Repurpose a pilly tee

Do you have one of these shirts? The ones you buy at Target and just love because they are soft and comfy and only $8. I have a bunch. They are a staple in my mommy wardrobe. But when you wear and wash an $8 tee, it starts to get pilly after awhile. Which is to be expected because what do you expect for $8, but still a little discouraging all the same.

I hate throwing things out. Well, actually I love throwing things out since I hate clutter, but I hate throwing out something if it can be useful. Especially my old favorite tee. It's like a good friend that has seen me through many a mommy catastrophe. And I just love the gray and white stripes! I decided to repurpose it somehow.

I peaked inside the tee. See that fabric in there? It's perfectly pill free! Who knew?

I cut the shirt into two pieces so that I could use it to cut out a tunic for Gracie girl. I just turned the fabric over, so that what used to be the inside of the shirt was now the outside of the tunic.

And then I cut out my pattern and sewed up the tunic. 

I used some light pink knit from my stash, because I am just loving gray and pink as a color combo right now. But this woman's size small tee was plenty big enough to make a complete size 2T shirt.

If you want a great tutorial for making a raglan shirt, I used this tutorial from Craftiness is not Optional. It's a great one!
I just lengthened it a bit so it would fit more like a tunic and last a little longer for little miss perpetual growth spurt.

I added a bow at the collar. It hides the seam where I sewed the neckline together, and looks cute to boot. :)

Now Gracie has a soft and comfy new tunic, which actually looks new! 

And it was free.
Free is good!

A Victorian Valentine's

This weeks theme for the Project Run & Play's Sew Along Challenge is a Valentine's outfit. And when I thought about what my outfit would be, I kept drifting towards the Victorian era...fancy dresses, lots of lace, fur coats, cupids on doily hearts.

When I spotted a roll of light pink stretch lace in the remnant bin at Joann, it was a done deal. So I made a modern and more playful take on a Victorian inspired outfit....

First let's talk about the dress! I sewed up a City Dress, using a pattern by Too Sweets Etsy shop. This is one of my absolute favorite dresses. The drop waist is just darling on little girls with a too cute belly like my little girl's. It's a cute and comfy dress made with stretchy knit, so it has a t shirt feel, but with much more style and cuteness factor. I highly recommend you pop over to Too Sweets and snag a pattern up for yourself!

To get the lace overlay look, I cut out 2 of each pattern piece, one with the lace, one with the plain pink knit. And then I just sewed the dress as though the two pieces were really one piece. It took a little bit of extra time to ensure that all the pieces lined up, but overall it was fairly simple.

The collar and sleeves are finished with knit bias and I used a zig-zag stitch around them both to add a little detail. {I learned this tip from another blogger I found through PR&P, but now can't find my link to them. :( Let me know if it's you!}

And to ensure the dress kept a youthful feel, I added this handmade polka dot fabric bow to the drop waistline. It may be my favorite part!

Or maybe my favorite part is the faux fur capelette? 

I mean really, who doesn't love a ridiculously cute but ridiculously impractical piece of children's clothing? I actually had this "faux fur" fabric in my sewing room from who knows what project. But there it was so I couldn't resist. 

I drew up the pattern myself using the dress as a guide for the neckline and length. I lined it with the pink polka dot, and added pink bias tape ties to the top.

And last but not least, I made some lace trimmed leggings to complete the outfit.

I just made white knit leggings and added a band of the stretchy lace to the bottom. And you can see that I tried to complete the outfit with a pair of sparkly mary janes. Because clearly nothing says Victorian more than glitter.

Apparently Gracie disagreed, because she wouldn't keep the shoes on.

But I think the rest of the outfit was a win...

Because a cute AND comfy fancy Valentine's dress? That's right up this busy little girls alley!

Now if you'll excuse her, she's going to go figure out what's inside that box...

Don't forget to check out this weeks link party!

Friday Firsts

Tonight will be Gracie's first night with a babysitter. Cue the "hallelujah" chorus behind me!

I love this little girl, but I love her daddy as well. And I am pretty excited for a dinner out with just him.

So to ease the blow for her, I made her a new shirt.

I don't think she sees this as a fair exchange. 

But I just love this heart print knit. I bought it to make infinity scarves for my shop, which sold out faster than I could sew them, so I guess others must have loved the print too! I had enough of a scrap left, which was destined to be a comfy new tee for my little miss. The cuffs and the collar I cut from an old ribbed tank.

