Category: Sewing

Contrast Stripes² Girl’s Knit Shirt *upcycle*

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The mornings and evenings are starting to become sweater weather and before we know it, I’ll be turning our rooms upside down looking for the cold weather clothes I had packed away hurriedly at the beginning of summer.  So this week, I have decided to get a leg up on some cold weather clothes by making some from fabric and old clothes I had on hand.  I made a couple leggings with leftover fleece from the kids’ Halloween costumes I made (which I will post soon), and saw these two old-but-perfectly-good shirts that would coordinate perfectly together to make a cute little shirt for my not-so-little-anymore girl.

These are the two shirts that I had kept in the hopes of using them one day to make something cute since the fabric is still in great condition.  The pink and gray shirt is a maternity shirt that ended up with a little hole on the shoulder area and the gray and white stripe shirt has beading that was unraveling around the neckline.

So first off, I got a 4T size shirt that fits A but is just a tad loose on her since she’s 3 yrs old and on the smaller side.  I folded in half vertically then traced a pattern for the front and back adding a little seam allowance.

I like to make one pattern piece for both the front and back and just draw another neckline which I find is easy to trace by lifting the paper a bit.

And made a rough pattern piece for the long sleeve, note how I drew above the shoulder line for the sleeve so I can gather it a bit and fit it into the armhole. *the sleeve ended up being a bit too fat/wide, so I sewed it thinner later*

Cut out your front and back pieces and sew at the shoulder and side seams with right side of fabric facing each other.  *I cut the fabric to use the already hemmed bottom portion of the shirt and the sleeve so I don’t have to hem later. *

Prepare your sleeves by folding in half and sewing up the open, long side.

See how the sleeve is a lot “bigger” than the armhole?  I made a blue mark on both sides of the sleeve then made a gather stitch between those two blue marks.

Stitch a gather stitch then pull the thread to make gathers. (You stitch on the longest stitch setting, which on my sewing machine is a 4)

Line up the seam line of the sleeve and your side seam then ease and pin the sleeve together with right sides of fabric together.  Repeat for the other sleeve and you can do serge or use a zigzag stitch to neaten the exposed seam.

Now for the neckline, I just cut off the neckband from my pink and gray shirt, roughly stretched it across the neckline to see how long it needed to be, then sewed the ends together to make a circle of the neckband.

THEN, I pinned the neckband into the neckline and remember when adding neckbands with knit fabric, you need to stretch the fabric while you pin it so it doesn’t hang loosely around the neckline later.  

Patiently pin and sew and there you have it!  My girl’s shirt is done!  I didn’t even have to hem bottom of the shirt or the wrist portion of the sleeve!  

I think it turned out cute and is a nice fall weather piece.  And the fabric I used was really soft knit fabric that is sort of loose and drapey.

Oliver+S Puppet Show Tunic

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 I made this tunic a few months ago but we moved and had a lot of changes happen so never got around to posting it.  I love this tunic by Oliver+S that I made from some fabric I had on hand.  I bought the digital pattern here and followed it as closely as I know how and I think it came out great!  The only problem is that I sewed on the cuff for the sleeve incorrectly so the overlap for the button and buttonhole ended up on the underside of the arm and not on the outside… oops!  I guess we won’t be adding a button on the cuff, but no biggie.  I’m happy with it (after beating myself up for a day).  Oh, and the OTHER problem is that my princess refuses to wear it………………. maybe her younger sister will.

Diapers and Wipes UNSTASHED

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 I hate opening up my purse and seeing the spare diaper that is squished and wrinkled from my wallet and other very important stuff being jammed on top of it.  It makes me wonder if the diaper is even clean.  SO, I found a cute table runner at TJ Maxx in the clearance section for only $5 and bought it because the design of the fabric was beautiful and the weight of the fabric was really nice.  

