2 carseat covers; 2 days

It's been a productive couple of days. And I've been up to my arms in Carseat Covers; one for a friend and one for my cousin Rachael. I am in love with this muted-gold fabric she chose. Shanell has classy taste, so it's no wonder she'd pick a gorgeous print. When it was done, it just looked pretty to me:
With the buttery yellow canopy over-head, I just wanted to cozy-up in there and take a nap. I hope her niece will feel the same.
And for Rachael's baby boy-to-be, it was vintage cowboy.
I often don't care about the underneath fabric of the carseat cover, since no one really sees it. But this time around Rachael chose a red and white polka dot print for the under side.....and I just smiled each time I caught a glimpse of it. Weird? Maybe. Kind of like wearing a hot pink bra when you're 14....even though no body knows or cares?
All in all, I thought the color combo turned out cute; with red accents adding a fun element. This cowboy has a great ride ahead of him.
It was a whirlwind making two covers in two days, so I'll be taking a break for a bit. And I'm sorry to customers who have inquired about custom carseat covers. I decided last month that life is too busy right now for out-of-state orders. Shipping, coordinating, etc. takes much more time than working with a customer locally. I'll probably continue doing local orders for the time being but who knows what the future holds.
It's always rewarding though to finish the project, tuck it on and around that carseat and think of the cute little babe that will be resting inside. Sweet.

hello baby Leah

This past Friday our niece Leah was born. We were lucky to see the cutie, only 23 hours old the next day.
And as a Welcome to Life gift I brought the simplest thing ever: a knit-fabric receiving blanket. This is the perfect go-to gift.
Cut a large 40x40 square of soft knit, serge around the edges (or not. Knits won't fray but a serged edge looks a little nicer and finished), tie it up with a bow, and you're done! I love using light-weight knits because the stretch gives you a good swaddle on the baby. The only problem is finding cute knits. I rarely see them in stores.
Here's Leah's gorgeous mom, Laura. If we all looked so lovely just hours after delivery. She's a natural.
And my brother Eric, Leah's dad.
Welcome to the world little one. We love you already!

Purple Bird

After the bright colors of the Mercado Skirts, this little piece feels more like June Gloom. But my Goose loved it nonetheless. "Let's wear it all day long," was her response.

Made of slate blue cotton and lavender tule, this is a revamp of the Orange Bird skirt (inspired by this skirt from Pink Pickett Fence).
While the orange version was bright and fun....it wasn't executed quite right. And it's been bugging me for months (each time I see it in her drawer and decide that it's too crocked and bubbled for her to wear). So, I gave it another go.
This time I made a 4-tiered, gathered skirt (similar to many of the skirts here on the blog). I gathered the tulle a little tighter this time and sewed it on with contrasting green thread.
HUGE NOTE for the future: Sew tulle on LAST, not first. Would have been SO much easier to make the skirt without that bulky frill in the way.
I do love the updated look, but.....I'm still not satisfied. I've decided that tulle is too stiff for such a simple cotton skirt. So, I ordered some nylon chiffon from this great place today! Something a little softer might do the trick.
This bird hasn't migrated yet....

to Market, to Market...

Wow friends! You really impressed me!
Thank you kindly for your sweet comments. Your words truly mean a lot to me and keep me motivated for the next project. Honestly, I can't say it enough....thank you for stopping by and being a part of MADE for me.

Now on with the winners......there are FIVE of you!
(all selected by the random.org number generator; with the corresponding comment-number being double-checked by me)

#220 - Casey, who said:
oh my goodness!! they are so adorable

#41 - The Connors Mistress, who said:
Ohh, these are ubercute, I would love the green one! :) I might have to try my hand at these...

#67 - Blogful, who said:
Mom of two girls. Pick me!

# 328 - theartofpatience, who said:
My friend Heather told me about your giveaway. I have a 2 yr old little girl. She'd look darling in ANY color. Your skirts are darling!

