Recycling clothes: adult t-shirt to toddler dress

This one was a bit of a bear compared to the top. We started with a UGA shirt of mine that I don't really wear.  It was harder to be able to keep all the character since it was printed so close to the neckline. We also didn't really have anything to compare with of Reagan's size-wise, so Mom ended up taking it in once she tried it on. We did ruffles at the bottom again, and made a casing on the top with elastic in it. It was cut apart and taken in at the sides too.

The t-shirt

Taking in the sides, cutting arm holes, and opening up the old sleeves to make straps.

The finished product before we tried it on Reagan. You can't see them well, but there is a ruffle flower on it too.

Miss Priss with the dress on.

I have to say, my mom did most of the work on this one. She's a much better sewer than I am and has more patience!

Robert's T-shirt quilt

I have been working with my sister-in-law to make a t-shirt quilt for my brother. Luckily my mom was willing to help me or I don't think I would have gotten it done. Quilting with t-shirts is different because jersey stretches (even with the interfacing on the back) so it made sewing on the cotton strips and actually quilting it interesting. We loosely used these directions to figure out how big to make the t-shirt blocks and how to do the interfacing. Overall, I think it turned out pretty well though it's probably the last one I'll do for awhile! At least until I get a real table to quilt on, my 4 ft folding plastic one was no match for this heavy thing (sliding sewing machine, anyone?).

Recycling clothes: adult tank to child's top

I'm sure you know that making new things with old clothes is big right now. Well, I hang onto clothes way too long and for once it was a good thing! Mom and I had a lot of fun making some things for Reagan together:

Here's an old tank top of mine from college. I have no idea why I kept it and honestly forgot how short some tops used to be!

We decided to make it into a top for Reagan, so it needed to be downsized a lot, but we didn't want to loose the embroidery on the bottom so we decided to do a ruffle. We cut off the bottom, took in the sides (measured another top of hers and added a seam allowance), and made some ruffle tank sleeves with the leftovers. Add a little green ribbon to gather the top and I think it turned out pretty well!

And here is Miss Priss herself modeling for us! No, the pants don't match, they are pattern made (New look 6689 I think) and go with another recycled top we worked on. I think she was pretty happy with it. So, if you run out of fabric and want to sew, look in your closet ;)

Homemade goodness

Our budget has a very limited place in it for extras, which has led me to be more creative with the gifts I give. At first that really frustrated me, but now I think it's kind of a challenge, and I love spending time on things for people I care about. I thought I would share a few of the things from Christmas and the baby madness that is going around lately =)

I really wanted to make my mom a quilt, and she wanted it to be out of black and white fabric. I used these instructions from Cluck.Cluck.Sew and she really simplified the process. (sorry I don't have a great picture, I didn't think about that until after I gave it to her).

I decided to wing it and make a purse for Tara too. It has pockets on the inside and straps of course that you can't see.

We used this tutorial to make coasters and they were really easy. I would have to say that we ended up using a sealer on ours so that the stamping wouldn't wipe off.

I was reading on a blog, I think it was Prayer of Hannah in the comments, that you could use sheet protectors as a way to reuse stickers. Since Reagan is a sticker fanatic, I made her a folder with sheet protectors, stickers, printed off coloring pages, and dry erase markers (you can wipe off dry erase markers from the sheet protectors and re-color the coloring pages). No picture, but you get the idea.

 This isn't really along the same lines, but I also finally made the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll recipe! They are a bit time consuming, but definitely doable, even for a novice like me. We won't be eating them regularly (they are in no way diet food =), but they have definitely made the list of things we will make again.

We also have lots of new babies in our lives. I have enjoyed finding new patterns to make gifts for those little ones. Here are a few things I've made along with links to the patterns:

Changing pad/wipes holder(pattern from Cluck.Cluck.Sew)

Blanket (no pattern here, I just cut two pieces of fleece the same size, sewed together and top stitched)

Bibs ( pattern from Chickpea studio), burp cloths (pattern from Nap Time Crafts), baby shoes (found via Laffty Crafty, pattern from Stardust shoes).

Lots of fun, and much less money!

Mama and I were busy...

We had a good visit last week! Neither one of us likes to sit still, so we needed something to keep us entertained (Bri told her that he knows where my inability to sit still comes from now =). What started as another pillowcase dress for Reagan and a few friends turned into a potential side job for me. Below is a link to some of the different dresses we made:



We had a lot of fun, and I got to feed my fabric obsession! Several things worked out this past week that made me think I should give it a try. We'll see what happens!

Reagan's pillowcase dress

Quilting has opened up my world to a love of fabric. I have been ogling this fruit fabric at Joann's for awhile, but the print was bigger than I would use on the small quilts I've been making. I have seen pictures of little girls in pillowcase dresses lately and think they are adorable! Since I don't have a little girl right now, I decided to make one for Reagan. I was waiting to post the pictures until my Dad was able to bring the dress home (it was a surprise for my niece and sister-in-law).

Honestly, one of the things I love the most about blogs and the internet these days is that you can find free patterns for all kinds of things. I'm going to make her a few more since it was so easy to make. I've seen them worn as dresses, with jeans, and with long sleeve shirts under them so they are pretty versatile. Without further ado, here it is!!

I'll post pictures of the adventures my Dad and I had together later this week. It was nice to have my Dad here to explore Ithaca with and the weather is perfect right now. We both like to keep busy, and there are several places to hike around here. Pictures to come...