Simple Shirt for My Little Goofball

Boo has a t-shirt that I just really really like the fit of.  So I copied it.  It's a simple two piece pattern—just a front and back, with no separate sleeve pieces.  If you're new to using existing clothes as patterns, I suggest trying this kind of shirt.  Or if you've been copying for a long time, I still recommend a shirt like this.  Who doesn't like near-instant gratification?

Boo likes for me to take pictures of her for exactly as long as she wants, and that time is never very long.

Today, our picture-taking window was really short.  She's a good sport, though, and I was able to cajole her into letting me take a few more pictures.

Because, as adorable as this face is, this picture doesn't really show off her new shirt very well.

  And I'd like a smile please?

There we go.  Good job, Boo.

By the way, did you notice we cut Boo's hair?  First time ever, excepting trimming her bangs.  Her hair hung all the day down her back, if you remember.  (If you don't—her hair hung all the way down her back.)  She finally got tired of having us brush out so many tangles, so after church one day—haircut time!  We love her new look!

Every Baby Boy Needs a Tribal Frog Onesie

So, you know I like to make, rather than buy, presents for babies.  I've made quilts (like the Finding Nemo Quilt and Elephant Quilts for Twins), burp cloths, and nursing covers.  Right now, I like decorating onesies.

Specifically, I like to carve custom stamps, and stamp the onesies.  I've made flower, crab, crawfish, seahorse, starfish, and now frog stamps.  It's so fun to make (and use) a hand-carved stamp.  I have another baby shower coming up, this time for a baby girl, so I'm thinking about carving a new stamp. What design to do...?

What do you like to give for baby shower presents?  What is the best baby gift you've received?

"Winter Wonderland" Vest Tutorial from Bethany of I Married Superman

I'm really excited about today's Sew a Song of Christmas project!  But first, allow me to introduce you to our final guest poster, Bethany, who blogs over at I Married Superman.  While I don't know Bethany in real life, I think we could totally be friends.  Her blog is so fun, I love the way she writes, and her projects are great.  Here, go read her About Me page, and you'll want to be friends, too.

Bethany sews a lot for her three adorable little kids, two of whom are approximately my children's ages, which makes her posts extra applicable and fun to read.  She posts lots of tutorials (like this cute baby cardigan!  It's really too bad I hate making ruffles...), and there's the free patterns (Hello, adorable sun hat!), and even totally boy-friendly projects (Captain America shorts!) which can be hard to find.  Maybe my nephew would like shorts like that.  

And now, on to today's tutorial!

~~~

I'm so excited to be a part of Jill's series!  Christmas songs are so fun and inspirational.  I'm listening to some as we speak {er....as I type, I should say} and it's makin' me feel so festive.....I feel some hot cocoa coming on!  ;)  

Today my song inspiration-take is on the classic, light-hearted Christmas carol, "Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland."  I have distinct memories of listening to Amy Grants version of the song as a kid.  No matter how many versions I hear, I always go back to that one.  Nostalgia.  :)  

Anyway, I happened to have all of this white/cream colored fur material that I received for free ninety-nine from my sisters neighbors grandma's attic.  I know. I'm all for telling funny, detailed stories, but I'll leave that one alone for today.  

Suffice it to say I had lots of fur material that I didn't know what to do with, so I thought "why not a cozy little vest for my little Lila Lou?"

We waited and waited to take pictures of Lila in this vest for a couple weeks.  Because we thought it would be fun to actually have a winter wonderland to take pictures in.  But no such luck. So I finally let Lila make her own "winter wonderland."

I must say, she really got into character with her tulle "snow."  I mean, check out the frolicking.  :)

A snugly abominable snowman-esqu vest is just the ticket for a winter wonderland walk, don'y ya think?  :)

To make one, all you need is fur material {or a cozy type of material if you're not into fur} and some type of soft fleece material to line the vest.

First get a shirt that fits your child and turn it inside out.  Then fold it in half like so:

Trace it out adding an inch onto each side {or two depending on how much you want the front pieces to overlap}.  You can trace out a front and a back, but I just used the same tracing with different neckline markings.

Using the upper neckline, cut your material on the fold for a back. Then using the lower neckline, cut two separate pieces for the front.

 So you'll have this:

 Do the same for the lining, so you'll have this:

You should have six pieces total.  Two front pieces and a back cut out of your fur material and two front pieces and a back cut out of your lining material.  

 Take the fur material and place right sides together and sew the shoulder seams.

 Do the same with the lining.

 Now sew down the side of the fur pieces.

 And your lining piece.  

 So you'll have two identical pieces just made out of different material.

 Turn your fur piece inside out and open it up.

Place your lining inside the fur vest {with right sides together}

 Sew along one side of the front, around the neckline and back down the front.

 If you flip it around, the vest should look like this:

To complete the armholes, fold the lining arm hole under towards the wrong side of the fabric and then fold the fur piece under in the same way.  Make sure that they align and so you can't see any raw edges.  Pin as you go.

And then sew around so it looks like this:

 Now do the same for the bottom. Fold each piece toward their respective "wrong sides" of fabric.  Pin

 and sew.

Close it up and you should be good to go build a snowman, and call him Parson Brown.  

Here's Lila building hers...putting on buttons

And sticking in a carrot nose.  

Thank goodness for imagination.  :)  Consequently, our forecast says we're in for a real wonderland tonight.  Wohoo!  

Thanks again for having me, Jill! 

