Autumn Overalls - a Refashion

These autumn overalls started with a pair of adult jeans, which I could have sworn I took a "before" photo of, but imagine with me coral women's skinny jeans.  I took those skinny jeans and turned them into warm looking autumn overalls, perfect for a toddler.

These jeans once belonged to this little girl's mother (my daughter).  While I was at her house, helping with her new baby, I consulted with my daughter about using these old jeans to make these darling overalls.  I even took my daughter fabric shopping and she found this black and white plaid shirting flannel to use as a compliment to the coral jean fabric.

I first unpicked the original pants back pockets and scaled those down to fit a toddler.  For the pattern, I used a pair of my granddaughter's jeans and then laid them on top of those old skinny jeans and cut away.  One portion of the original waistband was used for her waistband in the back of the overalls. The rest of the waistband was turned into the straps.  The bib was formed by opening up an inside seam and centering the bib so that the middle of the outside seam was in the middle of the bib.  

I used this wonderful flannel fabric for pant cuffs, pockets, and to line the bib and the straps.

I made the mistake of adding elastic to the back of the overalls and then sewed a stitch up the middle of the elastic.  When these overalls came off my granddaughter, I confiscated them, pulled out my seam ripper, and ripped that mistake away.  They look so much better without that seam and the elastic.

I foresee that these overalls will be perfect for autumn and maybe into winter or until she becomes potty trained and has to learn to unbutton these straps herself! Didn't they turn out so cute?  xoxo Grandma

1 1/2 Hour Toddler Dress

This cute little dress you see here is another project I finished in time to take to my granddaughter on my latest trip overseas. Notice the sand sculpture on the right side of the photo? My grandson and I created that sand gecko one morning.  I laughed when I came back to the beach later that day and saw that others decided to embellish our creation with a little seaweed on it's head! Now back to this simple dress....

In an hour and a half, I turned a men's button down dress shirt into this cute toddler dress.  Grab a men's shirt and have a little fun dolling it up for your favorite toddler!

Supplies needed:  

1 men's dress shirt

1/3" wide white lace

3" wide lace x 3 1/4 long (for pocket)

Single fold bias tape about 8"

Thread

Pattern:  Holiday Dress by Stitched by Crystal (bodice - add two inches to the length of the bodice).

Cut 10 - 12" from the bottom of the shirt up - depending on the length of your toddler's waist to knee measurement plus 1/2" for the seam allowance. 
1 1/2" x 8" rectangle cut on the bias for the skirt placket

Cutting basics:

Once you have cut the skirt from the bottom of the shirt, cut out the bodice and the lining as follows:

After cutting everything out, you'll embellish the buttonhole placket by adding 1/3" wide white lace, stitching along both edges.  The lace adds a lot of charm to this dress.

Next, pin the 3" wide lace onto the right side of the bodice (the side with the buttonhole placket. Turn all edges except the top under 1/4" to form a nice pocket. Sew the pocket in place next to the edges.  For the bodice sewing details, see Stitched by Crystal's instructions.  

To the top center of the skirt, you'll need to add a placket.  I found a good tutorial on how to do that step at Sew Sweet Patterns.  Once the placket has been added, gather the skirt and pin it onto the bodice.  The skirt placket needs to be lined up with the button placket on one side and the buttonhole packet on the other side.  

Baste the skirt to the bodice.  Once happy with how that looks, trim the seam to around 1/4", restitch this seam with a finishing edge and iron. Hand stitch the bodice lining to the bodice enclosing all the seams inside - which gives you a nice finished look.  

Now, on the outside of the bodice, topstitch 1/4" from the seam's edge.  Guess what, you're finished!  How long did this dress take you from start to finish? 

The best part of making this dress is that it looks like you spent a lot of time creating it, but you didn't because the buttons, buttonholes and skirt seams were already finished for you.
  

