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!

Upcycling Obsession: Summer's End Toddler Dress Tutorial

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Now, the Summer's End Toddler Dress reveal and simple tutorial.

My inspirations were taken from these adorable JCrew dresses below. Just didn't want to pay the $50 price tag. $4 and a few hours is more my style.




And here it is on little Ava. I have a pretty cute model, don't ya think?


I had found this cute XL woman's skirt at Target on clearance and knew it'd be perfect as a dress for Ava. I've had it sitting in my sewing bin for months and thought it was time.

So, here's the easy tutorial. But, first of all. Just so you know. I don't explain things very well. I wasn't trained professionally so I don't know all of the technical sewing terms. So please ask questions if you're confused. Which you might already be.

This was made for a 2T-3T.

Here's how:

-measure the skirt (at the skirt's waistband) around her chest (inside out) underneath her armpits (while bribing your model with chocolate chips if she held still - -pssst. . . always works). It ended up being 21.5 inches around the chest and back.

-from there, I pinned down the skirt and made it look as symetrical as I could with the other side by just folding the dress in half and cutting off the extra material. *** don't forget to leave about 1/2 inch extra for the seam.

-with right sides together, sew down the skirt on that one side.

-I wanted the dress to go to her knees, so I just cut a few inches off and because of this ruffly fabric, I didn't even have to hem the bottom (from under the armpit to the knees, it ended up being 16 in. long). But in most cases, you'll probably have to hem it.

-Now time for the straps. Because this was a woman's XL skirt, there was some fabric leftover. The skirt had a slip like material underneath the ruffles so that's what I used to make the straps. I cut the material 3 inches x 11.5 inches (2 of them), sewed down them lengthwise making them into tubes and turning them right side out.

-I then tried the dress on her and determined where the strapes would go, pinned it, and sewed them to the dress.

You're done!

Hope it wasn't too complicated. I was really just doing it as I went.

I also glued fabric roses that I'd made from extra pieces of the fabric onto an elastic headband. Now that I see these pictures, it does seem a bit too big for her head, but oh well.

To take the pictures, I had to bribe her by taking her across the street to feed the fish in the lake. Works every time.

Hope you like it!

I'll be sharing this upcycle and tutorial with some of these link parties at the bottom of this page. So, check them out!!!

Upcycling Obsession: toddler dress sneak peek

I don't think I've taken out my sewing machine all summer. We've just been so busy, but I've had lists of sewing projects that I've been waiting to do. One of them included turning this XL woman's skirt that I bought on clearance from Target for $4 and making it into a cute dress for Ava.

Here's a sneak peek of it. Check back for photos and an easy tutorial on Monday.

Just a little clue of what it might look like. It's a cross between these two dresses from JCrew, just without the $50 price tag.

I'm loving it and so does little Ava.

Craft Obsession: Pinch Proof Shirt

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Have any plans? Corned Beef and Cabbage in the oven? Hope you haven't been pinched. I only have one pair of scrubs that have green on it, so that's what I wore this morning. This little girl below will definitely not be pinched. Well, maybe. I mean, look at those cheeks! Who can't resist pinching those?

Anyway, I figured this little munchkin needed a festive shirt to wear. So last minute, I cut up an old pair of Christmas pjs that I had laying around and made this shirt (actually didn't sew it on, just ironed using wonder-under. For some reason my sewing machine wasn't cooperating) and matching p.j. bottoms using my tutorial here. The shirt had paint stains that I needed to cover up somehow. This was the perfect opportunity. I saw this idea on Lulu's Tiles. Very cute! Have a great day!!!

Sewing Obsession: Bubble Skirt

I was in the mood to make a cute skirt for my little girl and remembered this tutorial here on Ruffles and Stuff by Disney. It's a bubble skirt made out of fabric and tights. She made it seem really easy . . . and it is!

I actually made this bubble skirt out of an old pair of leggings that my daughter had. There were too many grody stains, so I knew this would be perfect. And they actually are 12-18 months. Oops. My daughter just turned two! No wonder why they were looking a little short on her.

I found this fabric at one of my favorite online fabric stores . . . Fashionable Fabrics. Check out their sale fabric. You won't be dissappointed.

And my adorable, cutie pie modeling the skirt. (Long day = wrinkled clothing.) I made it a little big on purpose. With a skirt that cute, she's gotta where it for a long time!

Sewing Obsession: pillowcase dresses

The other day I was at a thrift store and found this adorable pillowcase. I love hand sewn, vintage items like this. I have a few emotions: happy cause I found something awesome to use and then I feel a little sad cause this hand-made item that should be passed down from generation to generation . . . is in a thrift store . . . and family pictures in picture frames at thrift stores? That really pulls at my heart strings. Anyway. Enough about my emotions.

So I found this pillowcase and I'm dying to make a cute little pillowcase dress for my little girl out of it. Won't that be cute? And for$1? Come on Spring! Can't you speed it up a little?

A few easy pillowcase tutorials can be found at Freshly Picked by Susan (elastic used) and at A Room Somewhere by Leslie (ribbon used).

**Psst. You don't even have to use a pillowcase. If you have fabric you love use that! I once even made some out of kitchen drapes. (see the pic below)

What else have you made out of a pillowcase?

Upcycling Obsession: sleeveless shirt to toddler dress

1/2 hr. upcycle tutorial

So I found this sleeveless top on clearance awhile back. It was sitting in my closet for awhile - - never worn, and then I had an oh so fabulous idea. Why not make this sleeveless top into a dress for my little girl?

So I turned this

into this!

And it was the easiest upcycle to date! All I did was:

try it on her inside out,

pinned under her armpits and pinned the sides,

sewed them up,

and shortened the bottom a little.

-The material on the shoulders (for a woman) became the sleeves (for the child's dress).

-I used a woman's small and it became a dress for a 18-24 month old.

-You'll need to adjust the neckline and make a few stitches there.


(If you want a more detailed tutorial with pictures, let me know. And sorry. I'm not a professional seamstress and probably didn't explain as well as I should have. Let me know if you have questions!)