Green Floral Romper - a Refashion

Time to bring on Spring fashion! The dress on the left met up with my seam ripper because it's time to show you another refashion. For this refashion, I used the free pattern from Elephants and Elegance called the pleated playsuit.  From the original dress, I kept the smocked waistline and the pretty ruffled front.  And let me tell you, I had barely enough fabric from this dress to make a toddler playsuit or as my daughter calls these little outfits, "rompers".

For the shoulder ties, I used the green sashes and a little more of this fabric was used to fill in the low front...can't having a toddle revealing her chunky chest! Then I took off the pearlized buttons and re-positioned them evenly back onto the front.

When I first made this sunsuit, the legs were a bit long but now they fit her perfectly.

Everywhere this little red head goes in a sea of black hair, she's usually surrounded by people wanting to take her picture.  I've wondered what her life will be like when she comes back to the states.  She's just a cute little red head that tans.  xoxo Grandma

If you like rompers, see these additional posts:

Beaded Sunsuit

Dress Into a Romper in 30 Minutes or Less

Shared with:  Threading My Way

Layers of White Dress

A white dress is a classic for any little girl.  This layers of white dress was super easy to make and a good way to use up random pieces of white and off white trim.

I started this dress with a basic white tee shirt that I purchased for under four dollars from Walmart.  I cut 3" off the bottom of the tee shirt.  I next ruched the sides by sewing onto the seam 4" of elastic, which I stretched as I sewed it in place.

Then I added some stretchy off white lace around the neckline.  I cut out a 3" by 4" pocket from some leftover white knit tee shirt fabric and added a scrap of off white lace to the top of that pocket.  I then sewed the pocket onto the tee shirt.

Using more leftover lace, I even made her a coordinating headband.

Next, I added layers of white and off white lace to form a skirt around the tee shirt.  

My granddaughter wore this dress on the day her baby sister was blessed in October.  (If you'd like to see the dress her baby sister wore, which of course this Grandma made, go here.) I made the dress a little big, hoping it would fit her this spring.  She's grown up a lot since these photos but it still fits perfectly for an Easter dress.  Happy Easter all! 
xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Project Run & Play

Boys & Bugs Shirt

This shirt is a fun, easy project to make for any bug loving child.  For this project, I purchased a solid ready made T-shirt for $1.50.  I found this bargain on sale at my local Walmart. I hoped that with my arm still not completely operable due to breaking it in January, that this would be a project I was anxious to try.  

The first step is to decorating a shirt is to download the free bug pattern I designed here.

2.  Gather together the following supplies:

1.  Knit fabric scraps 
2.  Washable fabric marker
3.  Fabric spray glue 
4.  Fabric scissors
5.  Thread
6.  A solid T-shirt

3.  Now using the downloaded pattern, cut out the basic bug shapes from your scraps of knit fabric.

4. Use the fabric spray adhesive to temporarily adhere the fabric to the T-shirt by spraying the wrong side of the fabric and then putting the shapes, right side up onto the T-shirt.

5.   With the temporary fabric marker, draw on the details like the bug's legs and eyes onto the fabric.  These will be the lines that you use as guides for the machine embroidery.

6.  For the legs, use black thread.  I used a technique called scribble stitching to finish adhere the bugs onto the T-shirt.  To learn the basics on how to scribble stitch, go to Threading My Way, here.  As you can see by the close-up photo below, I only used the detail lines as a general guideline.  Plus I finally got my brace off my arm and sadly, my left arm still isn't working right so this is as close to the lines as I could get.  

Enjoy making this simple bug shirt!   xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Threading My Way, Project Run & Play, Totally Tutorials

Knitting & Sewing Lovers Books

Since I broke my arm last month, I haven't been able to sew or even craft much. But I have read a ton!  Reading is one of my other life passions... right up there with sewing! So, I thought I'd share with you a few of the books I've read that have a knitting or sewing theme.

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

Annabelle finds a box filled with every color of yarn.  You'll enjoy seeing everything she knits with her yarn until an archduke gets a hold of the magic box.  This is a darling and well illustrated Caldecott Honor book.

Fanny by Holly Hobbie I loved this wonderfully illustrated children's book about a little spunky girl named Fanny who wants a Connie doll like her friends but her mother says, "No." So Fanny takes matters into her own hands and sews herself a doll.

The Canada Geese Quilt by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock

This is a perfect book for a 7-10 year old to read.  It's a tender story about a girl, named Ariel, who likes to draw and a grandmother who likes to make quilts.

Last Wool and Testament by Molly MacRae

Kath arrives in Blue Plum, Tennessee at the end of her grandmother's funeral. She is the sole survivor of her estate which includes a fiber and fabric shop called The Weaver's Cat.  Sadly, she discovers something's amiss with her grandmother's estate, mainly that her grandmother is considered a suspect in a murder.  This is a light murder mystery with twists and turns and humor along the way. 

