:: Refashion - girl's dress

In 2012 when I was pregnant with Anson, I found a cute tunic on clearance at H&M.

I wanted to make it into a dress, so I bought two of them. 

This is what I came up with and you can see the post here.

After sewing the bottom half of the second tunic onto the first tunic, 

I had a top half left over.

I decided to make it into a dress for Ava.

Friends. . . this is a top that I've been meaning to refasion for more than a year.

My poor sewing pile.

I was determined to finish it.

Almost a year and a half later.  Ha!

I used another dress of Ava's as a pattern and just hoped that it turned out.

And luckily it did!

It looks darling on her.

And she's quite the little model.

I'll be sharing this here.

:: Refashion - maternity dress

So, I'm going to have this baby in a week and I'm just barely posting this maternity dress refashion.

Ha!  This depicts my life exactly.

Anyway, a few days after Christmas we were in Vegas visiting family.

I really wanted to get maternity pics done (28 weeks along).

 (I like to get them done for each pregnancy - - can you tell I'm a middle child?)

We had Janette from Janette Nelson Photography take some photos for us.

 (the wife of my husband's cousin - - you got that?)

Unfortunately, I forgot how freezing cold and windy it is in Vegas in the winter. . .

but we did get some cute shots.

I found this mid thigh dress/tunic at H&M 

and knew I wanted everyone else's outfits based around this striped gem.

It's not a maternity dress, but was on clearance for $10.

So I bought it thinking it would look cute with some black leggings (it was mid thigh length).

But, really . . . I don't know if I'm a leggings girl.

And after thinking about this for a few days, I had my hubby go back and get me another one . . . 

cause I had an idea.

Why not just put the two dresses together and make a cute maternity dress?

And that's what I did.

I wish I would've taken some before pics, but I didn't.

But in the picture below, you can see where the dress went down to, sorta.

So, on the top dress just right above the hem, I cut across the bottom of one stripe.

I measured to how long I wanted the dress 

and then cut across the top of one of the stripes on the bottom dress.

Does this make sense?

I then sewed these two pieces together in the middle of the top stripe (on the bottom dress)

and in the middle of the bottom stripe (on the top dress).

There are different ways you could've sewn these pieces together, but that's how I did it.

And I think the finished product turned out pretty cute!

FYI:  buy the same size dress! By the time Tommy went back to the store to get the second dress,

they only had a size smaller than the one I bought.  And it was a PAIN!  It would've gone

so much smoother and looked more professional if I had the same sizes . . .

Here are some other pictures I love.

 I think the girls were more excited about chasing after the peacocks than having their picture taken . . .

I'll be linking here.

:: Refashioning - shirt to toddler skirt

For our family pictures in November, I'd had this color palette all worked out in my head.

Maybe it looked a little too halloween-ish (I added in black), but I thought it worked.

I was wanting to make the girls outfits but I ended up just making their skirts.

{which was fine with me}

For Ava's skirt, I wanted to use this woman's XL top.

I'd found it at Downeast Basics on clearance and thought I'd resize it to fit me,

 but that never happend {the story of my life},

 so I knew it'd make a perfect skirt.

It already had shirring.

 {that's what it's called, right? - - I'm still a beginner sewer}

So, 

1.  I just cut across a few inches above

2.  folded over right above the shirring

3. then sewed it.

4.  I next got out my elastic and measured it to Ava's waist

5.  I pinned the elastic to the shirring and did zig-zag stitches across it

Turned out to be cute, definitely not professionally done,

but it worked. 

This is what it ended up looking like.

It's a little big, but she'll grow into it.

And there's my little cheese-ball.

{the skirt underneath is this skirt from DowneastGirl}

I'll be linking to these parties here.

Sewing: toddler pinwheel skirt {refashion}

Remember this post here? Finally finished it! The toddler pinwheel skirt. My friend from this lovely blog, Elle Apparel, posted a tutorial of her pinwheel skirt. By that time (Sept.2010) I was very pregnant but wanted to make one. So, I decided to make one for little Ava out of this old lace shirt that I had and this suede skirt that I loved (but had a very large water spot on it). I wasn't able to finish it cause my little ole sewing machine couldn't sew through the thick areas and that's why it was stashed in the closet, with the rest of my unfinished projects. {sigh}

So this little skirt was in our closet for months. Until last week! My friend had come over from San Diego and she brought this amazing machine. Oh I want one so badly. If our
sewing machines were cartoon characters, mine would be a Care Bear and hers would be Iron Man. Really. This machine sews leather and suede. A solution to my little problem.

And here's the finished product. It's a little too big on her, but that's okay. And don't look too closely because there are many flaws.

Happy Thursday!

etsy store update

It's a miracle!! I updated my etsy store . . . with 1 item. I think it'd be perfect for Valentine's Day for your little one (3-6 months) - or any other day in the springtime/summertime. Check it out here.

Refashioning: christmas dresses for the girls

I absolutely love refashioning clothes. Mainly just for my little girl (soon to be girls). The other day, I received a free $10 card in the mail from Kohls. And now I know why I don't ever shop there. We would be there every day, all day long, and in some major debt! I couldn't stop looking at those clearance aisles.

I was trying to find some type of outfit that I could make the girl's Christmas dresses out of. And I think I found it. I found this cute Lauren Conrad skirt. A little too tiny for me but could be perfect for what I have in mind. It was on clearance for $13 and so I was able to get it for $3. Amazing. We'll see how it turns out. I'll keep ya posted.

Will you be making any Christmas dresses this year?

