Repurpose-Refashion last year's leggings

Another little refashion I worked on over the weekend: last year's Leggings into this year's Capri's. This might only work if your little one has grown taller but not so much changed her "profile". For us it worked perfectly, because the girls went from diaper-butts to undie-butts. Which means that last year's 2T Stretch pants still fit around the waist this year.

So, here is what I did.
I cut these brown pants, which were about 2 inches too short by now, right below the knee.

To make the capri "cuff" I cut a rectangular piece of cotton fabric which was pant-leg-circumference + 2 inches in length and 5 inches wide (my rectangle was 14 x 5 inches). I double-folded both short ends and stitched and then double-folded the lower edge (hem) and stitched. With right sides facing I sewed the raw edge of the cotton fabric to the pant legs slightly overlapping the short ends at the outer leg seam. Therefore, creating a "slit" at the outside. This will make it fit comfortably and give room to move around. The seam allowances were folded upward towards the pants and top-stitched.

The fabric I used is from the Cutie Pie line and is called Gingham Girls. I bought mine at Sew Mama Sew. But, unfortunately, I don't think they have it in stock anymore. However, I saw several listings for this print on Etsy and Ebay. I think it's the perfect match for these pants. The dolls are 4 inches tall. Just the right size for the cuffs.

As you can see in the pictures "A" grew increasingly intolerant of having her picture taken.

Poor thing. Well, as of this morning I know why: Both of them are down with full blown ear infections and nasty coughs. Hoping this will pass quickly...

I know, sometimes it's hard to follow written instructions without having pictures to look at. So, if you would like to try this refashion project and have any questions please leave a comment or send me an email.

Thrifted Skirt Winner and a Valentine Craft

As Sunday was getting close I was starting to worry that nobody would leave a comment with the right answer. I mean, not that it would have really mattered, because I would have just picked a random winner then. But, then Saturday, somebody finally guessed it right!!!!

And, that somebody is                      Mari           !!!!!!!!!!!!!

She said: "Adorable...I'm going to say a bed skirt was used (the dust ruffle) or whatever they are called?? (but I'm international so not sure it counts?!)"  (Of course, it does!)



Congratulations! Yes, I used a cribsized Bedskirt. See!

On to a little craft I made yesterday. You may have seen this awesome tutorial floating around in Craft-Blogland over the past few days. I can only recommend it. It's easy and super "cost-conscious". I spent a whopping 1.17 USD (incl. tax) to make two!
One for the inside of our front door:

and one for the outside:

Very pretty, cute and quick.
I have so many more projects to share with you. Three to be exact. But, I will pace myself. See, I want to make sure you come back! ;-)

Snowflakes, Snowflakes

Just a quick reminder, if you haven't yet, don't forget to take a guess to participate in the giveaway right here. You still have until tomorrow.

So, now. Yesterday was the girls' school's Winter Program. And it was CUTE! Let me tell you. Their class had prepared four different songs and the kids were literally just screaming them out. Really, really cute. And it was double cute because all the kids in Anika and Kordula's class were wearing matching Snowflake costumes.

Those costumes, that I signed up to make and didn't get to start working on until last Friday. Remember?! Anyway, they came together much quicker than I thought. I drew up a simple A-line jumper pattern (one size fits all), cut it out from white felt, used freezer paper to stencil a glittery snowflake on the front and sewed shoulder and side seams together. Pretty easy.

From some of the left over felt I made little flower hairpins for all the girls in the class.

It was adorable: 17 little snowflakes singing their hearts out on stage.

So, this would be the spot I would add a picture of the entire class, if my husband ever learns how to take sharp, non-wonky, non-fuzzy and out of focus pictures. Maybe next year....

Thrifty Spring Skirt Re-Purpose Project

Another project that cost me next to nothing. I LOVE those kinds of projects!

Just finished this set of skirts in perfect spring colors: light green, blue, pink and purple with cute birdie and simple flower appliques.

All I did to make one of these skirts is add a fabric strip for the waist band, close the back seam and insert elastic. Easy peasy.

You will notice that the skirts are a tad too long right now. But, I figured, spring is still at least three months away here where I live, so that's three more months for the girls to grow another inch or so. And while you are looking at the pics; see how short and tight the shirts are.... :( This is a total underestimation on my part as to how much they'd grow over the winter. Anyway, they will have to stick it out until warmer weather arrives. Too late into the season to buy more long sleeved shirts.

Okay, if you are still with me after my ramblings, then here comes a little GIVEAWAY!!!!! Yeah! See, sometimes it pays off to read through a full post ;-)
I have enough of the thrifted "something" left, to make a skirt for one of my lovely blog readers! Are you excited?!

