Below the Belt--pants, shorts, skirt!

So, it all started with a pair of pants.

My friend needed some shorts for her summer vacation so she asked me to help her change a pair of pants into shorts.  Done in a quick 20 minutes!

I was left with scraps from the legs that I just couldn't throw out (I blame my frugality on my mom).  

 I loved the top stitching on the inseam and that it was a nice stretch denim so I decided to use the scraps to make a skirt for my daughter.

I used my seam ripper and ripped out the outer seams.

With the fabric right sides together, I lined up the top stitching seams and cut out a very slight A-line shape....  I know my daughter's waist measurement is 20 inches so I added an inch (for a 1/2 inch seam allowance on both sides) and then divided 21 inches by 2, getting 10.5 inches.

I wanted the top stitching to be centered on the front of the skirt so I measured 5 1/4 inches out from the center of the top stitching in both ways.  I marked each measurement with pins.  Make sense?  So the total measurement across the top of the skirt would be 10.5 inches, with the top stitch centered.  

So, that's the top of the A-line.  For the bottom, I just added another two inches to the original waist measurement.  So, 22 inches divided by 2 equals 11 inches across the bottom (again, I divided that by 2 and measured out 5.5 inches from the center of the top stitching to the edges).

Sounds complicated.  :(

Basically, the total waist measurement (plus the seam allowance) will be divided evenly between the front and the back pieces.

Anyway, if you're still with me, once everything was marked with pins I cut the fabric and sewed up each side seam then zig-zagged to finish the seams.

I wanted to make a stretchy waistband for the top of the skirt so I took an old knit t-shirt and cut up the sleeve, making sure the waistband piece was an inch shorter in length than the skirt top (19 inches).  I wanted it to stretch to fit when pulling up the skirt but then I wanted it to fit snugly around her waist. 

This is how the sleeve looked once I cut it.  I would say that it was probably about 4 inches tall, by 9.5 inches long (again, two layers for the front and the back pieces equaling 19 inches-and I didn't worry so much about a seam allowance this time because I knew the knit would stretch). 

 I zig-zagged up each side.  I didn't use a straight stitch because I was working with a knit and didn't want the stitches to break as the fabric stretched.

 I folded the fabric from the top down all around the loop.  You'll know you did it correctly if you  have a top fold and an unfinished bottom edge.

Next, I pinned the waistband onto the skirt.  The skirt was right side out and the folded side of the waistband was pointed down while the unfinished edge was up.  I pinned and stretched the knit to fit around the skirt.  I also tried to match up the side seams of the skirt with the side seams of the waistband.

I wanted a tag so once it was all pinned securely, I took a two inch piece of ribbon, folded it in half and stuck it into the back of the waistband so that it was tucked into the two layers of the waistband (if it's stuck between the waistband and the skirt, it will show).

I then used the zig-zag stitch to sew all the layers together, again, stretching the knit to fit the skirt.  I think I went around twice for extra security. 

I opened the top up.... 

 ...and making sure to push all the layers of the seam down into the stitch path, I sewed a top stitch.

(all the layers stitched into the top stitch)

 I wanted to try to mimic the original thick top stitching on the pant legs so I put two spools of grey onto my sewing machine.

  I folded up the hem and stitched. 

 I had some grey threads that I saved from another project so I tied them together into a bow and stitched in securely to the front of the skirt.

And here it is finished! 

(The look of a four year old who would rather be playing with the neighborhood kids than getting her picture taken.)

I'm linking up to Crafty Cousins:

Oh, What a Beautiful Mess!

I got together with three of my neighbors and we had a wreath crafting day.  We had so much fun laughing and crafting that I didn't take any other pictures of our progress...  I love my wreath and have plenty of extra materials so I'm going to make another one.  I'll take pictures and put up a tutorial soon...  

Mother's Day and End of Year Teacher Gift idea

 With eight children and over 100 grandchildren and great grandchildren (plus one great great), my mother often gently mentions that she doesn't need "stuff" from us for the holidays.  Usually we order flowers for her and my mother-in-law.  This year we were a little tight in the budget department so I came up with a way to still send flowers but with a more personal touch...and we saved tons of money!

I took some bamboo skewers and painted them green.  I  used a Sharpie marker but any craft paint would work well.  I also took some 12x12 scrapbook paper and cut them into strips 1 1/2 inches wide by 12 inches long.

I had each child write a special message to grandma.

 (I had to translate for the baby)

 I took a piece of tape and taped the end of the strips to the tops of each bamboo skewer.

