Spring is almost here! Fun baby tunic upcycle

It's about a month away from Spring! I have been organizing more than usual this week. E and I watched the beautiful weather turn to thunder storm and loved it yesterday, which was followed by the birds tweeting. It's so sweet to see her experience another 'new' sound of nature (other than the neighbor dogs!).

In light of the coming warm weather (it got up to high 70s yesterday!), I had the itch to work on an upcycle I have been thinking about for awhile. I am pretty sure this is my first baby DIY I have done on here.... i think? I think it turned out cute, E is wearing it today :)

I cut off the bottom of this shirt and made that tube an infinity scarf for E. 

Cut off the  gathered neck hem of shirt, it's ok if it's fraying

It should look like this on both sides when you're done 

 fold neck hem in half, so it's even on both sides, turn inside out, and sew back seam

 it should look like this

I put a pleat in the shirt on the back side, so as to gather a more flowy look. After, I turned inside out, and sewed to the neck hem.

this is finished part

I cut off sides of shirt, to fit E's size, actually a bit big, because I want her to wear all spring/summer. I also added symmetrical armholes (fold shirt in half, and cut*) 

Turn inside out, and stitch sides

the length of back and front lent itself to a tunic look, so i curved the back of shirt to shirt-tail look. (fold shirt in half, and cut for symmetry)

The finished product looks like this, but I wanted to add some cute gathered sleeves. 

In between that, I cut off elastic arms of old shirt, and made into a headband*

cut sleeves from excess shirt material 

Snack break!

funny face!

I wanted to tie this to give it extra life w/ E. she's growing everyday! it's cute as a tie back!

warm sunny weather!

Here's what the sleeves looked like, I made a simple gather, turned them inside out to the garment and stitched to arm hole

Since this shirt was not a jersey knit, I needed to hem, you can do this by serger  or just hem zigzag  and roll hem for a quick clean look.

This shirt was pretty easy, it's cute, and i know E will get plenty of use out of it over the next 2 seasons to come! Here we come spring!

New dress!

I wanted to post pictures of my latest creation. I'm very pleased with how this one came out. it's very bright pink, but I'm told I am young enough to pull it off, still.. 


I wanted to make a simple dress, and of course, I'm way too lazy most of the time to pull out a pattern. I used my measurements, specifically, my waist, and the length from my natural waist to my knee.Everything else was 'winging it', and it turned out to be slightly loose, which is optimal for me. Some things I may add in the future: side hidden pockets, pleats, and if I use non-knit fabric, i will def need a zipper.

The dress is divided into two parts; the bodice and the skirt part. I then sewed them together. The skirt is a two-layer circle skirt, making it very full.  The bodice did include some other measurement; measured from the neckline to natural waist, and then across my shoulders. I cut out the neckline, (a deep back, love that!). I just recommend making everything symmetrical by folding your cloth in half... and since it's knit, no need for hemming on the entire dress. I will prob add some ribbon or something on the back, to hold the two sides together, since, if slouch (which i do a lot) my sleeves fall a bit.

the pictures aren't great, but, i have to have some!

I have a sewing machine again!! :)

I am so happy, I have a brother back in my possession. Over Mother's Day weekend, my wonderful, amazing mother traded out the old one I was bequeathed, for her new one. She is so thoughtful and kind, she knows how much I love to sew, and how poor I am! So, now I have something to continue sewing ....

I wanted to touch on a couple of things in this blog post. First, my mom is awesome, as stated before!

Second, with the gracious gift of my mother, I am now able to sew. And I have discovered a super cute chica who is self-proclaimed poor lady herself, who loves to refashion clothing, she has a group called refashion nation and is a seamstress. Also, please check out her blog, and get some grand ideas.

One of my favorite items to sew are skirts, so this skirt is amazing! :)

Adorable right? let me know what you think...

loving fall ... stick wreath

It's been a long time since I have been on here. Mostly because I got a new job a few months back, and had taken on a couple things that reduced my productivity in the craft world.

I missed it, as I have been perusing Pinterest, getting awesome DIY project ideas. I figured I would try this one, which seemed so sweetly fall. Here is how my twig wreath turned out!

