Make Over a Onsie

I don't have the chevron glasses case ready yet but if you missed me at Honeybear Lane last week, you can see my onsie dress here today.

I wanted to make a gift for a cute little girl I know and this is what I came up with. Dressing up a onesie is a quick & easy way to make a custom dress for a gift or your own baby girl. I used a knit fabric but you can also use woven, though knit doesn’t require hems and won’t fray in the wash so it goes faster without a knit. If you use a woven cotton be sure to hem it.

Here is what you’ll need:

First I measured the width of the onsie, for this 6-9 mos size it was 8.5″. I multiplied that by four to get the width so I would have about twice the ruffle on both front and back and decided to make the skirt 8 inches long. Measuring it out, it looked about right. If you have a baby around to measure that would be more accurate.

Next, I ruffled the long side of the skirt. If you have a ruffler foot, use that. Otherwise you can use this nifty trick I learned when I started sewing again. Set your tension to the highest setting and stitch length to the longest. On my machine that is a 9 & a 5. Then without using a basting stitch, sew down the side and watch the ruffles come. I leave a bit of thread on both ends to make adjusting the ruffles easier.

Lastly, you’ll attach the skirt to the onsie. I apologize for not having a picture of this step. Be sure to line the skirt up evenly on both sides, pins help keep everything in place. I used an elastic stitch (looks like a zig zag stitch with dashed lines) and stretched the onsie back toward me a bit while sewing to help ensure mama can easily put this on baby. You can attach the skirt one of two ways, put the skirt & onsie right sides together (with skirt upside down) or put the wrong side of skirt on right side of onsie with the skirt right side up as it will be worn. I chose the second option and this gave a paperbag style to the skirt.

This was cute but still missing something. I cut a long 1.5″ strip of the fabric and ruffled it with about 1/4″ edge and pinned it to the neckline, cutting to size as I pinned. I sewed the ruffle on the same way as I attached the skirt and repeated this step twice more. Again, I apologize for not having a picture of this step. I just eyeballed it and made sure the ruffle above would cover the edge of the ruffle below. It worked out.

Then to complete the outfit I ruffled a 1 inch strip of fabric and attatched it to some FOE (fold over elastic) that I cut to 16″ and tied a knot at the ends. I think this will make a cute matching headband.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my dressed up onsie today, thanks for visiting!

~Rebecca

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My Tree Skirt

Oh goodness, only eleven days until Christmas! Am I the only one still making decorations? I probably should stop that and start making gifts right?

Today I want to show you my tree skirt. Last year I planned to make one but didn't get to it so this year I was determined.

It is really simple but I really like it. I made it using a piece of drop cloth and some jute to tie it up. I took a few pictures along the way to show you how easy it is to make one.

I cut a piece about 4'x4' and folded it into half and then half again. Then I gathered up my measuring tape, a tack and a pencil to create a circle. You want to determine how wide you want your finished skirt so be sure to include allowance for a hem. I tacked the measuring tape to one corner and used the pencil in the little circle at the end. My daughter helped to demonstrate this.

Do you see the boxes of bulbs? They received a makeover that I'll show you another day.

Here you can see a little closer up. You just draw a line from one edge to the next and that will create a rounded edge, cut that line and you'll have a circle.



After that I used a plate to draw a circle in the middle, to go around the tree. The size of your circle depends on the type of tree you have and how large your tree stand is. I made sure to leave a space large enough so I could still water it easily. Then you simply hem the raw edges. I sewed the jute into place on both sides and it was done.

Originally I thought I would do a pretty ruffled skirt like I've seen all over Pinterest. And then I thought maybe I would just add a single ruffle or pretty lace around the edge. But I've decided that I love it just as it is.

Thanks for visiting!

A {P}inspired Wreath

Are you tired of pinecones yet? I hope not. Here's another wreath I made and shared last week at Type A and wanted to share here if you missed it.

I saw a beautiful wreath and pinned it for inspiration. And then I made my own. Which really doesn't look a whole lot like the inspiration but maybe that's a good thing sometimes.

It started with a wreath, coffee filters, cranberries and a two pack of gold, glittery reindeer from the dollar store. Along with some pinecones from the field behind my house.

The wreath was a blonde wood kind of color so I painted it a white. Then I made some flowers by folding & layering the coffee filters into flower shapes and hot glued them to the wreath. Next, I added pinecones I had gathered earlier. I clipped the cranberries from the stem and hot glued the clusters, wrapping around the edges of the wreath. The glittery gold deer finished it off.

