Easy Peasy Boot socks.

Could this be any easier?    #1 cut the sleeves off a sweater, (a larger one)
                                           #2 hem it using some elastic and stretching it as you sew.

~voila, you can be done or you can add more to it if you want.  I had plenty of lace and some little yellow flower appliques, I just love them,  The set I plan to dye gray.

Another ruffled T

I can't believe I thought I would be able to blog while in TN,  I am exhausted and busy busy busy watching 6 kids for my bro and sis in law while they are in Africa while my Mother In Law watches my little darlins.  I really don't have time unless they are sitting here eating their lunch or in bed.  ---whew---   I am just posting some photos I had saved and not posted yet when I have the time.

Home made Cuteness

Strike a pose, Here she is in her sunday outfit. I made her quickly pose for me as I was leaving town. I made this skirt out of that ruffled fabric. cost was $10. The shirt is from downeast $5. It was a plain T and I ruffled some extra fabric and put it on the front. Best was only $1 on clearance at the mall. and the cardi was a hand me down from a friend. ahh I love saving dough and making something cute!!!

p.s. this blog is brought to you today from the beautiful state of Tennessee and I sure do miss that cutie pie, and all my children at home. I wish I could have brought her with me. Thanks to my amazing mother-in-law who it taking care of my family so I can take care of my brothers family. Its all about bringing home two sweet little orphans from Ethiopia to their new family in TN. I can't wait to meet them.

The Modest pirate costume.

Click Here for my current Giveaway, Closes Wednesday Night.

I thought I might run out of time, or spend too much money, so I did look through all the costume shops for her costume.  WOWZA,  she is only 11, but she can't wear a kids costume and the women's pirate costumes are a much too risque'.  I don't know how to spell that word. 

SO....... off to the fabric store.

Start with a boys dress shirt

cut the collar off rounded like

sew a casing and thread it with elastic. and that is where I stopped, because I thought it looked so cute, maybe we can reuse this later.

I decided to make the cuffs seperate, so miss picky can take them off if they bother her.

rounded works better

sew a casing in  the small end and thread it with elastic the length of her wrist.

Add lace of cours

Brown fabric, I cut a strip of fabric for the sash.

red and brown stripes,  I hunted and hunted and finally found some in the quilt shop.  It was expensive and I didn't think I got quite enough so that is why I made the brown skirt to go under it.

I didn't hem it, but I am excited because I can re-use this too.  I am going to give it a cute finish or ruffles?  She needs a brown skirt.

 think its pretty cute!  all it really cost me in the end was the striped stuff that I spent too much on.

($7 bucks)

Wear it - Wednesday - My Little Knight

First, are my eyes playing tricks on me???  According to Blogger yesterday was my 200th post?? How could that be right?  Oh well, I guess I should give something away. 

**update** click here for my giveaway, closes Wed, October 26th

Check back tomorrow to see what I come up with, it will be so fabulous, hmm. It should be worth $200 to make the whole thing more memorable.  I am so excited!!   Jewelery? Craft supplies?? hand sewn items?? little girls tutu's?  boy's ties?  yes,  I think so.
Follow my blog so you are sure not to miss out!!

Okay on with today's post,  a couple of weeks ago, Cheri at I am Momma made her little boy a t-shirt to wear with his beloved Viking helmet.  It seems he was going through a Viking Helmet obsession.  As I read this, I laugh and look at my own three year old who was, at that very moment, sporting his favorite Knight helmet, and waving his sword at me. 

To make the pattern : I laid the shield on the copy machine to get the dragon outline, i copied it directly onto freezer paper to save the step of tracing.  After cutting it out with an x-acto knife I ironed it to the shirt, and with a stipple brush painted on the GOLD tulip metallic fabric paint.  IT IS SO SHINY AND COOL.

After cutting it out with an x-acto knife I ironed it to the shirt, and with a stipple brush painted on the GOLD tulip metallic fabric paint. IT IS SO SHINY AND COOL.

