Easy Sewing - Turning a Men's Dress Shirt into a Summer Tunic

When my husband saw this shirt on me, he actually commented and said he liked it. That never happens. It's a miracle!  So, if you like it too, get ready to sew up an easy summer tunic!  It's pretty simple, just follow this step by step tutorial.  You'll want to allow around two hours to complete this project. Not too bad for creating your own shirt, right?

SHIRT BACK:

Here's what you'll need to get started:

1. One men's plain tee shirt - the larger the size the better...you need the length to make it into a tunic.  
2. One men's dress shirt - unpick one pocket to use on your new shirt.
3. Thread
4. Scissors

To determine how long to make the back of your shirt, line up your plain tee shirt on top of the men's dress shirt.  Place a pin along your cutting line or mark with a washable maker.

Don't laugh (or get mad), but at this point, I must have gotten excited to finish this project because I forgot to take the rest of the step by step photos.  But here are the rest of the easy steps:

10.  Sew the side seams together.
11.  Sew the sleeve arm seam together (see step 4)
12.  Pin the sleeve to the arm hole and sew in place.
13.  Using the bias tape you cut in the preparation steps, fold the piece in half and iron the edges into the center.  Now fold the bias tape in half and iron.
14.  Sew this bias tape enclosing the unfinished neckline inside.  

If you have any questions about making this tunic, please leave me a comment and I promise, I'll try to help you.  It's simple and such a cute new top to wear this summer! 
xoxo Grandma

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Featured on: All Free Sewing

Easy Sock & Felt Stick Pony - A Tutorial

Before I left on my latest trip to the midwest to help with my newest granddaughter, I made this stick pony.  I wasn't sure if my grandson would like it, but if you take a look at these photos, you'll clearly see it was a fun toy for this energetic two-year-old!

If you'd like to make one too, here's a list of supplies and instructions:

Supplies Needed:  

• Plastic eyelashes (Darice) - cut 2 pieces 1.25"
• Two animal eyes - brown 12 mm
• Three colors of felt - I used tan, dark brown & white
• Batting - poly fill
• Cording - 44" - cut 6", 4" and 26" for the bridle, the remainder is to wrap around the dowel
• 2 bells
• Scissors
• Thread
• One sock
• 5/8" wooden dowel - our first dowel was 3/8" wide and within one day, this strong boy had broken it.  5/8" was much stronger & after playing with it for a week, it's still intact.
• Hot glue
• 2 - 1 inch metal rings

Instructions:

• Mane: cut two pieces of tan felt 9" x 4.5" 
• Sew the two pieces together down the middle to form the felt mane.
• Cut 1/2" hair slants (see photos).
• Bangs:  cut two pieces of tan felt 4.5" x 2" 
• Sew down the middle of the felt mane.
• Cut 1/2" bang slats.
• Find the center of the heal of the sock - pin the bangs onto that spot.
• Pin the mane behind the bangs in the center of the sock's leg.
• With a zigzag stitch, sew the main & bangs onto your sock.
• Download the pattern for the horses eyes and ears HERE.
• Sew the inner ear to the outer ear with a straight stitch.
• Fold the ear in half with the inner ear inside the outer ear.
• Hand stitch the ears on both sides of the bangs to the sock.
• Cut out two "whites" of the eyes from white felt.
• Cut a tiny pin hole through the whites.
• About 2 inches below the ears, place the eye whites. 
• Poke a pin through your hole & cut another tiny hole.
• From the outside of the hole, push the brown plastic eye through the hole.
• From the inside of the hole, attach the metal ring around the plastic eye post.
• Behind the whites of the eye, glue the plastic eyelashes in place.
• Stuff the sock with the fiberfill or batting.
• For the bridle, wrap the cording around the toe of the sock as pictured, looping it around the metal rings and then gluing it in place.
• Add the bells to the rings on the outside of the bridle.
• Glue or sew in place two tan nostrils toward the toe on the sock as pictured. 
• Insert the pole inside the sock all the way to the top of the heal, making sure a little batting is wrapped around the wooden dowel.
• Apply a little hot glue around the inside of the dowel and carefully push the sock around  the pole from the outside.
• On the outside of the sock, add hot glue to the tip of the cording, right where you glued the sock & dowel together. Wrap the cording around the sock, spiraling down & adding extra glue as you go to the underneath side of the cording.
• Give the stick pony to a child and watch them gallop around and feed their pony a little grass.