I am thrilled with how it turned out. I have since changed the ribbon to a wider sheer red ribbon that has some glitter in it and will probably change it again once I get some burlap.

And this is why I took pictures outside. My camera doesn't play nice indoors and I don't know how to not capture reflections on glass. Fortunately for us all you can't see that I'm wearing my pajamas. It was a productive day and some days it's me or the house. The house won that day.

Here is an even worse picture of where the wreath hangs. I don't have a fireplace with a mantle or a shelf to serve as one so I've decided to decorate the top of my hutch. It's a work in progress.

Ah, that's better. I wanted to leave you with something pretty. Thanks for visiting!

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Tiny Pinecone Wreath

Yesterday I shared a wreath over at Type A and today I have another wreath for you to see. You've already seen some of my nature inspired decorations. My simple centerpiece and pinecone garland.

Today's wreath follows suit.

I made this using a small form from the dollar store (8 or 10 inches I believe). I wrapped it with a strip of red fabric so the pinecones would have something to stick to. After gathering tiny pinecones from the tree {a couple times} and going through a handful of hot glue sticks she was complete.

I added the {fake} red poinsettia that was in my Christmas stash from last year. And sparkly red ribbon to hang. I like the pop of red.

I really love how this turned out. I would have shared some step by step photos but most of this was put together at night and my indoor lighting is useless at night. Simple enough to do without pictures though. If you have acorns or acorn caps they would look cute on a wreath also.

Thanks for visiting!

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Chevron Cork Board

I shared this over at Type A last week but in case you missed it, here it is again.

Some might say I'm cheap but I prefer thrifty. Why buy new when you can find gently used? My husband appreciates this about me and brings home 'goodies' for me on occasion. Recently he brought home a large cork board they were getting rid of at work. My son has been in need of a place to hang his drawings and things he likes to look at so I knew this would be perfect for him. {truth be told I still have a cork board sitting in my laundry room waiting for a makeover but I've already claimed it for myself}.

Being the impatient person I am I started on the project right then and there and used what I had on hand. I'm sure I broke at least 3 'rules' of DIY but I'm a rebel like that. ;) Sadly I don't have before pictures for you as the blue screen of death attacked my computer so all pictures taken before that happened are being held hostage until I can get the computer repaired or rescue the pictures. {say a little prayer for my pictures that weren't backed up please, and then back up all of your pictures when you're done reading. thanks}

Without further ado here is the made over cork board.

I used priority mail tape in place of painter's tape. For the most part it worked but you can see some places where I didn't press it down firmly enough. Did I mention I was impatient? When I start a project I want to see it done like yesterday. That would also explain the paint lines, I just assumed you wouldn't be able to see them on cork. Well, you can. I also painted the frame after peeling off the 'wood' laminate.

Two of these plastic pockets were on the cork board, originally hanging the other direction. I thought two was too many but one gives my son a good place to keep school library books so they don't get lost or ruined. I used my Cricut to cut his name out with card stock {I was out of black vinyl} and mod podged the letters to the pocket. He chose a dark blue color for his name.

I know the chevron pattern is very popular and maybe even overdone in the blogosphere but he liked it and it was an easy pattern to make quickly.

Thanks for visiting

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Cork Board Makeover

My oldest daughter turned 5 earlier this month. Five. That's one whole hand. October really snuck up on me so the day before her birthday I still had a gift to make for her. She has at least a bakers dozen of skirt so I couldn't do that and being short on time it had to be a quick & easy project. Then I remembered a little cork board I had in my trunk to donate. Let's just say things have been in my trunk to donate longer than I can remember. I don't know why cleaning things out is such a long process for me. Anyway, this was just perfect because I recently made something for my son and she was sad that she didn't have one too. More on his project later. ;)

This was the cork board before, cute but didn't go with her decor. First things first I popped off the cut out in the corner. Then I pained it.

I skipped the sanding and priming, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Lucky for me that worked out.

Then I busted out the paper doilies and modge podge. These doilies were a great find at my local dollar store. A large and small pack for $1 each. I've used some for party decorations, now this and I have plenty left. Anyway, I tried to put them on randomly. Which is a struggle with my need for balance and order.

Then I added her name using my Cricut to cut out the letters. When I went to hang it up I realized the hardware is meant to hang the other way. Oops.