#131 - Forsythe, who said:
I have two boys now, but I would want to have a girl just to wear this darling outfit!

TO THE WINNERS:
The Conners Mistress, Blogful, and Casey: I have emailed you.
theartofpatience and Forsythe: please contact me at danawillard@gmail.com

It's first come, first serve as to which color skirt you ladies would like. Whoever gets back to me first will have their color pick...though it sounds like Conners Mistress would already like the green one?

IF YOU DIDN'T WIN, The good news is....
* There's a tutorial in the works for this skirt! Should be up in the next week or two.
* I will be selling 2 of these in my shop very soon (1 pink and 1 red). There will be a post on the blog when they're up.

Thank you everyone for playing! It was really fun for me.

Summer GIVEAWAY: The Mercado Skirt (CLOSED)

* Please note: this giveaway is closed *
Every girl needs a skirt for heading to the market; a market skirt with a pocket for fruit (and a stash of candy).
It's the perfect skirt for hanging out and sharing sodas with friends.
Whatever your flavor; we have the color.
And....we're giving them away for FREE!
Summer is officially here and a summery skirt Giveaway seemed the only way to go.
The big news is.....there will be FIVE winners! Yep, we're giving away all five skirts:And each winner also gets the ruffly white tank to go along; compliments of (ugh, of all places) Walmart. I took-in each tank at the side seams however, since the arms holes were too open and wide.
So, it's a package deal: the Market Skirt and a Ruffly Tank! And all you have to do is leave a comment here. Nothing more.
THE OFFICIAL RULES:
* Leave a comment.
* PLEASE LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS in your comment.
* Giveaway will end Wednesday 6/24 at midnight (pacific standard time).
* Open to everyone, even international friends!
* Only one entry per person.
* Winners will be picked using the random.org number generator.
* When 5 winners are selected, I will email each winner and ask which skirt color they prefer. First come, first serve. Whichever winners get back to me first will get their skirt preference.
* All skirts are the same size and fit about a 2T-3T, varying. The waist band is 20-21 inches all the way around.

And that's it!
Now grab your friends and do a little dance. Summer is here!

my Go-To gift wrapping

I pretty much wrap all gifts the same way. I never buy wrapping paper (guess I'm too cheap?) but I'm not a "gift bag" person either. So....enter the brown paper bag. It's a little stiff to bend and wrap but I love the simplicity and it falls in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle category, right?

I've posted about the ribbon once before but that's a simple one too. It's a great way to use up your scraps. Cut strips of fabric, sew them together at the end to make the ribbon as long as you need. Serge the edges or leave them raw:
Tie it up with a Quilted Notecard:
And you're off to the baby shower!
For other gift wrapping ideas, click here.

baby boy

Gifts for my friend's baby boy shower the other night: a joon bug blanket, in simple flannel with a micro-suede border:
And since she offered me a bag of clothing cast-offs last week (yipee!) I thought it would be fun to give something back to her (in a refashioned way). Not sure if they're the most boy-ish pants but I just couldn't pass up the soft knit of this old Express shirt. The before and after:
I've been into thick waistbands lately:
and kneepads too (similar to the tutorial found here).
Can't wait to meet your little guy!

Plaidtastic

With my machine in working order, I had a productive afternoon! (can you tell I was itching to sew?) Here's what I came up with, a variation on the shirt dress. Refashioned from a man's dress shirt, it's the plaidtastic shirt/skirt combo. I started with this:
and turned it into this:
and this:
The idea for the top came from this lovely french blog (oh, don't worry....there's an "amazing french blogs I love" post in the works. I'm smiling over the stuff they make).

And since Goose was acting silly, I just kept snapping photos. She's definitely building a repertoire of poses.
Sadly, this is the last time she'll wear the plaid. This little outfit will be auctioned in our Church auction this Friday, to raise funds for our youth-age girls and their summer Girl's Camp. Hooray for fundraisers! And....let the bidding begin! (on Friday, that is....at an undisclosed location.....at 7pm. Yea. We probably won't see you there)

randomness

Hello world! I'm alive, but a bit out of sorts. Life has been funny lately and not much sewing has gone on. So I'll just share the randomness.

