Thanksgiving Ties

I hope your Halloween weekend was so happy and restful! Is it already Tuesday? Oh! I guess I weekended a little long. We spent the last few days with my sister and her family.

While we were there, she took down all the Halloween decorations and started assembling her Thanksgiving mantel. My own wheels are now turning about what I might do over our fireplace. 

When we got home, I pulled up these sweet pictures I took before our trip...

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with a color palette like this for my Thanksgiving home. 

Erica at B is for Boy made my two little men these adorable argyle adjustable strap ties and I think that the colors are absolutely wonderful! Bright orange, lime green, browns and blues. Not too serious, but still pays homage to the traditional.

I'm feeling so inspired! Didn't she do an amazing job? I told her that I needed a longer tie for my oldest and she whipped one up to my specifications with no trouble.

Erica sent the ties quickly and they came professionally packaged--great for gifting. She even included instructions for how to wash and fold them back together if your boys are prone to spills (what boys aren't?). 

You will find so many cute handmade ties in Erica's shop, B is for Boy. She also writes a great blog called B is for Boy where she documents the projects she takes on for her sons. 

As a mom of two boys myself, I love finding great shops like hers (it's not easy to find fun dress clothes for my guys) and am even happier when the service is excellent.

You'll love Erica-- go check her Etsy shop and blog out right away!

Summer Skirt Tutorial (sewing without a pattern)

Mimi and Paw Paw took our four-year old to see the Winnie the Pooh movie on Thursday, then to lunch and a little playtime at their house.

It was wonderful for all of us!

I was able to put the baby in bed for a long nap and check a project off my list.

Understand that I am a completely self-taught, short-cut-taking novice when it comes to my sewing machine. But even I was able to finish this puppy in under two hours (with plenty of interruptions and overlock stitching all the edges).

This skirt would probably take a more advanced seamstress less than an hour. You know, it would probably even take me less than an hour the next time around.

I love it! I even wore it to see Harry Potter with my mom and mother-in-law (who saw two movies that day) the same night.

Okay, so here's how I did it.

Materials:

2 yards of fabric
a skirt that fit me perfectly (more on that later)
thread to match fabric
fabric scissors
straight pins
pencil for marking fabric
zipper

1. Wash and dry your fabric, then iron it out. Lay it flat, right side up. Place a skirt (inside out) on top. If you don't have a skirt to use, measure your waist and divide that number in half), then take the measurement from waist to knee, or however long you want it to be. Using the picture above as a guide, sketch a skirt shape that is slightly bowed at both the waist and hem with an A-line shape. It might help to do this on newspaper first, to give yourself a pattern.

2. Pin the skirt (or paper pattern) in place. Before cutting the fabric, measure and mark an extra 1" allowance for the waist, 2" for the hem and 1/2" for the sides.

3. Fold the fabric so you can cut both pieces at once and cut it out. You can cut them out separately if you prefer. That would probably be best for patterns and stripes so everything will line up from back to front (I didn't and mine somehow worked out. Shortcut-taker right here.)

4. Now would be the best time to use an overlock stitch for those raw edges to prevent fraying.

5. Right sides together, place both pieces on top of each other and pin in place. Leave an opening for the zipper.

5. Stitch up the sides with 1/2" seams (except where the zipper will need to go).

6. Pin the zipper in place and use your zipper foot to sew it in.

7. Iron the waist down by 1/2". Fold it once more, iron and pin it in place.

8. Stitch the waist in place.

9. Iron the bottom hem up by 2". Pin it in place.

10. Use a blind stitch to sew it in place, close to the open edge. You're done!

If you want to create a tie like I did, cut another piece of fabric that is 4-1/2" x 8-1/2 feet (you can make it however long and wide you like). I pieced mine together using what I had left over from the skirt. Iron it in half, width-wise, right sides together and stitch it along the long open edge and one short end. Turn it inside out, press it flat, fold the open edges under on the short end and stitch them down.