I'm not sure what it is about a chunky toddler in a soft and cozy tee. But its pretty irresistible!

Maybe its the big belly? The chubby little baby hands? Mmmm. Just makes me want to snuggle her up.

Which I think I will get back to, because she will probably appreciate that more than a new shirt. ;)

Have a great weekend all! 
And don't forget to enter my "Share the Love" giveaway! You can find that post here!

Oh BOY! PR&P Sew Along, Week 3

Here we are at week 3 of the Project Run & Play Sew Along challenge! BOY week! And I have a confession to make. Last week when I posted about the stripes and polka dots dress I made for Gracie, I may have said there is nothing cuter than a little girl in stripes. I misspoke. There is something cuter than a little girl in stripes.

It's a little boy in stripes.  

How have I held off on boy clothing for so long?

I get asked quite frequently by my mom friends & customers when I will start selling boy clothes in my etsy shop. Well, I have a second confession to make. Boy clothes scare me. How do I make an outfit my own without making it over the top? You can't just add ruffles and bows and call it a day.

I tried to keep it simple by making a couple of basic pieces, but also adding a few details to make them cute. Or am I supposed to say handsome? I am new to this boy stuff so forgive me while I figure out the correct lingo.

So for this busy little man, I wanted to make him a practical outfit that he could actually get some use out of. I thought some sweat pants would be perfect. I made a basic pair of sweats out of navy fleece, but added the green and white track stripe down the side. {Track stripe? Too 1970's? Again, still figuring out this lingo.}

It was a very easy addition, which I thought about doing a tutorial for, but really...it would be a very short tutorial. I just cut strips of interlock and sewed them down the sides. Just remember to do this before you sew up the legs. Since knit fabric doesn't fray, there was no need to iron the edges under. 

Then there's his top. I actually had made this as a traditional t-shirt. Well let me tell you, something went astray. When I brought it over to Blake's house to try it on, low and behold, no amount of stretching or pulling was getting that shirt over poor Blake's head. So I moved onto plan B. 

I raided the hubby's closet for a polo. After studying how the collar was constructed, I made a button placket on the front of the shirt, and out came a mock polo. 

I wish I could say this was easy for me. It was not. I had to redo the placket 3 different times. But I loved the challenge it gave me, and am happy I stuck with it. There are definitely imperfections, so don't look too close, but for making it up as I went along, I was excited at how it turned out. 

I love that I got to use two of my favorite prints - stripes and gingham. The fabric does all the talking with boy clothes! No need to add buttons or bows or ruffles or sashes. It's kind of like back to basics with the boys. And that was fun! The stripes may look familiar :) but I love that I had all the fabric for this outfit in my stash already! 

So I think I have officially gotten over my fear of boy clothes. My head is already spinning with ideas for a Little Pink Peony boy line for summer....so stay tuned for that! :) 

And stay tuned for the next few weeks of this Sew Along challenge...it has been so fun creating a new outfit each week that I can't wait for next week. Which is a Valentine's Day theme. So excited to show you what I have in the works! :)

Now head over to this weeks Link Party and check out all the other inspiring creations!

Sew Along Challenge, Week 1

Week 1 of the Project Run & Play challenge is here! If you are following me on Facebook, you know that I have decided to join in the 6 week Sew Along challenge. (You can read all about the challenge here!) This weeks challenge was to "remix" or remake a garment using this Party Dress pattern from the Cottage Home.

So I have to say that I absolutely adore this style of dress. Big ol' sashes and bows on little girls are my weakness. How much cuter does it get? But when the word "remix" came into play, I decided to step outside of my oh so comfortable and cozy box. I don't do this very often. But I figured that since this was a challenge, I would challenge myself! 

I was walking through a kids clothing store the other day, and found the most adorable little bright pink trench coat. But the price was not so adorable nor little. So I passed. But when I started thinking about how I could remix the party dress, the adorable little bright pink trench coat came back to my mind. It was a eureka moment, if I ever have anything remotely close to those.

And so this little "trench-inspired" coat was born from a little remixing of the Party Dress pattern.

I was a little nervous to start this project. For the following reasons: 1, I am a pretty good pattern follower, but NOT a very good pattern maker, and in order to do a coat I would have to add sleeves myself. Eeek! and 2, if my attempts at reason #1 went astray, I would waste this darling Sarah Jane Anchor fabric. Double eek! 