Pleating for Mercy by Melissa Boubon

Harlow moves from Manhattan, New York back to her home town of Bliss, Texas after her great grandmother passes away. She inherits her great grandmother's home and turns this farm-house into a custom dressmaking boutique. Harlow was cut out to be a seamstresses and fashion designer but definitely not a detective. This was an enjoyable, light murder mystery. The sewing tips at the end of the novel were a delightful discovery. Hope you enjoy this reading list too! Let me know if you've read any of these and what you think. If you like reading as much as I do, you might also like these posts:

HERE

HERE

Make Easter Bunny Ears for Your Doll

You might think it's too early to think about Easter but this year it happens to fall on March 27th which is exactly two months from today. This is another easy project that even someone with a broken arm (like me) can do. 

First, purchase a bunny headband designed to fit a child. I found mine at Target on sale last year for 25 cents each.  They actually fit adults but the only time this adult put them on was to be silly with my grandchildren.  Then, after a little destructive action, turn it into Easter bunny ears for you doll. Here we go...

1. Open up the seams of your bunny headband and remove the bunny ears from the headband.  Throw away the headband, unless you think you'll use it for something else.  Rewrap the wires to form a doll sized headband.  You may need to use an additional wire for this step. 
2. Wrap the fur around the new wire, pinning as you go.  Cut off the excess bunny fur from both ends.
3. Wrap the fur ends up toward the bottom wires.
4. Pin any additional places and with a needle and coordinating thread, sew the fur back together (I must mention, that with a broken arm this step took twice as long as it normally would have taken).

Here's a close-up photo of step number 4 - sewing the headband back together.

Pretty simple, right? And oh so cute!  Happy Easter preparation everyone! xoxo Grandma

Make a Doll Size Travel Case

Excuse the long absence, it has been quite the winter! We were on the road for the holidays and then had I had a little mishap on the ice while shoveling snow. It concluded with my left arm in a cast and a minor surgery to hold the bones together. Not exactly how I envisioned starting 2016. What I had envisioned, though, was more cute, easy projects like this... so let's get this fun started and pretend that ice doesn't exist. At least for a few minutes. 

I found these two cute little tins at a thrift store and knew they'd make the perfect doll accessory. So, let me show you how I turned them into vintage looking travel cases.  You're going to love this project because it's super easy to make!  

Supplies Needed:

• Tin
• Sticky backed felt
• Vintage travel fabric (I found this fabric at Hobby Lobby.)
• Embroidery thread
• Needle
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Lay the sticky felt on top of the tin.  With a pen or marker, trace the edge of the tin onto the paper side of the felt.  Cut out the felt along the inside of the traced line.  You'll need two pieces of felt, one for each side of the tin.
2. Cut out images from the vintage travel fabric leaving a little edge and pin them onto the felt.
3. Hand sew the fabric cut outs onto the felt using embroidery floss.
4. Pull off the paper from the felt and press the felt onto one side of the tin.  Now press the other piece of felt onto the opposite side of the tin.

That's it!  Your doll sized travel case is ready for traveling.

Where will your doll go with her new travel case? Hopefully no where snowy or icy. Happy travels! xoxo Grandma

Available on Etsy

Felt Christmas Stockings for your Doll

Since getting ready for the holidays means getting your doll ready too... I mean, if you're a little girl... we had to whip out some mini Christmas stockings.

I discovered that all my doll loving friends thought they were too cute. Since most of these friends don't sew, I made a bunch of these cute little felt stockings for their dolls.

If you sew, you'll want to download this Free Pattern to make your own doll sized Christmas stockings for all your doll loving friends.  Remember to download this pattern "full size" then have fun creating these little stockings for a doll or even to decorate a Christmas tree.  Don't want to make one?  You can find this cute stocking here.

Materials needed:

• Red felt
• White felt
• Star buttons (for the tree stocking)
• White, orange and brown thread

Directions:

1. Cut out felt using the pattern.
2. Machine stitch the top to the stocking.  Machine stitch the mini snowman or tree to the stocking using an embroidery stitch.
3. Sew rick rack along the bottom of the white stocking top.
4. Add 2 1/2" of ribbon by folding the ribbon in half and tucking under the raw edges before sewing next to the top left corner of the stocking. 
5. Hand embroider the details onto the snowman. (Nose, Eyes and stick hands.) If you embroidered the tree, just sew a star button onto the top of the tree and with brown thread add a trunk about 1/4" wide.
6. Pin the stockings together and sew 1/4" from the edge with a contrasting thread color.

When you're finished with step #6, your stocking should look like this: 

or this if you added a tree to the stocking:

Now, even if you're not, your doll should be ready for Christmas morning. 

xoxo Grandma