So I flipped it. When I tried hanging a picture with a tack I noticed the cork was very thin and the tacks wouldn't be easy for my daughter to manage. With a baby in the house I didn't want to chance tacks being dropped on the floor. So I dug in my stash of ribbon, tacked it on and added some clothespins. Only one letter sized paper will fit on this but she insisted on three clothespins. You pick your battles right?

I can't decide if it needs more doilies. Having more time it would have been fun to paint some different colors and had more layering. The ribbon I used was saved from a diaper cake at her welcome baby shower. And now she's five. One whole hand. Pictures from her shower to come soon.

Thanks for visiting!

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Button Down to Dress

Hello, hello...is this thing on? After nearly a month of not really posting I'm finally back! I have many photos to edit and posts to write but for now I'll share my guest post from the Button Down Rehab series with Jen @ My Own Road for now. Enjoy your weekend!

I was so excited about Jen's BDR series and flattered that she asked me to guest post. My dress is somewhat inspired by a drop waist dress I saw at the store and thought "hey, I could make that for less than $5". I love a challenge. I hope my tutorial inspires even the beginning seamstress, that with enough determination {and maybe a few choice words} you can see a vision come to life and learn some lessons along the way.

*Disclaimer* I am still fairly new at making clothing. I have a lot to learn about clothing construction and this did not turn out to be a drop waist dress.

Supplies
* button down shirt {I used a short sleeve my husband didn't want}
* coordinating thread
* white or coordinating color cotton {1/4 should be enough}
* extra buttons {optional}

Step 1

First I put my trusty seam ripper to work and removed the sleeves, collar and pocket from the shirt. Set those pieces aside, you'll use some later. Fold what's left of the shirt in half and place a dress that fits on top, also folded in half. Trace around the dress leaving room for seam allowance. I believe most people use 5/8" seam allowance.

Step 2

Put right sides of dress together {I didn't cut the top of the sleeve so I just folded the dress in half at the shoulder with right sides facing). Fold the bottom of dress 1/4" two times to create new hem, press, pin and sew. {Ignore the horizontal stripe pieces shown here, this was an idea that didn't work out}. Do the same thing on the sleeves to hem. Then sew from the edge of sleeve to the bottom of dress on both sides.

Step 3

To create the bib I referred to this tutorial. Instead of one piece of white cotton I had two pieces so it could still button up to put on and take off. My pieces were 8"x12" with two inches for the button up center. I accidentally sewed my button hole to the inside piece instead of the outer piece so this dress buttons backwards on the top and I sewed a white ruffle to the top. As you can see, I wasn't very careful while cutting the bib shape, I thought I could cut it folded in half but it didn't come out evenly. Definitely trace a round object and cut along your line. I attached the bib to the button down like sewing an applique, next time I'd like to try a cleaner method.

The second picture shows a lesson learned. If you're sewing past your bedtime triple check what you're doing before cutting fabric. I accidentally cut the back of the shirt while cutting the front for the bib. I pieced it back together and later sewed the tag that was on the inside to the outside, I thought it was something unexpected.

Step 4

Next came the ruffle at the bottom. I used two pieces of white cotton measuring 2" x twice the width of the dress bottom. I pressed & sewed a 1/4" hem on both sides of the strips then created the ruffle by sewing down the middle of each strip with my tension at the tightest setting and stitch length at the longest. Next, pin the first ruffle strip starting at one side of the front with the bottom of the ruffle lining up with the hem. Continue pinning the second ruffle overlapping slightly in the back and finishing up at the other side of the front. 

Step 5

Add a pocket! That pocket you set to the side before can be made new again. I made a gathered pocket method I've used before using this tutorial and put a piece of the collar along the top and some extra ruffle strip.

Step 6

The dress was fine without a collar but seemed a little unfinished. So I hemmed the rest of the old collar and sewed it to the inside of the neckline with a zig zag stitch, about 1/4" overlapping.

Step 7

I don't have pictures showing this step but I replaced all of the original buttons on this shirt. They were originally a shiny off white. My daughter chose tan for the buttons on the stripes, blue for the white {backwards} and I put a brown one on the pocket.

And there you have it

A button down turned dress with a crooked bib, backward buttons, ruffle trim, functioning pocket and little collar. I would still like to add a little button and finishing technique that Jen shared on day 4 of BDR to the sleeves and maybe a little elastic in the back to hold it's shape better but those will have to wait.

I really do love how this dress turned out, though during the process it was one of those things that makes me want to poke myself with a needle in the eye. If you make a dress using this tutorial I'd love to see the finished product! Thank you for having me Jen!