Shared with: I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Sew Chatty, Today's Creative Blog, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots and Jello

Tutorial: Pencil Eraser-Stamped Elephant T-Shirts

My baby's first birthday is just around the corner. We're doing an elephant theme and decided to go with a bold color palette.

If you want to see the elephant and invitations I designed as a starting point, click here.

I recently stumbled upon this technique (done with stamping ink) on Pinterest, and wanted to put my spin on it, but with fabric paints.

For party favors, I  decided to use my elephant and create dotted, stenciled t-shirts.

Here's what I did:

1. cut your stencil from card stock and apply to your t-shirt with double-sided tape.

2. Use a different pencil eraser for each color and stamp away!

3. Make sure you dot around the stencil's edges to create a clear outline of your shape.

This was a FUN project! 

Oooh, I'm thinking about doing this with my boys' names in different shades of the same color.

And, if I am feeling like a fun mommy, I might just let my 4-year-old take a stab at it.

Stripped down to his undies. Outside. On Newspapers. 

PS: I have a lot more birthday stuff to share so keep checking back.

Shared with: Somewhat Simple, Tatertots and Jello, Be Different Act Normal

Milk Monster Onesie

I hope you all had a super-duper Easter weekend with family and lots of kids running around the yard, looking for brightly painted, chocolate-stuffed eggs.

We did!

Are you ready to swear off candy forever?

We are!

Here's a little project to help you out of that sugar coma.

(I hope I'm not the only one who ate jelly beans all day yesterday!)

This is one of those takes-no-time-but-looks-so-cute kind of projects (my favorite kind).

Feel free to save the image to your computer and print it out to make your own.

If you want to make a t-shirt or onesie like my baby's, simply trace the image and words with fabric paint.

Place cardboard under the picture first so the paint won't bleed through to the other side. Then follow the paint's directions for drying time.

Guest Blogger: Wardrobe Update with "Sew Chatty"

Meet Elizabeth from Sew Chatty! She has a cute, cute blog and Etsy shop, and I am drooling over her spring/summer wardrobe that she's making for herself-- see her post below. I'm much too slow to make one new item a week, but she's definitely motivated me to start sewing some clothing for myself again. 

Hi there! My name is Elizabeth and I blog over at Sew Chatty.

I am thrilled to be visiting you all at In Between Laundry today!

A few weeks back I decided to challenge myself to create an item of clothing {for me} every week until I have a closet full of pretties for spring and summer!

It’s been such a blast to make basic, simple clothing items for a very low price tag! Here is a recap of what I’ve made so far…

Item #1…a “Farmers Market Skirt”

 

My first project was a skirt made with Simplicity Pattern 2609. I’ve had this pretty vintage sheet looking fabric in my stash for a while. Just needed it to tell me what it wanted to be. It wanted to be this pretty skirt. I made view D.

Here’s how I wore it on Sunday to church and Disneyland. Funky belt {to conceal the glorious elastic waist}, tshirt, cropped cardi, and cute flats.

Item #2…a simple spring top.

This was my second attempt at this top and I have to say things went much smoother this time!

Here is how I wore it…Brown Cardi-Target. Mustard Flower Pin-Made by Me and available in the shop. Rust Tank under top-Target. Skinny Jeans-Target. Flats-Target…I like Target :)

Item #3…Anthro Skirt Knock Off!

I like to browse Anthropologie’s website for inspiration and came across this cute little skirt and I thought to myself…pretty sure I could make that and avoid spending $88! I spent about $6.

How I wore it…Cardi…Forever 21. Mushroom Tank…Old Navy. Belt…Forever 21. Skirt…Made by me :) Tights…Vera Wang at Kohl’s. Boots…Christmas gift from the Hubbs. Necklace and bracelet…Forever 21.

Thanks for letting me pop in and share about my Wardrobe Challenge! Feel free to stop by Sew Chatty today to see the reveal of Project #4…another springy top!

Have a happy day!

Alphabet T-Shirt

I've been traveling so much this month. 

Yesterday, I had a few minutes to myself for the first time in... who knows? 

So I spent a little time being creative. I need that. Do you know what I mean?