My grandson started to feed this pony tree trunk, so I told him that his pony eats grass, hay or oats... that's why you can see the pony's mouth so close to the grass in the photos. 

This little guy loved the eye lashes.  After I put them onto the horse, I wasn't sure if I liked them, but after watching him rub his fingers back and forth through the lashes, I decided they were a fun addition to this pony.  Also, the bells are a must for a stick pony! My grandson liked the jingling sound they made as he pranced around his backyard.  What is it about toys that make noise?  I guess its every kids' dream to prance around on a horse. This little project brings it to life.  Enjoy! 

xoxo Grandma
Shared at these parties:  2 Crochet Hooks, Nap-time Creations, Simple Simon & Company, The Dedicated House, Paisley Roots

Pants into Adult & Toddler Shorts - A Refashion Tutorial

While visiting my daughter a few weeks ago, she showed me a huge bag of clothes she no longer wanted and asked me to go through them to see if there was anything I wanted to refashion from her pile.  I found several really nice pants that she wore while in the professional working world. Knowing that she would soon be moving to a tropical climate for her husband’s work, I suggested we make those pants into shorts for her.  If she didn't like them once they were done, we really hadn't wasted any money on them (except to buy the thread).  Being nine + months pregnant at the time, she tried them on and I figured out how much to cut off – hoping they would be the right length after her pregnancy was over.

First, I pinned the pants to the length she wanted them.  Then, I added about 1" inch to that length for the new hem and marked the pants at that length.  Next, I cut off the pants along my marked line.  I ironed in a hem and then sewed the now shorts to their finished length.  She was able to wear them that first week home from having her baby... seriously, amazing!

After I cut off the pants, I was left with the lower length portion of these pants.  I thought that fabric would make great shorts for her son.  I love it when I'm right.  Check out how cute they turned out. They even have a pocket in the back. They're a little long, but he's a growing boy:

I proceeded to make two more pairs of toddler shorts, using a pair of his store-bought shorts for the pattern. To see the first pair I made, go to this POST.  Here are photos of that process: 

If you want to make a faux fly on the front of the shorts, add this step before you add the casing. Here's how I made that fake fly:

Make a fake fly by measuring  1/2 inches from the center of the shorts.  Mark & draw line onto your shorts - See image 1.

See image 2 - Stitch along the drawn line - detail 3.   Now stitch another line 1/4" inside that line - detail 4.  Next stitch another line right next to the center seam - detail 5.

I hope you have fun updating your long pants into shorts for yourself and your little one. For another inspirational short project, go to this post.

xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Treading My Way, Nap-time Creations, Crafty Allie, Jordan's Onion, Crafts a la mode, Simple Simon, 2 Crochet Hooks, Creating My Way to Success

Guest Post - Vintage Tea Dyed Onesies - at Mother's Niche

I originally posted this at Mother's Niche with complete instructions on how to make a vintage looking tea-dyed onesie.  You can also find this post HERE.  These onesies are so easy and fun to create!  

So hop over and learn this technique so your baby or grand baby will look adorable too. 
xoxo Grandma

Toddler Size Shorts - A Refashion

Simple Simon

While I was visiting my grandson a few weeks ago, I made three pairs of shorts for him. Of course, this happened while he was napping. This kid has far too much energy to get anything done during waking hours. These plaid shorts were made from the bottom portion of shorts that his mother no longer wore. 

