Oh Deer!

Did you know that it was my birthday a month ago?  I know, I should have told you, its just that 31 isn't quite as fun to celebrate, ok?!  Anyways, I saved up some cash and with all my birthday money {thanks guys!} I was able to get a Silhouette.  Woot!  I love this thing!  I have been pretty busy so I haven't used it a ton, but I'm sure it will get broken in this month.  I've been dying to try the heat transfer, so I picked up some cute pink polka dot stuff from Hobby Lobby.

See?  Cute right?  Its even fuzzy which I love.  I  used a shape that Silhouette has in their library to cut the sweetest deer for Ivy's shirt.  

Ivy has a lot of white shirts.  Um, just like her mama.  My trick is to embellish them right there, down at the bottom.  That way she can still wear them under things and not have things like a pink deer head poking out of her dress.

Add in the cheesiest 3 year old around and,  

OH DEER! 

  I have one stinking cute shirt. 

{ BTW  I highly recommend the Cherokee ones from Target.  They don't stretch out like other ones and always have sweet little gathered sleeves. } 

SO yeah, I heart my birthday present.  Anyone want to come play with my new toy with me?!  

ROAR! {kind of a tutorial}

 Last week when I was picking up some ink for my printer I found a sweatshirt for Ivy.  Just a plain black one, nothing fancy but I knew I could fix that. 

I actually started out just wanting to add this giant ric rac to the hood.  You know, just a touch of color.  But I kept thinking how it kind of looked like dinosaur teeth.  We play a lot of dinosaurs around here so I guess it was just on my brain.  I'm not much of a sketch artist so I googled dinosaur silhouettes and found an AWESOME and perfect applique download.

I used that same grey shirt from Ivy's new pants, and some slinky pink polka dot pajama pants for the "longneck" as Ivy calls it.  I also used a stained white shirt and freehanded a pow bubble  {I'm not sure what its called but that sounds good!}to give it a bit more substance.  I applied wonder under to all three pieces then ironed them on to the back of the sweatshirt.  I then stitched around each piece to keep it in place.

 Now the front needed some work.  And since Ivy always needs a tissue, and a place to keep a tissue when we are outside, I decided to add some pockets. Here's where your mini tutorial happens so grab some scraps and lets make some pockets!

First I took a piece of paper and placed a corner where I wanted my pocket to be.  Draw out the size that you want and then cut out your pattern adding at least 1/4 inch for seam allowances.

Take your outer fabric and your lining and fold it WRONG sides together.  Then cut out your pattern from each.  This way you get one for each side of your zipper. 
Place the corresponding lining and main fabric pockets RIGHT sides together, pin,  and stitch around the pocket using a 1/4 inch seam allowance and the top open for turning.  Clip your curves and corners. 

Now turn your pocket right side out and press.  Fold in the top that you left open for turning and pin.  You will sew this shut when you sew the pocket on your sweatshirt.

Next up pin your pockets in to place on your sweatshirt.  Oh wait!  Before I stitched my pockets in place I added just a bit more embellishment.  

That qpplique download also has a smaller knee patch dinosaur that I thought would be cute peeking out of one of the pockets.   I cut out another smaller pow bubble and a small dinosaur. I unpinned part of the pocket and placed them where I wanted them, and appliqued in place. 

Finally I stitched my pockets on.  Start at the top of your eh, swoop and go across the top, down next to the zipper and then across the bottom.  DON"T stitch your swoop because then you won't be able to actually use your pocket! Make sure and backstitch really well at the beginning and the end for reinforcement.  

Whew, just about done.  I pulled out some teal embroidery floss to tie in the ric rac on the hood.  Using my disappearing ink pen I wrote ROAR on my small pow bubble then stitched over it.  I also stitched around the big pow bubble on the back to give it a bit more definition.  And finally added three little buttons to my other pocket.  

Now for the fun part!  

Showing Ivy her new dinosaur sweatshirt!
  

She hearts it!  

Yay! 

 

Watermelon Tuxedo Tank Tutorial

{oh my look how little she is!}

Crazy how time goes by so slow day to day but when I look back I can't believe its been a year.  I made this watermelon tank for my little lady last year because she is a watermelon fiend.  She just eats and eats until she is stained orangy pink.  Well its melon season again so I thought I would make an update on her favorite shirt for my BIG girl for her birthday. 

{she keeps reminding me how she used to be a little tiny baby but now she is 3.}  So here's how to make a watermelon tuxedo tank for your big girl.  No matter what her size!

  SUPPLIES

white tank or shirt {this would be great for a stained shirt}

scrap of red fabric

green fabric of choice, probably with polka dots, or not ;)

black buttons

coordinating threads

normal sewing supplies like a machine.

I took my scrap of red and traced the neckline of my tank just under that edging to get the top to fit in there perfectly.

Then fold it in half and cut the shape you want so its even.  Mine kind of angled out and then curved at the bottom.  It might be a good idea to use some fray check at the top.  Slide it underneath the edging if there is space, pin in place and stitch with red thread.  I am digging my stretch stitch for shirts but its not necessary.  

