Girls DIY High-Low Skirt

Last summer when I went to Europe a saw a lot of these high-low skirts around. I remember the first time (at least in my lifetime) when they were in style and I didn't like them back then. But maybe having 20 years to get used to the idea has changed my heart and I really quite like the look now.

Since my daughter is so tall and skinny, it's hard to find dresses and skirts are narrow enough and long enough. So I decided to make one for her using some leftover fabric from a shirt I had made for myself. (I may post that later. Can't decide quite how I feel about it.)

Usually when I try to photograph her, she will only be silly and crazy, but this time she turned on her modeling charm!

I did a google search for how to make a high-low skirt and got a general idea of how to cut the fabric. That was the scariest part. The rest was easy. Just a serged the top, did a basting stitch around the top to gather it, and sewed it onto an elastic waistband using a zig zag stitch. Seriously so easy.

The best part? This fabric cost me $4 on clearance, and I got a shirt and a skirt out of it!

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Sleepy Eye Mask

It's been a while since I've made one of these, and it was time for a new one.

This time instead of batting I just used some leftover thick gray fleece on the inside, so it provides more light blockage and is just as soft and cushy. The back side is a dark gray silky satin. Now I can sleep in until 7:00 if my kids don't wake me up first.
Oh, and Ava just went to a pajama party birthday and they decorated their own little eye masks with glitter and pom poms, and now she loves to put hers on at night, even if it's already dark. Cute.

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A Most Practical Tablecloth

Wipeable. Stays put. Protects the table. Looks nice. It's everything I want.

Ezra was making a habit of banging and denting the table top with anything in his hand at random times. And coloring on it. And scratching it. That's what made me first want a table cover. But most laminated tablecloths are not so attractive and I'm not a fan of the clear ones. That's when my friend, Paula, told me about the oil cloth table covers she makes with elastic around the edges so that they stay put. Brilliant! (She also sells traditional style tablecloths in oilcloth). Only my table isn't the type that the elastic would hold it on, so I worked with her to modify the design some, and it works beautifully! I sewed the corners together for a snug fit and sewed in some ties to tie it under the table around the legs. The kids can't rip it off, they can color and eat and spill and bang and the table top is protected. I'm really loving it. If you ask, she'll make one like this for you too.

(See the tie below, on the right side)

You can check out Paula's other great offerings in her Etsy shop. She has really great fabric options. I also got one of her wasties, which are fabulous little reversible waste baskets for car, craft room, or just about anywhere. They stand alone or hang from a (removable) included command hook (or snap loop option too) any where you need. 

And tons of cute options for ironing board covers. They've made my ironing much more enjoyable, believe it or not. It's just less dreadful when you have something fun to look at instead of a plain blue cover.

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DIY Duct Tape Child's Dress Form

You've probably seen these around. I wanted to create a dress form for my 3-year old so I could make sure things fit as I work on them. She's not much for trying things on or holding still. I thought this would be a great place to start. I started with this tutorial by Prudent Baby.

Attempt #1 wasn't so great. I put a t-shirt on her and then the duct tape, and it was too big. When I tried one of her skirts on it, it didn't fit. Too thick. So I started over. This time I put a too-small old t-shirt on her. Trying to get my ADHD child to hold still long enough to tape her up a second time was just asking too much. I put on her favorite show, but I still had to wrap it up a little sooner than I was ready.

I think that if I had immediately reinforced the form as soon as I cut it off of her, it might have held it's shape a little better. But instead, it took me several days to add tape to the inside (I didn't want it to end up too thick again, so I reinforced the inside mostly). I also thought it was still just too weak, so I added paper mache to the outside and the inside. I wanted it good and firm. Then I spray painted the whole thing.

As you look at the side views, you can see that the form slumped a little and became pretty sway-backed. But the size still works and the clothes don't hang too badly on it, so for now it will suffice. With how fast kids grow, I'll have to make a new one next year anyway. Here it is with one of her swimsuits on.

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Halloween Craft #3: Tweed and Flannel Fabric Pumpkins

I had this idea last year but never got around to executing it. I'm glad I got to this year. I'm sure I got the idea of fabric pumpkins from somewhere else, maybe Martha? Who knows, but anyway, I thought some menswear would be the perfect touch for the season. A little dark, a little sophisticated, a little mysterious.

If you'd like some directions, this is a great tutorial.

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Baby Bubble Skirt and Triple Rose Onesie

Earlier this year, a few of my neighbors got together for a picture of our babies.  We thought it would be fun to get a photo of all the babies that were born just last year in our little neighborhood. All FIFTEEN of them.

My boy is #7 from the left.

So now you know we have a lot of babies around here. Which means a lot of baby showers. Which means a lot of baby gifts. 

For the baby shower this week, I made an elastic waist bubble skirt and coordinating satin rosette onesie. I used this same fabric a while back to make this pillowcase top for my baby Ava. And now here it is again on this skirt.

I love tiny little baby clothes. 

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Stripes and Felt Baby Shoes

My friend Merrilee is having her first baby girl soon. I wanted to give her something handmade, because she is a super talented designer, illustrator, seamstress, and do-it-all girl. This was my first attempt at baby shoes, and it was a fun project to take on.

