Fun with Denim

I know I've been a bad poster here. Still making stuff. Just too (busy, lazy, unoriginal) to post them. Pinterest has kind of filled my need to post things I've tried.

But here a few things I've done lately. I've been collecting ill-fitting, holey jeans for a while and finished a few things.

The first one is this dress where I cut a tee and added layers of denim on the bottom. Inspiration here.

Dang, in the newer blogs you can make pictures smaller in the compose page. Sorry about the largeness.

Second, I finally made some art to go with the pallet shelves I made. I needed something rustic, so I took an art board from the thrift store, cut up denim and mod podged it to the board for the backyard. Then I used my glue gun to glue on pockets. I like it.


Lastly, I made a simplified denim rag quilt (no back) using more of the old jeans. A great decorator, nap quilt, and/or picnic blanket.



Let's see...what else fun have I done? I made a cinnamon roll bouquet for Christmas Eve. (I just used the tube kind)

The Pillowcase Dress

Love the pillowcase dress!! Easy enough for the beginner sewer and cute!!

For the summer version I got inspiration from here to make my own lemon-lime bandanna dress ($2 total-Wal-mart).

I used the instructions here.

She kept tugging at the ribbons so I ended up making different ties but didn't get a picture for this one. I used the tutorial here using an old green tee shirt for the straps instead. Great for a hot summer day or a swimming cover-up.

Then the other day at the thrift store I spotted a sweater with great fall colors. ($3) I'm not much of a sweater person myself but I knew I use the fall colors for something. So I made this from the same concept.

I used the leftovers to make a headband and flower. I made the flower from this tutorial, then painted a wooden circle, added some rub-ons, sprayed with finishing spray and glued an embellishment in the middle. Bring on fall!!

Summer Fun

4th of July Kabob. Sorry I lost the source where I got this idea. It was a great side to a BBQ.

I made this Mariners dress for my daughter using an old T-shirt. Got the tute here. I didn't add the elastic in the middle or the sleeves cuz it's summer!

And one my favorite projects ever is the romper made out of a boys church shirt. I love it.

Got the tute here. I used a 6-8 boys shirt for a 2T romper.

The latest and greatest

New projects I've worked on lately:

The five jeans skirt. Yes, this skirt took five pairs of old jeans that didn't fit well. Sorry for the blur. The five-year-old can only take so many pictures!!


I used this tutorial to make the yoga band for the waist. Then I basically made six-inch strips out of jeans to make each layer. And when you are making each layer 1.5 inches bigger than the last, your last layer is very long.



Then I made a little skirt for my daughter using this tute.



And finally I got my curtains up in her room. I used purple fabric I already had and then used some of friends extra purple fabric to make some patchwork curtains.

Fun with Knit

My latest project was this dress (found here):


With this matching hairbow found here:

I'm kind of addicted to making these bows out of all our old t's! This was so much fun to make.

Dolly

This summer I spent more time enjoying summer than crafting, but I was feeling an itch to make something. And I keep drooling over the Waldorf dolls Lil Blue Boo keeps featuring. Having the "I'm too frugal I can make that myself mentality" can be a curse sometimes. Those dolls are expensive, but I learned why. I researched some sites online and attempted to make one. Not going to happen in this lifetime.
But, I still I had this itching to make a doll. So, I found a great tutorial on Martha Stewart. The doll instructions were very easy to follow. However, I found the clothes a bit challenging. (Don't let this intimidate you, as I am a very amateur sewer) So, I made an extremely basic version of the shirt which was supposed to have a collar, buttons etc.

It was good enough for my 15-month old. I love her long crazy hair. Maybe I will have to live my long hair fantasies through her. Now I've gotten it out of my system. Time to move on to other craft projects.

And to start saving for the real Waldorf doll.

Sew Great

Been on a bit of a sewing kick lately. Here are some of my projects. I took a hand-me-down shirred tank-top and sewed on a four- tiered skirt to it.


Who knew you could sew a hat out of an old T-shirt? Perfect for pulling on for early morning garage sales! Find out how here.


I bought this dress dirt-cheap at Old Navy, but it was too short. I took inspiration from this http://alisaburke.blogspot.com/2010/03/petticoat-tutorial.html, only I sewed a length onto the dress and then added the ruffles. Not sure if I am in love with this or not. Me and my mom are working on a eyelet slip skirt to wear under a couple of other clearance dresses that were too short. If I like it maybe I will unpick it and wear that instead.



The 20-Minute Skirt. Ok, it took me about an hour, but that was more for operator error than anything else.

4th of July Dress

What do you get when you combine two hand-me-down patriotic tank-tops with one of my old white shirts? This 4th of July dress!
I know-we still have two months to go, but I love the 4th of July! She already has her outfit all ready.
I cut up my old white shirt to to make the skirt to sew to the red tank top. Then, I cut up the cute words and graphics from the other tank and appliqued it to the skirt.

I made a shirt!

I never thought I could actually make a shirt that was wearable! It's not perfect, but
I am in love with it. And it was really fun to make.

Even a beginner sewer figured it out.

Check out the original tutorial found here, which was featured here.

If you are interested, these posts are terrific. The only thing I did a little differently was add a band around the bottom, with a matching applique from the top material, with a zig zag stitch hem.

She also started the sizing at Size 2, and told you how to go up for additional sizes. I wanted a size 1, so I went down the recommended amounts instead of up.

Baby legs that stay on

When I saw these baby legs made out of knee high socks from Little Birdie Secrets, I knew I had to try them out. Great idea. I liked them because it made little outfits season less. All of those adorable rompers and summer skirts could still be used in the winter (which is looooong around here!) And isn't there just something so adorably simple about a baby in a little romper?

Anyway, I tried them out but this is more of what ended up happening. Not exactly the look I was going for.

They kept falling down!

But, I still really wanted them to work. So I sewed some onto some existing diaper cover ups (baby panties, pantaloons-what are these things called? From here on out, I will call them diaper cover ups), that didn't really match any outfit anymore.

For some reason this picture isn't exactly right. After you make your baby legs using the above tutorial, turn your diaper cover ups inside out and your baby legs inside out. Then put your socks onto the outside of the diaper cover up. (The picture shows inside) Then, pulling tight as you sew, sew the baby legs onto the diaper cover up and turn inside out. There, done. Easy.But, what if you don't have any extra cover ups, and need more than you have? You can make your own diaper cover ups. Here is how:1) Take an existing pair that fit well and trace onto paper, about 1 - 1/2 inches bigger. Only trace around half, then fold the paper in half so it will be equal. Cut out and pin onto your fabric (I used an old knit shirt). Repeat to make 2.2) Then I used my rotary cutter to straighten out the edges. Sew the sides together, using a zig zag stitch. Then for the top fold over twice and iron. Sew around, leaving an opening for your elastic. Pull your elastic through using a safety pin, then sew the elastic ends together and sew the opening closed. Now you sew the crotch area closed.

Then you ready to sew your baby legs onto your cover up. Trust me, this was no fancy sewing job. The cover up itself doesn't really look that great, but I figured no one would see under all the cute rompers.My model is not so happy anymore!If any of this was confusing, here is a similar project with additional tips or you can ask me and I will try to help the best that I can.

So, now go extend the life your of your baby girls summer clothes!