St Patty's Day Tees

You can bet that many Irish eyes will be smiling when they land on these adorable St Patty's Day T-Shirts. I just can't help myself when it comes to making my girls holiday themed shirts.

 I had this idea rolling around in my head for a little while and hammered it out this weekend. Funny thing is that I saw a shirt with a very similar concept on another blog last week. Just goes to show you that there really is nothing new under the sun.

Lately I have been adding fun appliques to the back off the shirts I have been making. It is the fun little details that can really make a project unique and your own.

I can't wait to hit our local St. Patrick's Day festivities with my two little lasses in their St Patty's Day tees.

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog
Making the World Cuter
The Sweet Talk Shop

Baby Week Day One

***Don't forge to link up your baby projects here throughout the week!!***

Sewing for any baby can be so much fun. But sewing for your own baby is the best. The cute fabrics. The miniature items that result. And the joy of knowing that the item you made is one of a kind and oh so special. I decided that with this baby I would sew their coming home outfit. I looked and looked for cute knit fabrics, and was very disappointed with what I was finding. I finally found a couple through fabrics.com. When they arrived, I wasn't completely sold on them, but gave it a go anyway. I made one outfit for a boy and one for a girl. They turned out huge. I think part of that was the pattern's fault and part may have been my own. (That can happen when you forget to remove the seam allowance and are using a serger.) I decided that I better give it another go. This time I bought some Michael Miller knits. I was much happier with the quality and this time I decided to just use tutorials from the internet rather than commercial patterns.

For the pants, I used Christine's Newborn One Size Fits Many PJ Pants Tutorial.  It is a great tutorial and I love how the pants turned out! Can't you just see a little curled up ball of baby love hanging out in these?




For the top, I appliqued an elephant onto a store bought onesie. I used my usual technique of Heat and Bond Lite and a Google image search. :o) Dipping into my stash, I found some fabric that coordinated perfectly to the knits.



And what baby outfit would be complete without a little hat to top it all off? I found a great tutorial at Make It and Love It. And I made it and I love it!
Now the entire ensemble is all packed up waiting for its journey to the hospital to meet its new little one!

Flip Flop Fun Shirt

**Don't forget!! Baby Week is coming!**

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I know that summer is rapidly coming to an end, but it isn't quite time to pack away our flip flops yet! I recently found this darling skirt for Peachy at a garage sale. My love for all things ric-rac and the price guaranteed that I would not be leaving the sale without the skirt.

A little bit of quick work with the seam ripper and the sequin shell was history. I also ended up taking it in a bit on the sides since it was a size bigger than what Peachy is wearing right now. Perfection!

Now to come up with a top to wear with the skirt. I happened to have this plain shirt from Target on hand. I knew I wanted to do some sort of applique on it. I also decided that it would be fun to change it up from your basic t-shirt style. To do this, I simply cut off the bottom and sleeve hems. I then zig-zagged the edges with a coordinating thread while gently pulling on the knit fabric.

As for the applique, I decided to do a reverse applique of a set of flip flops. If you haven't tried reverse applique, it is fun and easy. You end up cutting the top layer, in this case, the shirt. I like to use Heat and Bond lite with my image drawn on the paper. After adhering the Heat and Bond and cutting out the image, I iron the fabric onto the inside, face up. I like to sew around the image, this is why I use the lite Heat and Bond.

A cute, fun, and inexpensive outfit to finish off summer with a splash!

I link to these fabulous blog link parties.

T Shirt to Cardigan

Have you ever noticed that when you are looking for something specific it is no where to be found? I have been on the hunt for a basic cardigan/zip up hoodie to wear home from the hospital and those early nursing days. And do you think that I could find one in town that met my criteria? (Okay, maybe I didn't go to every store, but I hit all of the obvious choices.) It was time I took matters into my own hands. I purchased a basic v-neck shirt in XL and went to the sewing machine.

It was very easy and I am thinking this is just the start of my t-shirt to cardigan refashioning days. Here is a quick tutorial so that you can make your own as well.
T-Shirt to Cardigan Tutorial

1. Cut your shirt in half down the center front.

2. Sew ribbon along each edge on the right side of the t-shirt. (I used a very small seam allowance here. Probably around 1/8 of an inch.) Be sure to leave about an inch of ribbon at the top and bottom.

3. Turn the ribbon to the inside of the shirt. Press with your iron. Take the extra from the top and bottom and turn under to the inside.

4. Sew along the ribbon on the outside edge. (Again, I used a small seam allowance.) Also, make sure that the ribbon ends are tucked under while sewing to create a finished edge.

5. You can leave your cardigan like this, or make some sort of closure. I choose to make an elastic loop and button closure at the top of the cardigan.
6. Start with elastic cord. (The one I used is actually sold for jewelry, but  I use it for this purpose.) I cut a couple of inches and tied it off to make a loop.

7. Sew the loop to the top inside of your cardigan.

8. And finally sew a button to the other side.

An easy and nifty little project. Perfect for maternity, breast feeding, or just hanging out.

I am linking to the following parties this week:

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