Friday, June 24, 2011

T-Shirt Skirt FREE Tutorial

I started looking at my daughters old shirts one day.  She had so many shirts that either had a stain right up front or I didn't love enough for her to wear more than once or twice.  Those of you who come to my blog often know how much she loves skirts!!  So we decided she needed a new skirt!!  And I wanted to share with you how we made this skirt.  It was simple, fun, quick, and didn't cost a penny to make.  Give it a try, you will love the skirt, it washes great with no wrinkles and is perfect for play.  No serger needed, and no need to add an elastic to the waistline!!!
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 Start out going through your closet and pulling out 5 or 6 old shirts.  Notice that I have used a tank top, polo shirt, and basic t's.  You will also need an old pair of leggings.  If you don't have leggings, any old pair of pants would be just as cute!!
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Cut just underneath the sleeves on all the shirts.  Don't worry that some will be taller than others.  Throw away the top.  I am using this ruler, and it definitely is wonderful, but don't worry if you don't have one!
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Cut off the side seams.  Throw away the side seams.  We are keeping the hem of the shirt on, so make sure not to cut it off!
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Cut into 3 even rectangles, with the shirts hem at the bottom of each.
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Lay out all the rectangles from all your shirts into how you would like them for the skirt.  Some of the shirts are taller than the others, this is just fine, we will fix this later. 
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Starting at the shirts hemline, sew 1/8" seam allowance up the side of each rectangle.  Sew with the ugly side of the fabrics together, making the seam show on the outside of the skirt. 
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This is what it will look like as you start to add more rectangles together.  Keep going until you sew the first rectangle to the last, making a circle.
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Cut the leggings somewhere above the crotch.  This is up to you where you want to cut, the main difference it will make is the length it adds to the skirt.  Throw away the bottoms.
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To get the bottom of the skirt ready for sew to the top, cut the extra lengths from the rectangles off the top.  This will make a nice edge to sew to the top of the leggings.  You are not cutting the edge that has all the original hems from the shirts.
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Make a gathering stitch at the top.  To do this set your sewing machine at the longest stitch length you have available.  Then sew 1/8" away from the edge then again at 5/8" away from the edge, all the way around the top.  Make sure not to back stitch at the beginning or to stitch over top the same stitches.  Keep your threads at the beginning of the stitch and the end of the stitch long.  You will be pulling these strings to make the gather soon.
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Separate the legging top and the skirt into fourths and place pins. 
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Pull the top threads of the gathering stitches.  Do not pull the bottom, just the top.  If you pull the bottom and the top you will end up breaking a thread and have to start over. 
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Match the pins that you placed in the leggings and the skirt together so you have the fourths evenly placed.  Make sure the fabrics have the ugly sides facing each other so the seam will show on the outside of the skirt.  Then play with the gathers to make the skirt the same size as the leggings.  Place a lot of pins.  The more the pins the better, they will save a lot of frustration!
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Sew as close to 1/8" seam allowance as you can around the edge.  Then pull out the gathering stitches so they don't show on your skirt.
Yey you are done, and it looks fantastic!!  New skirt at no extra cost!!!



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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Melanie Bag, Needing Pattern Tester

The Melanie Bag!!
New pattern needing a tester.  I had a very good friend of mine ask if I would be interested in making this pattern, and of course I said YES.  This is such a fun and go everywhere bag.  I have been using mine since the day I finished it.  The straps are long so it can lay up over one shoulder and lay on the other hip.  I love that when I am running after my kids, my purse isn't falling off my shoulder (It's GREAT!)
This bag has a button and loop closure.
 There's plenty of pockets inside lining both sides of the bag.  Take everything with you, and still be able to find it all!  Pockets for cell phones, pens, keys, lip stick, and more.
When it came to time for me to name the bag, I just had to name it after my good friend.  So thanks again Melanie for the idea, and for letting me use your name!
I am needing 1 more person to test this pattern for me.  If you would like to test this please leave me a comment below.  If you would like an extra point in the drawing, please leave a comment on facebook or twitter and leave me the link to see it (I would appreciate your help in telling people about my shop).
Good Pattern for you beginners out there.  Very few pattern pieces, and steps.
Here's the deal.  You get the pattern for free.  I only ask that you are able to sew the bag within a week of me emailing it to you, and give me any comments or suggestions you may have.
Contest will end at midnight, on Thursday, June 16th.



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Monday, June 6, 2011

Jack and Jill Winner

What a crazy last couple weeks!!  I got a virus on my computer, the second in the past month.  I have a wonderful neighbor who is kinda an expert when it comes to these things.  So, he fixed it, he brought it back.  We worked on the computer for one day trying to catch up on everything we missed.  Then it got a virus again!!  So frustrating.  It is now fixed.  Life is now somewhat caught back up.

I did have a winner for the Jack and Jill Romper!!  Thank you Jamie for sewing this for me!!

Jamie is a stay at home mommy of a 3 year old and infant twins, and wife to a great guy. She enjoys cooking, sewing, quilting, and knitting for her kiddos and people she loves.  Go check out Jamie's blog find out how to mother a toddler and twins, keep her sanity through crafts and live happily and healthy on a budget.  While pregnant with her twins she got a crazy urge to create things and just wanted to try different types of crafts. She loves crafts that involve some kind of fiber-sewing, knitting, folding fabric flowers.  After the twins were born she decided to stay at home because good child care cost more than she brought in each month. So she created her etsy shop (www.etsy.com/shop/jlchatt) mostly to cover the cost of all the fabric and yarn that she loves to buy.  Jamie has so many things to see on her blog.  Tutorials, sewing projects, recipes, and so much more!  She is an amazing woman, and fun to follow along with as she is definatly staying sane with raising her children.  Also go to her Etsy shop that will be re-opening by mid July!!!  Check it out!!  My computer wouldn't let me add the cute picture that Jamie sent me of her Romper, so here is a cute picture she sent me of the Hailey Wrap pattern!


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