Look how pretty the crisp fall sky looks... the trees are orange and red and lovely.

these were the tools i needed:

scrap cloth ( i used ripped up sheets)
hotglue gun
twigs
circle/doughnut shaped cardboard cutout
sharp knife
ribbon to hang wreath

Basically, i took twigs from my backyard and broke them down to size, about 9-12". I then made a doughnut cardboard cut out from a old box. I hotglued the sticks around the circle cardboard. I then made the rosettes from long skinny peices of fabric (about a 1/2" thick, and maybe 3-4 ft. long). I twisted the cloth around to make shape of rose. Here is a tutorial. :)

I hotglued those to the sticks (to cover the parts that had cardboard showing through a bit).

So fun, now i have a Fall and Christmas looking wreath, i will probably add some distince berries to the wreath soon.

Hope you can make one, its super natural, easy and cheap!

Love
Leanna

I'm always trying to win people to my side that it is waaaaay  more fun to create a look, rather than pick one off the rack. We have tons of fashionistas in Columbia, putting together unique outfits that you can't buy at the mall. Here are some ways I create fashionable looks rather than duplicate them.
Blog stalk!

Make sure you follow some pretty awesome bloggers! There are a PLETHORA of DIY refashionistas on the web. Pick a few you like, and when you get a creativity block, get on the internet!

Check out this chica, she is one of my favs.

Be resourceful!

Use a shirt you have not worn in the past few months, or years, and decide to make it into something else. We have all sorts of fabrics and styles of clothes that once were so near and dear to our hearts, only to be thrown aside because it doesn't fit the same, or your style has changed a bit. You can play around with a cut or style you are wanting to recreate and start cutting!

photo from Prayergrove (me)

Creative Details!

I cannot tell you how often i have take a scrap of fabric i just cut off my shirt and made it into an extra ruffle or flower to pin onto a shirt.. It adds so much character to a otherwise boring plain tee.

Resize and cut!

Its been extraordinarily inspirational to see different cuts in knit t shirts that make a totally different product. Even just taking a graphic off a smaller shirt and putting it onto a shirt that flatters your bod, is a unique way of decorating. Keep in mind, we have all sorts of fashions that are flowy and oversized. Picking a big plain t shirt  ( from say, your significant other's closet) and cutting a big neckline to show off your shoulders says "i love you" in a special way, because you are wearing their favorite band or team! (or whatever)

Photo cred goes to Cotton and Curls blog!

Utilize those scraps!

Ok, so quilting is totally in! make a goal to make a big bag to carry around town by quilting your favorite special patterned scraps together. I promise  you will get all the compliments on it! (don't forget a liner!) Also, one of my favorite skirts to see recently was made my Whimsy Vintage from our handmade market! She used a skirt that was plainer and added some yoyos to it using different pattern cloth... ADORABLE!

got this pic from the awesomeCoMO collective! Skirt by Whimsy Vintage

What piece of clothing do you want to use for the next upcycle!
*heart*
Leanna

I had a knit pillowcase...

I haven't been able to use this pillowcase since I was 19 when I moved out from my folks house. I down sized my bed so this particular pattern for my bed was no longer usable. Since then, my tastes for home decor have changed quite a bit, but I noticed today that the pattern was very pretty and would make a good summer fabric!

I turned this pillow case into a summer tunic!

 I cut out the shape of the neckline of another tank i liked.

 Then i used the brown tank to get an idea of where the arm holes should be, too.

 It was big! so i had to resize.

I wanted to make some embellishments, so i gathered tightly some white cloth i had from my previous shirt DIY.
I added some darts by my arms, after sewing the sides in to fit me. I wanted the shirt to be like a tunic, so sewed down the sides to my natural waist, and then tapered down to my hips so it was looser.
After the shirt fit me, I added some definition to the shape by adding elastic under my bust, in the center.
I also made the gathered fabric into some flowers, which I can affix with a safety pin. 

What can you think of to make out of a pillowcase?

Have a happy Memorial Day!

Leanna