skinny baby pants

What do you do when the baby is starting to pull up on furniture, but keeps getting his feet stuck in his pants?  Make skinny pants of course!

They are my new favorite!  I saw a similar pair at Gap and thought I'd try making some.  I used an old polo shirt, and added the ribbed cuffs from the waistband of an old hoodie.  

I think they look a little punk-rockish with the tiny houndstooth print.  

This outfit was made with my new needle.  I got a little heads up from my Mom last weekend when I showed her this shirt.

See the ugly little holes the thread was making in the fabric?  Turns out I needed a special needle for sewing knits.  Duh!  What would I do without my Mom? 

And just for fun... a little doll stroller refashion for Ella.   

dress refashion

Am I going a little crazy refashioning?  (Today I happened across the "50% off the clearance stuff" sale at Old Navy and was WAY to excited!)   I might be...but it is so satisfying to find a new purpose for clothes I no longer like, or clothes that only cost $2!  So here's another one I've completed.  This is an old bathing suit cover up from Target.

I took off the gathered, bottom part and added elastic to make it a skirt for Ella.

I think I'll save the top half and make it a summer dress for Ella next year. 

Also...is this cute?  I can't decide, but it is a way to use up the t-shirt scraps I have after finishing a t-shirt quilt.  They might be fun in different sports team colors....

t-shirt quilts

If you haven't seen one of our t-shirt quilts yet, here you go!

I cut up the shirts and piece the quilt top, then my Mom does the quilting on her long-arm machine, giving it back to me to complete the binding. 

Here's a close up of her amazing quilting...

And another quilt top I finished today...



Usually we use black or blue for the strips, but this person gave us their own pick instead. 



Sooo, if you have t-shirts lying around, we could make a quilt for you!  And now that these are done, I'm off to make some things for myself!! 



dad's shirt refashioned

This weekend my mom gave me a huge bag of old clothes from my brothers and dad.  And of course free is even better than Goodwill, so I started thinking about all the clothes I could make for Ella and Brice.  There were two of these plaid, collared shirts from my dad, so I thought I'd save one to make a dress for Ella and then use the other for me.  (Of course I was too excited to get started, and it was 10 pm, so I forgot to take a before picture.   This "before" picture is of the other shirt!) 

Here's the after.



The sleeves are really the same length...



I took in the sides and sleeves, chopped off the sleeves to 3/4 length and added elastic, removed the collar and used the scraps to make the ruffle.  I think I might take it in a little more above my waist...and I need to get a skinny belt, I think that would look good with it too.  Anyone interested in having me show you how to do it?? 

how about a shirt with those pants?

After I made the skirts and pants for Ella and Brice, I realized they don't have any shirts that match their new clothes!  While I could go out and buy a few, I thought it would be more fun to try the 90 Minute Shirt tutorial on the blog MADE.  Basically, you use a men's extra large shirt and some knit ribbing.   (I LOVE this blog!  She does everything from making kids clothes to home improvement...check it out!) 

Last weekend I made a trip to Goodwill and found a few men's shirts for $2.  (I also took a few from Brent - shhhh!)  I tore up an old onesie and drew up a pattern.  The first one looked pretty good. 



This was a large men's polo, so I kept the bottom hem and used the original sleeves.

For the second shirt, I wanted it to be long sleeved and a little more loose.  This shirt came from my brother (remember this one Adam?) and ended up sitting in Brent's closet, never used.  





Then of course I had to try making one for Ella.  I wanted it to look more girly, so I tried adding ruffles.  This wasn't quite as easy to sew, there were too many layers...

and then it was way too tight!  Poor girl woke up from her nap all excited and still wanted to wear it, so I'm  finishing up a second one for her to wear tomorrow.

You can bet I'll be at Goodwill's 50% off sale tomorrow - these are addicting!  Seriously, if you have kids and a sewing machine you need to try these out.  Have a great first weekend of Fall! 

cowboy cargo pants

I started with these old Abercrombie and Fitch pants - took off the pockets, cut up the legs... 

and look who's wearing them now!



Brice!

With the red stitches and cowboy pockets, I think he's ready for Fall!

cowboy pockets

more to come later!  can't finish now...babies waking up!