordinating color of fabric you might have or even coordinating ribbon would work to pull the curtains back. 

 

I cut that square into 4 strips and connected 2 strips together for each tie back. I ended up with 2 long strips of fabric. I folded the fabric in half with right sides together and sewed the edges together almost all the way around. I left a small opening so that I could turn the strip of fabric right-side out. 

 

I turned the fabric right-side out so that the cute little faces showed their best. 

 

I ironed the 2 tie-backs so they would be smooth and crisp. They will look best on the curtain that way. Similar iron here. 

 

 I used simple tension rods to hang these curtains inside the window frame.  

 

I used a safety pin to attach the tieback to the front edge of the curtain. The safety pin is in back of the curtain so it won't show. The tieback is in front of the curtain. You can see a bit of the ink spots in this picture. I pinned the tie back at that height so I can hide the ink spots when I gather the curtain. 

 

I planned to keep the curtain pulled to the side so it is out of the way and so that the ink spots are hidden but you can leave the curtain down to block the window as well.Thanks for reading along with this post, now go make something fun for yourself.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

Change the Shape of a Shirt

Hello Readers. Do you like the color orange? I think it's cheerful and fun. When I found this orange linen skirt I really liked it a lot. When I found the striped linen shirt, I thought I had a good combo. The linen would be great in the summer. It is hot and humid where I live. It's like a sauna, I wish I was exaggerating. It gets super hot.

 

Before and after.

The skirt was great. It turned out to be a skort. Even better! If I go wild at the playground monkey-bars or fall down some steps, or get caught in the wind, I will be covered.

 (Yes, I have done all those things in a skirt. Embarrassing!)

The waist was a bit loose but the hips fit great. That happens to me with jeans too. I needed about an inch off each side of the waist to make it fit better and be less bulky with the belt it came with. 

I took a little off the waistband on both sides. I want it to symmetrical. By taking out a bit on each side the waist is not as bulky. I sewed with a zigzag stitch, at an angle to blend my new side seam in with the old side seam. I cut off the extra fabric when I was done. I just wanted it out of the way. The zigzag stitch will keep it from fraying.

I knew I wanted the shirt to be less of a bat-wing and more of a t-shirt shape. I drew my new side shape in blue chalk. I used blue so it would be visible in these pictures. The chalk marks wash out in the washer with no stains so they are helpful with marking fabric for sewing.  I made the sleeve go about 2 inches further into the body of the shirt and then curved the side of the shirt in slightly. 

I used my serger because it sews and cuts the shirt at the same time. It's such a time saver. If you don't have a serger, you can use scissors and cut the new shape you want and then use a zigzag stitch to keep the edge from fraying. (A good beginner serger is the Brother 1034D.)

 

The new shape of the shirt fits better and doesn't add bulk to my frame. My arms are more defined too. The skirt is less bulky at the waist as well. It feel better around my waist now. I didn't make either piece too tight or fitted. A little off the sides is all I needed. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.