 Then I started rolling up, nice and tight.

Once it's rolled and you let go, it will loosen up but will hold it's shape. 

 I took two short Pringles cans and covered them with paper... just taped it on.

I took the lids and used my eyelet punch and a hammer to punch holes in the top.  I tried to be lazy and not use the punch, instead cutting little Xs (like the straw hole in a soda lid), but it caused the skewers to tip more than I wanted.  However, if you were to put candy in the can, then that would probably help stabalize the skewers.  Once the holes are made, put the lid on the can and stick the skewers into the can.  I took a few skewers out and cut them shorter so that they weren't all the same length.  I added green paper leaves just by folding and cutting leaf shapes then gluing them onto the skewers.

I packed the flowers into shoe boxes and surrounded them with tissue paper and mailed them off, just in time for Mother's Day.

We made another one for my son's kindergarten teacher.  He wrote some of his favorite memories from the year.  We added some chocolate candy to the can for an extra special treat.

Not too long after sending them, I got a phone call from my mom.  She was crying and my heart stopped because I thought she was calling with bad news from home.  Gratefully, they were tears of joy.  She LOVED the flowers!

Roses, Roses, Roses

Last year I was running into K-mart and stopped to take a look at the sidewalk clearance racks.  I found these two pink v-neck t-shirts for $2 each.  It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with them, but I am so glad I took my time because I LOVE the end result--definitely worth the wait!

I took one of the shirts and cut the sleeves off. 

Then, following the curve of the sleeve,  I cut strips approximately 1/2 inch wide.

I only cut the strips from one sleeve because I wanted to use the other sleeve for a few circles.

Remember how I like to make circles?  Cut a square, trim the corners then trim around a little more to make a circle.  I cut three circles.

For the next step, I took a circle and a strip of the sleeve fabric.  Put an end of the strip onto the center of the circle and stitched a few stitches (backstitch).  Then, with the needle down, lift the pressure foot and turn the circle about 1/16 of a turn and gently pull the strip to the side and stitch.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  What?!  That was hard to follow?  Ok, I figured it would be so I made a video tutorial.  Sometimes it is so much easier to just see it done. :)  It's a little long, but you'll get the idea within the first few minutes.  The whole of the video offers advise and tips on making it an easy going project and how to keep going once the first strip ends.

At the end of the video, we are left with this flower.  See, the top right edge of the base circle shows.  It doesn't look too bad, but I felt like there was a little too much there....

So I simply just trimmed it off.

I made three circles (the top circle was the first I made and I pulled the strip fabric as I sewed-- I think it was cute but I really love the more ruffly look of the bottom two, so, don't pull too much!).  I placed the flowers on the shirt where I wanted them.

I pinned them in place on the inside of the shirt.  I then carefully turned the shirt inside-out.

I tacked each flower onto the shirt using approximately 6 stitches around the perimeter and one in the center of each flower.  I didn't want any loose threads so I ran the needle between the layers when going from stitch to stitch, and for extra security I made a knot after each tacking stitch.

I love the way my shirt it turned out.

Oh, and for those who may not have a use for roses in their life, if made in a different color or variety of colors, these would make fun monster parts or planets.  Use your imagination. :)

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm linking up to CRAFTY COUSINS!

Flippin' Fast Flower Tutorial

In my last post I mentioned that I made flowers for the girls' hair to match their Easter dresses.  I threw together a tutorial and it was so fast that I got it all done in less than 10 minutes (including pictures).

Get ready.

Get set.

Go...!

You will need to cut five circles out of your choice of fabric.  The circles need to graduate in size from largest (about 3-inches diameter) to smallest (1-inch diameter).  The beauty of this flower is that it doesn't have to be perfect.

An easy way to cut circles freehand is to first cut a square.  Then cut the four corners off like this:

Once the corners are cut off, it's easy to just trim around the rest of the edges to make a circle:

Moving along.... Five circles (notice the A-OK imperfect shapes), needle & thread and a little white button.

Now, to add a little visual interest to the flower, I like to *flip* the second and fouth circles over, revealing the wrong side of the fabric.

Now, stack those little circles from largest to smallest and top it off with a cute little button.

And sew that button on.

I also like to grab the edges of the circles to fray them a bit.

Last step, attach the flower to your favorite hair clip using your favorite method and you're good to go!

That's it!

Flippin' fast, right?!

I'm linking up to Crafty Cousins What I Wore Sunday linky party!