Movie Inspired "Catching Fire" Outfit

This photo happens to be my inspiration for this weeks play-along outfit for Project Run and Play's "Night at the Movies" theme. Featured on the left is Peeta from "The Hunger Games" series, movie number two, "Catching Fire" played by Josh Hutcherson. The scene  (in case you haven't seen it) is from the segment where he and Katness Everdeen are on their victory tour. I really, really enjoyed these books and equally enjoyed the two movies. So here's to sewing a practical little boy look.

I wanted to create an outfit for my grandson that he would actually wear more than a few hours on Sunday to church. To create this look, I refashioned two different shirts. Here's the shirts before I cut them up:

For the skinny jeans, I found this free pattern from Titchy Threads in a size 2T, which was almost the perfect size for my grandson.  For his pants, I refashioned some wide legged jeans. 

The hardest part of creating this outfit was figuring out how to finish the neckline/collar. I decided to add a hood, since it has been cold where he lives. My favorite personal touch was adding my personalized labels - a Christmas gift from my daughters.

I mailed the finished outfit to my daughter and these are the photos she took of him in his new movie inspired clothes:

Did you see this movie?  More importantly, have you read these books?  Honestly, I read more books than I watch movies. I like to document my reading on Goodreads where I always add an extremely honest review...I'm sure authors & publishers just love that about me.   Last year, I read 88 books and attended 3 movies, one of which was Catching Fire. 

xoxo Grandma

Oh Matilda!

"'Melinda, no, it's Matilda, oh whatever!' says her Father." 

Seriously, can you even imagine having that kind of parent that doesn't know your name? Poor Matilda!  This outfit was made for week two of the play-along series of Project Run and Play, "Night at the Movies" and was inspired by the movie "Matilda" (If you've never seen this movie, I found the first 10 minutes of this movie here... purely for your entertainment of course). 

My favorite thing about Matilda is that she liked to read and the more she read, the more her mind began to grow.  She was nurtured by books - which is a good reminder to all of us how important it is to read.  So, here's to a Matilda inspired dress with a piece of a lace from a pillowcase inserted into the bodice, long sleeves and white leggings to keep this darling girl warm, because it's still really cold where we live. 

Even her doll wanted to get into the photo with her coordinating outfit - how fun for my pretend Matilda who loved looking at my pop-up books!

Special thanks to my model, who is my darling next door neighbor. xoxo Grandma 

Fabric Painting With Markers

A couple of nights ago, I played with an interesting combination: markers, rubbing alcohol and a paint brush. I had so much fun! Maybe I was inspired by the 3 year olds I taught at church on Sunday... or I could have just needed a little stress relieving activity after one of them threw a tantrum when I told him he couldn't do something...doesn't matter because it got me thinking about trying this fabric art technique.

I chose to create seahorse images on my fabric.  I love the ocean, plus our family has an obsession with seahorse things.  This obsession stems from my husband's sea captain father. The company he worked for used a red seahorse as their logo. 

Supplies Needed:

• Regular Waterproof Sharpie markers
• Rubbing alcohol
• Clip board or a heavy piece of cardboard
• A paint brush 

Step 1 - Draw your image with Sharpies

Step 2 - Dip your brush into the rubbing alcohol and paint it onto the places you added markers to. The colors will bleed and the marker dye will spread.  I think it looks really fun when this happens. What do you think?

Step 3 - After the fabric is completely dry, add the details using an extra fine black Sharpie marker.

 

NOTE: (If you think that you can't draw, try searching on the internet for an image you want to create, copy that image and them paste it into a word document.  Then stretch the image to the size you want and print off your image.  Slide the image under your fabric and with your marker, trace the image onto your fabric.  As long as the fabric is white, you should be able to see the copied image.)  

I've got plans for these seahorses.  Stay tuned to see how I'm using these fabric painted images.  I also found this youtube on doing this on scarfs. xoxo Grandma

Winter Play Time

For today's "Winter Play Time" outfit, I started with a vest that looked like this:

I removed the grey hood, and refashioned it with a self-made sherpa hood. Then I refashioned a deep emerald women's shirt into a tunic, sewed white leggings, and sherpa mittens, and this is how this winter outfit turned out: 

Isn't this outfit perfect for a child to run and play in the snow or on a chilly winter day?  You can see more winter themed outfits at Project Run and Play's first week's challenge here.

xoxo Grandma

Link Parties: The Dedicated House, My Fashion Forward Blog, Diane Rambles

Warm Baby Bunting for a Cold Winter's Day

Before this two week old was born, my daughter requested I make her a bear suit or baby bunting similar to one she had seen on the popular British clothing website, Zara. Unfortunately, Zara no longer had this item available.  She loved the cozy warm fabric and the way it buttoned on the side, and wanted her newborn to have something cozy to wear. But I couldn't find a pattern that looked like her photo. However, I did find this pattern:

It's McCall's #4233, but the smallest size this pattern came was for a 6 month old. After adjusting the pattern to make it look like the bunting she wanted, I also cut the pattern way down and sewed the back pieces together, held it up and realized I hadn't made it small enough.  I then searched and searched to find the measurements of a newborn: length of arms and legs and all those measurements that are so important to know when you're also guessing how big the baby is actually going to be.  I thought I was going to go insane guessing!

