T-shirt to little girl's maxi skirt

I found this t-shirt at Kohl's in the clearance section for $1.44. I HAD to buy it to make a skirt for Love Bug. She's been asking me if I'll make her a "long dress thing...you know, like yours. Not a tutu like mine." WHAT, she wants to wear something that ISN"T a tutu? 

I-can't-believe-it!

Anyway. It was late. Past 9 pm when I started making it. I needed Love Bug so I could make it fit her. I really should have waited until the next day but I was so excited to try it out. Mr. Leafy was not happy that I wasn't putting the crying whining children in bed, so I was working as fast as I could. 

No instructions. I'm sorry. I'll make another. I PROMISE! That one will have a tute. 

Anyway, This is how it turned out. 

Cute, no? 

I mean, for a 10pm finish time and a cranky kid to boot. Not too shabby. I had to piece the waistband together with fabric from the sleeves, but was quite happy to also have some of the blue stripe left over to add to it. 

Love Bug was in heaven wearing it today. 

Dressy ruffled maxi

Found this really cute ruffled knit at Joann Fabric and had to use it for a maxi. It was pretty easy to match up the rows of ruffles. I used the fabric inside out for the waistband. Kind of hard to see in the photo. 

I used the same tute as I did for my other maxi skirts. See the info on THIS POST. 

Maxi skirt/dress

I was trying to talk my oldest teen into making a maxi skirt, and when she told me she wanted a dress instead, I pulled my skirts waistband up to my chest to show her how easy it would be to make one that was a dress. THEN I decided I needed one. But I got to thinking that it would be great if it could be a dress or a skirt. It was made the same as my first maxi skirt. See THIS POST for more info.

So, here is the finished skirt. And...the dress photo...well I accidentally deleted the photo off my FB page and now its gone completely. So I'll have to take another when I wear it next. I spilled some bleach on the bottom of it (and about cried after having *just* made it today) but saved it!! Whew. 

Photo of dress coming soon. 

Meanwhile. I just made the waist band 7 inches before folding so it fit in the chest better. This fabric I used sideways and kept the selvage in tact so I didn't do anything to the hem. Perfect!

The ruffled Maxi Skirt

Bet you thought I was joking about making a maxi for every occasion. No lie, I have a problem. These are so easy and so cute I've made 5 and have fabric ready for several more. PLUS making some for my daughters....I may never stop!

I saw this super cute ruffled maxi from A Small Snippet

She made hers using an old sheet, but that doesn't make any difference in the instructions.

I made mine with a knit lace fabric. Since its totally see-through, I made a permanent slip under it to the knee  with a dark jersey knit fabric. I can not even begin to tell you how comfortable this maxi is. I didn't finish the edges on the ruffles since the fabric won't fray. 

Love love love!!

Twirly skirt

Another project for our church ladies sewing night is a twirly skirt. Love Bug LOVES to twirl. I love to make her skirts, tutus and the like. 

Found the tutorial on this site  and it was SO easy to make. Seriously easy. My oldest...wait, I don't have a name for her yet....The Great- that's what we'll call her, said she hates it when she reads on a blog that something is super easy and fast. Then it takes all day and never works anyway. Not so here. It literally took me 20 minutes to make. I was fortunate enough to be able to use the exact size that the poster used and no math skills were required. If math had been needed, I would have been crying on the floor in the fetal position after spending hours trying to figure it out. NOT because its too complicated, but because math and I are from different planets. 

Then today I was talking to some friends about the skirt and realized that the math required was actually quite easy and I was just overreacting to begin with. (whew)

Love Bug models her new super cute skirt here:

and the twirl factor is very satisfactory!!

It doesn't require a finished edge because its a knit/spandex fabric, but putting in a small hem would have also been easy. I plan to put some trim on the edge to give it a little pop. I just used my serger on the edge. The waistband is also a yoga pant style. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

UPDATE
Loved the twirly so much I decided to make one for myself.

Sorry, no twirling photo :( But believe me, it too has a overwhelming twirl factor. In case twirling is your thing. :)

Maxi Skirt

I love wearing skirts in the summer. Its hot and balmy on the east coast, and skirts *can* be super comfortable. The problem is finding one that fits well. 

This month I get to help plan an activity for our church women's group, and we decided to do a sewing activity with a few projects to choose from. I ran across this really cute Maxi skirt tute on Pinterest (are you really still not on pinterest? please tell me it isn't so)  and decided to give it a try. Leanne- the creator of the super cute maxi in question, talked about how easy it was and how she couldn't help but make more of them. I must admit that I am now addicted to them as well. 

Here is her TUTE- but be prepared to make a dozen of them...you'll want to after the first one.

If you're afraid to work with knit, give it a try anyway. The best advice I can offer is let the machine do the walking. Don't try to pull on the fabric at all, and you'll be fine.

Here is my maxi skirt. I LOVE that the waistband is yoga pant style. I made mine 2 inches smaller than my waist to compensate for the stretchy and I was glad that I did. By the end of the day (read 16 hours including a nap in it) it had relaxed more than expected. I'm sure after a run through the washer and dryer it will shrink back up a bit, but definitely take that into consideration when planning your size.

I'll post more skirts as I make them (hope you don't get board looking at maxi skirts. I'm thinking of making one for every occasion. Can't wait to show you my cakepop making skirt :)

Simple Spring Dress

I've been waiting for it to warm up and turn springy outside so I'd have a good reason to make a sundress for Love Bug. Pillowcase dresses are really popular for toddler girls right now. I found a really easy pattern by Simplicity that was perfect! I love to sew, but what I really love is something that I can sew in less than an hour. Sometimes that's all the time I have!!