I also made a couple of little felt bow clips, because every little girl needs hair accessories. And her little one will probably have enough hair to actually use them.

For the gold roses on the shoes, I roughly used this pattern from Purl Bee, but I shrunk it quite a bit. The dusty pink rose was made from felt rick-rack and I just kind of twirled and twisted and stitched it together until it looked good. Now I kind of want to make more baby shoes and perfect the art!

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Men's Shirt Repurposed

I love a good upcycling tutorial. It seems that men's shirts have enough material to them that there is a lot you can do. Check out this tutorial for turning a men's button-down shirt into a women's top.

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Baby Break

I just had a baby so I won't be posting as frequently for the next little while. Meet baby Ezra. He came a glorious 2 weeks early and weighed in at 7lbs 3oz.

But he is a scratcher, so I made him some baby mittens for his own protection.

I used one of Ryan's old shirts from my scrap pile, and utilized the sleeve which already had the bottom hemmed. I based the shape and size on some girly ones I had for my daughter, only they are too short for his hands so I made these ones longer. I figure he won't outgrow them in a week if I make them a little bigger too. They are a nice soft jersey-knit and I like that they don't have animals or footballs all over them. Pin It

It's Raining Felt

Over a year ago I saw this darling felt cloud and raindrops from Etsy seller Butterflying.

When I started planning baby boy's nursery I knew I wanted to include this idea over the crib. See, I'm paranoid about anything framed or heavy falling off the wall and injuring baby, so this idea was perfect. I customized it to match my nursery and made my own.

Once I have Ava moved into her new room and the baby moved into the nursery, I'll share photos of the whole room. I still haven't shown you the crib bedding, have I? I will.  Pin It

Father & Son Tie Shirts

One last little Father's Day item. I appliqued this shirt & onesie for Ryan and the new little guy, full well knowing Ryan will never wear it, but I just couldn't help myself. At least the baby will wear his.

Happy Father's Day! Pin It

Twin Duvet Cover

Ava will soon be moving into a new room and bed to make room for the new baby (though I plan to procrastinate as long as possible). Her nursery is pretty un-girly, so I thought this time I'd try to be more feminine for her. I'm not a big fan of pink and purple, but decided I'd let Ava decide for herself about such things. It's no ruffles and lace, but I'm taking baby steps here, okay?
Her room starts with the bed and duvet cover. Since all the duvet covers I liked were pretty expensive, I decided to make my own. I used this Tina Given's fabric by Free Spirit. (And I have extra yardage, so if you want some you can go to my Etsy site).

The bed is from IKEA but I got it from the local classifieds for around $100. 

See the cute dots on the sheets? Awww. So cute. (I didn't make the sheets, I got them here.)

See those snaps below? Yeah, I hammered those in myself. It was my first time doing that kind of snaps, and it was so super easy. Instructions are just on the back of the package and all you need is a hammer and a spool of thread. You should try it, if you never have. I want to put snaps on everything now.

Next I have to figure out what color to paint the room. I was planning on doing a really pale yellow, but now I'm afriad that with the tan carpet that might turn pretty blah. And I don't know if I can bring myself to go pink on the walls (even a very light pink)... Especially because this duvet reflects quite a bit of pink into the room (and hallway) already. But if I put a cute little yellow night stand next to the bed, it would sure be cute. There is a bit of very light aqua in the duvet, but the new boy's nursery is that color so I don't want two rooms the same color. Suggestions?
If you are looking for a good duvet tutorial, this is the one that gave me basic direction. Just make sure you square up/true up your fabric before you cut it! I didn't and it caused a bit of headache for me. And keep in mind, as you calculate your measurements, that home decor fabric is like 54" wide on the bolt and quilting cottons (standard fabrics) are like 44". That will make a difference in how many yards you need.

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Simplest Sewn Fabric Bag (Tutorial)

I needed to make 15 simple cute bags for Girl's Camp in a few weeks (for 12-18 yr. old girls). So I used a little bag from Anthropologie as my pattern (even their baggies are cute!). You can make these any size you want, and they are about as fast and easy as it comes.
(Since mine are basically going to be disposable, I didn't bother ironing).

I started with a scrap of fabric that was 8x10 inches.

Next, just barely fold in the top edges on both sides, about and inch and a half or two inches.

And sew that.

Like so.

Now you are going to roll over a seam, so fold it down once along the top, then fold again and pin it down.

And sew along the bottom of that fold, leaving a big enough gap for a safety pin to pass through.

Fold the whole thing in half (vertically), right sides together, and pin.

Starting at the seam stitch you just sewed, sew along the outside edge and bottom.

 

Flip inside out (or actually outside out)...

 Tie a piece of twine, embroidery floss, ribbon, or whatever around the end of a safety pin and feed it through the gap in the top of the bag and out the other side.

Tie a knot in the end and voila!

Fill your cute bag with whatever you see fit! Pretzels, candy, manicure kit, sunglasses, money, etc. But if you fill it with money, send it to me, okay? Thanks.

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