I borrowed a book from the library: “Tilda’s Studio: over 50 fresh projects…” and saw a laptop case with this scalloped flap and edge-stitched design that I wanted to use for a diaper clutch.  I used my diaper, wipes case, and baby changing mat as a guide to cut out a long rectangle and modified the scalloped design for the flap found in the pattern section of the book.  Then I just did a tight zigzag stitch all along the edges which means I don’t have to worry about hiding a seam, flipping it right side out, and whatnot.  I then added a large snap button by hand.  By the way, I used up a whole spool of thread (although it was a small spool and thicker thread)  It does look like a large, flat envelope, but I think the design of the fabric and the stitching all along the edges makes it look nice.  

*UPDATE: Cut out a 10.75″ x 21.25″ rectangle of main, fabric, lining, and interfacing (if your fabric is lightweight).  Then fold it in half, lengthwise and cut out the scalloped flap on one end.  Fold up the straight end to match up with the flap and sew around the edges.  Here’s the pattern for the scalloped flap.  (When you print the pattern, make sure it doesn’t “reduce to fit” or the pattern will be off scale)

Fits diapers, wipes case and a baby changing mat with room to spare.  And it still fits in my purse!  yay!  No more ugly, misshapen diapers scrunched up in the bottom of my bag.

I can see this being a ipad/tablet case as well.

Oliver+S Messenger Bag

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When I saw the “Oliver+S Little Things to Sew” book, I had to get it and it’s almost been a year and I’ve only now completed a few projects.  The messenger bag pattern comes in two sizes: small and large.  I made the small one (up to age 5) and supposedly the large can fit up to an adult.

I ended up breaking the promise to myself (to not buy more fabric) in order to make the messenger bag.  But hey, I didn’t have any canvas/home dec weight fabric! So there.  😉  I love the colors on the main fabric… makes it very playful and active.

My son’s really into airplanes so I used an airplane print for the lining although the color scheme doesn’t seem to really match the outside main fabric.  I would think it would’ve looked better with a lime green or orange lining, but it’s not bad and my son LOVES it.

The bag has pockets for pens/pencils inside the front lining as well as a bigger pocket for… an airplane?

There’s also two good size pockets in the front with flaps and pockets on both sides on the outside of the bag (below the straps).  I think next time I would want to makes those outside side pockets bigger and add elastic to the top so a small water bottle would be able to fit.

I had some difficulty finding the strap adjuster/slider for the straps.  I went to Joann’s and they didn’t have any… only buckles.  I went online and tried to find silver ones but they were out of stock!  So I went to Hancock Fabrics and found these black ones.  I had imagined my finished product with silver sliders so was very hesitant to buy the black plastic ones… but they actually look good.  I think the black accent colors on the fabric complement the black for the strap sliders.  YAY!

and here’s my son loving his new bag!  He said “It’s just like daddy’s!”

DIY Girl’s Bathing Suit

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2/21/2013-I HAVE REMOVED PICTURES OF MY DAUGHTER MODELING HER NEW BATHING SUIT DUE TO UNWANTED TRAFFIC FROM ADULT SITES!!! 

Wanna make your own little girl’s bathing suit?
It’s doable~ I’m seriously new to this whole sewing thing.  I’ve learned through DIY blogs/tutorials and although I’m sure I take a lot longer than most sewers, I’ve learned that you can do it.

So I first started with Avie’s bathing suit which is an 12-18m size and she’s definitely wearing 2T’s right now.  I traced the front and the back, but just half of it so you’d cut it on a fold later

See what I mean by just trace half?  Next time, I’m going to leave more fabric on the back bottom cuz after I assembled it, it seemed like it would barely fit a swim diaper

Cut 1 front, 1 back on fold, cut strips (double the width of the top) for the ruffles, and cut another strip for bias trim along the top front and back

use a loose stitch to gather the ruffles then 

pit it on and stitch it onto the front
then add the bias trim and pin it on/sew it on

do the same for the back minus the ruffles

*you will need to stretch the bias trim a bit in the back when you pin it so it doesn’t stretch loose*
*don’t need to stretch it for the front since it’s curved upwards and not inwards*

after sewing front 

I got a little to stretch happy with the back bias trim, but I think it just adds more character to it… ha ha

pin and sew the sides together

also do the same for the bottom crotch part

now the fun part… I should’ve been more generous w/ my seam allowance here at the leg openings where I need to add the elastic.  So I used regular elastic… since I didn’t feel like she was going to be wearing it in chlorine water too much that I’d worry about the elastic getting loose.  I measured it against the elastic I was going to use and folded and pinned the leg openings.  By the way, it’d be smart to measure your girl’s thigh/leg so it’ll be a good fit.