1. Our computer died on us. But we took it to the Apple shop, they said they'd fix it for free, and we picked it up today! After 5 days of silence/blog-free/email-withdrawls, I'm back to my comfy surroundings, here (yay!):
2. I thought my sewing machine was broken. But turns out that yep, I'm just an idiot. I couldn't get the stitch length knob to turn. I was certain it was stuck (when in a hurry last week, I'd wound it real fast). I took my machine apart, couldn't find a way to get to that knob, had my husband look at it, he was stumped, I put it back together, and was ready to take it to the shop. Then I realized....it was in the Button Holer mode. Um. Duh. I switched that off and everything works fine. Wow, our family is setting a trend for FREE machine repair these days.

Of course, (I shamelessly admit) that a week without a computer OR a sewing machine has meant more quality time spent with these munchkins:
How easily distracted we become with projects, blogs, and correspondences. I'm glad I saw more of my kids this week.

And in the mail came some lovely treasures.....

1. Stacie of the blog Rockin' Bobbin sent me a surprise package just to say thanks for being a blogger and sharing ideas. That is honestly, so very sweet. Thank you Stacie! Inside a small pink box was a hairbow, a cute needle, and this perfect tie for my little guy:
She even tried to match the fabric to the Seaside Stripes dress I made for Goose. Stacie, you're too cute. Thank you again!

2. In exchange for the Emory Skirt and bag below, Tara (Emory's mom) made me this personalized necklace:
It's simple, it's sweet, it's the perfect length. You can find similar necklaces on Etsy like this and this and this. Thanks Tara! I love swapping talents as payment.

3. My copy of the Sugar City Journal Quarterly showed up. Those women are amazingly talented. I've skimmed through it but can't wait to relax on the couch and read away:

4. This didn't come in the mail but sure made me smile. One of my new favorite blogs, A Little Bit Of Sugar posted this about joon bug.
Lucy, the creator behind such sweetness, has impeccable style and taste. She shares lovely photos, cool crafts, and well, I just can't get over that blog title. Stopping by her site is truly like a bit of sugar. If you want a taste, check out this Scrabble desk she's making:

And lastly, since I don't often share much about my family (I have another blog for those day-to-day happenings)...just a little pat on the back here to my wonderful husband. A couple years ago he decided to get his Masters of Economics, while still working his full-time day-job. Life was busy and crazy for a while but on Saturday.....he graduated! Hooray for Master Casey!
We're glad he works hard for our family.
And, I'm done.
While typing here....I have fabric dying in the sink....and I have a whole line-up of projects to be sewn this week (since my machine is now fixed).

Hi world. It's nice to be back.

Sewing for Emory

A customer asked me to make a monogrammed skirt for her 7-year-old daughter Emory, out of this great Amy Butler fabric:
So I made a simple gathered, tiered skirt.
It needed some extra fringe so I made this and sewed it on top of the seams (double-layered, 1/2 inch wide cotton fabric, gathered in the middle and left with raw edges so it will fray as it's washed) :
She wanted an "e" on the skirt like the ones I've made for my Lucy. But when all was said and done, it felt overboard to add a letter to the skirt. So....I made a personalized purse/bag instead. What 7-year old wouldn't like a girly tote?
And every bag needs a pocket for lipgloss, hairclips, and candy of course:
The "e" was made in similar fashion to my Christmas ornaments. And I used more of the fringe above to make it feel girly. Kind of reminds me of a contest ribbon from the school science fair.
Enjoy your new treasures little Emory.
(and p.s....a similar skirt tutorial is in the works!)

And the WINNERS are....

But first off let me say THANK YOU all for the sweetest comments. Honestly. It was kind of a crummy week (for various reasons) and you really made me smile. Man, if you ever need a self-esteem booster, do a give-away!