 Then I removed the freezer paper and let it dry a while.  Next I drew my own shield and cut it out of freezer paper and ironed it down.  I carefully painted around the dragon with SILVER tulip metallic fabric paint.

Usually the helmet is pulled down over his nose.

 I think he is adorable no matter what he is wearing, but that's always how it goes with the youngest right?  I feel like I have to use my every last little bit of crafty/sewing mommy ability while he is still little and will let me.  My older kids don't always appreciate it.  So I guess you could say he is SPOILED ROTTEN and he and I are both loving it!!

I showed this shirt off on Top-toberfest at Leafy Tree top spot.

Wear it Wednesday - Sew Many Skirts

Last weekend I was talking to my hubby and saying.  I stayed home all summer and I can't remember what I did besides yell at the kids to do their chores, he told me to go check my closet.   OH,  yes, now I remember.  I wore a different skirt once a week for sure. 

Here are the skirts I made myself this summer.

a brief description so you can AGAIN see how cheap I am.

#1 was a 9.99 skirt I got at Ross at least 3 years ago. It was too small in the waist and went to the ankle, so I chopped the top 6 inches off added the proper amount of elastic and.... voila, an updated skirt, knee length, but best of all it finally fit me so NEW SKIRT #1. YAY ME

#2 Purple skirt, funny story - On our way to my nieces wedding, which I had been wishing for a purple skirt, but sadly no time to make one before leaving on the long road trip which we were counting as our summer vacation.  Then while we were stopped at our friends house for a couple of nights in OR, I realized I had not brought a skirt.  We (me and my friend Kristen) were so disappointed that we were going to have to go shopping.  Super, Super sad huh?? well I couldn't find anything I liked, so we ran to the fabric store, grabbed some stuff, went back to her house, and got out the sewing machine.  It only took like an hour. and cost about 6.99 or less, I am sure I had a coupon.  Plus I whipped one up for Kristen too.

#3 Bored to tears of my only knee length black knit skirt I made this one out of the $5 dollar 5 yard bolts at Walmart, I love those sales.   so $5 plus $1 for elastic.  love it.

#4 is a corduroy fabric with brown and some turquoise in it.  I remember buying it 5 years ago, it was one of those memorable days at the fabric store.  I love it but have never had time to make it, I used the waist band of some comfy stretchy pants that were in the throw away pile.  Now that was a fast skirt and I don't really remember how much the fabric cost but does it really matter?  Its been 5 years. hahaha

#5 the last one was a splurge I really wanted a yellow and grey skirt so I went to the "expensive" fabric store.  I think I bought 2 yards @ 9.99 each.   and had a lot left over.  which made a super cute tie for my cousins little boy. and I think I can make one more.

The gray layer was another 5 yards for 5 bucks bolt from Walmart, and I have plans to make a gray skirt for winter with it. 

Wear it Wed. - Skirt for a Preteen

Here is a skirt I recently made for McKinley,  She needs new dresses, skirts etc. since she recently grew LIKE A FOOT.  anyways, I just love everything Ashley makes at Lil Blue Boo  She has a super famous blog, and I got the idea for this skirt here  and I loved her bustle skirt but McKinley didn't want as many ruffles so I preteen'd it up a little.  She does love it now.  but its pretty hard to get her to pose for pictures. 

Have you sewn anything recently?
♥ Becky

Wear it - Wednesday PJ's

Rawlin is showing of his new Jammies.  I fell in love with this Robot fabric.  But the fabric is thin and it gets pretty dang cold here at night. So I lined them with some matching flannel.  He loves them so much and tells me these robots have "stwange powers".

Dana at MADE has some pretty good tutorials for making kid pants. Here.   Look for the LINED PANTS tutorial.
His shirt has a rocket I appliqued and then I cut out a robot from the fabric.

Wear it Wed. - Cute little MONSTER

This monster shirt is my favorite thing I have made in a long time. R. Loves it and thinks he is so big. We pass this train with all the graffiti on it every single day, and he always comments on it. We had so much fun taking pictures there. I am glad at least one of my kids lets me take their picture.