As you may have noticed I have not told you yet, what I re-purposed in order to make these skirts. So, in order to qualify to win , leave a comment and tell me what you think it is I used. If there is more than one of you with the correct answer I will pick a random winner among those with the correct answer. Everybody only gets ONE guess, though. Sounds fair?!

Okay, one more thing for you to read through: Just so you know, based on what I have available I can make a skirt in these three sizes:
a) 11 inches long (won't have blue gingham waistband, but the light green of the main fabric)
b) 12.5 inches long (blue gingham will only be on the inside of the waistband, outside will show the light green)
c) 13.5 inches long (as seen in the pictures)
I would estimate that the 13.5 inch long skirts are a 4T.
Now, go on and take your guess! I will leave this giveaway open until next Sunday (1/24/10).

Pretty New Books

A while back I entered a "sewing green" contest at STC Craft. I had entered the set of jammies I had made from vintage embroidered pillow cases. And I was one of the lucky winners. I was so excited, 'cause I got to pick any of the crafting books they carry. Yeah!!!

So, I picked Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin.

Can't wait to try printing some designs on brown or natural linen. I am thinking zippy pouches and clutches.

Also, because I had to wait a couple of months for my prize to arrive they included a free copy of Zakka Sewing as well.

Oh, I am in heaven. This book has been on my Wishlist for quite a while now.

Okay, that's a LOT of concentrated inspiration to receive in one day. I will have to wait a few days with starting any of the projects in these books, though. Yesterday, I finally received confirmation from the girls' Preschool that they indeed would like to have Snowflake costumes for all the kids for the upcoming Winterprogram: 16 Outfits to be ready by mid next week! I know I can do it ;-)

Better Pictures

All right. We had a chance to take some better pictures of the skorts yesterday. Bribary included.

I had to redo the first skort I made (the one that had the red tights' top) because it was too small and kept sliding off their little butts. So, here are the finished versions.

I added a little applique and flowery embellishments to both of them. The birds are from the new Leanika line of fabric (Get it?! LeANIKA... ;-)) It's very cute. I got mine here. The flowers are made from circles cut out of left over jersey from this project with a few glass beads added in the center.

One of the tights had a little hole in the back, so I added a little heart applique. Cute, huh?!

By the way, the knee highs are made from the legs of the same tights that I used for the skorts. And the skort's legs are the same length, but they keep sliding up a little when the kids move around.

Upcycled Skorts

It works!
So, I took the left over tops of old tights from this project and used them as shorts for a new skort.

All you have to do is:

1.Take a light weight cotton or knit fabric and cut a rectangle over the width of your fabric. The length of it should be the desired length of your skirt plus 1.25 inches for hem and gathering on top.

2. Sew the short ends of your rectangle right sides together to create a big "tube".

3. Gather the top of that tube to reach the same circumference that the top of your tights have.

4. Turn skirt tube inside out, insert tights' top as shown in the picture and attach the skirt tube just below the tight's waistband with a Zig-Zag-stitch. The tights' waistband will be visible at the end and become the waistband of your skorts. So, you need to make sure that the waistband still has some stretch in it to stay up on your child's waist. Otherwise the weight of the skirt will just make it slide down.
Try not to stretch the tights' waist at all while sewing.

5. Remove your gathering thread (Or simply stretch out the waistband until the gathering stitch rips. Don't worry about the zig zag stitch. It won't rip).

6. To finish the lower edge, fold over twice to the inside and stitch.

Sorry for the crappy pictures again. The camera's battery was charging and my phone's camera just stinks in the dark... Also, as you can see my lower edge is not finished yet and the fabric needs some serious ironing. Anika quickly tried it on this morning and it fit perfectly. I will post better pics once I get a chance to have the girls wear their skorts in decent lighting and with enough time on my part to take good pictures.

From Tights to Knee-highs

Don't you wish you knew what to do with all these super cute little kids tights that are w-a-a-a-a-y too short and keep sliding down?! Well, Disney from Ruffles 'n Stuff had the best idea ever!

- Cut them up, add elastic, embellish = have knee highs -

It's so easy and the results so cute you will want to go out and buy too small tights on purpose. Just so you can cut them up! I made four pair in less than an hour. Klick here for the link to Disney's great tutorial.

In order to get the right length for the elastic, I measured the girls right below the knee and substracted 1/2 inch. They measured 7.5 inches and I cut the elastic at 7 inches. This way they are staying up nicely without being too tight. Also, I did not overlap the ends of the elastic. They are butting right up to one another. This will also ensure a little more stretch and comfort.

And, don't throw out the top of the tights! My daughters are now wearing theirs as super-comfy-warm "underwear covers".  They love 'em. Unfortunately, a little bit more than the knee highs I made...
I also think, the tops would be great as the shorts part for skorts... I may just try that tomorrow!