The "Sewing Room" is Open!

It took me a while to get back into the "sewing groove" this spring.  My grandmother taught me to sew, and I took everything I made to the Assisted Living Facility to show her.  She couldn't say much, but she would carefully finger each garment or project, grin and shake her head with pride.  After she passed in March, I was pretty busy.  When I started sewing again, I wondered, "Who will I show the finished products to now?"  The answer????  YOU!

This is a fuzzy photo taken with a camera-phone, but I wanted
to show you the tunic I made for myself out of deep purple
"tie-dyed" fabric that features splatter accents of pink, lime
green, turquoise and yellow. My niece LOVED this fabric,
(which you can see better in the next photo), and so did Timothy!



Zola got a dress and matching knit pants (from an old t-shirt)
made from the scraps of my tunic fabric.  My niece liked the fabric,
so I bought more, and she got a summer sundress... can you
say "Mother-daughter"?  or maybe "Aunt/Mother/Daughter"???
 



Timothy loved the fabric so much, and he BEGGED for something
made from it.  I thought it was a bit "girly" even for shorts, so
I decided to make "muscle shirts" for him and his baby brother,
Nathan.  I can't wait to get a group photo of all of us in our "tie-dye!"



I purchased a beautiful vintage golden yellow linen
damask tablecloth at an estate sale.  It became dresses
for my nieces Zola and Kelsey.  The flounced pants
were made from a vintage lace tablecloth.

Back view of the dress and pants.  This outfit is
so much cuter on the little girls.  The pictures do not
do it justice.  This was a purchased Butterick
dress pattern.  I will be using it for lots of dresses!

Zola's mother asked me to make her a cape of her very
own so that Timothy could have his Batman cape back!
She is now "Princes Zola" or "Super Zola" - depending
on her mood.  This is pale pink taffeta and a scrap of lacy
pink overlay I had in the scrap bin.

Back view of the cape!

This is Timothy and Zola sitting with my mother (their great Granny)
on the porch at a restaurant - after a very long day!  Timothy has
on his "monster pants" that I made him.  Zola's outfit is striped
pants and a shirt I made by cutting down a ladies t-shirt that had
contrasting border trims at the neck and sleeve hems.

It was all cars one day last week... car shorts for Timothy and
my cousin Owen... longer shorts for baby Nathan, plus a t-shirt
to match.  I used my copy machine to enlarge one of the cars
in the print for a pattern, so that the "car" on the shirt would
match the cars on the pants.  I was pretty pleased with the results!

I think the contrasting striped pockets make these extra fun!

This watercolor outfit started its life as a ladies novelty knit top. 
The sleeves became pants, and the bodice became the skirt for
this little dress, trimmed with leftover black knit from a t-shirt
and complimented by a "scrap flower" on the front!  Zola looks
simply adorable in this outfit.  One caveat... the top was beaded
and sequined... our little 2-year-old princess picked the beads
and sequins off so much that we finally removed the rest!

This lime green and yellow hoodie was purchased at the
local thrift shop for $1.  The pants were made from the
scraps of a ladies x-large knit top... also purchased at the
thrift shop for a dollar.  Results?  Pretty cute outfit for pennies!

My cousin Owen outgrew some of his jeans,
including this pair, which was almost brand
new but had a hole in the knee.  The solution?
Cover that hole with a "monster face"!  Timothy
loves these and wears a red polo with them.  He
told me, "Aunt Debbie, you need to make me
more monster pants!"  I am thinking I will make
denim shorts out of thrift-store denim and add
a scrap "monster" to the leg!  He will love it!
One hint... little boy's jean legs are narrow and
hard to stitch.  My mother-in-law suggested that
next time I open whichever seam does not have
topstitching, do my applique, and re-seam the jeans!



I made THREE of these...found the pattern on
AllFreeSewing.com... you start with a boy's
t-shirt and use the main part of the shirt for the
dress.  The sleeves are cut from the sleeves of
the tee-shirt.  What MAKES this dress is the
red ric-rac trim on the sleeves and the white
trim at the hem. The pattern used plain white
trim, but I had plenty of ric-rac, and chevron is so
IN now that I decided to use what I had.  A red and
white polka-dot bow completes the dress.  Pretty
cute and comfy for the Fourth of July... right?!

My cousin Olivia loves things with her name
on them... but OLIVIA is a big name to
applique on a little girl's shirt.  Since her
nickname is "Livvy" - or "Liv" - we decided to
use this for her July 4th creation... complete
with a firecracker for the "I"!

You know my penchant for scraps!  I used the leftover
fabric from Liv's shirt to create this ruffle skirt.  The
base of the skirt is the bottom of a ladies' t-shirt,
once again purchased at the local thrift shop. 
I used the shirt hem as my "casing" for the elastic waist,
then sewed the ruffles to the other end.  She loves it! 
She calls it her "sassy skirt!"  It looks great with the tee!

I have so many ideas... and a closet-full of fabric - and still I sit and drool over several online fabric shops' offerings.  My cousin Natalie gave me a wonderful new book for my birthday... One-yard Wonders... and I cannot wait to try out some of the cute things that are featured.  Stay tuned... I'll be back to "share" again soon!

A Skirt, a Shirt, and an Overactive Imagination... Oh, My!

Okay.  So, I admit it... I got excited.  Again!  And in my excitement, I failed to get "before" pictures of the lace table runner that became two darling pair of toddler leggings.  And really, folks, I thought I took a picture of the madras plaid skirt that ultimately became this cute little dress/top... but I can't find it anywhere!  Sooooo... I promise to do better next time!

 

Meanwhile, look at these cute little ruffled pants, made from a ladies t-shirt. They compliment this little dress/top perfectly.  I even used some of the scraps to make a headband with plaid petal flowers!

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After I finished THOSE projects, I made this cute little "criss-cross" strap sundress.  I've wanted to make this for a while now, and the fabric has been calling my name.  I have enough to make a smaller one for my little cousin, Harper.  One caveat... this little dress was supposed to have orange ric-rac trim all the way around.  BUT... my one package (2½ yards) was NOT enough to go all the way around by about 18 inches! 

Yikes!  I think it might work for the smaller version for Harper, but I will make a quick "pin-it-and-eyeball" before I start stitching this time!  So this one is accented with some top-stitching and cute hot pink flower buttons.  I can't wait to see how it looks on my niece, Zola!  I'll post pictures, for sure!

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Finally, I used some of my scraps this weekend to make "boo-boo bags" for the kiddos.  They are filled with rice, and once put in the freezer, they make the perfect soother for any "boo-boo."  If you like, you can put them in the microwave when you need a heat pack.  I read where one creative mom makes small ones to heat up for the kids to wear in their gloves while waiting for the bus in winter!  Hmmm... I still have scraps!!!