The Distressed Valentine T-shirt

Hello Readers. Well... Hello again. This post is originally from 2018 but I am still wearing this shirt so we are going to revisit this post for Valentine's Day 2020. Happy <3 Day!

Hello Readers. Valentine's Day is coming soon. It means love and romance, chocolates and cards. Are you doing anything special for this day? I decided to embrace the theme by making a shirt to wear for the day. I am posting it now so you have time to make one too.

 (I have 3 kids, so really elaborate celebrations will have to wait for a while. Like 15 years.)

 I am always on the hunt for refashioning clothes and supplies. It is always my goal to make fun clothes that I love, without spending any money. Free is the best. I usually have to buy thread and sewing needles of course. Where do I find freebies? I usually go to clothes swaps and take all hand-me-downs. I found some T-shirts a few months ago at my local rec center. I had taken my son to play in the kiddie gym and found this table. I took a few shirts to use later.

I started with this red shirt from the rec center and a this little white one. The white shirt was going to be cut up for decoration. I want to hide the writing on this red shirt.

I used paper and measured how big I wanted the heart to be. I folded the white shirt in half and cut the heart so it would be symmetrical and even on both sides. The heart needs to be big enough to cover all the writing.

I was going to pin the fabric heart on the inside of the red shirt. I turned the shirt inside out and started pinning the heart to the shirt in the same area as the writing, but on the inside. I want the white heart to be behind the writing.

I didn't want the heart to move around while I was sewing. So, I used a lot of pins. A. Lot. Of. Pins.

I stitched around the heart and I made horizontal stitches across the heart. I made about 10 seams or lines of stitching across the heart, about an inch apart.

I cut a slit in between each seam I stitched across the heart. You can see the white heart is sewn in behind the red shirt. I washed the shirt and the red shirt was supposed to curl up and cover the writing. But it didn't curl up. It didn't curl at all! I was a little disappointed, but this shirt wasn't going to beat me. I would make it work.

I cut off as much of the red shirt as possible, while leaving a little stripe of red fabric. You can still see little bits of the writing but not much. That is OK, it doesn't have to be perfect. It is going to work out great.

I cut the neckband off to open up the neck a little bit. It is more comfortable and I also rolled the sleeves and put in a couple stitches to hold them in place.

 I actually made 2 shirts. I gave my daughter a shirt to wear too. You are wondering if that is my real daughter, right? Yes, that's her. She doesn't want to be on the internet so I am concealing her identity. She is much taller than I am. I don't know how she got so tall, but it is handy when I can't reach the top shelf of the closet.

You can see how great the shirts turned out. A little bit of white print left in the stripes doesn't hurt the overall look of the shirts. And they look festive and more fun then they did when they started.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- I still love this shirt. My 20-something daughter? Not so much.

Fixing Up the Front Porch

 Hello Readers. My sewing machine was in the shop for a few days last week so I had to find something to do that didn't involve sewing.

 

 It all started with this white trunk. It was given to me (Thanks Carmen!) and I used it for a toy box but it was too tall for the little guy to reach the toys. I thought it would be good for outdoor storage and seating. It just needs a little dressing up for spring.

 I started with some fabric samples I had in my closet. My mother-in-law used to work at a fabric store and I have lots of old fabric samples waiting to be used. They are nice because the edges are all finished. They are small but they worked to cover the top and a little of the front and sides.

 I also had these 2 seat cushions. They seemed to fit the trunk well so I tried to make it look like a bench, with cushions on top.

 The seat cushions had ties in the back and I tied them to the hinges inside. I didn't want them to fly away in a storm. This was really helpful because we have had a couple windy days. If I have to go outside and bring e-v-e-r-y-t-h-I-n-g inside every time it starts to rain,,, no thanks.

 I added some other pieces and I was done for now. I haven't done any other gardening or flower planting because it is hot one day and freezing cold the next. Mother Nature seems a little confused this year, I am hoping for warmer weather soon.

That is all for now. I hope you are having a nice Spring. Thanks for being a reader!

*Year end update- These colors transitioned into the fall very well. I later killed the flowers accidentally.

Organized Storage on a Budget

Hello Readers. I am like most moms, I like to be neat and organized. But it is difficult to stay neat and organized, isn't it? I am always trying, but not always succeeding. I decided to make some matching jars to hold odds and ends. I can't seem to bring myself to buy new containers that all match. I am pretty cheap/frugal. 

 I got this idea because I love this Del Monte Grapefruit. I was buying it almost every week so I had access to many of these jars. You could use another container or jar for this idea. 

Wow, the produce section!

I started by washing out the jar and peeling off the labels. These labels came off easily with a little soap and warm water. Not all labels are easily removed. If they don't come off, you can cover them with some decoration or find a different container.

Here is the fun part. Adding a little decoration makes them more fun. Use your imagination, anything goes. I used this blue and white tape to start with but you could use ribbon, fabric, Duck tape,....

This "tape" was new to me. It has no sticky side.I just wrapped the tape around the jars and used a glue gun to secure it to the jar. I use my glue gun for everything and anything. It dries/cools in seconds. If you use traditional glue, just clamp it while it dries.

I also wrapped some simple twine around the top to hide/decorate the tops of the jars. A little dab of hot glue holds the twine in place. They match but I can still see inside.

Something about matching containers makes things seem more organized and neat. It looks like I have things under control at my house. 

I do not have things under control at my house. He said he was going to wash his play dishes and 5 seconds later he was on the counter trying to get to the coffee. Do 2 year old boys need coffee? No.

Do moms of 2 year old boys need coffee? YES!!! 

Does his head look huge in this picture on the left?? It's normal size, I promise. 

Thanks for reading, not go make something fun for yourself.