A Valentine's Day Shirt for My Little Guy

Hello Readers. Valentine's Day is coming soon. Are you ready? Do you have a sweet card and chocolates for the special someone on your life? Are you even into this holiday? I decided to make my youngest a shirt for Valentine's Day. He can wear it to school for the party they are going to have. 

I started with a plain white shirt.

I wanted him to look like a little gentleman so I made suspenders. I just used red grosgrain ribbon I had in my sewing stash. I used my machine and stitched them on the front of the shirt. I didn't have enough ribbon to put them on the back of the shirt too. They are obviously fake so I just focused on the front of the shirt.

I added white hearts on the ribbons. I used a rubber stamp and some white acrylic craft paint. They didn't come out perfect but I never aim for perfect. My goal here is fun and cute.

I also drew the outline of a little bow tie in pencil.

 When the white paint was dry I painted the red bow tie. I just used cheap acrylic art paint. It never washes out when I get it on my clothes by accident so it will last a good long time on this shirt.

I wasn't sure if he would like it. He is very picky about his clothes, where they came from (He only wants hand-me-downs from the boys next-door.) and how they feel when he wears them. He agreed to try this on and when he did he said, "I think I love it." I was one happy mom!

He insisted that I take pictures with his latest creation. I decided not to argue.

He also insisted on taking a picture himself.

He did pretty good.

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

Boring Bat-Wings

Hello Readers. It is cloudy and dreary here in my part of the world. It is gray and blah and it makes me want to go to sleep. Just like this gray top. Zzzz.....

I started with this casual gray shirt. It was plain but in great shape. It also had these big bat-wing style sleeves. They just don't look good on me. I am built like an ice cream cone and this top just magnifies that shape.

I also had these shorts. I found them at a recent clothes swap. I didn't like them as shorts because they were too short on me. I liked the material and the trim. I am going to cut them up and use them for parts. (Like a stolen car but this is all legit.)

These shorts had a wide elastic waistband that I thought I could use as a waistband for my shirt. That would draw the waist in and add a little shape and color. And that trim on the legs of the shorts would be pretty somewhere too. 

I cut the wings out from under the sleeves. I made the new sleeves a standard shape. It made a very plain and simple shirt. I wanted to add some trim to make it more interesting. I added the waistband to the bottom of the shirt.  I left a little bit of the short's fabric on the waistband to make a little ruffle. 

I decided to take a little excess out of the shoulders too. The wide neck just seemed too wide on me. I added the trim from the leg of the shorts to the neck.

Here is a closer look the the neckline. The trim and a bit of the burgundy fabric make it more fun. It adds a little color too. This gray could use a little brightening up.

I wore this shirt to work. It was perfect because the higher neckline didn't reveal anything when I was working. I hurry and move around a lot and I don't like to worry about my clothes. 

Yes, those are the corduroy pants from the last post. I love them. 

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

The Red Ribbon Sweater

Hello Readers. It is finally February! Did January seem 17 week long or is it just me? February always makes me think of Valentine's Day so I decided to make a date night outfit in case I get taken out to dinner or something. (If my husband needs a hint, I like Chinese food and dark chocolate.)

I started with this pink sweater. I used the lace from the back in a refashion last November and the sweater was just sitting waiting for some love and attention. The sweater was pretty simple in front and had a deep open V in the back.

I wanted to find a way to make this sweater wear-able and I surfed all over Pinterest to find an idea. I saw some sweaters with ribbon accents and I decided to try that. I had this dark red ribbon in a stash of sewing notions and trim that my sweet mother-in-law gave me. I only had a little so that determined what I did with the ribbon.

I used some pins and then stitched the ribbon in place on the inside of the sweater.

What would I wear with the sweater? I found these wonderful dark red corduroy pants at a clothes swap and fell in love with the color and the sheen the fabric had. I have short scrawny chicken legs and these long pants looked horrendous on me. But they matched that ribbon perfectly. 

I did my basic resizing technique of taking fabric off the sides of the pants. It worked pretty well. I made them into skinny jeans. The fabric had a lot of stretch to it and it was easy to make them fit.

Sometimes when I remove fabric from the out side of a pair of jeans or pants the back pockets can get shifted into a weird placement on my backside. I took the pockets off the back with my seam ripper and re-positioned them into a more central location.

I reattached the pockets and I was ready to go. 

I am ready for a casual dinner date with my Valentine. He is coughing and feverish at the moment so I am hoping he is better by the 14th. I am also really hoping he doesn't spread his germs to me and our kids. I will keep hoping for the best.

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

Polka Dots & Button Downs

 Hello Readers. I read an article online recently that said polka dots and button-down shirts would be big this spring. I don't know if they ever really went out of style but they are coming back and I am getting myself ready for spring.

I found these polka dot jeans at a recent clothes swap. I didn't really check the size. I just saw dots and decided to take them home. They are a little big but I could fix that. The shirt was a ladies large that I have had for years and have not gotten around to altering it. 

 The shirt was an easy fix. I took a little off the sides and the sleeves to make it more narrow. The shoulder seams were in a good place for me so I did not try to re-do the armholes. This shirt was 100% cotton so it had no stretch at all. I had to keep it roomy enough to be comfortable. I tried it on and took a little more out of the sides. The pink marks below are for you so you can see where I was focusing. I wanted to make the body more narrow in the middle. I didn't want the chest too tight.