I'd stocked up on t-shirts I found at Target for $1.25 a pop a few weeks ago.

Using fabric paint and an alphabet stamp set, I created a fun little t-shirt.

This project was super easy and appeased my crafting itch.

When I showed my sweet boy his new shirt, he smiled that big smile of his and said,

"Oh, mama, I love it so much! It's my ABCs!"

{PS: That's the absolute best, by the way.}

* * * * * 

Thank you for stopping by my little blog, lovely readers.

I am so thankful and happy to get to know you when I have the opportunity. If you'd like, here's a link to my facebook page. That seems to be a brilliant means of "chatting" with y'all, which I've been known to love to do.

Linked to: Somewhat Simple, Fingerprints on the Fridge, The Girl Creative, Tatertots and Jello, Craft-O-Maniac, Sugar Bee Crafts, A Bowl Full of Lemons, ABC and 123

Guest Tutorial: Skirt to Hat Refashion with "Just Between Friends"

I am super pumped about introducing you to Jonie from Just Between Friends! Go check out her blog--this girl has some great ideas!

First, I want to thank Erin for having me over today.  I have always enjoyed reading her blog!

My name is Jonie and I blog over at Just Between Friends.  I am really excited to show you a fun way to reuse those clothes you may have outgrown.

Here is my tutorial on 

how to turn a skirt into a hat!

*Disclaimer.  I fly by the seat of my pants a lot while crafting, so I don't have exact measurements, but I will show you how to find your own measurements the best that I can.*
All you need is:
An old skirt
sewing machine
seam ripper
pins

Pretty easy so far, right?

When I saw this skirt in Charli's throw away pile, I immediately saw the awesome fabric and then I noticed the waistband.  The waistband on her skirt is about 3 1/2 inches wide making it perfect to make a hat with.

I began by having my sister measure her head.  Then I unpicked the waistband on the skirt and then cut it to be the same as the measurement of her head plus a little extra for seam allowance.

The nice thing about using the waistband is that a lot of the work is already done for you.  To make it a stable hat, it needs to have at least two layers of fabric.  The waistband in this skirt had it already put together for me.  So, all I needed was to add a top a brim and embellish.

The next step is to cut out the top circle/oval part.  It should be a long circle, but not quite an oval.  I think I cut out two or three different sized circles from the lining of the skirt before I had it just right.  (I would suggest using a hat that you already have as a pattern to look off of for the top.  If you have a hat that fits you really well, add 1/4 of an inch all the way around for seam allowance when you trace it onto your fabric, and it should work great as a pattern.  After you cut the circle out of the lining, you will need to cut one out of the top layer of the skirt as well.  (It is easier to replace a lining fabric if you mess up)  Put the pieces together and pin it so that it looks like this.

Sew it up and turn it right side out.  It should then look like this.

From this point on, things get a little sketchy.  Making the actual hat part was no problem for me.  The brim was another matter entirely.  I stopped taking pictures at this point because of frustration.  I made three different brims on this hat but never felt like they fit just right.  Here is how I finally figured it out.  (In words, no pictures sorry)

I put the hat on and decided where I would want the brim to begin and end.  Then I traced an arc onto the skirt fabric using the hat as a guide for where it should go.  I cut out two arcs and then sewed them right sides together only around the arc part.  After that, flip it right sides out and top stitch the brim in two strips. (See picture below:

Then to attatch the brim to the hat, put the right side of the brim against the wrong side of the hat and top stitch. 

The waistband had two buttons and button holes which I thought would add a lot of character to the hat so when I cut out the hat I cut it so that the button holes were part of the hat and then sewed the buttons on top of the button holes.  I also used a little lace from the bottom of the skirt to finish it off.

I really like the way it looks, and the good news is.....It fits Charli's head!  YAY!  Here she is wearing it. 

Charli told me that she really loves it and that is good enough for me! 

Now it's your turn.  Go find that skirt that doesn't fit anymore and make it into something that you will wear and love!  I would love to see what you come up with if you do make one.