The Charlotte Dress

A while back, I won a Mama Stellato pattern, from a giveaway on The Train to Crazy.  As I was browsing through her etsy shop, I realized… hmm, these are pretty much all girl patterns.  I entered the giveaway anyway, thinking I would never win, but lo and behold – I did!  I think I seriously shrieked out loud when I saw that I had won!

I ended up choosing The Charlotte Dress pattern and made one for each of my nieces for my upcycled Christmas.

First of all, this pattern was incredibly easy to follow.  It was quick and simple (though I won’t tell you how long it actually took me, from start to finish… it’s shameful how long the pieces sat, cut, ready to be sewn), and includes color photos that help you follow her clear, step-by-step instructions.  You also do not need a serger for this pattern (though I did use one for the construction of the main body of the dress).

The dresses were all made from some vintage thrifted sheets, along with some extra fabric I had lying around to make the sashes.  I love the non-matching sashes.  I made three different sizes (the pattern goes from 6mos. – 5T), and they seriously practically sewed themselves together, they were so easy.  Especially when using the already hemmed edges of a sheet – easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

I made the dresses in hopefully the correct sizes for my little niecies to wear in the spring, since the fabric is not quite so wintery, and none of them live in summery climates.

It was so fun to do some little girl sewing in my boy-dominated world!

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Merry Christmas!

….it is the night of our dear Savior’s birth…

may you rejoice in the gift of our Savior, and may His love bless your heart every day of the year

An Upcycled Christmas

So, if you read my blog pretty much ever, you’ll notice I’m a big upcycler.  As evidenced here or here or here or here or here or here…. just to point out a few.  Because there are more!

There are a lot of reasons I upcycle… I love that I can re-purpose something that would have otherwise been thrown out or unused.  But mostly, I am cheap thrifty.  I love to buy clothes at a thrift store, then turn them into something else.  Because let’s face it, that is way cheaper than buying fabric.

So that was my goal this Christmas… to upcycle as much as possible, preferably with things I already had on hand.

This is a gift for one of my nephews.  He’s a super handsome kid, so he’ll be a heart breaker for sure. ;)

The pants are simple elastic waistband pants, made from a medium-weight sweatshirt.  They have stretch, which is good when you’re a super active two-year-old.  I didn’t make the shirt itself, but I had purchased it awhile back intending to make something for my oldest.

The applique is cut from the same shirt (and I still have the sleeves leftover to make pants for my littlest).  I did a spray fabric adhesive, then machine stitched them on.

I don’t know about you, but I have been sewing non-stop for the past couple of weeks.  I’ve been thinking of naming my machines, we’ve been spending so much time together.  Sid the Serger?  Sonya the Singer?  I’ll post some more upcycled gifts soon.  Some of them will have to wait until after Christmas, though… don’t want to give away any surprises!

“Quilted” Coaster Tutorial

This is one of the fastest, easiest gift ideas out there.  Great for Christmas, bridal showers, housewarming parties…. and perfect for using up your fabric stash.

Each coaster requires two squares of fabric, plus batting to go inside.  You could even use inexpensive felt, if you have it on hand.  I used the same fabric for each side, but you could also use two coordinating fabrics.

My squares were 5 inches by 5 inches.  The batting should be cut a little bit smaller.

Make a sandwich of the three pieces – the fabric should be right sides together, and the batting should be on top.

Zig-zag stitch around three sides of the fabric.  I’d recommend that you NOT do your stitches like mine above – try to sew just on the batting, rather than half and half.

Clip the corners, and then flip it right side out.

Fold the open edge under and press.

Sew a straight stitch around the edge of the coaster, making sure to sew the open edge closed.  Then you can free form whatever kind of design you’d like in the middle.  This is the “quilting” part.  I made all of the coasters look the same, but you could also do different designs.

I made three out of one fabric, three out of a coordinating fabric.  (Both were fabric quarters, by the way, and I had plenty left over.  This is a really great scrap fabric project!)  Tie them with a ribbon, and you have a great homemade gift!  You could also pair these with some jazzed up handtowels.

I think I need some of these for myself…. stylish, simple, and toddler-proof.  Ah, things that are unbreakable.  If I had more before Christmas sewing time, I’d make myself some holiday coasters.  [insert hyperventilating here as I realize I have more projects than days left before Christmas]

Okay, I’m off to do more Christmas present sewing… wish me luck.  And tell me about some things you’re making for Christmas!

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Upcycling + Serging = Love

I did it.  I finally sat down with my brand new serger and tried it on for size.  Oh, I am in love.  It is a dream to have this machine!  I’ve only tried out one stitch so far, but I was really impressed with how this baby handled my first project.

Lined upcycled jeans for my three-year-old:

(yes, the sucker was most definitely a bribe to get him to take pictures in these pants – and the pictures all seem a little blurry, because I couldn’t get him to actually stand still)

I’m not entirely thrilled with the pants – my son seems to have gotten taller and skinnier (I didn’t think it was possible for him to get skinnier!) since I last made him pants.  So they are a bit baggier than I would like.

They’re made from a pair of Goodwill-bound jeans, along with a thrifted flannel sheet for lining.  I re-used the back pockets of the old jeans, just made them a little smaller.  It has an elastic waistband (upcycled from the same material as the hat I made here), which I must admit, doesn’t look super cool, but is much more comfortable for an active three-year-old.

I made them a bit long, knowing that I could cuff them to show off the lining.  Gotta keep those little legs warm – it is fa-reeee-zing here!

Now I need to get into serious Christmas present-making mode…. did you know there are only 17 day until Christmas??  Yikes!

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Rockstar Baby

Today I went to a baby shower for a dear friend.  Her husband is a rockstar.  Seriously.  So if your daddy is a rockstar, you need to be able to rock with him.

A Rockstar Onesie!

I just machine stitched on this guitar-shaped fabric applique, cut from a fat quarter.  I left the edges raw, because as it washes, it will fray a little, which will add to the rockstar quality a little bit.

The hat is made from this tutorial.  You may remember that I also made another one of these hats in this post.  The hat is upcycled from a never-worn 4x jersey skirt that I scored at Goodwill.

Sometimes I find it hard to make gender neutral clothes, but I think a boy or a girl could easily rock out in this outfit.   I just hope that this baby chooses to do his or rockin’ mostly during the day, for the sake of these newbie parents. :)

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No Sew Birthday Banner

When my oldest turned three, I made a birthday banner.

Last weekend, my baby turned one. [Insert tears and sappy "my baby is growing up too fast!" comments here]  So we pulled out that birthday banner for the second time in less than two months.

The banner is made with felt, ribbon, and hot-glue.  I wanted it to be fast and easy.  I think it only took me a couple hours (including all those three-year-old interruptions while little brother was napping).

I wanted to be able to use this banner again, so I added a velcro space for a number — like this “three” for my oldest son’s birthday.

But my poor second child didn’t get a “one” for his birthday banner.  With our Thanksgiving travels, the birthday party, and hosting another Thanksgiving celebration, well, it slipped my mind until my house was filling up with guests.  Woops!  [I just tucked the extra space behind the banner, and no one else knew the difference]  Hopefully he won’t remember this and hold it against me when he’s fifteen….