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. 

Oh The Fun of Altering T-Shirts

Let me show you just a few of the awesome things I have done to outrageously huge t-shirts.

This t-shirt my sister got me for Christmas 2009 when she lived with us. I was pregnant with Alexis, so the x-large size was amazing. At the time. But now Lexi is a year old, and I wanted this to be something I could continue to wear without looking frumpy. Hello, alterations! The bodice? That used to be the sleeves.

This next one used to be a long sleeved shirt. But I didn't cut any material off the bottom. It was originally short. I hate short shirts. How can I bend over to lift my kids if I'm worried my shirt will ride up and expose stretch marks. Yes, stretch marks. So, I added a skirt and some awesome leopard print straps. I'm bringing out my inner rocker chick.

I love the straps. 

Oh and it even looks better with my little belt!

And then I made this one. I gotta say, this dress, was the most fun, and it's something I feel classy wearing.

So there you have it. Examples of how to hack up shirts and make them totally awesome.

T-Shirt into Wet Seal Inspired Dress

This is on the Wet Seal website, going for $26.50. It's not something I would typically wear. It's not something I have a place to wear it to even if it were my style. But for some reason (maybe it was the color) this dress called to me, and I said, "I bet I can make this." (I said that about a wedding dress yesterday too) So here is a little tutorial. How to transform an x-large (or large) t-shirt into this body hugging dress. 

First lay out your t-shirt, turn it inside out and cut off the sleeves. 

Not the best quality photo, but hopefully you get the idea. 

Next, cut off the neckline and shoulder portion of the shirt straight across.

Put the shirt aside and grab the sleeves you removed. Cut along the seam to open the sleeves up. 

It should look like this.

Take the sleeves and pin them together to make one long piece. Start an inch down from the first sleeve and overlap the hemmed sections. Make sure the sleeves are facing the same way. This part sounds confusing, but it's not. 

 It will look like this on the table... 

And like this when you hold it up.

Next sew the sleeves closed, gradually blending into the rest of the shirt.

Fold the shirt in half lengthwise  so the bottom corners are together. Round the edge so the dress will hug your hips. 

Turn your dress inside out. Grab some measuring tape and measure from the top of your chest (where you want your dress to sit over your bust) down to under your bust-line. Make a mark. Take the sleeves that you stitched together and pin it by your mark, not directly down the middle of the dress, but off to the side a little. Stitch over the hemmed sleeve part.

Take the top of the shirt that you cut off earlier (the collar and shoulder portion) and cut small circles out of it. You can cut out as many as you want. Cut out some from white material and I added some lighter pink as well. 

Lay the circles over each other on the shirt until you have a pattern you like, pin in place and sew. 

For the waist portion, there are a couple ways you can do this. You could turn your shirt back inside out and stitch elastic under the bust-line or you could use ribbon, lighter fabric even lace and stitch it on the front. I used ribbon.  (forgive the light fabric stitched to the top of the dress, mine was too low so I had to make it longer)

  

Once the dress is finished, it should look something like this. 

Have at it :)

Shirr Goodness

I like shirred dresses. Correction. I love them. So when my mom made this green shirred dress for my baby shower 3 years ago, I was ecstatic. I mean, the dress was shirred, and it was my all time favorite color! Of course, after breastfeeding my oldest, getting pregnant again and breastfeeding my youngest (currently still breastfeeding) things change. So the shirred dress no longer fit. *insert sad face here*

However, in light of my recent craftiness, I came up with a solution. A spin off of the t-shirt dress that you can find virtually anywhere on the web. Like here: http://talk2thetrees.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-make-easy-high-waisted-dress-for.html
and here: http://waldeckdrygoods.blogspot.com/2009/02/t-shirt-dress-tutorial.html
and here: http://sewingdork.blogspot.com/2010/07/womens-tank-top-dress-refashion.html
and even here: http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/operatic/312/tshirt.htm.

So I took this tank top that was way too short for me anyway and cut off the top, stitched that to the top of the shirred dress and there I have the perfect fitted summer dress. And in my favorite color, too! Oh happy day!

The shirred dress worn at my baby shower over 3 years ago.

The tank top worn this year on free love day.

And the two stitched together.