Everybody Love a Good Dinosaur!

So there I was in Wal-Mart - buying burlap to make outdoor pillows for my cousin Natalie - when I spied it...the brightly colored "dinosaur" fabric.  I've watched too many episodes of "American Pickers" I guess.  One of the show's hosts...Mike...has mantra that "if you see something you've never seen before, now is the time to buy it".  In other words, "Strike while the iron is hot!"  So...I added a couple of yard of the yellow fabric to my order to make shorts for Timothy, Nathan and Owen.  It turns out... I had enough to make a dress for Zola, too - with the help of a thrift-store t-shirt!  I had already used the sleeves - probably to make leggings for Zola.  But I was able to get a new pair of pants and a dress bodice out of the t-shirt body, so I was pretty excited!

Burlap porch pillows for my cousin.

Three pair of boys' dinosaur shorts will equal three gigantic smiles!

Girls like dinosaurs, too!  Zola's outfit has
matching green pants (not pictured).

Meanwhile, I'd stopped by the local thrift shop to look for toys and other treasures...and I gathered a few colorful t-shirts and dresses that I couldn't pass up.  One t-top became a shorts and top playset for Zola...while a dress morphed into a maxi-skirt for the kids' mom, Jasmine.

Thrift store knit shirt "before"...

...toddler shorts and shirt "after"!

Thrift store maxi dress that morphed into a maxi skirt. 
Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the "after" creation!

What's next?  I am somewhat in a "yellow" phase - cute little black and white bumblebees on a yellow background will become a cute summer outfit for Zola.  Stay tuned!!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... EASTER!!!

I am so close to having the children's Easter outfits finished, and I have to say..."I'm pretty excited!"  It all started with this adorable yellow print fabric I spotted on Etsy and HAD to have for something for Zola.  I used a free online pattern for The Party Dress (modified for my "little princess").  For the contrasting trim, I purchased a man's chambray shirt from the thrift store ($1), and carefully cut the fabric along seam lines so that I had big pieces to create the sash and trim. 

Chambray "flowers" accent the hem of the dress, and I had enough leftover material to create bow-ties for the boys (photo coming soon!).  The sleeves and pockets became a pair of "cargo pants" for Nathan, and I salvaged all of the pretty buttons for a future project.  I dug into my stash of buttons and found four pale yellow ones for the back of the dress.  Yippee!!! (See...it pays to save those buttons!)

Since the forecast is for cooler weather to return, I decided that Zola might need a jacket to go with her dress.  I thumbed through my stash of thrift-store t-shirts and found the perfect shade of yellow, then found my pattern for a girls' raglan sleeved jacket and modified it, adding trim around the neck and front openings that I top-stitched with a flower motif...and lace edging on the sleeves and hem.  My mother-in-law gave me a huge bag of lace trim...including many yards of pastel yellow, blue and pink lace.  This was the perfect accent for this little jacket.  A matching "flower" trim at the neckline to cover the snap fastening provided the finishing touch! 

 

I cannot wait to see how pretty Zola looks - or how adorable Timothy and Nathan will be in their coordinating (store-bought on clearance) button-down shirts with matching bow-ties!  Maybe they will stand still long enough for me to get a photograph to post!

I think our kiddos will look pretty darn cute on Easter Sunday...and I didn't break the bank for these outfits.  Since I splurged and bought the two shirts and a yard of fabric for the dress, total cost was somewhere around $30.  For a one-of-a-kind "look" for three children...I'd say that's pretty hoppin' good!

TA-DA!!!  Don't they look adorable?!

Nothing Short of Scraptastic!

I recently spent almost three days in my laundry room, sorting, cutting, pressing, folding and organizing my fabric scraps!  I tried to be ruthless...but you never know when you might need a less-than-one-inch square of black fabric for an "eye" in a character applique...or that tiny piece of paisley for a flower petal! 