These polka dot jeans took more work. They needed to be smaller and shorter. I did some custom fitting work. (I sewed, tried them on, and sewed some more.)

What is this? Why are there 2 pairs of polka dot jeans? Well, the pair on the left are my old jeans that are too tight. (Yes, I make have hit the Christmas cookies too hard this year.) When I finished the newer larger jeans I noticed the pockets were not centered on my backside correctly anymore. I was going to remove the pockets and move them over but then I had an idea.
What about double pockets???

I cut the pockets off the old tight jeans and attached them to the new stretchy jeans with a lot of pins.

I put the new pockets closer to the center and lower than the original pockets to fill in where my backside was in these jeans. I placed the new pockets where it looked most balanced.

 I don't feel comfortable putting a picture of my tush on the net so here is my bed pillow wearing the jeans for me. (My body shape is the same a soft lumpy old pillow. I am not sure how to process this new information.)

These jeans and this shirt were perfect for work. I like the high waist a lot. I can't guarantee 100% that polka dots and button-down shirts will be all the rage this spring. (Sometimes the internet is wrong.) I didn't wait for spring, I just started wearing them right away.

 

Lego pieces everywhere!

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

Shorter and Shorter

Hello Readers. I am writing this late at night, last minute because of some tech problems (some keys on my keyboard stopped working. And not to be picky, but I need all 26 letters.) and some lost teddy bear problems (My youngest could not find his bear for bedtime and we were searching for a long time. It was tangled in the blanket on my bed.) Please forgive any typos and incoherent thoughts. 

Let's talk about clothes. 

My daughter gave me this army green skirt. She didn't want it anymore. It fit her great because she is 8 inches taller than me. I love green so I wanted to make it work for me.

 Did it fit me? Ha! No, it did not. It was miles too long. The only way to make it the right length was to pull it up over my chest. It's not a great look. Maxi-skirts are not designed for very short people.

 I thought it went with this sweater so well. I found this sweater at a clothes swap and it was giving all the late 70's/early 80's vibes. I decided to shorten the skirt a little but keep it long-ish. Why? I don't know. Probably because I don't have many long skirts. I didn't love it with the sweater at this length.

 I went a bit shorter, and I am glad I did. It was just more fun and relaxed at this length. I felt more fun and relaxed when I wore it anyway. It seemed better with the sweater too.

You can see the simple hemming I did each time I cut it to a new length. Cut, hem. Cut, hem. Shortening it gave it a nice A-line shape.

There was some scrap fabric leftover. What did I did with that? I made snowman t-shirts for myself and the 4 year old that was traumatized by the loss of his bear. We found the bear but he was really on edge and over tired and couldn't go to sleep. We talked about many things before he calmed down. One of the things that distracted him was the idea of having a "Snowman Day". (Snowman shaped food, books, drawing, and shirts.) So here are my midnight projects.I hope they are a fun surprise in the morning. I used pieces of the skirt for the snowmen scarves.

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

It Can Be Mended!

Hello Readers. Do you do a lot of mending? Do you do a little mending? Any mending? I remember learning to do basic sewing in Home Economics but we didn't learn to fix anything. We didn't even learn to sew on a button. We made a boring tote bag. I was not impressed. I didn't sew again until I had kids. Kids that needed clothing mended and sometimes altered.

If you go to thrift stores or clothes swaps you know that the things you find sometimes need a little mending. I found these cool overalls at a clothes swap and I liked the material and design. And they looked like my size.

When I saw the back of them I knew it would be an easy fix. The straps needed to be tucked back in and the opening needed to be closed up. 

This green shirt was a little loose and baggy under the overalls. If it was a little more fitted it would stay tucked in better.

I adjusted the sides of this shirt so it fit better under the overalls. A zigzag stitch lets it stretch at the seams for comfort.

This was 20 minutes of my time and I was ready to go.

I admit the outfit looks a lot like it did before. But isn't the goal of mending to be invisible?

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 Or fix something you already own.

Fun with Flannel

Hello Readers. I found an amazing flannel dress. It was so amazing because it was soft and warm and there was so much of it. Have you ever seen this much flannel on one person? It's a lot. Maybe too much?

Honestly, this is the most unattractive dress I have ever seen. Nothing says, "Not tonight Honey!" like floor length flannel. It's like Mrs. Claus launched a clothing line.

I decided that there was just too much dress here. Way. Too. Much. Dress. I started at the bottom. It needed to be shorter. Maybe a lot shorter.

I hemmed it and I had a long vest/duster to layer over a shirt. I liked that, but would I like more if I made it even shorter?

Maybe I would. I made it mid thigh length. I really liked it this length. I think less is more with this fabric.

I had to find some good light for this picture. I ended up in the hallway with my youngest who is deep in a Lego phase. I asked him to move over for a minute and stood at attention until I was done.

I had a lot of fabric leftover. What would I do with all that extra flannel? I made tiny pads for taking off eye makeup. I saw these on Instagram and wanted to try them. They were soft on the eyes, lint free and more environmentally friendly. And a lot cheaper in the long run. Mine were square and made of 2 layers of flannel. I put them in a mesh bag for washing because they were so small. This was a great way to use scrap fabric.

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