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Now on to the fun stuff.
I was surprised with how many of you preferred the orange dot blanket over the ruffled one. Over the past blogging year I had concluded that readers were more excited over girl stuff, rather than boy items. But you've proven me wrong!

So, the funky Orange & Blue Dot blanket goes to.....
Beth- the mama bee who said:
"I love them both, I would really like to win the boy blanket... fingers crossed!"
CONGRATS Beth!
Please email me your mailing address at:
danawillard@gmail.com

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And the dainty Heart Ruffle blanket goes to.....
margaret k. who said:
"yeah! congratulations on the shop opening! i would go for the girl one, as i am pretty sure that is who is in my tummy right now."
I hope it's a little girl in there too! Congrats!
Please email me your mailing address at:
danawillard@gmail.com

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And because it's boring for only two people to win, I selected two Runner-ups to be outfitted with a couple joon bug hairclips:
And the hairclips go to.....

Nicki who said:
"I love your new store. You have such a wonderful talent! I would love the Baby Girl blanket for my daughter. Thank you for such an amazing giveaway!"

AND

Carisa who said:
"Your work looks beautiful! Thanks for the great giveaway."

Congrats to you both!

Thank you everyone for entering. All winners were selected through the random.org true random number generator.

To purchase items in our online shop, please visit joonbugbaby.com.
A few of our blankets have already sold out. And to that we say, woohoo!
Now, back to the sewing.....

The Shop is open and a GIVEAWAY!

In case you missed the big announcement in my luvinthemommyhood interview, we're here to announce it again:

our shop is open for business!

joon bug baby is a line of baby and children's accessories. Your child is a reflection of you; their accessories should be too. In the shop you'll find blankets, burp cloths, pacifier clips, hair clips and more.

And to kick it off I thought, it's time for a GIVEAWAY! It's simple, it's sweet, and TWO of you will win! And since I don't like things to be drawn out, the giveaway will end THIS Sunday night.

Here's what I'm giving away....two of my favorite blankets; one for a girl, one for a boy:
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The dot blankets are some of my favorite baby creations. Though they're time consuming to sew, I love the final results. Made of soft flannel with a flannel border, it's the perfect receiving blanket. And the funky orange/seablue color combo makes me smile:
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The ruffle blankets are also signature joon bug and a shop favorite. Customers love these and seem to come back for more. This particular heart blanket is one of a kind and I chose it especially for the giveaway (it was too precious to list in the shop). Made of stretchy jersey knit with a flannel ruffle border, this receiving blanket stretches perfectly around baby to keep those arms swaddled inside:
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The Rules are simple:
* Leave a comment here and specify if you'd like a GIRL blanket or a BOY blanket.
* Only one entry per person.
* If your blogger/comment name doesn't link back to your email address, PLEASE leave an email address.
* You must enter by 12 midnight (pacific time) on Sunday night, the 31st.
* Apologizes to any international readers, but blankets will only be shipped to USA and Canadian addresses.

And that's it!
So come one, come all. Come browse the shop to see what other joon bug items are out there:
And thank you as always for stopping by MADE. Your wonderful input and comments make my blogging time all worth it!

Vintage Fern

I won! I won! I won!
One of my favorite sites (yes, I have many) Vintage Fern did a giveaway last week, and random.org picked me! Here's what arrived in the mail today:
(not only did she send me cool stuff, but she wrapped it up all cute too? Amy is classy and has awesome style).

Here's what was inside:
Some awesome vintage Wright's stretch lace, 3 other beautiful laces, buttons, some of her prized and loved hankie fabric (I already love it too), and a signature Vintage Fern dish towel (I don't remember that being in the giveaway post?! Hooray! I've been spoiled)

And just to show off her work I love, here's the cool stuff she comes up with (her daughter picked out the fabric for this skirt. Great combo):
Christmas gifts for her three girls (I told Amy I wanted to be one of her daughters):
More Christmas stash:

Thank you Amy for the beautiful gift! And thank you for your lovely site.

