Swim Shorts Makeover

I rarely get the opportunity to makeover a clothing item for my husband.  I was really excited when I showed him a new pair of swim shorts I "fixed" for him today.

I had picked up a pair of red swim shorts from Old Navy a couple of months ago.

I normally wouldn't just buy random shorts but they were on clearance and the store had an additional 50% off sale.  I bought these shorts for only $1.24! 

I showed my husband his new shorts and he said, "those look like lifeguard shorts!"  I knew he would wear them to preserve my bargain shopping enthusiasm but I also knew he would be looking over his shoulder wondering who thought he was a lifeguard. 

The shorts were sitting in a basket by our garage door for months.  I fully intended on returning them but never actually got around to going back to Old Navy for an exchange worth less than $2.  Yesterday as I walked by the "return basket," I had an idea: shorts makeover!  I searched online for some inspiration and found something with a splattered paint look.

I decided to try to recreate the splattered paint effect.  I used purple to neutralize the red.  Tulip's soft paint in a spray bottle was perfect and didn't make too much of a mess.

I let the paint dry overnight and then this morning I used freezer paper to stencil a design on one side of the shorts.

Purple and black fabric paint swirled together resulted in some purple, black, and marble grey stripes. 

The paint set for a couple of hours and then I carefully removed the freezer paper.

I'm happy with the outcome!

I'm linking this post here.

 

Layered Flower Shirt

I love a remake, especially when the remake is something old or stained. My daughter had a basic white t-shirt that she stained with something (who knows what with kids right?) So I decided to try and salvage the shirt and try something new. I started by dying the shirt teal. I used Rit dye and my usually dying technique, you can find it here. I am learning a lot about dying from all my experimenting. One thing is that teal dye is quicker than other colors. I have practiced with yellow and scarlet now and teal is by far the fastest as far as color intensity. So when dyeing with teal, don't leave the clothing in for too long. The shirt turned out a little darker than I liked.

Next I cut out circles from charcoal grey cotton. I started with the largest circle and slowly degraded in size. Once I had all my circles cut I added a button to the center and sewed the entire flower in place on the shirt. The cotton frays a little in the wash which I really like, but if you don't just finish you edges off with a serger or zigzag stitch.
This was really easy and I really like how the remake turned out.

Dress makeover for holiday photos

This year while at Creative Estates I met Katie from Sweet Rose Studio.  I knew I liked her instantly and was incredibly excited to learn she was a photographer AND lived just a few miles from me!  She took our holiday photos this year.  I just received the disc in the mail.  The pictures are fantastic and I am so excited to start working on our holiday cards!  I could go on and on about how great Katie is but first I want to share the details of my daughter's dress and headband.

photography by Sweet Rose Studio

It didn't start out this pretty.  My grandmother had picked up the dress from a small town second hand store.  It fit my daughter perfectly and I loved the red but I wasn't a big fan of the beaded trim.

I picked up some cute dotted trim from Hobby Lobby before I had this dress makeover in mind.  It was perfect for the dress!  I had a small piece leftover so I made a matching headband.  I used my glue gun to attach the embellishment to the headband and then added a small piece of felt to cover the back. 

I love how the dress and headband turned out!  Katie did a great job with our family photos!  I should share that just minutes before we took pictures my daughter went running to Katie and tripped over a concrete parking barrier.  The fall looked horrible and gave my daughter quite a few battle wounds!  She had bloody elbows and road rash on her knees.  She also had a big bump on her forehead.  I'm amazed by Katie's editing skills...you certainly can't see any of the injuries in our completed photos!

photography by Sweet Rose Studio

 

Guest Post: Sarah from Emmyloubeedoo

Hellooo Craft Addicts!

I'm so happy to be here! I jumped at the chance to share a sewing project meant just for us grown gals! Yes, please!

My name is Sarah and I have a little blog called EmmylouBeeDoo. I have a sweet baby girl who is the usual recipient of the things I sew (because she's too young to argue otherwise), but I like to squeeze in goodies for myself here and there, too.

When I saw this free pattern offered by Dixie DIY, I knew it was the perfect project to whip up quickly. Dixie's patterns are a breeze to sew, while still being on trend and super adaptable to your current wardrobe. Win win.

sad model is sad.

So when I saw this pattern, I knew I wanted to alter it just ever so slightly. Here's the line drawing:

I knew I wanted to make it longer in general, and also to lengthen the sleeve somehow. I was afraid the sleeve would cut me at the widest part of my perfecty chiseled arms.