Now is all you have to do is sit back and enjoy whatever sun is left in your part of the world!  xoxo Grandma

Linked to: Threading My Way

Dress Into a Romper in 30 Minutes or Less

This sweet little butterfly dress was a hand-me-down from a cousin.  When my daughter asked me to make this little girl some rompers, I remembered seeing a post on turning a dress into a romper at Make It & Love It. I wanted to try my hand at doing the same thing.  The only problem was, I don't own one of those snap attachment tools that you need and didn't want to buy one. I really don't want anymore stuff!  Never fret!  I figured out how to make it without one!  So this tutorial will show you how to make a romper in 30 minutes or less without that tool. 

First you'll cut a semi-circle from the middle bottom of the dress.  Then you'll want to add the ruffle to the legs.  If the hem is wide enough (this one wasn't), simply add elastic the width of the calf plus 1" into the existing hem.  If your hem was only clean finished like this dress, add a casing around an inch above the hem by sewing bias tape, then add the elastic and you'll have cute ruffled legs.

Now, in place of that little snap attachment tool you'll need to purchase some snap tape.  Snap tape is simply tape with the snaps already in place.  How convenient, right?  All I did was finish the edge of the cut semi circle and then sewed the snap tape to that edge.  Make sure the snap tape edges line up so the bottom will snap together properly.  

And that's it. Really. That's it. Pretty simple, eh? Yea for super easy projects!

That's really all there is to this refashion.  In 30 minutes, I had this cute romper to take my granddaughter.  Two weeks my husband and I headed overseas to visit this adorable girl and her family. I got in some grandkid time, and she got some cute new clothes. Win, win.   

Enjoy this simple project!  And if it also leads you somewhere exotic to drop off your finished product, then I'd definitely love to hear about it.  xoxo Grandma

Toddler Cascading Ruffle Dress: a Refashion

Last week, a few days before I headed out of town to visit one of my daughters, I asked her if there was anything I could make her cute little girl. She immediately sent me a photo of this dress she'd had her eye on:

This beautiful toddler dress has a soft cascading ruffle down the front and was refashioned from one of my old shirts I no longer wanted. 

For the pattern, I used a free pattern designed by Shwin and Shwin called the Black Bird Tunic.  The pattern was the perfect size for this toddler and it had the same neckline as the dress my daughter wanted. 

I started this task by cutting up a shirt of mine that looked like the one my daughter is wearing in the photo below when she was pregnant with her little girl. Instead of turquoise, my shirt was almost the right color combination as her requested dress. The shirt definitely looks like a maternity top, I realized once I wore it, and so it had to be eliminated from my wardrobe. So glad I got to create something so cute and feminine out of it.

The part of the dress that stumped me a bit was the ruffle on the center of the dress.  I learned that this ruffle is called a cascading ruffle and after asking advice from one of the sewing groups I belong to called "Sewing For Children" on Google, I was given two useful explanations on how to make it.  Using every scrap I could from the sleeves of my tunic, I was able to get the ruffle cut out, but not the facing.  So for the facing, I decided to use a little sturdier fabric and I cut up a white linen shirt I had purchased from a thrift store.

This light weight cascading ruffle dress will be perfect for wearing on a hot summer day, like it was the day I visited my daughter and her family.  I encourage you to go to Shwin and Shwin which will direct you to a site called Craftsy where you will be able to download a free pattern for this tunic. 

Lengthen the tunic, like I did (I needed the finished length to be 18 1/2 inches), and make a light weight summer dress for your little one. I'm sure they will feel cool and comfortable in a dress just like this one.

Look at the back of this dress and how the top layer of the dress flows over the bottom ruffle. 

I'm glad I was challenged to make this dress.  According to my daughter, it's her favorite thing I've sewn to date. I call that successful sewing!  xoxo Grandma

Interested in joining Craftsy?  Just tell them xoxo Grandma sent you. 

Linked to: Creating My Way to Success

How to Make a Cascading Ruffle & a Black Lace Toddler Dress

Everyone needs a little black dress (or two or three...). Who says toddlers can't join in this philosophy?  This stunning black lace dress you see on the left was handed over to me by my daughter to refashion for her own little girl.  I transformed it into a classy toddler dress with a cascading white and black dotted ruffle. This is my second attempt at making a cascading ruffle. The first you may remember was here.