And the timing on this couldn't have been better because I've got a giveaway up my sleeve for you all! Stay tuned....

an Interview and a BIG Announcement!

Listed in the Blogs I Like button is a fabulous, cheery site I love to visit...and I'm pretty sure you'll love it to. Welcome to:It's impossible to visit luvinthemommyhood without feeling happy. It always makes me smile. It may be a gray-skied day at home but click into the mommyhood and there are beautiful blue skies everywhere. I'm immediately a little happier and want to linger a little longer. Who can resist the sunshine?
In the mommyhood, there something for everybody. Shannon, the site creator (and my new favorite penpal and friend), showcases a medley of interests. In here you'll find:
* Stories about mommyhood
* Tips on mommyhood
* Sewing, knitting, crafting creations, and tutorials by Shannon
* Craft creations and tutorials by fellow bloggers
* etsy shop photo round-ups. (And Shannon has a eye for all things cute.)
* day-to-day posts about Shannon and her outrageously adorable daughter Mackenzie
* beautiful pictures
* Get Fit series
* Cooking ideas
and so much more.....

Aside from being a mom, Shannon has been busy with a new creation: a NEWBIE Tutorial series. These are tutorials for beginner (and experienced) sewers, made from a Newbie sewer's perspective. Brilliant! It's something you'll all want to check out (especially her newest Tutorial on Shirt Sleeves to Yoga Capris):
A few months ago Shannon approached me and asked if she could interview me for her Moms in the Mommyhood series.
I was flattered.

So here, it is folks! In a fun, casual setting.....

Check out my Mommyhood interview HERE.
And make sure you don't miss the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT hidden somewhere within.

Thank you Shannon! And thank you for creating a happy place for me to visit each day.

The Pattern Update

Many of you have expressed problems with some of the Shirt Dress measurements.....especially in the sleeve area. SORRY for the headache it's created. My daughter is skin and bones, so those are the original measurements I used for her.
SO.....I decided to update the pattern and increased some of the measurements. Hopefully it works better for you all!
If you're still plugging away at a Shirt Dress, please revist the pattern pieces in the tutorial.

And thank you for uploading your creations to our Flickr group. There are 43 of you! WOW! More than I ever imagined. What great dresses you've come up with!

Using the scraps: The Quilted Notecard TUTORIAL

A few months ago my friend Erica made me this card and it's been sitting on my nightstand ever since. I'm in love with those colors:
She got the idea from Denyse Shmidt's Quilting book (which is awesome and recommended). And these cards are so simple to make, I couldn't resist making a tutorial to share it with you all.
You can find the tutorial here.

The greatest thing about these: you can't mess them up and the possibilities are endless! I sat down yesterday and whipped up a few in a 1/2 hour:
Now you'll never want to throw away your scraps.

white linen

You guys getting sick of these yet? I hope not. But I may be taking a break after this one!

As part of the Presser Foot sew-along, I chose a beautiful white linen men's shirt from Goodwill. It was just asking to be a breezy sleeveless dress.
I cut the pattern slightly different than the Shirt Dress Tutorial, using only one pattern piece (no sleeves and I extended/reshaped the shoulder strap area):
I wanted the dress to be as light and flowy as possible; cool on a hot summer day. But it still needed something at the waist without feeling tight or stuffy. So I made a simple tie that strings through the sides of the dress and stays secure with a loop in the front of the dress:
The buttons on the original shirt were boring, so I removed them and brightened it up with these little green ones. They have the sweetest embossed star-like shape.
Thanks Presser Foot for letting me host this month! If you want to join-in, there's still time. And for those of you currently sewing....can't wait to see what you come up with. Happy Sewing.