Blogoversary Giveaway

Whenever I go to Utah to visit family, there's an outlet that I always have to stop at. They have Pottery Barn items that either haven't sold, have flaws, have been returned, etc. I love going through those clothing bins. Usually it's just me, because some family members think it's gross - - like a thrift store. Hello?! I love thrift stores. So it's perfect for me.

Anyway, I love going through their baby clothes bin. The clothing has never been worn and is usually in perfect condition except for monograms that weren't sewn on correctly, maybe the wrong monogram, or the person who bought it didn't like it and just sent it back. That's where I come in. I buy them and then try to refashion them. I love it.

So, with the cute baby dresses that I do have, I've made fabric rosettes and have hand sewn them on top of the monograms. I think they turned out pretty cute!

So, here it is. The giveaway - - for this cute, never worn, Pottery Barn Kids baby dress (size 3-6 months). And if you don't have any babies, grand-daughters, etc., then give it to someone for a christmas gift or baby shower gift.

Rules:

This giveaway starts Wednesday, November 10 @ 9:00 p.m. (PST)

and will end on Thursday, November 18 @ 7:00 a.m. (PST)

the winner will be announced Friday, November 19 on this blog. (one winner will be chosen randomly)

Can enter this giveaway three times by:

1. telling me where you love to shop to get great deals (leave a separate entry with name and e-mail)

2. become a follower (leave a separate entry also with name and e-mail and if already a follower, let me know in the comments)

3. post it on your blog (leave a separate entry also with name, e-mail, and blog where you posted)

Sewing Obsession: pinwheel skirt {refashion}

Once upon a time I lived in El Salvador. My husband lived there too. We became friends with this other cool guy and kept in touch with him. After a few years, he went home and married his sweetheart - - an amazing, talented woman. Not only did they live with us for a week in Vegas, but they were also the first ones to find out that we were pregnant with our first (psst. Don't leave your computer in the guest room with the countdown to your due date . . . unless you really want your guests to find out. Oops.)

{2007}
Anyway, this amazing, talented woman now has an awesome blog. I think she took a sewing class in her last semester in college and since then is the designer Queen! Seriously. Just check out Leanne's blog here. I have a list of projects to sew for myself once I have this baby and loose the baby fat.

One of her latest projects/tutorials was this pinwheel skirt.

I mean. Seriously. Gorgeous. (She even models her own creations.) Well, she was wanting submissions from people who had tried out her tutorial and even though I really wanted to do it, I knew that this pinwheel skirt would not be flattering with my pregnant belly. So I decided to make one for little Ava. Well, I'm in the process. Since I love refashioning, I decided to use this suede skirt I've had for years that had water stains on it, but just couldn't bear to throw out. And then this old top that I haven't worn for years, but couldn't bear to throw out due to the gorgeous lace (okay, okay. I know what you're thinking . . . we just watched Hoarders last night and I'm not to that point yet. Trust me.).

But, due to the suede, I'm not able to finish it with my sewing machine. I really need to find a heavy duty one and finish it soon so that Ava can wear it this fall. Wouldn't this be the cutest skirt with brown boots, a cream colored sweater and a cream colored bow in her hair?

When I figure out what to do and finish it, I'll be sure to post it.
Go and check out Leanne's blog, Elle Apparel. You really won't be disappointed!

Sewing Obsession: Tank top Toddler Dress

Pin It

Last week I made a cute dress for Ava using a clearance tank top ($2.80 - - what a deal!) and some material I had on hand. It took me less than 2 hours to make. Very easy. The supplies you'll need are:

1. tank top or a blouse
2. material and/or coordinating material
3. sewing machine

I made this for a 3T. The measurements I used are as follows:

main skirt piece: 37.5 in. x 12.5 in.

bottom skirt piece: 37.5 in. x 4 in.

belt: 32 in. x 3 in.

All I did was measure the circumference of the skirt bottom of one of her 3T dresses and the length of it, so that's how you figure out how much material you'll need (even if you want to make an adult size).

1. After cutting your material to the correct measurements, sew the bottom of the main skirt piece to the top of the bottom skirt piece. Make sense? Leave about a 1/4in. seam allowance.

2. Once you sew them together, finish off that seam by using a zig-zag stitch or using your oh so fabulous serger (one day I'll have one . . . . sigh.).

3. Then fold over the top of the main skirt piece about 1 in.,(wrong side to wrong side) like so in the picture below, and pin.

4. Then you'll want to do two basting stitches at the bottom of that fold so that you can gather it. After doing the basting stitches, gather.

5. After gathering the fabric (with it inside out), place around the tank top to figure out how much gathering you need, pin in place (not on the tank top yet), and then sew down the skirt piece, while leaving a 1/2 in. seam allowance. Zig-zag or serge the edges.

6. Now's the time to sew the skirt to the tank top. Your skirt piece should fit around the tank top because you already measured it in the previous step, so all you need to do is pin it around the tank top.

7. Now, very carefully, sew the skirt to the top. I had my left hand inside the skirt piece making sure I didn't sew something that I didn't want sewn.

8. Almost done. You just need to finish the very bottom of the dress.

9. I folded the bottom part of the dress under 1/2 in and then again 1/2 in and pinned together. Then sewed across.

10. Now you just need to make a belt for it! Without the belt, it does look a little moo-moo-ish. The belt just brought everything together.

I love how it turned out! And of course I had to make a fabric rose for her hair.

I'll be linking to the link parties at the end of this page. Check them out!

Thanks for stopping by! If you do use this tutorial, send me a picture. I'd love to see your creations!