This dress request came about a few months ago when, per my request, my daughter sent me several links to toddler dresses she loved. The first dress was finished before my trip in May to see this sweet girl. I also took this partially sewn black dress along for a fitting. When I showed her the second dress, she told me that she only meant for me to make one of the dresses, not both. Being a little of an over-achiever, of course I had made both. I'm sure they will get plenty of use when my daugher has her second daughter in a few short months. 

First, a few details about the dress and then I'll share with you how to make this type of cascading ruffle. 

Along the hem of the dress I added a beautiful three and a half inch wide lace layer to show off that beautiful lace detail.

Since I didn't know how to make this type of cascading ruffle, I asked the smartest seamstress I know, Catherine Griffith. She happens to be married to one of my nephews and blogs at Cathgrace.  She explained to me that I needed to cut a circle into a snail's shell shape.  Thank goodness for her expertise! Since the white polka dot fabric was a little sheer, I lined my dots up before I cut out this ruffle.  Here are photos I took of the process she described to make this ruffle:

When you hold your fabric up, it naturally twists into a cascading ruffle.  After determining the length needed for this toddler dress, I cut off the narrowest end of the snail shell shape.  I pinned and then basted the cascading ruffle onto the center of the neckline.  Then I sewed the dress lining all around the neck area.

For the back closure, I added a 7 inch black zipper to the outside of the dress. Then I sewed five inches of white grosgrain ribbon onto the end of the zipper pull.  If you want to add this accent to a zipper, just make sure you fold the raw edges inside the ribbon and stitch them along the bottom of the ribbon and as close to the zipper hole as possible. Trust me on this one.

 
In case you're wondering about the cups my granddaughter is holding here, the weather was over 100 degrees where this cutie lives. So to keep her cool while snapping a few photos, my daughter gave her cups filled with ice cubes.  As you can see, she loves her ice!

Have a cool summer! xoxo Grandma

You might also like:

Toddler Cascading Ruffle Dress

Linked at: The Dedicated House, Threading My Way, The Dedicated House, Creating My Way to Success

Summer Outfit with Reversible Hat

Recently, I made this reversible sunhat. Then Project Run and Play posted their May challenge pattern from Crafty Cupboard and it inspired me to make a top to go with the hat. I also decided that the outfit needed some capri length leggings to complete the outfit.  I love how summery this outfit turned out!

To the shirt front pattern, I added 3.25" to the center width of the shirt making the total width added to 6.5". Then I sewed from the wrong side of the fabric, six small 1/2" tuck pleats, three facing toward the center of the top. I added about 1" more in length to the little flutter sleeve too because I wanted the shirt to have a soft vintage feel.  

I accented the front of the shirt with three tiny heart buttons.  Instead of one color of buttons, I used soft yellow, golden and mint buttons. My granddaughter liked her little buttons.  According to my daughter, she did not like her sunhat.

 In the back, I used larger heart shaped dark mint and navy colored buttons.

After making the classic white, pleated top, I used fabric from some sleeves that I had cut out of an old shirt to make these capris.  The sleeves were leftover from a refashion I actually made for myself (if the weather gets warmer next week, I'll show you how this turned out).  When cutting out these capris, a time saving tip that I love is to use the original hem.

By using the hemming tip, these capri shorts only take about half an hour to make from start to finish, which was fantastic timing to tuck them into a box and get shipped off to my cute 18 month old granddaughter.  I used the free leggings pattern from Ellie Inspired.

The hardest part about this new format Project Run and Play has going on this year isn't completing the monthly projects in time, it's mailing them to one of my grandkids and getting them photographed in time. Boohoo to all of the grandmothers out there who have all of their grandchildren far, far away!  Every once in a while, I do so want to whine about this living arrangement.   

If you like this outfit, please go to this post & vote for XOXO Grandma: Summer Outfit with Reversible Hat. THANKS A BUNCH!  

You also might like this post:

A Sunhat From Placemats - a Refashion

Linked to:  Crafty Allie, Nap Time Creations, Threading Your Way, Diana Rambles