Mother's Day Dress

Happy Mother's Day to you wonderful women out there. I hope your day was a nice one. I can't say our's was the most pleasant but it ended on a high note with yummy dinner and (finally) happy kids!
I started this dress months ago made out of an IKEA curtain (from the As-Is section; a great spot for refashioning supplies!) It was first worn plain-jane style for a dinner party with girlfriends, then I added the white fabric hem on the bottom for Easter Sunday, but I knew it needed trim on the collar and sleeves. So I finished it off this morning and it became, the Mother's Day Dress:
My favorite part is.....it matches perfectly with this sweater I could never match an outfit to:

Guest Blogging on Presser Foot

Have you made your shirt dress yet?
Some of you have and I'm thrilled that you've shared them with me. I love to see how different minds spin the same basic idea.

If you haven't started one but are itching to do it, Now is the time!
Let me tell you why....
Sisters Kelli and Rian are the creative minds behind the sewing group blog:
They choose a project each month (and I mean cute projects. How'd you like to make one of these?! I'm dying over that linen top):
Each project comes with a recommended pattern or tutorial attached. You all work on your version of the project throughout the month, sharing/posting tips with others and voila! You post your finished products on presser foot.
Clever, simple, perfect. I'm jumping on board.

And the project this month is....The Shirt Dress!
They've asked me to Guest Blog on their site for the week, sharing tips and how-to help. I'm totally flattered guys. As an intro, they've interviewed me HERE.
I'll also be making another dress right along with them. So come join us! You can sign up by following the instructions on the presser foot blog.

dots

Last week we had shocking 103 degree weather here in Southern California. So I rushed to make Goose a summer top (only to find us back in 60 degrees the next day). Funny how that happens.
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A simple sleeveless top, with slight gathering in front and buttons down the back:
The inspiration? My sister was getting rid of these pillows and I loved the fabric. So she pawned them off on me and I couldn't be happier. After making this top, there are still 4 pillows left! You'll be seeing more of these dots around.
Of course, the photoshoots don't always go as planned:
But we usually find something to smile about again.
And the day after sewing this, THIS great tutorial popped up. Now you can make one for yourself!

Being a Boy: The Knee Pad Pants TUTORIAL

Ready to hit the golf course with dad?
Or did your little man put in a hard day's work downtown?...
Either way, have no fear! Little legs are protected in these sporty and casual knee pad pants. And now you can make them too!
Introducing, The Knee Pad Pants TUTORIAL (for boys AND girls).
We're making these:
And you can find the tutorial HERE.
Now get sportin, sport.

Orange Bird?

After browsing blogs this morning, I found this adorable skirt by Miss Chris at Pink Pickett Fence. She gives great instructions and tips for making this simple skirt. And she then suggested I try making it in orange, so I did! (she always has brilliant ideas and beautiful photos on her site).
Here's the result:
Layers of orange and light-blue gathered tulle:
While I'm not sure if my Goose looks like a bird.....I think I like it. And to quote her when we tried it on: "it's beeeautiful!"
Thanks Chris!

3 cupcakes, for 3 cupcakes

Hairclips for a customer's 3 granddaughters:I kind of want to eat them, the cupcakes that is.

Carseat for Camryn: Baby Bright

It seems that all I'm making these days are Shirt Dresses or Carseat Covers. Good thing I enjoy both! Here's the latest installment (made for a customer with fabric she sent). I call it Baby Bright:
I love how this combo turned out. The fabric is chocolate brown corduroy with vibrant colors almost painted on top:
And with the hot pink piping I just look at this and think, chocolate watermelon. Though I'm not sure that sounds very yummy, I love this color combo:You picked some cute fabric, Lexi!

And just for fun, I made this onesie dress a month ago (by cutting off the bottom of a onesie, adding a fabric skirt, and creating a diaper cover). I didn't have a person in mind for the dress but when I saw the carseat cover above, the colors just matched too well. So the dress went in the bag with the carseat cover. I hope it fits, for those warm summer days:
* For more Onesie Dress ideas, click here.
* For more Carseat Cover creations, click here.

Summer Fun: The Shirt Dress TUTORIAL

Many of you have inquired about making a shirt dress - turning a Men's dress shirt into a girl's summer dress. So, I took the plunge and created a tutorial. It's my first attempt at this and only hope it plays out well and makes sense.

