New Life to Old Clothes!

If you haven't noticed yet it is my SIL Shanni who does the stuff that requires more talent. She is WAY better with a sewing machine than I am. I am kind of a make-it-up-as-I go and if -all- else -fails- use- a-glue-gun kind of a girl. Now you know . . . the secret is out.

With that being said . . .

Being a mom of four I have been many sizes in my life. That means I go through a LOT of clothes! If you have been pregnant in the last five years or so you know that maternity clothes have gotten quite stylish and sometimes I find it hard to say good-bye to some of my cute outfits. But lucky for me I had an idea . . .


I convinced a fabulous photographer to do a photog class so that she could give me some tips on how to take a better picture. Well she agreed and she wanted to do the practice portion of our class shooting a "Victorian era" like tea party. I helped her collect props and design headbands and costumes for the event and it gave me a chance to use some of my beloved old clothes.


Case in point: cute shirt, cute skirt:
they went from this . . .

To this:

I'll post some better pictures of the details later, but these two beautiful girls are my daughters. My skirt became a long dress (I measured my daughters chest and sewed in elastic that fit her measurements, then I added a really pretty rosette ribbon for straps- it is hidden under a cropped sweater in the picture- and it became a new dress. It was sew easy!)

For my fair daughter my shirt became a short dress. I flipped it upside down and sewed in elastic that measured the length of her chest. Then I put it on her to decide where I wanted the elastic shoulder straps to go. I marked the right spot on the shirt. Then I wrapped the elastic shoulder straps in fabric that matched the shirt and sewed it in place the same time I sewed the straps to the shirt. I may or may not have used a little hot glue to hold the wrapped straps in place:) while sewing. Then I added to rolled flower rosettes in matching fabric to the the front of the shirt where the elastic straps met the fabric and simply pinned those on so I wouldn't have to worry about putting them in the wash. OH, I also hemmed over the existing hem a bit to make it fit the width of my daughter's body a little better. I cut off the shirt where the sleeves began an hemmed what was once the top of the shirt. (hem, flip and hem again). Then I added another skirt underneath for color and little extra length. This was a little trickier than adjusting my skirt.

The HEADBANDS are mad of stretch lace, rolled fabric flowers, paper flowers, glass buttons, flowers and decorative brads. Lisa and I made those.

Now these little outfits look so cute on my kiddos I thought: why did I not just adjust them to fit me? Oh well, live and learn:)

Happy Crafting!

xoxo,

Amy

DIY Hair Clip Display and Two Layer Skirt

Look at those pretty flowers growing in the garden! Okay not really . . . my garden is almost dead:)

For weeks I have been trying to come up with a creative way to display the hair accessories and headbands that I make. I think I must have received my initial inspiration from my cousin-in-law, Heidi over at Honeybearlane.com. She made a beautiful centerpiece out of small tree branches. Then I saw someone at "What Women Want" with a tree branch display that earrings were hung from. And this is what I got . . . (I do have some better pictures at the bottom:) It was hard to take a picture in my usual spot because it was so windy today!)

This project is so easy and I think when I am done using it at The Festival of Tress Boutique, I will put it in my girls' bedroom to display their hair clips on. You can so do this. It is way easy.


I cut some branches from m y pomegranate tree, stripped the leaves and spray painted them white. After they dried, I simply put them in a large glass vase. I have some extra Styrofoam squares and I think I might try this again using them as a base.

I was pleasantly surprised that my head bands actually hooked on to the branches. I thought I would just be able to use my clips, but the headbands worked too!

Next . . .

I love to make special occasions special with fun clothes for my kiddos. I have been trying really hard to make cute skirts and it seems like I am always trying out new ideas and styles in an attempt to find the easiest way to sew. I used my tutorial for the two layer skirt that I posted earlier to create the black satin bottom layer. For the shimmery overlay I actually burned the edges like you do when you are making flowers because I wanted that kind of a look. (plus, I was so sick of trying to hem this particular fabric). Then I used a gathering stitch for the top layer and sewed it to the satin layer upside down with a regular stitch. Then I folded it back over (so that it was laying the right way) and stitched it again. You can see that I made it lay and sewed it in a way that revealed the black satin underneath.

I made this skirt so that the flower embellishment was interchangeable. I took a flower hair clip that I had already made and added the pin onto the back of it. This way the skirt would be perfect for "black and orange day" (their semi Halloween celebration) at school and also for School Spirit Friday . . .

which is black, green and white.

Anyway . . . you get the idea!

Happy Crafting!

xoxo, Amy