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!

Catching Up...

I know it's been a while since I posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been sewing!  Many of my projects during the holidays involved hand-made gifts for the kiddos...dolls, doll clothes, toy organizers, and tons of  rice bags (which our kids call "owie bags").  I have created a "look book" file of ideas that far exceed my time constraints (the girls will be in college before I make them all!), and I've organized my fabrics and scrap stash so that I know what I have available.  I also can't seem to resist purchasing more fabric from time to time... yes, I truly am a "fabric junkie"!

I also have acquired a serger, which is making life so much simpler, and neater...and I honestly don't know why I resisted for so long.

Just for grins, I'm throwing in a picture of a birthday card I made recently for one of my cousins.  I bought a Cuttlebug last fall for card making (and have even used it to create some iron-ons, like the Halloween spiders for the boys' t-shirts).  I LOVE hand-made cards...making them and sending them, so I have to hand over a few hours here and there from sewing to card-making projects.  It's all about balance...and some days I do better than others!  Thanks for stopping by to look at the things I've created... and stay tuned!

What do you do for "clown shoes" for a 4-year-old?
You use Duck Tape and an old pair of sneakers.  I added
egg cartons and some thin foam padding to shape these
oversized feet (and elevate the padding above the soles so
that my little clown could still walk!) and this was the result!

Pants and suspenders made from a thrift-store pair of
pajamas, a bow-tie made from two sheets of colorful
felt, an old pair of ladies gloves stuffed with fiberfill,
and a rainbow wig purchased for $1 at the thrift store
(plus the afore-mentioned shoes and a foam nose from
a clown make-up kit purchased at Wal-Mart), and we
havea great little clown!  The princess dress was a garage
sale find, paired with some sparkly "Mary Janes" and a cute
little princess who completed the look quite nicely!

Wasn't he a cute clown?!

Meet Ellie the Elephant!  I purchased the pattern for this darling stuffed doll  and her clothing and accessories on Etsy from a shop called Ruby Jean's Closet. I have the pattern for a zippered carrying case, but I have yet to get one of those made.  However, I did use thrift-store wool skirts and my own fabric scraps to create two of these elephants for my niece Zola and my cousin Harper.  My mother-in-law had given me the strawberry-print knit, so I made dresses for the dolls and matching skirts for the girls.  The sparkly snow-flake tutus were made from fabric scraps in my bin.  The girls loved their new dolls.  Someday, I will make more clothes for them - and maybe even the zippered cases!  Whew!

 

 

For Christmas, my cousin Olivia got cheerleading outfits for her two American Girl dolls.  I used black knit pull-on skirts that I purchased on clearance at Wal-Mart last fall, and accented them with red pleats and bloomers made from an old pair of knit pants my mom gave me.  For this project, I had a sewing pattern that I picked up at a local church bazaar...for ten cents!  I have fabric scraps and dreams of creating more of the styles included in this pattern package.  Someday, Olivia... someday!

 

My cousin Owen likes to be organized.  He also likes to take a few things along to church service on Sunday to keep him occupied during the sermon (he's only four!).  So I used an old "ultra-suede" jacket to make him a bag with a drawstring top and even a carrying loop.  Then I used free patterns I found via Pinterest (and fabric from my scrap bin) to create a "car roll" and a "crayon roll".  The cars for the roll came from the Dollar Tree (3 cars/$1), but Owen can substitute his favorites from his own collection as desired.  The bag was big enough to include a puzzle, a coloring book... and even a lightweight jacket and snacks if his mom desires!

 

I LOVE "minky" fabric.  It's not the easiest to work with, but the results are fantastic...so soft and snuggly.  I made all of the kids flannel pajamas for Christmas, so I used the scraps and rectangles or squares of white "minky" to back "owie bags" for the kids...incredibly cozy and cuddly!  This chocolate brown "minky" fabric simply begged to become a coat for Zola.  With her dark hair and coloring, I knew, she would be nothing short of a diva in it!  She loves it so much that she almost cries when we try to get her to take it off!  And like all "divas-in-the-making," she even wore her "minky" coat to play at the park!