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!

I'm gonna remind you now.  Always make sure that you aren't sewing the back of your shirt to the front when you are applique-ing.  Of course I would never do that but just a side tip!

Ok moving on.  Cut a strip of green fabric.  This depends on how ruffly you want your ruffle, and the size of shirt you are making.  This time I cut it I think 2 1/2 inches wide?  And it was maybe 40 inches long.   Fold your strip in half lengthwise, right sides together and stitch it all the way down.  Turn it rightside out and press your seam to the back.   Then ruffle it by sewing a gathering stitch down the middle and pulling the bobbin threads.  

{ I'm assuming you know how to do that now, so just google how to gather if you need a refresher!}

Pin your ruffle right on your stitching line on the bib.  Last year I pinned it on the outside of the bib and after I washed it it there was a space between the ruffle and the bib.  So make sure they overlap just a bit.  

 Stitch in place right over your gathering stitch. 

Add three black buttons and your done!

Now go put it on your BIG girl and eat some watermelon!  Just make sure she wears a bib so she doesn't rip it off when she's done because her shirt is wet and can't stand it!

Things With Wings

Summer brings us things with wings...

Remember how much Ivy loves Cinderella?  She has been practicing her twirling and curtsey-ing for her dances with the prince in her new butterfly twirly skirt.  I've been wanting to make a skirt like this for days!  I used the basic market skirt pattern and added some extra layers.  The butterfly fabric is from Momo's Freebird line that goes swell with the Wonderland fabric I have been hoarding.  

I also embellished a tank from Old Navy with another butterfly.  I heart them. They are fun to make and so darling.  If you are looking for a good butterfly template, head over to Martha Stewart.  That's where I got mine and it is the perfect size!

Fun in the Shade {just for you Karen!}

My friend Karen is doing Relay for Life in a couple of weeks and for her fundraiser she managed to get a few hundred pieces of Shade clothing.  The cool part.  Everything was $5!  I got there too late to get some of the cutest stuff, but like Karen said, I was basically there shopping for fabric.  These green shirts caught my eye and so I snagged two.  One for wearing and one for material to embellish with.  

{TIP: get one shirt in your size and the other in the biggest size you can find-more material to work with. }

I know nothing too exciting right?

I didn't know quite what I was going to do, so I cut my fabric a couple of different ways.  I cut some strips, circles, and some scalloped circles with my Big Shot.  I also cut some tulle circles for some texture.

One option was to place the strips on the shirt, pin it down and sew.  Which actually looks really cute, and I'll probably do it some other time.  

But I liked those scalloped circles so I layered the tulle on top,

pinched it up like this..

 and pinned it to the shirt.  I think I used 12.

After carefully trying it on and moving a couple circles around I stitched it down.  I used the stretch stitch on my sewing machine and just sewed a random swirly line to get a kind of messy effect.  

Wahoo!  In 20 minutes I had a fab shirt.  For 10 Bucks!

I love the texture and shimmer that the tulle adds.  Try it!  It is so fun and easy, I promise!  The clearance rack is an awesome spot to score two shirt for super cheap for projects like this.

Karen said she expected a tutorial sometime this week on what I did with my shirts.  So here you go!  I hope you like it ;0)!

And how awesome is it that when I ask Darin to take a picture of a shirt I just made I get this?! 

Ruffles Inspired By The Gap

When I was in Portland last week I of course had to go shopping.  Even though I wasn't buying anything, the thought of going to a descent mall is so exciting to me.  My hometown mall even has a Forever 21 that is JUST accessories!   All you big city folks can just have a small laugh at my expense on that one.  We even went to Anthropologie which I could spend a great deal of time in looking at every. single. thing.  But where did something catch my fancy?  The Gap.  Now don't get me wrong I love the Gap, but we do have one here in Tri Cities.  The reason this shirt caught my eye though was that I already had everything at home to make it!

All you need is about a yard of ruffle eyelet trim {or more if you want more ruffles like the original} , a shirt and your basic sewing supplies like pins and a sewing machine. 

Starting at the shoulder seam start pinning your trim right at the edge of the neckline on your shirt.  Pin all the way around to the other shoulder seam.  Oh look I even used a Gap shirt to make it more authentic;)

Sew right over the stitching lines on your trim, making sure that you are catching the shirt underneath.

I started my second row about 1 1/2 inches down from the shoulder seam and curved the end in under my top ruffle.  Then pin all the way around about 3/8 inch away from your first row of ruffles, stopping 1 1/2 inches from the shoulder seam again.  Sew that row of ruffle trim and repeat for a third row {or 4 or 5 whatever you want, I just went for 3}.

Here's the finished shirt.   The best part is by using trim the ruffle-ing is already done for you!  Making this the easiest thing I have done in a long time.

WOOT WOOT!  An updated Gap shirt for free~I already had everything I needed, and now I'm a little bit more stylin.