Those Clothes Look Better on Her

I wanted to make Ansley a dress like my new favorite dress. Unfortunately I don't have a little cap sleeve shirt to trace for her. Fortunately I have a few shirts that aren't super flattering on me and that Tyrone doesn't wear.

Here's the first version. I traced a shirt with proper sleeves and tried to mimic one of my cap sleeved shirts. The shape was alright but it was a little big.



More pictures of the dress, b/c she's cute.







Here's the second version. I used the blue dress as a guide, taking in the sleeves at the armhole and the edge a bit. I like how it looks in some of these pictures but it looks tank toppy in other pictures (which is probably partially due to having never washed the brown shirt). Maybe it's b/c there isn't a defined cuff at the edge and/or the fit is a little off? I don't want to make them too much smaller b/c I don't want the dress to be difficult to get into.











Here are some sketches of how I made these:







Tips:
Prewash your shirts! The sleeves on the brown dress were cuter before I shrank them. I'm not too sad b/c it was a practice run anyway.

Stay stitch around your sleeves, if necessary. I definitely had to one the brown one. I sewed a medium long stitch near the edge of the sleeve. The stitch gave it more stability so I could fold it under twice to finish the edge.

You might have to adjust the neckline a bit if you want to keep the original finished neck edge (like on the blue one).

Try not to cut your knits too soon before you can sew them. Some knits curl in a lot.

Easy Slip/Skirt

This is another one of my dollar dresses. It's a few sizes too big, which is perfect for a fuller skirt. I cut off the top, added a casing and some elastic. I like the white ruffle peeking out under other skirts and dresses. My mom would be proud that I'm not anti slip anymore.

Before:

Sweet Sweatshirt!

I took a hand me down men's size large sweatshirt and made a cuter one.



I didn't realize that a lot of sweatshirts don't have side seams. I cut out the design and cut the sweatshirt below the sleeves. I used one of Ansley's dresses as a width guide and to trace the sleeves. I had enough material to overlap the front. I like the asymmetry and the buttons.



Here's the original front of the sweatshirt:





Linked here:

Comfy Jeans

(yes that is snow from this morning. Grr.)

Ansley has an adorable pair of sparkly jeans from the Children's Place Outlet. The only trouble is they are really stiff and don't have any stretch. So I traced a pair of her leggings onto my a pair of my old jeans that don't fit anymore, keeping the original jeans hem and one of the original seams. The seam that I used for the outside was actually the inner seam but it looked more finished. I traced the back and front sections of the leggings with one of my new favorite sewing tools- a washable marker. The elastic waistband will make it easy for her to self dress.

So nice for lounging:

Another New Favorite Skirt

Just like this one except the front and back weren't completely symmetrical so I'm wearing it the "correct" way. The brown skirt went back to its original owners. I love how flouncy the ruffles are. Hooray for free skirts.

Linked here:



and here:

Another Day, Another Dollar, Another Dress

Another day of being sick (and another night of Ansley not sleeping)/me going crazy with the unnecessary crying b/c I won't let her watch Curious George all day long.

One of the dollar dresses I bought at Walmart (yes, only a dollar!) with plans to repurpose them. I know the before picture isn't the exact dress but it's the same style, weight, etc. The one I used was a size 16 in women's.

My favorite pattern as of late. Also seen here and here. It's obviously a bit big in the arms and length but I want it to fit her for a while and I didn't measure the length on her b/c she was napping for a few minutes. The fabric is actually two layers. It would've been really thin if it wasn't. I'm not sure it'll last that long if it gets snagged on anything but it sure is comfy, lightweight, and airy- perfect for summer.

Skirt Refashion

I got this knit skirt from my piano students' mom. I cut it at my knee length. I divided the bottom part of the skirt into thirds and cut them, trimming the seams around the back slit (for "walking"- guess I take really large steps!) and the bottom hem. I sewed all of the pieces into one long strip, basted the top and gathered. After debating whether to sew it on the outside or the inside of the skirt, I sewed it on the outside with a zig zag stitch. The final step was rotating it (it was pretty much the same in the front and back) so the original back seam isn't directly in the middle of the back. I don't need any attention there. ha.

Love the collage? I just learned how via this awesome blog.

A Dress for Ansley's Friend

Ansley got invited to her first birthday party. She kept talking about it as soon as she opened the invitation. Then she got sick- runny nose, coughing sick. Poor thing (and poor us b/c I think we're getting it too).

Anyway, I made this little dress using a men's shirt that Ansley's friend's mom (who is also my friend) gave me last summer. I first got the idea from MADE.



I left the pocket on the front; partly out of laziness and mostly out of curiosity to see how it would look. It's totally functional, which is fun.



I used Simplicity 5695, like this dress. Instead of all of the tiers, I extended view c/d into an a line. I didn't want to add the ruffle b/c the buttons up the front of the dress are so cute! I think it turned out better than my first attempt at a shirt dress.



Did you enter my giveaway yet?

Return of the Gauchos

Remember when gauchos were fashionable five or so years ago? I don't know why I thought they'd look good on me! The length and billowyness made me look shorter and weren't that flattering.

But now they have a multi tasking new life. Is it a skirt or a dress? Is it maternity attire or non maternity attire? Is it loungewear or a swim cover up? It's all of the above.

I cut the seam that made each pant leg a leg, got rid of the curving for the um, seat of the gauchos, and sewed the two legs together. Fabulous!

PS I know I didn't need to include all of these pictures but don't you love how The Princess appears? :)

Linked here:

Ansley's Dresses

These pictures were taken a few months ago when the cold destroyed part of our garden (hence the fleece pants and the grumpy looks). They've also been taken in a bit on the tops since these pictures.

I used this tutorial and this one. I guess I need to learn to put in a zipper and/or buttons so the dresses can be more fitted. I tried out the button hole maker on my machine and it didn't work.

Little Fan

I've been trying for weeks to get a decent picture of Ansley in her new dress. This is the best I could get. I used this tutorial to save my Better than Ezra shirt from my first BTE concert on June 19, 1999. Super huge thanks to Jen for sending me her autographed ticket stub from that concert!

Shopping the Men's Clearance Section

I found this great shirt on a recent shopping trip to buy baby food and milk. I love the colors and the lightweight material. (Lately I've been anti layering- it's much too hot). After washing and drying the shoulders and top fit perfectly. However, the boxy shape was not very flattering. I debated adding darts to the back but thought it might look funny with the pattern. As a beginning sewer, I was pretty sure I'd irreversibly mess things up if I cut the side open. I decided to finally attempt shirring and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Here's a great tutorial. I think the shirt is about 88% improved. As an awesome bonus, the shirt goes great with the circle skirt I made myself.