~~~

Thank you, Bethany!  And isn't Lila so cute?

And in case you missed any of the posts in our series...

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Tulle Wreath
"O, Christmas Tree" Glitter Ball Ornaments
"What Child is This?" Mini Quilt {with free pattern}
"Blue Christmas" Simple Holiday Skirts
"Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Ornaments

"Let It Snow" Mitten Ornaments

"Away in a Manger" Nativity Set

"Joy to the World" Jar {with free printable}

Merry almost-Christmas, everyone!

"Blue Christmas" Simple Holiday Skirts

Boo loves to match.  Not like her shirt matching her pants; she comes up with some pretty...inventive outfits.  No, she likes to match other people.  So she will be so excited when she and Daddy's Girl unwrap matching Blue Christmas Skirts on Christmas morning.

These are really basic skirts, but the nice thing about "basic" is that you can easily add your own spin on it.

Both skirts are made from the same blue satin (surprisingly affordable, yet it adds a bit of "special" to the outfit).  Daddy's Girl got pleats on her skirt, Boo got ruffles.  I love variations on a theme.

Oh, ruffles, why must you be so cute, yet so annoying to make?  I actually prefer making pleats than ruffles.  

(By the way, I certainly didn't invent this way of making a skirt; it's been around forever.)

I don't have step-by-step pictures, since I sewed these up at night so the girls wouldn't see their Christmas presents.  (Read:  There was really bad lighting for pictures.)  But the skirts are so easy.

Ready?

Cut the elastic to your child's waist measurement.  Don't add seam allowance—you need the elastic to stretch a little so the skirt stays up.

Cut your skirt fabric as shown in the picture above.  Or, if you want a fuller skirt, cut a longer rectangle.  Less full, closer to square.

Sew up the two short sides, finishing the seams as you prefer.  (I went over the raw edges with a zig-zag seam for the first, and made a french seam for the second.  Just because I didn't think about the french seam at first.)

Make your hem by folding the bottom edge over a half inch, then fold again another half inch.  And sew it down.  A decorative stitch with a contrasting thread could be a nice way to add some detailing.  You could also hand stitch for a less visible seam, or use the blind hem stitch on your sewing machine.  But that's another tutorial.

Now you'll make a casing.  Just iron the top edge down a quarter inch, then fold down again whatever size you need to fit your elastic.  Sew this down, too, being sure to leave a little space for inserting the elastic.

And insert the elastic.  Attach one safety pin to the leading edge so it's easier to thread it through, and another securing the other end to the fabric so it can't pull all the way through.  (Hate it when that happens.)  Once the elastic's through, overlap the two ends by a half inch and use a zig-zag stitch to secure them.