We will be making this:
And you can find the tutorial HERE.
Skill Level for this dress is: EASY
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Now get sewing, so you can start playing!

* If you use the tutorial to make a dress, I would love to see your creation. Leave a comment with a link!
And for other shirt dress creations, click here.

Madame Librarian

Don't think I'm done with this yet. It's my new obsession!
Round 2: another dress made from a Men's dress shirt.
Since my husband is out of throw-away shirts, I made a run to Goodwill and scored some great finds:
I loved the contrasting fabric inside but wasn't sure how to incorporate it.
Ends up it was in the sleeve cuff too, so I used the bottom of the sleeves to make short puff sleeves on the dress.
And I love how the sleeves turned out. I moved-in the sleeve buttons on each cuff to make it smaller for little arms. And they really puff up adorably on a little girl:
I may like this dress better than the Seaside first....(?)! Good thing this is being gifted to a friend! That means I have an excuse to continue making more (like I need one).
I left the waistband without any elastic inside this time. I had tried it cinched but it just didn't feel right.Enjoy your book reading, little librarian.
* For other Dress-shirt to girl's dress transformations, click here.

Carseat for Helene

My good friend Doris had an adorable baby girl recently. So for her baby shower I made this carseat cover, with fabric she chose from JoAnns:
I love all those big flowers. Every so often you can find cute cotton prints at JoAnns.
Baby Helene is ready to go. What a doll!
* For other carseat cover ideas, click here.

Seaside Stripes

Inspired by Traci at Amazing Mae, this was an experiment to turn a men's dress shirt into a summer dress for Goose. Some things I sew turn out fine. But some things work out wonderfully. And I'm in love with this little dress. It was the perfect light-weight dress for our seaside outing.
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I started with this (asking my husband's permission first, of course, to cut up his shirt. His response, "I wore that all the time when I was single. Is that why I couldn't get a date?" No, no. Obviously I like the fabric. It was just too big and baggy on him. Thus, time to refashion):
(As my friend Kristena pointed out, isn't it great to take a really bad "before" picture, so that the "after" looks even better? Totally.)
The baggy shirt turned into this:
I removed the shirt pocket (which was fine and didn't leave any holes or marks behind). I kept the front buttons in-tact, though the dress doesn't open all the way because the neck is sewn all the way around for the elastic casing.
and it's also sewn all the way around at the waist. The dress needed some spice; and a yellow waistband seemed to do the trick. I created three casings and strung skinny elastic through two of them to gather the waist:
And finished it off with a new hem:
The dress fits great, my husband is pleased with the transformation, and it was so comfortably perfect for summer weather.....I want one too.
Let's hope the weather stays this great.
* For some TRULY amazing Men's Shirt transformations, check out Antoinette at CleverGirl.org. I'll be trying one of those next.

Freezer Paper on Canvas

My oldest sister lives a few states away. So when her birthday was approaching, I tried thinking of something small I could make and send in the mail. But then we found out she'd be here with her four kids for spring break! So I made her something a little bigger to go in her house. Their family motto is "Live Laugh Love" (though at times she jokes that it should be "Kick, Scream, Fight". I'll make that one next year) So I came up with this, on an 11x14 canvas, pulling and stapling my own fabric over the top:
The stencil is of her four children. They're cute kids.
Happy Birthday Saunja! Glad we could spend time with you guys!

* for more Freezer Paper Stenciling ideas and a Tutorial, click here.

Easiest Refashion EVER

My friend Krissy was giving a bunch of clothes to Goodwill and asked if wanted to look through them first. Of course! I guess I'm proud to have the reputation for wanting others' discard pile? Well, I scored a stack of this:
And spent 10 minutes making the easiest refashion ever. Take a skirt, cut off the top, add an elastic waistband, and.....
Voila! You get this:
It was the outfit of our afternoon, posing as jumping skirt, ballet skirt, and singing and lounging skirt.