But as you can see, it kind of worked out. 

 The outer fabric is from Sarah Jane's Out to Sea line, which I bought a few months ago and have been hanging onto because I just adore it and couldn't decide what to make out of it! I was happy to finally pull these little anchors off the shelf and bring them to life. Since it's still chilly here in PA, I lined the coat with navy blue fleece.

Other than the anchors, the colors (which were my wedding colors!), I think the little bow I added to the back may be my favorite part. 

I basically constructed the coat the same as the original dress pattern, but I made it backwards, so the opening was in the front. I used top stitching along the way because I think it made the coat look more professional. And of course I added sleeves. Which wasn't as tricky as I originally thought. 

I also added a few details to make it look more like a coat and less like a dress, like the fleece mock collar and these little cuff loops. I think I might have just made that term up. Anyone know what to call these? White buttons add details to the cuffs as well as keep the coat closed.

I think she likes it! I think I do too! Thanks for sharing this project with me!  

Looking forward to next week...Stripes and Polka dots. Two of my favorite prints! 

I already have my dress for next week made...but you'll have to wait til next week to see :)

Waterproof Carseat Stroller Blanket

One of the greatest things I bought for Gracie is a waterproof car seat & stroller blanket. One side is nylon, one side is fleece.

The fleece side keeps Gracie warm and cozy. (My little monkey was taking a nap, so sock monkey volunteered to model.)

The nylon side can be flipped up as a temporary rain guard from rain or snow...

There are also ties on each side, so that you can tie it onto the car seat or the stroller so those wiggly little feet don't kick it off.

(Come on, I can't be the only one that has had a blanket go sailing down the side walk because my future soccer player decided she was done with it!)

Although I bought my blanket, I couldn't help but think how easy (and cheaper!) it would be to make your own. So I made one for my dear friend Amanda who is having a new baby boy very soon.
And now I'm going to show you how to make your own!

You will need one piece of nylon, one piece of fleece. I also used a piece of white flannel, since my nylon was kind of see-through and you could see the polka dots through it. For some reason this bugged me, so I used the white flannel to make the nylon not so see through. It made for a thicker blanket, so you can definitely leave this piece out if you want and just use the nylon and the fleece.

 Cut each piece to size of 24" x 36". Lay them on top of each other. You want the nylon and fleece facing each other. (Again, if you want to skip the flannel you definitely can...in which case you'll only have the two bottom layers in this photo.)

 Pin them together all around the edge. Make sure to trim any excess so your fabrics line up exactly.

Next we need to add in the ties. Cut four pieces of ribbon, all equal lengths. I cut mine 14".

Measure down one of the long sides about 1/3 of the way down. It doesn't have to be exact. Take two pieces of ribbon and pin them in between the fleece and nylon layers. You want the ribbon to be inside the blanket at this point. Repeat on the other side. Make sure you put the ribbon on each side the same distance from the top on each side..

 Finish pinning your blanket together so that you have pinned all four sides. Sew around the edge, leaving a few inch opening at the bottom. Make sure your ribbons you pinned are tucked inside and you don't sew them back into the blanket. (You of course sew through the edge of the ribbon that you pinned...just not the loose edge that is dangling inside the blanket.)

 Clip the corners. Turn right side out, using a pin or your seam ripper to pick out the corners so they are as pointy sharp as you can get them.

 You'll see how your ribbons are now coming out the side of the blanket.

Press the edges so they are nice and flat. Fold under your opening a bit and press.

Top stitch all the way around the edge of the blanket, making sure you catch both pieces of the fabric when sewing your opening closing. I stitched 1/4inch from the edge, but you can really do whatever looks best to you.

 Again, be sure to move the ribbons out of the way when you stitch by them...you don't want to stitch them back to the blanket!

 And you're done! Tie that blanket onto your car seat or stroller and your little monkey will stay warm & dry.

 And even the slickest of Houdini's wont kick this blanket off! 

This item is probably on my top 5 favorite baby items list. Yes, I think it's that great! I have used it every single day, rain or shine, since it arrived in the mail months ago. I have also used it as a nursing cover by tying the sides together and just throwing it around my neck. I have thrown it on the ground when we were playing outside, since the nylon keeps the fleece dry from wet grass. I have thought about making a lighter weight one for summer with nylon and interlock too. So really, make one! For yourself, or the new mom on the block. She will thank you!! And you can thank me later. ;) Enjoy!