Topstitch the casing closed, and you're done!

(If any of this didn't make sense, send me an email or leave a question in the comments below.  If needed, I'd be happy to make a photo tutorial later.)

Now that you know how to make a basic skirt, you can change it up to make so many different looks!  Besides adding ruffles or pleats, you can make the skirt more or less full, longer or shorter, try color blocking, or a paper bag waistband...I think I'm going to try a scalloped hem next time.

Don't miss any posts as we Sew a Song of Christmas!

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Tulle Wreath

"O, Christmas Tree" Glitter Ornaments

"What Child is This?" Mini Quilt {with free pattern}

PR&P Week #4: Simple and Special

It's the last week of this season's Project Run & Play.  Boo has certainly loved week one's Belle Dress and week two's Easy Starburst Dress.  I was teaching Boo's preschool during week three, so even though I already had a project done (I didn't make it for PR&P, but it fit the theme), I couldn't manage to get it posted!  Life was crazy that week.  I'm hoping to post that project later.

This week's theme is Your Signature Look.  At first I thought, "I don't have a signature look.  I just do whatever I feel like at the time."  

But I don't sew shirts.  

I don't sew pants.

I rarely sew skirts.

I mostly sew dresses.

It's not like I'm necessarily opposed to sewing shirts or pants, they're just never what I feel like doing.  Because they're less special.  If I'm going to take the time to make clothes, they're going to be something a little fancy, and a little special.  Which works, because Boo loves fancy.  She wears dresses/skirts almost every single day.  I like dresses better than skirts because a dress is a complete outfit.  Simple and done.

I also like the designs to be fairly simple.  This may change as I sew clothes more, but for children's clothes, at least, I don't really want to be fussing with little details.  Cute, but simply executed details, simple to put on/take off (especially for wiggly babies!)--that's what I like to make for my girls.

So here is my Signature Look:

Simple and Special

Easter Dresses

I never did get around to posting my little girl's Easter dresses, and since they fit exactly into this week's theme, I thought today was a great day to show them off.

Daddy's Girl's dress was another variation of a pattern I've used several times before.  I change the pattern every time!  Here are the first two dresses I made from this pattern.  This time, I made the dress fully lined, instead of using bias tape (blue dress) or facings (orange dress).  I lowered the neckline and thinned the straps, like I did for the orange dress.  I used a hook-and-eye closure instead of the zipper, which was a new alteration.  

I also added a contrast band around the bottom.  That was a really fast and easy alteration, and it made so I didn't even have to hem the dress!  I'll have to do a quick tutorial another day, so you can see how that worked.

Aww, isn't she so pretty?  I love yellow on her.

Boo's dress is the same style, with a sash that ties in the back, hook-and-eye closure, and contrast band. This dress, I actually spent a lot of time on, and did a lot of work by hand.  (For Daddy's Girl's dress, which I did second and whipped out in one late night of sewing, I figured out how to do it without the handwork.  Good thing, too, because it was the night before Easter!)  

Easter morning, I gave Boo her new dress I'd spent so much time on...and she wanted to wear a different dress to church!  (Cry!)  But when I showed her she would be matching her baby sister, she became excited about this dress.  I'm doubly glad I got Daddy's Girl's dress done in time.

After church, we went to the park to take family Easter pictures.  Boo actually didn't like being up in the tree, even though her Aunt Kelli was right there, making sure she stayed safe.  (I actually photoshopped her out of this picture--she was really right by Boo.)  But Boo was a good sport anyway, and let me get a few good pictures of her in the tree.

So here's the back of the dress.  The contrast band was actually a necessity, not just a design choice.  I'd bought the two fabrics for this dress one or two years before, intending to make Boo a dress for Christmas, but then the holidays rolled by without the dress being made.  This year, I realized I had to get the dress made NOW or Boo would be too big for the amount of fabric I'd bought.  I had to add the contrast band to the bottom of the skirt to make it long enough, even now.

So that's it; that's my signature look.  Simple to sew, simple to wear, but also special.

And they make my little girls happy.  That's really what matters.