It All Started With Butterfly Leggings - A Refashion

This project all started when I saw these adorable butterfly footless leggings at the store the other day. Aren't they the cutest thing?  I immediately knew I needed them... or I should say, I immediately knew a certain granddaughter of mine needed them. Once I purchased them, I had visions running through my head of the adorable top I could refashion to wear with these fun leggings. That, of course, lead me to this fun refashion.

A while back, one of my daughters gave me this blue and white women's button up shirt to reuse. It turns out, the colorful butterfly pattern and this cute stripped top coordinated perfectly. Here's how the child's tunic looked after the refashion:

If you'd like to refashion a button-up dress shirt into a girl's tunic, here's how to transform it:

• Cut the sleeves from the shirt.
• Fold the shirt in half
• Cut a new neckline using a shirt that fits the child.

• Cut two, 1 1/4" stripes of fabric.  Sew these together at a diagonal and press.
• Cut down the sleeves to fit your child.
• Sew the sleeves back into place.

• Sew the seam tape around the neck's opening. 
• Topstitch along the bottom of the seam tape.

• For extra pizzazz, cut out a butterfly shape from white fabric.
• Machine embroider the butterfly shaped fabric onto the shirt.

• Draw the embroidery details using a water soluble pen.
• Pull out some embroidery thread and stitch away.  It took me three tries before I got the butterfly to look like I wanted it to.  So don't despair, stitch and unpick if needed.

• Next at the waistline, add a belt loop to each side of the tunic by doing the following:
• Thread three strands of embroidery thread through a needle, pull the thread to the middle and tie the thread so that there are six strands of thread knotted at the end.  

Through the wrong side of the tunic, push the needle into the center of the side seam.  Make a loop that goes loosely around the belt.  Then stitch loop chains all around the thread pulling the thread tight after each loop.   

This is how that belt loop will look before you tie off the threads. The loops keep the belt in place quite nicely.

This belt was also refashioned from one of my old belts.  I cut the length of the belt down to about four inches larger than my granddaughter's waist. Then I reshaped the end of the belt into a new point. Finally, I added five new holes using a hole puncher, called a Crop-a-Dile, which will punch through anything!

Out of the two fall outfits I made for this little girl, this is my personal favorite. 

Of course, this cute girl's favorite part of the outfit was the candy bracelet. Within about 15 minutes of driving us around her new state, when we went to visit last week, she had this bracelet entirely consumed! Oh, how I love this girl! xoxo Grandma

Linked to Straight-Grain, Threading My Way, Creating My Way to Success, Project Run and Play, Totally Tutorials

You also might like these Fall outfits:

Teacher's Pet Dress

Falling For Denim

Designing Boys Shirts

Oh Matilda!

Teacher's Pet Dress

When autumn rolls around, I think of back-to-school and teachers. I also think of all the apples my generation used to take to school to give our teachers.  We thought if you brought an apple to your teacher, you'd be the teacher's pet that day. Makes sense, right? Which got me wondering, do children even take apples to their teachers anymore?  

Back to this dress, I had fun embroidering these apples and then stressed about how to make this outfit come together because my first attempt failed. (The original pattern I used was just too wide for either of my skinny granddaughters). Late one night, I ended up cutting the skirt off of my original dress because that was the only part I liked.  I next took a white, tank top and cut off five inches from the bottom making this the new dress bodice. Then, I reattached the skirt and sleeves to my new bodice. Instantly, I could tell that this dress would fit much better.

While I was working on this apple border, I found just enough red piping and red bias tape from my stash to sew around the edges, creating a frame which highlights the six embroidered apples.

I loved it when my granddaughter said she liked her new apple dress!

If you want to have some fall fun, I've created these apple patterns as a free download.  Go here to get your copy.   Have fun adding apples to your sewing projects.

Now, for a bit of extra happy news... Last week started off with the birth of my tenth grandchild! I'm thrilled and so excited to meet her.  My week ended with  grandchildren time, exploring the state that this cute little girl, modeling the dress above, moved to last month.  I hope she'll enjoy her teacher's pet dress.  Her big brother starts kindergarten tomorrow and she'll get some quality stay-at-home time with her mother, surely making her the teacher's pet!  xoxo Grandma

Linked to: Project Run and Play, USS Crafty, Threading Your Way, Nap Time Creations, straight-grain, All Free Sewing

How to Make a Fabric Fairy House - a Refashion & Tutorial

You are in for a treat with this project, because although it took me a while to create, this fairy house now tops my list of favorite creations! So who is ready to have more fun than you can imagine creating this gem using a shrunken sweater, a corn meal container and a few odds and ends from around your house? 

Supplies needed:

• empty corn meal container
• X-Acto knife or box cutter
• embroidery floss: 2-3 shades of green, brown & beige
• felt or felted wool sweater (a shrunken sweater)
• 1 button (for door knob)
• beads - from old necklaces
• fabric water soluble marker
• 9001 Epoxy Glue, clear
• thread
• scissors
• small pieces of lace curtains or netting
• optional items: decorative bird and or butterfly (I purchased mine from a dollar store)
• green felt or felted wool for the leaves
• 3 pipe cleaners
• cut 3 pieces of green felt 7/8" x 13", cut one end of each piece like this: 
  

Download templates for the door, window and leaf foundation color patterns HERE and the basic house pattern HERE.  

