T-Shirt Skirt Tutorial

If you're like me then you're constantly on Pinterest! I'm always seeing things I want to try but as a working mom with 2 little ones it's hard to get around do trying them all.... unless you're invited to a pinterest party and then you go crazy, hahaha! Our playgroup had a MNO (Moms' Night Out) tonight and we were all invited to bring something from  Pinterest . Sooooo... I brought a drink, a snack AND a sewing project! The project I made was a T-shirt skirt. It seemed like the perfect thing for any busy mom to throw together. And considering the 85' degree temps we've been having here in Illinois, despite it being mid-march, it's an easy wardrobe refresher!

I was inspired by this graphic:

Which I then tracked to this tutorial. So I snuck a peek in hubby's closet, but felt bad about stealing a t-shirt he still wears and I didn't want to try this on a t-shirt that I wouldn't ACTUALLY wear as a skirt, so I swung by Old Navy and picked up a clearance top! It went basically the same, but I had to make some small adjustments since I used a boat-necked top. Full disclosure: I spent more than 30 seconds on this. Haha! But definitely no longer than 30 minutes!

Here's what I started with:

Since it was a sort of boat neck neckline with extra wide shoulders, I had to make a few adjustments. The first thing I tweaked was closing some of the shoulder opening. I knew I needed to do this because I had slipped the shirt on to my waist to get a feel for how it would look and lay. So from the shoulder down a few inches I closed it- but careful, you're not going all the way or you'll lose your pockets!

Here's what it looks like with my new seams:

Then you'll need to stitch your sleeves shut to create pockets. My top had 3/4 length sleeves so I didn't sew at the cuff, rather a bit higher. Here you can see them sewn:

Then you can go ahead and cut your excess sleeves below your seam:

The rest pretty much follows the the graphic at the beginning of this post. So step 1) Cut from the neck to your shoulder- in my case I cut up to the point where I'd sewn at my shoulder:

(in this picture I'd only cut half way to the new seam, but it needed to be cut all the way)

Here you can see it cut on both shoulders and folded down:

I then folded it all the way around and pressed it to have a nice waistline:

My original intention was to have it be drawstring, so I sewed a casing all the way, leaving an opening in the front in order to be able to tie it:

I didn't really like how it felt/held up though so I'm going to add elastic to it and sew the casing completely shut. 

Overall, I love it. So easy, super cute and a one of a kind skirt!

Baptismal Outfit

Today my mom and I shopped for Junebug's baptismal outfit. After two stores we headed to JoAnns, which is probably where we should have just started in the first place! After just a minute we found the PERFECT pattern from Burda. It was a new brand for me, and it pleased me to see it was from Germany =) Ah, nostalgia...

Anyways here's what I got:

I won't be making the shirt or the bow tie and I'll be altering the pants a bit (no cuff, a bit longer and maybe wider). I got some lovely linen, which I'm thinking is going to look fantastic! I can't WAIT to see how this turns out!

so tutu-lly excited!

I'm diving into the world of tulle and tutus today LOL! Special request from a friend so I'll be making my first birthday tutu & onesie set. If it goes well and seems easy enough maybe it'll become a regular item in the etsy shop!

*UPDATE*
Here's the finished product! Can't wait to get the pics from Jacqui to see her lil' girl wearing it:

hemming the short length

I am one of those people who is SO short I have to hem even the short length pants I purchase. Well despite all the sewing I've been doing the past year +, I've always been so afraid to try to hem my own pants. Partially because it's hard to measure them on yourself, partially because I'm afraid of screwing up and wasting a pricey pair of pants. Well, I finally took the plunge and I think they turned out pretty ok.... They seem a little short, but they're a very wide legged pant so I might be fooled by the "airyness" I'm feeling....

the "pillowcase" dress

Surely you've seen pillowcase dresses, they're all the rage among toddler wardrobes these days! The styles range from simple to more elaborate with multiple fabrics and bias tape and what not. So which do I choose for my first attempt? The elaborate one, of course! ;) It took me a few hours to complete, especially with my repeated checking of the tutorial from Little Big Girl Studio (I'm kinda hyper vigilant). But I'm THRILLED with the way it turned out! I only wish it wasn't 11pm when I finished so that I could have Pumpkin try it not right away!!! But that will have to wait until tomorrow after work I guess =(

The best part is I have more of the brown polka dot fabric that I will use to make a necktie onesie for my Junebug =) Yay for matching sibling sets =P

the "simple skirt"

For months now I've been bookmarking tutorials left and right of various projects I want to make. The past few weeks I've now taken to "pinning" things. Finally, tonight, I made some stuff! And I'm so in love =). This simple skirt tutorial was such a breeze. I knocked it out in about an hour- would have been faster had I not been tending to a toddler and newborn and stopping to re-read directions in between!

I've been planning to make this one for a while now so I actually planned in advance and took my daughter (a.k.a. Pumpkin) with to JoAnn's and let her choose the fabric. This make the skirt 100x more exciting, trust me! Here's our finished product:

Pumpkin showing off the fit:

Tried to photograph her wearing it and all I got was a blur from her twirling... she's in love with this skirt!

More Onesies

I haven't had time to post because I haven't had time to craft! *sad face* However we're on spring break now so instead of lesson planning I spent my Sunday afternoon working on some more onesies... Here's the whale one I made for my Junebug, an airplane one is in the works next =)

Necktie Onesie

SO proud of this project =) I swear this took me half an hour tops, and I feel like that's only because I was stopping to check the directions and take pictures of my progress. How fun and simple! Ever since we found out we're having a boy I've been dying to make one of these Appliqued Tie Onesies from Crap I've Made. Here's how my first attempt turned out:

SO CUTE, right? So, I'm going to post my picture progress, but for the step by step directions please visit Crap I've Made's tutorial here. =) Enjoy!

My onesie, fabric, and stencil:

Fabric, Wonder Under and Template cut to size:

Tracing the tie on the fabric with the Wonder Under:

My pieces cut and ready to go:

Ironed on!

Finally, to reinforce with a quick straight stitch:

Ta da! Love it =)