After you sew it very close to the edge (leaving enough room to pull the elastic and safety pin through), leave an opening to slip in the elastic and safety pin then pull it through and stitch it into place.

so there’s the after for the leg openings… see what I mean about the back bottom needing to be a bit wider to accommodate more booty
 
Now, for the strap around the neck, I tried to iron it in place but the spandex type material didn’t cooperate so I used tiny dots of liquid stitch to close it and make a nice strap.  Then sewed 2 lines at the middle edges.

attached!!!
added a bra/swimsuit clasp thing

Striped Henley-type knit dress

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I have a folder on my comp where I save pics of kids’ clothes that I like for future reference, and I decided to try this dress out from GAP.

 I know the dress I made doesn’t exactly look like this henley dress from GAP, but this is what I got my inspiration from.  
First off, I used the pattern I had for my daughter (which I made from tracing her shirt, add seam allowance), then cut out sleeves, and cut out two strips of fabric double the width of the bottom of the dress for the ruffles.

You can see I folded the solid color fabric so it’s double the width of the bottom.

Then sew the shoulders together with right sides of fabric facing each other.

Then get your sleeves and do a gather stitch and gather until it fits your armhole

Pin the sleeves onto the armhole then sew it together (again, right sides of fabric together)

This is what it should look like after you sewed on the sleeves

Now take the long strips you made for the ruffles, gather stitch them, then pin them onto the bottom of the dress w/ right sides together.  Sew it together

Now, this is another strip of fabric I cut to make the ruffles in the middle of the dress w/ the buttons.  I just eyed the measurements to what I thought would look good after gathering it.  Sew a gathering stitch in the middle and gather it.

Pin it onto the front, middle of the bodice and pin it in place.  

Sew it down with matching color thread then remove the loose gathering stitches so it looks neat.

Now for the neckline.  Take a good amount of solid fabric and iron it in half like so.

Then pin it onto the neckline while pulling the bias strip around the curves of the neckline.  So when you go to sew it on, you’ll have to stretch the bias strip.  That way your neckline isn’t stretched out and loose and ugly.

Now we’re going to add the elastic to the bottom of the sleeves, so iron and pin the bottom of the sleeve.  Make sure you leave enough room to pull the elastic and safety pin through.

After you sew the bottom of the sleeve, pull the elastic (with the help of a safety pin) through the sleeve to the opposite end, make sure you hold onto the other end of the elastic so it doesn’t get lost inside the sleeve. (I’m lazy and just stick the other end in my mouth…)

Then sew the sides of the dress and the bottom sides of the sleeve together with right sides of fabric together, and you’re done!!!  Oh, and just hand sew on the buttons.

I know the buttons look neon green, but they’re really not.  It’s a pretty combo w/ the navy blue.

Boy’s shorts and Necktie

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Finally made something for Brayden.  I used the boy’s pants/shorts pattern from http://www.danamadeit.com/2011/05/tutorial-kid-shorts.html .  This is the flat front pattern so it looks nice and not scrunched up from the elastic on the front.  I added a little airplane iron-on that I had for him and he loves it!  He likes to wear it at home since it’s too cold to wear it out just yet.

This is a boy’s necktie that I made w/ a pattern from Purl Soho  http://purlbee.squarespace.com/little-boys-tie/.  The tie is definitely for boys at least 3 yrs and older.  It’s too long for little baby boys.  My son’s 3 and it fits him just right so the smaller end in the back doesn’t hang out longer than the front, if that makes any sense…  He’ll be able to wear it for a few years and more.