The pattern is two pieces plus ribbon and bias tape. Easy-peasy!! I have a friend whom I will be giving sewing lessons to in the very near future and thought she'd like it for her little girl as well. I made this one for Love Bug.

 Ignore our Raggamuffin look. This is post piggy tails. They don't last long in her hair.

It turned out so cute and was so easy, I decided to make another while she napped this afternoon. I timed myself this time around. (mostly because I told my husband it would only take me 30 minutes to make one and when it took me 1.5 hours he was teasing me about it. Never mind that my serger wasn't functioning correctly and it took me 45 minutes to get it set back to where it was suppose to be. There are lots of little hands that like to turn dials at my house)

Anyway. From pattern to hanger- 45 minutes. I am the kind of seamstress that likes a nicely pressed seam and clean serged edges. So adding in all the times I pressed the seams and ironed the fabric and serged three edges, still a quick project.

Here is the second dress:

I decided against using ribbon because I liked the idea of it matching the dress completely. I made my own straps out of the fabric I used for the bottom of the dress. Cut the length required for the ribbon (in my case 2 yards) by 2 inches wide. Press both sides in 1/4 inch, then fold it over so one side almost meets the other. Press. Then sew along the edge. Cut it in half for two straps. Fold each end over twice (about 1/4 inch each time) and stitch to keep in place. If you have problems working with such a thin edge of fabric, here is an easy solution. You can use it anytime the piece you are sewing won't catch well on the sewing machine to move.

Place a piece of lightweight card stock under the pressure foot of the machine. Place your strap on the card stock positioned where you need it under the foot. Put the foot down and start sewing, being careful to reverse before you go off the edge of the strap. Move it forward to the edge again, then stop. Cut the threads.

Fold the card stock back away from the fabric exposing the seam. Cut the card stock off as close to the seam as possible. Now working with the card stock up, pull the remaining  piece of card stock downward away from the seam carefully. Any fragments of paper left can be picked out with your fingernail. And there you have it!!

If you're interested in the pattern, it's THIS one.

I found it at Walmart.

Happy sewing!!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree tutorial

One of my favorite books is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! How can you not love an alphabet book, especially one that is as catchy as this one?

My kids love to take stories a little farther than the pages we read them on. Of course the most fitting way to do that with this book is with our own coconut tree!! Here is how you can make your own:

The tree is 16 inches tall when finished.

 You will need:

Green felt cut in two 20x20in pieces and one 9x9in piece

Brown felt cut into one 17x17in piece and two 6 inch circles

pillow stuffing

beanie baby filling

3 wooden 1 inch beads

brown yarn

4 pipe cleaners, any color

large eyed needle

Start by folding your first piece of green felt in half and tracing the pattern. Line up the edge of the pattern and trace again. Repeat with second piece (or you can pin them together so you are cutting through both pieces).

 Fold the smaller felt piece in half and trace the smaller leaf pattern onto it. Cut out all leaves.

 Pin the two large leaves together and sew along the outside edge, completely.

 Fold leaves in half, then half again, finding the center. Mark the center.

 Measure from the center to 6.5 inches on all leaves. Mark the spot.

 Sew a casing .5 inches wide on each leaf. Don't worry about it overlaping in the center.

 Cut the center with a seam ripper, pulling up the overlaping threads.

 Fold two pipe cleaners in half and turn up their ends so they are rounded.

 Push half of the two pipe cleaners into one side of the casing, then the other half through the casing across from it. Repeat with the second set of pipe cleaners.

 Sew along the edge of the smaller leaves to give it a finished look. Sew lines down the middle of each leaf using zigzag stitch set tight.

Mark brown felt diagonally from the bottom corner to 5 inches in at the top, then cut excess off. Repeat on other side.(or use a rotary cutter as I did) The picture shows one side cut already and the other side being marked. It will now be 7 inches across the top and 17 inches across the bottom.

 Fold in half and sew along the open edge.Lay with seam in center back and cut off excess fabric making a straight line. (the picture shows it turned so the outside is out. You don't need to do this at this point)

Pin the two circles to the right side of the felt on the bottom opening. Sew it closed and turn right side out.

 This is what it will look like. I used two pieces for the bottom because I know it will get tossed around a lot and not treated gently. It's for reinforcement only.

 Fill bottom with beanie baby beads or other weighted beads.

 I put in about 2 cups to make sure it would be stable.

 Stuff with pillow stuffing until its firm. You want the tree to stand tall and not slouch over.

 With the open edge of large leaf down, stitch to top of tree by hand.

 This is how it should look now.

 Place smaller leaf on top and hand stitch it on larger leaves to tack it down.

 Use a large eyed needle to thread yarn.

 Begin at the back seam and pull the yarn through.

 Wrap yarn around the tree and pull it through again about 2 inches lower than the first stitch a quarter turn around. Continue down the tree in this manner until you reach the bottom.

 Tie a large bulky knot at the base. You will now continue back up the tree, tying bulky knots at each previous stitch.

 They should look similar to this.

 Tie off the yarn well at the top. Then tie on the three beads at the top to look like coconuts.

 Finished tree with knots showing.

 You are done!! Now add letters made out of foam or felt. I also made blue polka dots and apples out of felt and made the numbers to go along with the book Chicka Chicka 123.

Enjoy!!

I'll add the patterns for the leaves as soon as I get them scanned into my computer :)