To make it I uses a Shaun White t-shirt I got at Target on clearance for $2. then I used scraps for the sleeves. My inspiration came from the blog. Lil Blue Boo.  She has such fun style. 

Stashbusting Hoodie Tutorial

Well You might be able to tell by the picture below but I kind of have a problem with getting rid of things. I LOVE PRETTY FABRICS. Its an illness I've inherited from my mother, who got it from her mother, and well.... I love it. It took me years to figure out what, if any, qualities could I have possible inherited from my mom. She is good at everything, and I finally put my finger on it. Neither one of us can get rid of stuff. I really don't think its a bad thing. Well... not if you can use that stuff for good. So this past month I have vowed to make things out of my "STASH". Today over at T-Shirt Diaries    Robin was sweet enough to feature me.  Today I want to show you one thing I made out of a few things I found in this pile of junk.

This sweatshirt was by far my favorite thing that came out of this stash.   However the cutest thing I ever made is the little squirt wearing it. 

Its overwhelming when you have such a large stash to pick from, so start by sorting you stuff.  I have different shelves for each category (after this shirt I had to take a couple days off of sewing to reorganize the storage room, it was getting crazy in there, so you can't tell I have it organized in this photo)

Sweatshirt fabrics, Knits, Flannels, cottons, fleece, Clothes to recycle (I only save the clothes that are in either really good condition, or prints and colors that I love), Fancy stuff, Small Scraps, and Misc.  The little drawers you see, are filled with, Thread, Elastic, Lace, Ric Rac, and Bindings.  A lot of these things I find at thrift stores or on clearance, I stock up when I see something I will need  I will need in the future.  I recently took several bags full to goodwill, DO NOT... I repeat... Especially if you are married, and want to keep your hubby happy, DO NOT KEEP EVERYTHING.   I know its hard for me too.

So here is the up cycled Hoodie.  I used three different shirts for this project plus a small scrap of flannel to line the hood.  The shirt on the far right had a faded picture on it, that is what I used for the front, the polo on the left was used for the sleeves and I used the buttons for the front of the sweatshirt too.

So back up - lets talk about a pattern, I used a regular shirt pattern that I got from taking apart one of his messy stained t-shirts.  I like to trace them on the comics, or if I want to keep it forever, a plastic disposable party table cloth, they are PERFECT, and don't rip. I used this other sweatshirt to get the hood shape.

First cut out the front and back, and sleeves, then cut the button piece off of the polo, sew it onto the little sweatshirt, fold it over the top and sew it across the top too.  Then open it up and clip the shirt behind it, making plenty of room for big toddler heads.
Measure the neck opening with a measuring tape, then make sure your hood is the same size

Once you cut out the hood, lay it over the fabric you want for lining, and cut that out, I left a big green border on the inside but you don't have to.
Then sew that around the neck.    **I sewed the side seams last so there wouldn't be a lot of bulk in the way while I did this next part.

For the pockets, I looked at another sweatshirt and drew this onto newspaper first, Cut it out and laid it on the sweatshirt to see if I liked the size and shape.    The fabric I was using was so stretchy that i made a flannel lining for the pockets, that part is optional.

I just love it,  and it makes him so happy that he saw me making it for him.  Now the other boys want their own..... hmmmm.

If you have any questions or I missed something please ask!!!
If you use this tutorial, or any of my tutorials, please let me know, I would LOVE to see your work.

Becky

Sweater Refashion

I LOVE black and white.  I have seen this wide lace used in a LOT of clothing lately.  So I found a cute white sweater that I could alter.  Cut it up the center then added this black lace to both sides.  I love it so much,  I still haven't worn it though.  I think it needs somekind of a button or something to keep it from flapping open, like it seems to do.  I am not self-confident enough to take a picture with it on me.  but maybe someday. hmmmm.   What do you think?  A button?  at the top, or the middle?  or a ribbon to tie a bow to hold it somewhat closed? remember a belt will not do, I am no skinny, flat chested chic.