*crickets*

lol, just kidding. I wanted them longer. That's all. So I considered a few options, but ultimately settled on the simplest - just adding length to the cuff!

So I'm going to show you how to make these small, easy changes to an already easy, fun pattern.

Who's with me!? OK!

First, go download and print your free pattern. And while you're there, check out Dixie's other free patterns! Fabulous! But then come back here so we can do this one.

Tape and cut out your pattern, then display it proudly on your dining room table:

Now tape a piece of paper (I'm using Swedish Tracing Paper - I swear by the stuff and I buy it on eBay religiously) to the bottom of the pattern FRONT. Make sure it's a big ol' piece of paper.

Now line up your ruler along the straight side (the side to be cut on the fold) and add 4 inches to the hem. For reference here, I am 5'7" and I cut the size Large. It's big, but that's what I wanted. 4 inches was just right for me, but play with it if you think you want more or less length.

Mark 4 inches down from original hemline.

Here's where some funny business starts. I wanted a slight, slight handkerchief hem, so I knew I needed a straight hem, not a curved one, as the pattern is drafted.

So I lined up my ruler with the 4 inch mark I made. Then, in order to draw as straight a line as possible, I matched up a ruler line with the bottom of the pattern piece, and just made sure the first inch or so lined up straight with my ruler. This is So. Hard. To explain. I hope that the picture below will help.

If you have any idea what I just said, proceed by drawing a line from your 4 inch mark out as far as possible. Try to go beyond the pattern piece.

The photo below hopefully shows what the hey I'm talking about.

See how that pen line above goes out past the pattern piece? That will help in this next step.

You're going to measure down from the patterns outer edge to the line we just drew. If you have a see-through ruler, that extra bit of pen mark will help you make this line square.

Draw a vertical line down to your horizontal line:

Now, mark where the lines intersect:

Next, line up the mark you just made, above, with the point where the pattern turns to form the cap sleeve. Draw a line to connect:

Now, cut out your new pattern piece!

The process is the same for the BACK pattern piece, and I promise you, you can do both in much less time than I am taking to explain it. For reals. So, repeat the steps to make a new BACK pattern piece.

New FRONT and BACK

Ok, now we're going to make the CUFF longer.

Draw yourself a nice big right angle on paper of your choosing:

Abut the CUFF pattern piece to that right angle, and measure down an inch and a half on both short sides:

Use some super fabulous pattern weights to hold the pattern piece down while you draw the horizontal line connecting the inch and a half lines you just drew:

Cut out your new CUFF pattern piece!

There's no changes made to the collar piece, so you're done! Gather all your new pieces, follow Dixie's perfect instructions, and make yourself a super cute top!

Mid-trot?

For inquiring minds, the fabric I used is an ITY knit from Denver Fabrics. It's got a pretty heavy drape & I absolutely love it for this shirt. I'd really recommend a weighty fabric for this project if you want the handkerchief effect. A lighter weight fabric will have a more billowy look, methinks.

I used my serger and my sewing machine for this top. It's absolutely doable sans serger, though - don't be intimidated by knits!

Heather and Jessica, thank you so much for having me! This series has been so inspiring and fun to watch! I hope I can come visit again sometime!

If anyone has questions, pop on over and shoot me a line! I'd be glad to help! :D

Cheers!

Tube Tshirt Scarf

I know with fall there are so many scarf tutorials out there so here is another one to add to your list. I love when you can reuse an old product to make a new project. For this scarf I used an old t-shirt and some eyelet lace. I didn't want to make a boring tube scarf so the eyelet provides a sweet and feminine touch.First cut the top of your shirt off under the arm. you want to try and save as much of the shirt for the scarf as you can.


Next cut your lace or eyelet the same length as 1 of your short pieces +2 inches. Mine was 8" x 18" You might also want to zig zag or serge the sides of the eyelet to keep it from fraying.Next measure the shirt across and mark the center. Cut down the center of the shirt with the seams on the sides.
Next cut off the bottom hem of the shirt. Then open up the shirt pieces and match the ends where you cut the hem. Make sure to match up the seams. Then pin in place and use a zig zag to sew the two ends together making 1 long strip.


Now pin the sides together and sew together using a zig zag to make a long tube.
Turn the tube right side out. On the ends fold 1/4" in and press. This will be your seam. Repeat with the other side.

Slide the eyelet into the tube and pin in place. Sew the tube and eyelet together. You can hand stitch it if you don't want the seam but I don't really care.


Repeat with the other side and now you have a tube scarf.




You can wrap it twice.
Or leave it long.


On another note if you want it longer use a longer shirt or a man's shirt.