Cut two fairy house leaf foundations from felt and one from stiff interfacing.

1.  Draw the door onto a corn meal container.
2.  Turn the container upside down, using a sharp box cutter or X-Acto knife, cut along the door lines.
3.  Tape the windows in place and draw around the window pattern.  
4.  Cut the windows out with the box cutter.

5.  Wrap the felted sweater around the container. Cut enough fabric so it goes around the container and add at least 3/8" for a seam allowance.  Cut the felted sweater as follows:

Now, pin the door onto the fabric and cut out the door opening.

6.  Pin the window pattern directly over the cut out on the container.  Trace around the pattern with a fabric marker.

7.  Cut a small hole through the back side of the fabric and cut around the traced pattern.

8.  Cut out the door from felt. With a fabric marker, trace the wood lines onto the felt.

9.  From old lace curtains (or netting) cut 3/4" overall larger than the window pattern.  Pin over the window openings and sew in place.

10. Using two contrasting colors of embroidery floss, chain stitch around the openings of the windows.

11.  Sandwich interfacing between the 2 felt doors and pin. Zig zag using various widths the wooden lines onto your door. 

12.  Finish the edge of the door with a blanket stitch.

13.  Stitch the fairy house together to form a circle. Using a straight stitch, sew the door to the left side facing on the door opening.

14.  Blanket stitch all the way around the door (I hand embroidered this area.).

15.  Pin the door over the cut out area.  Add elastic cording by machine stitching to the right side facing of the door 3" from the bottom. Add random beads around the door opening.  Hand sew a button for a door knob to the door.

16.  Sandwich interfacing between the fairy house leaf foundation and sew around the edge at 1/4". Now sew the centers of the leaves. See the pattern for all the leaf details. This pattern is the actual size of the foundation.

17.  Blanket stitch the felt around the pipe cleaner.  

18. Pin the leaves to the top of the fairy house.
19. Stuff the felt vines into the hole at the top of the house.
20. For the rose leaves, make a stem that you'll attach the leaves to by cutting off some of the "fuzz" from the pipe cleaner.  Then apply some tacky glue to the pipe cleaner.  Now, wrap reddish brown embroidery floss all around the pipe cleaner.  I wrapped 3 1/2" inches for my stem.  Add the rose leaves to your house and glue on a rose or two.  
21.  Put strong adhesive all around the outside edges of the corn meal container, especially the windows and door.  Pull the house over the container and press the edges into the glue.

22.   I added paper clips to the door area to hold the house tightly against the corn meal container.  Set the house aside and let the glue dry.
23.  Add the house onto the leaf foundation and pin in place.
24.  Sew the leaf foundation to the house.
25.  If desired, add a few additional extra leaves, a butterfly and or a bird to your house using your adhesive.

26.  Create several fairies and watch your child or grandchild have fun!  For fairy creating tips see THIS post.


This fairy house is for that child in your life that likes playing in a world of make believe. You can turn this into a darling night light by tucking an LED light through the door. Just look at the soft glowing light that comes through the little windows once the light has been added:

Take your house outside for a while and see if any fairies want to take up residence in this cozy, whimsical little home.

If you don't want to take the time to actually make a fairy house but love this one, please stop by my Etsy shop.  xoxo Grandma

Winter Wonderland Pillows - Add Texture to Sewing Projects

Before I left on my "new grandchild/Christmas" trip last year, I created a little project to take with me, using scraps of fabric and ribbon. This project was very portable; it was small enough that I could carry it in a medium sized zip-lock bag and stuff it into my purse. You know, for those down times when you don't want to watch anything on television or the baby doesn't need changing or it's someone else's turn to hold the baby or the little apartment doesn't need to be cleaned - again.  

I used a Fiber Mosaics pattern #61202, Winter Wonderland as inspiration:
   

When I opened the pattern, I discovered the pieces were too small for my eyes. So with a copier, I enlarged them quite a bit. Then I changed them just a little, hand-stitched the fabric art and then added some embroidered details.

Here are a few tips to add texture to this and other fabric art projects.

• Use a variety of fabrics. The hat above is a quilted looking gold fabric stitched over some embroidered hair. I also used cotton, flannel, fake fur and fleece to create the figure's clothing.  
• Use a variety of embroidery stitches. French knots were used for the pom pom on the bottom of the hat.  The hair was a series of tightly stitched running stitches.  On the ends of the scarfs, I tied a knot and left 6 strands of floss loose so it would look like fringe.
• Add different scraps of lace to the edge of the clothing.  
• Use different embroidery thread to add more interest. Most of the details were added with cotton floss but for the skates, I used a shinny thicker silver floss. 

• Ribbon can also be used for the tree trunks, for windows and even scarfs.

Texture really adds a lot of fun to sewing projects!  With all my children moved out of my house, I've decided it's time to update a few of their bedrooms, and these two pillows make a fun accent in my dusty blue room.  

xoxo Grandma
Linked to 2 Crochet Hooks