No Blog Posts does not = No Sewing: A Catch-Up

I have been bumbarded with sewing projects the last few weeks. (weeks... eep). I have been working on switching my 15 month old over to cloth diapers and I have been working on Christmas presents for family and friends. I want to post pictures, but I'm not going to attach names, in case one of the receivers of the gifts happens to read this (unlikely).

So we'll start out with diapers. These were the first diapers I made.

Then I made a diaper for my daughter's baby doll. 

The most recent diapers have snaps, and a much better fit. 

Pre-fold

I also made some plush dolls.

And then I played around with some fabric paint. 

And then I tinkered with some beads, charms and chains.

I also took my kiddos trick or treating 

and tore down Halloween decorations. Oh yeah, and did mom and wife things. =] 

So that's what has kept me so busy. 

With Halloween Just Around the Corner

I decided that since I was getting better at sewing that I would make the girls costumes this year. More than previous years, that is. Before I had just put certain clothes together and called it good. For example: 

Haylie's first Halloween she was an Army Brat.

Haylie's second Halloween she was Pink Tink:

Haylie's third Halloween she was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz:

And Lexi went as an Oregon Ducks cheerleader (her first Halloween):

So this year, after asking for months what Haylie wanted to be, she finally said "I want to be Spatula." Which I knew meant, "I want to be Cinderella." 

So here is the Cinderella dress I sewed for her (no pattern):

Turned out pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. 

But Lexi was a little harder, as she can't really tell me what she wants to be, and she has only just really gotten the hang of walking. Oh yeah, and because October up here is pretty darn cold. 

So I tried out the pink fairy idea. My fall back apparently:

Egh, it was cute, but Haylie was Pink Tink on her second Halloween, and that just screams 'hand me downs, ' and Lexi always gets Haylie's hand me downs. 

So after days of contemplating I settled on Princess Jasmine. Because she wears pants, and pants plus new toddler equal really great idea: 

Even though she isn't thrilled about me taking her picture today.

But she's better now.

Of course, they do still have their pirate costumes from their grandma's wedding a year ago: 

And the costumes still fit. Here they are playing dress up today: 

But they are going as Cinderella and Jasmine. Super excited for Halloween now. 

Maxi Skirt into Fall Tunic

I had this floral maxi skirt that used to be my mom's. 

I had worn it as a dress previously with a wide belt.

But today I decided this would make a super cute tunic, since the weather is cooling down. 

It was a pretty easy transition. I'm really kicking myself for not taking pictures along the way. 

So I'm going to do a diagram instead :)

First, cut the elastic waistband off the skirt.

The skirt will have a front and back piece, so turn the skirt inside out and stitch the two pieces together across the top leaving an opening in the middle for your head (if you want it off the shoulder, make the opening wider).

Fold the skirt in half and cut the neckline of the front piece lower than the back. Then cut down the sides to give the skirt a shirt shape.

Unfold the shirt and sew the sides together. 

Technically, you're done. But I like flair. So I added a lace collar and two buttons on the side.

You can also sew in elastic for a fitted waist. 

Here's a picture of how my tunic turned out. (sorry if the diagram is hard to fallow. It probably is)

I made a belt out of the elastic waist portion we cut off earlier.

But I have another belt that fits tighter.

And there you have it. That's how you make a maxi skirt into a tunic top.