Check this POST for a complete tutorial on how to make shorts using adult pants.  This is a super easy project which can be accomplished in less than 30 minutes.  

If the sun is shinning where you live, go take your child or grandchild for a walk and explore their neighborhood.  I hope you find joy as your child discovers their world.  Look how happy exploring a corn field and ant piles made this two year old - plus I'm sure you'll agree, my grandson is looking pretty handsome in his new shorts. 

xoxo Grandma
Linked:  2 Crochet Hooks, Nap-time Creations, Crafty Allie, Brooklyn Berry Designs, Simple Simon

Turning a Mother of the Bride Dress into a Child's "Frozen" Costume

My granddaughter, along with most other children her age, is obsessed with the movie "Frozen".  It's the first movie she and her 4 1/2 year old brother ever saw in a movie theater.  When they came to visit a few months ago, my husband and I treated them to this movie, along with popcorn and a drink -- we wanted to let them have the full movie-going experience. Some of you may think it's odd that they had never seen a movie in a theater before, but their family lives in a foreign country and their parents rarely watch television -- unless of course its sports, which my son is obsessed with. So, when "Frozen" came out, we knew we had to take them.

After watching the movie my grandchildren started acting out scenes from the show.  One day, my granddaughter spotted some sheer luminescent fabric in my stash of fabrics, and draped it on her shoulders, declaring, "Grandma this would make a "Frozen" princess dress for me."  You know, grandmas and their grandkids are so in sync, so of course I'd been thinking the same thing. So I told her I'd make her a princess dress for her birthday.  Well, that birthday is next month and my package will take a while to arrive at her home so far away. So, the dress has been completed and I'm pretty pleased to send it her way so she can show off her "Frozen" Princess Dress.

The fabric I used in addition to the sheer stuff was an old Mother of the Bride dress I wore when my first daughter got married several years ago. This is what it looked like then: 

Here's how the back of the "Frozen" dress turned out:

I used this Simplicity pattern #4927, lengthening the sleeves and the dress bodice:

I didn't hem the sleeves because I made sure the edge was lined-up on the salvage:

Once I sewed together the basic dress, I gathered the sheer fabric and stitched it onto the back, swooping it to a gentle flowing length. Wherever possible, I used the salvage edge of this fabric since it frayed a lot.

And what's a "Frozen" dress without snowflakes?  Along the bottom of the knit fabric, with a washable fabric marker, I drew snowflakes - no two exactly alike. Then I stitched and embroidered these snowflakes using white embroidery thread, mingled with a few white and blue sequins. A little princess needs sparkle and bling, of course. Here's a close-up of those finished snowflakes:

I've been wondering if this new princess dress will move into my granddaughter's favorite dress category or if the fish dress will still be her favorite thing to wear?  

xoxo Grandma

Linked:  Crafty Allie, Project Run and Play, The Dedicated House, Threading My Way, 2 Crochet Hooks, Nap-time Creations, Brooklyn Berry Designs

Patriotic Toddler Attire - A Refashion Tutorial

Time to show off your patriotism by making your little one an American flag shirt.

For this project, I started with an old 4th of July tee shirt that no one would wear, and cut out the American flag-map. Next, I took two running shirts, which I received from some 5k races - you know, those shirts with tons of logos on them.  I made a pattern using one of my grandson's tee shirts and cut out my shirts, first the white shirt and then the navy blue shirt.  Now, if you have some old shirts too, you can follow these steps to make a quick patriotic shirt for your little one:

Sew the sleeves into the shirt.   Lastly, finish that shirt by applying a favorite American flag, or other patriotic image.

Purchase your little one a flag and teach them the song "America the Beautiful".  I taught this two year old to sing this song last week.  It's so adorable hearing him sing these lyrics - melts my heart! Gotta teach 'em patriotism young! 

Happy Fourth! - xoxo Grandma

Shared:  2 Crochet Hooks, Project Run and Play, The Dedicated House, Brooklyn Berry Designs, Skirt Fixation