Anyway, I got everything packed in containers in a manner that I can hopefully understand and utilize...and I even created a basket of "big" pieces with specific projects in mind.  Now I have a LOT of projects!  And yes, I previously had a LOT of projects, but now I really REALLY do!*lol* 

One of the pieces in my "project" basket was the body of a ladies knit shirt in hues of emerald green, aqua, and white in a "peace sign" motif."  I had made the sleeves of this shirt into leggings for my niece Zola about a month ago.  Now it was time to use the rest to make a dress or top.  I had aqua knit scraps and a new pattern for a toddler t-shirt that I had downloaded for free on the Internet.  So I made a "yoke" out of the aqua, gathered the green print to it, and voila... I had a dress to go with the leggings!

Before...the large piece of fabric and a few scraps.

After...a dress with contrast yoke and bow trim...fit for a princess!

Next on my list of projects was a really cute red patterned ladies knit top I purchased at the thrift store for $1.  I thought the pattern would make interesting leggings.  But I couldn't stop there!  I used virtually every piece of that shirt to create leggings, a jumper with floral rosette accents, and even a hair "scrunchie" from the neckband!  I went through my button jar and found three darling heart-shaped buttons to accent the little rosettes.  And here are the "before" and "after" pictures... including one of Zola's mother sent me of her modeling the new outfit!

Before - the basic long-sleeved tee.

After... leggings, a top and a scrunchie!

This was pretty much all that was left!

She loves it!!! Isn't she darling?!

I couldn't leave out the boys this week!  So I took a flannel shirt that belonged to my husband (one that had shrunk in the wash so that the sleeves were too short) and created pajama pants for the boys.  I wish I had remembered to take a "before" picture of the shirt, but I think you'll get the idea.  It was your basic button-down.  And BTW...I saved the buttons for another project (well, except for the two I used to mark the fronts of the pj pants!).  I turned the sleeves into pants for Nathan, and the body of the shirt into pants for Timothy...complete with front pocket (the chest pocket)!  I left the cuffs on the baby's pants.  They can be turned up now...and turned down later for extra length!  We really don't waste anything around here if we can help it!  I added a few flannel scraps to my stash...you just never know what they might be handy for later!

 

Each of these projects took me a few hours to complete... time well spent to clothe the kiddos and recycle old items.  I think a velour shirt is next...we're still having cold, icy weather, so the warmer fabrics seem appropriate.  But I have my "spring stash" ready...and maybe by then my "project" basket will be a little less full!

Lilly Pulitzer Rewind

My friend Melissa gave me a darling Lilly Pulitzer sheath dress that she could no longer wear, because it had a stain across the bodice.  She said, "Do something fun and creative with it."  I am quite certain Melissa paid a lot for this dress... and she got her money's worth - and then some!  The material was a high-quality, tightly woven cotton.  The dress was lined, hemmed with lace hem tape, and had all the special touches like little ribbons on snaps to hold your bra straps in place.  There were pockets on the front that had a picot trim.

Lilly Pulitzer Sheath Dress - Before

I carefully removed the pockets, then I removed the lining and the zipper.  I cut out a dress for my almost 2-year-old niece, Zola.  Then I looked at the scraps.  IF I could get the stain out with bleach, I would have enough to make something for Melissa's nearly 6-year-old daughter, Ada.  I had nothing to lose, so I got out my bleach and a cotton rag and went to work daubing at the stain.  It all came out beautifully, with no fading of the colorful fabric!

So... I looked at my fabric stash and found a piece of hot pink knit, which became the base for a blouse for Ada.  The dress fabric scraps became the straps and bow... and the pockets were reattached "as is."  And here are the results.  The dark spot on Ada's dress is not a stain... I had used a washable marker, and I was rinsing out some "dots!"


After... a 6-year-old's blouse and a 2-year-old's Easter dress!

I even had enough scraps for hair bows to hot glue to clips.  Ada is already wearing hers!  She plans to wear the blouse with leggings.  Zola has a cute pink cardigan sweater with little embroidered flowers that I purchased at the thrift store for $1... in case it happens to be a cold Easter this year!  I think both girls will look adorable... maybe I'll post pictures soon of them modeling their frocks!

April 4th Update... Here's our little Zola in her Easter dress!