I eliminated the pocket because really, a newborn is not capable of putting their hands into a pocket anyway.  I lined my bunting with light purple flannel with white polka dots. For the closure, I used silver buttons that were machine washable.

This sherpa style fabric was horrible to work with if you happened to make a mistake, which I did.  I could not see the threads to unpick. Let's just say, I definitely had a few challenges to overcome when I made this bunting.

Once I got this sewn, I packed it in my suitcase and hoped my hours of sewing would pay off. By the time she was two weeks old, this little girl fit into her personalized warm winter bunting with a little room to grow.  Isn't she so cute?

After my granddaughter's indoor photo session (outside, it was around negative 1 degrees with the wind chill factor, making an outside photo not an option), she was tired.  I'm guessing she was toasty from head to toe in her outfit because she slept for a solid three hours without making a peep. Sleep tight you sweet girl.

Note: I've posted this outfit on Project Run and Play week one as part of the play along series for Winter Wonderland. xoxo Grandma

Newborn Leggings Pattern

Before my darling, newest granddaughter was born, I searched high and low for a pattern for newborn leggings. I had purchased a cute shirt from Baby Gap and didn't want the "standard pink" leggings to go with the top, so I decided to make her coordinating leggings out of a rich olive green color. As you can see in the photos, they turned out pretty cute. 

She was born with her mother's long legs and her father's long torso, resulting in leggings that were a little bit too short, plus the shirt I purchased was too large on this little baby.  At the rate she's growing though, I predict that this second pair of leggings I just finished will fit her about the time the top fits her, so here's hoping that happens.  

If you're looking for a newborn leggings pattern, your search can stop with this post - go ahead here is the pattern to download for free, I'm only requesting that you leave me a comment. Go HERE  as always, do not print "to fit".  May I just add, good luck in guessing the size of the newborn you're sewing for. They come in so many sizes!   xoxo Grandma

More baby projects: Lace Embellished Dress, Heirloom Baby Blessing Dress, Lace Decorated Baby Shoes, Quick Onesie Make-over

Stay Warm with Owl Hand Warmers

Is it cold your way? Chances are you're probably affected by the winter chill, since much of the United States has been hit with freezing weather.  I have no reason to complain since the weather in my home town has stayed relatively warmer than the rest the nation! We've been hovering around 27 - 32 degrees F.  Which leads me to think of creating things to help me feel and stay warmer.

A few days before Thanksgiving, one of my daughters asked me to make her an owl hand warmer because her daughter loves, loves, LOVES owls. She sleeps with two stuffed owls and has owl pajamas, which she loves so much that when her mother (my daughter) takes them off of her in the mornings, she cries!  Which is understandable because she isn't quite two yet, and let's face it, footie pajamas are just so cozy.

My daughter sent me the link to a project on the Thirty Days blog called Sweet Stocking Stuffer – Handmade Owl Heat Pack.   There was a free pattern on this site, which means an easy project for me to tackle. Of course I added a few tweaks here and there, because that's just what I do.  I added about 1/4" extra width onto the basic owl shape pattern piece because I wanted to be able to have a finished, enclosed seam instead of leaving the edges raw.  I also machine embroidered around the eyes and the beak. I used a bunch of leftover fabric pieces and created seven of these owls before my trip. To transport the hand warmers, I left the owls unstuffed since they would be lighter and smaller to pack.  At her home, I filled the owls with rice, hand closed the openings and gave an owl hand warmer to each family member that joined us for this holiday.  FYI - these owls don't need a lot of rice to fill them - I purchased two huge bags and if my daughter made 20 more of these hand warmers, she'd probably still have rice left over.  I'm guessing they need about 3/4 of a cup per owl.  The weather was relatively warm at her house. I remember the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, it got up to 70 degrees... but oh how the weather has changed since that day!

This morning, I was thinking that I needed to make a few more of these to keep me warmer!  I will add my stamp of approval to this Thirty Days project.

xoxo Grandma
As seen on these linky parties: The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Diane Rambles, 2 Crochet Hooks