My "Things"...Ha!

Awhile back, my sister-in-law's sister-in-law (say that 3 times fast!), gave us some of her twin boys' old clothes. Included in this stash were 2 "Thing" onesies (you know, Thing 1 & Thing 2 from Cat in the Hat?). Anyways, I almost got rid of both since I don't have twins but then figured that I could do something for the kids with them.

Obviously, I did not have to do anything with Ryan's since he can fit in the onesie. But for Ava, I used the Sienna Dress pattern from Lil Blue Boo (that I have used before and LOVE) to upcycle some old shirts into a dress. I then appliqued the "Thing" onto it. Needless to say, she was very excited and told me all day how she & Ryan were twins. And everyone else that would listen (her teachers, classmates, daddy, etc.)

So here they are, my "Things". Ava is "Thing 1" and Ryan is "Thing 2."

I have such nice, cute "Things" don't I?

More Upcycling

Awhile back my sister gave me this cute sun dress since she was not wearing it anymore.

 I had borrowed this dress several years ago when I went to Mexico as evidenced here.

 I decided to try to wear it the other day, and really just wasn't feeling it.  Not sure if it's because I just had a baby or if it's because I'm super pale but it just was no longer flattering on me.  Not to mention that the lining on this dress only came down so far (the last 2 ruffles did not have lining and you could see that) -- it always bothered me.  So I was going to try to turn it into a top for me.  BUT when I tried that on, it too did not look flattering.

So what's a girl to do? Answer: turn it into a dress for their 4 year old daughter.  I just took in the seams in the top (I did not even mess with the skirt part...it actually looked good full) and adjusted the straps.  She of course loves it since she only wants to wear dresses every day.  Nice free way to give her a new one.

A Busy Week

After awhile of not really doing anything creative, I whipped out 3 new dresses this week...crazy!  That never happens.  But I once again bought an amazing pattern from Little Blue Boo.  This time the pattern was for me--yeah!  It is called the pieced tunic dress and here is my first attempt.

Front:

Back: 

This was made using all old shirts of mine (4 total, the red Cross Canadian Ragweed shirt, a striped Old Navy shirt, a purple shirt, and a brown shirt).  I love the funkiness of it and think it turned out really cute.  I did modify the pattern slightly with the waistband part to try to lengthen the dress a bit but it still ended up a little short so I think this is more of a tunic or I might use it as a beach cover up.  I also made the size medium (which I normally am) but since I am only 2 months post partum, I probably should have gone up a size as my chest is a bit bigger than normal.  Also the red shirt I used was probably not as stretchy as it should have been (it was a bit stiff due to the print on it) and that did not help.  But I modified the chest part before I sewed it by adding a few scraps to it.

Would love to show you a photo of me in it, but since it is kind of short and I am super pale right now, it wouldn't be pretty. :)

Dress #2 was for Ava using some of my old shirts.  It's a bit crazy as I don't have too many coordinating shirts on hand but I still like the overall look and since this was the first time to make this LBB pattern (the Sienna dress), I figured I should use what I had rather than possibly mess up stuff I buy.

This used my old Hula Hut/Keep Austin Weird shirt, a shirt we got from the Duck, NC fire department 2 or 3 years ago and a black shirt of Darren's.

Front:

 Back:

 And then I made another dress like this one. Loved that one last year and wanted to do another one.  Ava actually fits in the one I made last year since I ended up adding a white layer at the bottom to lengthen it.  Here is her new one (I think she likes it!).  This one was just 2 shirts (one of them being the rest of the purple one I used in my tunic).

 The 4T size on this one is a little big in the chest part for her but that just means she can wear it next year too.  Besides if you tie it higher (which I did) it fits just fine.  That or I can end up adding the loops on the back like last time.

So excited about these and want to make more...just need more cool shirts.  I'll be on the lookout!

A Little Upcycling

I've probably mentioned it before but Ava has been outgrowing a lot of shirts lately.  They basically still fit except that they are too short.  So instead of throwing them out, I have been upcycling them in various ways. 

This time, I used a tank top that I had appliqued for her last year and added some fabric I shirred and voila!  A new tank dress.  Thankfully I still had the matching fabric to make the skirt.  (Quick side note: If you have not shirred fabric before, it is pretty easy once you figure out how your machine needs to handle the elastic thread.  There are various tutorials online about it if you want to google it, but like I said you have to play around on your sewing machine to see what the correct tension, etc. is.  I highly recommend it.  Btw, I plan on making myself a few tank dresses this way once I'm not in maternity clothes and have the time).

 She was pretty excited about her new dress and insisted on going outside in the 55 degree weather to take a few photos for me.  She asked me "Is this for Spring?"  Guess she'll be excited when I make her a few more of these (which I plan to do...I have 10 weeks before baby gets here to do it).

 And speaking of the baby, I took one of Ava's old tshirts (it actually was a boy shirt but since Darren is in construction I sometimes buy her things with dozers and other equipment on them) and cut it up to applique a onesie for our little boy to be.  The onesie was kind of a grey color (hard to tell in the photos below but you get the idea) and for some reason I thought it would be cute/funny to applique the word dirt on my baby boy's bottom.  I like it...but maybe I'm weird.

Something for Me...Again!!

So I decided to try another project out for me...shocking I know! I have this old v-neck shirt that I bought this past fall for $4 and I really liked the fit of it. I wore it ALL the time.

Problem was, all that wear, made it get these little holes at the bottom...ugly!

I was going to throw it in the trash but then decided to save it to try to make a cute t-shirt dress out of it. I bought about 5 or 6 of this style dress this season (sleeveless instead of short sleeves). So I knew that I would like this style. With a bit of one of my favorite fabrics (from Patty Young's Mezzanine line -- I got the end of bolt at my fabric store for 30% off!), I whipped up this little dress this afternoon. No real pattern, just kind of figured it out. I even added pockets which is my favorite part! In my opinion, dresses with pockets are just all kinds of awesome. What do you think?

And I love how Ava just had to snuggle up to me (in her princess dress of course) for the photo! I think that next time I make this, I can do it more easily and probably even better. Just goes to show you, if you like a tank top or t-shirt and it gets those tiny holes in it, you can save it and make something really cute out of it.

Alteration

What is it with all the super short dresses lately? I mean, I like short dresses but recently the ones I try on are so short that you are afraid to move as you might expose yourself. I've bought a few of these to pair with leggings but seeing as it is 90+ degrees here, I don't always feel like wearing them.

So why I am talking all about this (other than to hear myself talk), you might ask? Well I was at Target today and found an adorable black dress for $7. Really cute, very flattering but SUPER short. I wavered back and forth about buying it. Finally I decided to buy it and to attempt to alter it by adding a solid color fabric to the bottom.

I quickly headed to my local fabric store to get a plain green (my favorite color!) cotton to add to it. While Ava napped, I quickly added about 4 inches to the dress thus making it wearable. What do you think? (sorry there is no before -- I forgot! but you can imagine this without the green at the bottom, right?)
I personally, am really happy I spent the $7 (plus the $5 for a yard of fabric of which I used only about 1/5 of). Finally a finished project for me!

P.S. That blue, half finished painting with the birds is the new artwork I am working on for Ava's room since the silhouettes I had planned to do turned into a disaster. Stay tuned for the finished product.