Some of my favorite projects

I follow the blog " I am Momma, Hear Me Roar"  very closely.  In fact she is so creative and cute and thoughtful, and spiritual I try to do everything just like her.... (kidding.... well, exagerating anyway, lol)  This is her Ed Hardy inspired shirt  Westin sees me sewing so much that he was so happy to have something that was just for him.  Really, I know it doesn't look like it, but he was.  You see he has middle child syndromw pretty bad, so I have been trying to make sure I pay him special attention often.  It does amazing things for his attitude.   I think I will try this again and I am sure it will turn out much better.

This is another Project I saw over at Cheri's blog (I am Momma...)   The Big Shelf  I absolutely LOVE it,  It took me forever to get my husband to put it up.  THey have much cuter Corbels (the big white brackets) at Hobby Lobby.   I don't live near one so I got these at Home Depot and was finished by the time I was in Boise at Hobby Lobby.  Love that place.    I must say the birdcage is from the dollar store a long time ago, the Huge Canvas print on the left was $10 at family Dollar, and the Vase on the Right was $7 at Family Dollar.  My room finally feels cozy.

Cutest LIttle Boy Pants EVER!

These could be some pretty cute Capri's on the right person, but they just look dumb on me,  No big loss I am pretty sure they were around 10 bucks a few years back. 

Last week I was browsing around all the posts for "Celebrating The Boy" (which is crasy awesome) and came upon this Tutorial at "This mama makes stuff.

I am still breathless, and I must tell you that once I cut these out they took me about 15 minutes to sew together.  The pockets from the back of the pants look like they were meant to be.
and just look at my little man

I am not quite the photographer that she is but Dang they are CUTE!  I wanted a pocket on the front and used this tutorial by Dana Made it.  She is also a genius.

I really must say something about my hubby's mad craft skills,  This little guy turned 3 a couple of weeks ago, and I convivced his daddy to build a platform with a slide on it to go with our swing set.  Now it just needs stained.

Iron on T-shirts

I found this box of Iron on's at Walmart on clearance for 7.00. Its got many girl logos like on the box, and several more sheets of alphabets to make your own....oh my the possibilities. But first of all would have to be this shirt for Westin. I had been meaning to make a freezer paper stencil for it, but it takes so long to cut out all the letters. So here we go.

For the front I made freezer paper stencil of a bike stunt and ran over it with a toy truck that ran through brown paint. When I showed him he actually got all giddy!!! I realized I had been making too many girl things lately.
This is my practice shirt, I pulled out a shirt that was too small for my 2 year old thought of some letters to put on the front I think it looks cute enough for a present. I will have to send it to some DIE HARD OSU fans.

another J crew inspired shirt.

Here My blog post from blog swap with Night owl Crafting.
My mother and all my grandmothers were seamstresses, and baking pro's. My mother actually made Wedding dresses and had a successful business when I was younger. That is of course where I learned to sew. She even tells me stories about how my grandmother would ride into town with my grandpa and sit in the car in front of the clothing stores and sketch the cute newest fashions, then she would go home and make things out of the hand me downs they were given. I think that is so cool, that she was refashioning back in the 1940's too. They had a small farm and 5 girls and 1 boy. So money was super tight. Right now I am OBSESSED with jewelry and have an etsy shop here above and below is a sampling of the projects I have made recently.
I love to copy ideas from jcrew (below)or anthropologie.


Here is my latest attempt.I started with my husbands pink shirt which I figured he was never going to wear.
I took in the sides, and used the scraps from that and the sleeves to make a ruffle to line the neck area. I also had to make a facing for the neck and arm holes, to hem them. I did this by laying the shirt on the scrap fabric and tracing the curve. easy peasy.





I totally love it. I think it is my new favorite article of clothing, I wore it yesterday and got lots of compliments.
I hope you enjoyed it, Thanks Leslie for letting me blog swap with you and your cute blog! I hope you will all take a look and let me know what you like. Today is the kick- off of my "Crafty Summer" I will be posting something every weekday in June. I hope you will join me.
Becky