 

 

And here is the card.  I used a piece of grey card stock for the base of the card, then added some really interesting geometric scrapbook paper pieces in a dark chocolate/cream color palette.  Accented with a strip of red scrapbook paper, I printed a greeting on tan card stock, used a die-cut to create the neat scalloped outline, and voila!...a beautiful card suitable for anyone.  This one went to my cousin Darrell...the geometric pattern and color scheme seemed masculine to me, and I hope he will agree!

 

Happy Fall, Y'all!

 

It's almost October, and I've been working on holiday shirts and outfits for the kiddos.  I decided early on that I did not want to spend a lot of time and energy on shirts that could only be worn for a few weeks.  So for the most part, I tried to choose styles that would be suitable for wear before or after Halloween, as well.  So far, so good!

I used my Cuttlebug and a die-cut to create iron-on spiders for the boys' shirts.  The hardest part was peeling the paper off the back of these tiny spiders!  I am hoping they hold up well in the wash... if not, I can make more spiders!  Don't you think they look realistic?

 

 

For Olivia, I took an idea I'd seen on Pinterest for a ruffled cat applique and put my own spin on it.  With a free, online template for a cat applique in hand, I used remnants of a polka-dot ladies camisole (purchased on Clearance at Wal-Mart) to create the body.  I used another remnant of black knit to create the tail... carefully cutting a strip into fringe and stitching it onto the shirt over the tail outline.

The outfits for Zola and Harper featured holiday cats.  I purchased a long-sleeved ladies knit top at the thrift store.  It already had the applique of the cat in the jack-o-lantern on it, so all I had to do was cut down the shirt to fit Zola. I used my handy-dandy 3T Toddler T-shirt pattern and followed the existing neckline.  The sleeves were cut from the bottom of the shirt so I could use the existing hem.

For Harper's outfit, I turned the long sleeves into leggings, and then I used scraps of the bodice to create the cat applique on a purchased child's t-shirt.  Pretty cute, eh?!

These are not for the kiddos, but in the spirit of autumn, I went in search of materials to add a couple of new pillows to our couch and chair for the season.  I saw this idea online for turning old sweaters into pillows... and I found some really great ones at the local thrift store.  This is the result of Sweater #1... whaddya think?

Happy Fall, Y'all... and BOO!

Aunt Debbie Made It!

When I was a little girl, my sister and I could not wait for the new catalogs to arrive each season.  We would pick out what we liked, and my Mam-ma Polly and my mother would do their best to make us something very similar.  I remember one year when I had an orange double-knit "shift" dress with a pocket near the hem that held a black and white polka dot scarf.  I also had a beautiful white knit peasant-style dress that featured button holes around the neckline and wrists.  Black velvet ribbon was threaded through these button holes and created an accent.  All of my friends coveted this dress!

So I guess it's only natural that I would want to create the fashions I see online for Zola and Olivia and the boys.  I have started saving photos of cute outfits and ideas (and of course, Pinterest is a plethora of material!).  The end results are starting to come to life.

Our high school mascot is the panther... colors are red and black.  So I made all of the children "panther" shirts.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I started on my stash of saved photos.  I went through the thrift-store t-shirts I had purchased... as well as a couple of polka-dot camisoles I purchased on clearance at Wal-Mart... and I started sewing.  I also bought several bandeau tops at Wal-Mart on clearance ($2-$3 each) and made skirts... zebra print and solid black.  Some of this material also became accents for other projects - and even a pair of pants for Zola.

 

This was a cute little outfit I saw on Zulilly. 

 

 

I got this knit shirt at the thrift store (it even had the flowers I used in the finished product).

 

And "Voila!"  My version!

 

 

This was a shirt I retired from my closet... a solid shirt from the thrift store... and an idea I got online...

 

 

 

 

... and these are my versions for Zola...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally... I took this thrift-store knit top, a screen-printed t-shirt from a local nursing center (also purchased at the thrift store)... and created my version of another little outfit.  I have a stack of ideas yet to come... but I may have to stop and work on Halloween outfits next!  Stay tuned to see what else my kiddos will be wearing.  I'm only limited by my imagination!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and Thank You, Mom and Mam-ma Polly... for your inspiration and for teaching me to sew!  I know that Mam-ma would LOVE these outfits... I can just see her fingering the details of each one... and it makes me smile.