Playdress (or nightgown)

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I’ve been pretty addicted to trying out different sewing projects and here’s another one.  I found this cute cotton knit fabric at Joann’s and thought I’d give knits a try.  Well… they sure are a handful to work w/… probably more so since I’m a beginner sewer or seamstress… whatever they call it

I used the same pattern I made for the other two projects (the scallop shirt and the pleated shirt) and finally got up the nerve to make myself sleeves for the dress.  So i cut out a front and back for the dress (I made it much longer to make it a dress, though my pattern is for a shirt).  Then I cut out two sleeves and had to think about it when I cut so that the cats won’t be upside down when I put them onto the dress.
I sewed the shoulders together for the front and back dress pieces then gathered the sleeves

Next, I pinned the sleeves onto the armhole of the dress

looks funny… but that’s what I did

Then I contemplated putting a green strip of fabric in the middle, but decided against it and just drew some lines almost right under the arms and sewed it w/ elastic thread (the elastic thread only goes in the bottom bobbin)

 See how it’s starting to gather so it’ll make a waist for the dress  (I read somewhere to iron the elastic part afterwards to make it gather more) so I did that and I think it worked.

Then I sewed the sides and the underside of the sleeves (obviously not the part where you arms go through)

This is the neckband w/ the bias… that was the hardest part.  I found a really good video where the lady explains how to do it without stretching it out and making it look wobbly/wrinkled.  Basically, you pin around and pull the neckband and stretch it out around the curves so that the knit fabric doesn’t stretch.   I tried to find the video again so I could post the link… but I can’t find it!  I’m sure if you search online you’ll get some other good videos or tutorials for it.  Sorry

hemmed the bottom of the dress… and VOILA~

It looks better on, I promise.

I think it turned out cute 

It looks so comfortable… I want one!

Sleeveless Scallop Shirt

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So I loved this look http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/02/scallop-shirt-on-project-run-and-play.html and decided to try it out.  I’ve done a sleeve once and didn’t want to tackle making my own pattern for the sleeve, so I just went sleeveless.  My daughter’s in her onesie so it looks kinda funny… but ignore the white shirt she’s wearing under that shirt… and also her lack of pants.  She’s figured out she can take them off

Pleated Shirt from Daddy’s Shirt

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So I’ve decided to jump the DIY sewing bandwagon.  After pinning so many fun and cute projects on Pinterest, I finally summoned up the courage to try out one of the cute shirts by Jess on http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/08/pleat-weeks-guest-post.html, but I cheated and used my hubby’s old shirt that somehow had blood stains on it (not sure how, probably one of the kids busted their lip and needed some comfort) and skipped the whole adding buttons and buttonholes.  
So I got one of Avie’s shirts and made a pattern for the top

Here’s daddy’s beautiful soft pink shirt with the bloodstain on it.  I used my seam ripper to take out the pocket and so the front of daddy’s shirt became the back portion of Avie’s shirt.

I cut out the back portion of the shirt, folded it in half, and traced the pattern on it while leaving enough room to make the pleats.  (Note to self: next time, leave more room for the pleats cuz these pleats were really small and I like the bigger pleats on Jess’s project)

I used the same pattern piece to cut out the back portion (which is the front part of daddy’s shirt) I know I keep saying daddy’s shirt when really it’s my hubby’s shirt… but w/ kids I just end up calling him daddy for the kids’ sake.  
Then I put it together and added the bias tape.  (you can see the in depth tutorial on the link I posted above on Jess’s site, which is what I used)

So initially, I just did the pleats without adding the lace, but then I found a whole LOT of this pretty lace from my mom’s sewing stash that she left when she moved and thought it’d look pretty.  So I cheated and used liquid stitch to “sew” on some of that lace in between the pleats.  I think it makes it look nicer, especially since my fabric is very plain and boring.  

And here’s my cute daughter posing for me… or scratching… I promise there the shirt isn’t scratchy.  This is just the best picture I could get of her in the shirt.