A Cuter T-Shirt: A Tutorial

Okay, sometimes you see something and you're like "Oh, that's cute, I could do that."  But you kind of don't think it's really going to work out right.  Well, that's how I felt about this project.  I have tons of t-shirts.  Okay, maybe not as many as I used to, last summer I ruthlessly cleaned out the t-shirt collection and now I'm kind of wishing I still had some of those old shirts to remake.

Since I had so little faith in this project I picked an old grungy shirt to try it out on.  I grabbed an old YMCA child care shirt, it's at least seven years old.  And I've painted in it.  There was red paint on the back from painting the front door.  Yes, paint on the back of my shirt, I'm notorious for running into freshly painted things.  Anyway, I grabbed my blue t-shirt and got to work.  Sorry, I failed and didn't take a picture of the whole t-shirt, but you know what a t-shirt looks like.  Also, these are not beautiful pictures, I took them while sitting in my living room floor on a Sunday morning.

First, chop those sleeves off.  You know, for the summer t-shirt.  For working outside and such.  Easy Peasy.

Then cut off the neck of the shirt, just under the collar.  Chop it off straight across.  I didn't measure or anything, just eyeball it.

Cut the hem off of each sleeve.  This is going to make the straps of your shirt.  Cut the whole bottom of the sleeve off and then snip at the seam so that the two pieces can be sewed together.

To whip up this cute little number, just hem the neckline (where you cut it off).  Leave some extra space because you're going to need to run your strap through the hem.  

Okay, so you're going to have to run through the strap through the hemmed pocket you made.  Sew the two sleeve pieces together to make your strap.  Hook a safety pin on one end to thread through the pocket.  Trust me, this will make your life so much easier.  Once you have the strap threaded through both the front and the back, sew up the other end of the strap and you're ready to roll.  Tiny tip:  use thread that matches your shirt.  I used tan thread because it was already out but for future shirt make-overs, I will totally use matching thread.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm totally glad I did this with a ratty shirt first.  It meant that while I was working on staining the deck today, I had a cooler t-shirt (other than one with the sleeves just chopped off) to wear.  Like I could have answered the door in it if I had to.  I call that a success.  I'm already eyeballing other shirts to cut up.

The deck is another story for another day.  But believe me, it's a good story.  So, what did you do this weekend?  My summer vacation is almost here for reals and I cannot wait.  Today is just a preview of summer break.  Also, I'm on a new diet and I can't wait to tell you guys if it works or not.  Fingers crossed for it to working.

Sew Much Fun

I never get tired of bad puns.  Or "That's what she said" jokes.  I just can't help myself.  Everytime I sew something, I make some kind of bad joke in my head.  That spills into a blog post title.  You're welcome.

So, we got new bedding a while back.  And I showed you the varieties of ways I've decorated my room since the time of my obsession with taking pictures of where I live.  I got a new white comforter and put some new art up on the walls.  I was on a mission for specific pillow cases or pillow shams but I couldn't find what I wanted in fabric or already sewn.  So I settled for some yellow pillow cases from Target.  This is what we were working with.

It matched just fine but it just wasn't really what I wanted.  I had a dream.  A gorgeous dream of yellow and grey in the perfect prints that would tie everything together and be perfect.  Well, I was at Hobby Lobby the other day and I found it.  I wasn't even looking for bedroom fabric but there it was, right in front of me.  White and golden yellow chevron.  And grey and white polka dots.  Swoon.  And they were on sale.  I may have resisted doing a running man in the middle of the fabric department.  Well, fast forward about a week.  I finally found time and motivation to whip the fabric into a couple of envelope pillow covers.  Hooray.  This time there was actual dancing because I was in my house where no one could see me or judge my sweet dance moves.

So perfect, right?!

A close up.  I am seriously in love guys.  And somehow I sewed them so that the stripes line up all the way across.  Absolutely perfect.

Anybody else spend weeks searching for just the right thing and then when you've given up, it's right there in front of you?  The same day I found the fabric I also found art work on clearance that I'd been eyeing for months.  It was meant to be.  Excuse me, now I have to go back to staring at my pillows.

Stuffed

I'm getting ready to spray paint.  The sun's out and it's in the 60s.  I have to find my motivation first.  Right now I'm having a strong desire to lay face down on the couch on my new throw pillows while watching Gilmore Girls.  But I know if I lay down I'll never get back up in time to paint.  As it is, I'm watching Gilmore Girls and trying to channel my motivation.  It's there somewhere.  And I hate to waste the warm weather.

So, while I work on the desire to do something I'm going to show off my pillows.  Yesterday after work I worked like crazy to finish my pillows.  While watching Newsies.  Yup, Newsies.  I really hope you've seen that movie, if you haven't go watch it now.  It's one of my all time favorite movies.  I was making sure it was appropriate to show at school.  It pretty much is.

Okay.  Pillows.  There were only two left to sew.  I'd already done three of the flower print pillow covers and one tan one with a stripe of the flower print sewn in.  And I already had the main part of a lumbar pillow cover done.  And pieces cut for the sixth and final pillow.

So these are the pillows you saw yesterday.  I threw them on the other couch but still the same pillows.

Then I got to work on the lumbar pillow.  I had a plan.  It was a great plan.  I was going to make flowers to make a pillow look like this.

(source)

But it turns out I suck at making fabric flowers.  I can do a halfway decent job making them out of felt, but when it came to linen, they looked like absolute garbage.  So I gave up.  But not before busting out a $1 spool of cream lace.  I cut it into strips and hot glued it to the pillow cover.  My husband came home and was super impressed.  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I'll call my initial mis-step a success.

Seriously, how cute is that little band of lace.  I'm in love.

And then came the most ridiculously time consuming pillow I've ever made.  It was totally worth it though.  So super cute (in my opinion).  I sewed around 40 separate petals and then sewed them onto the pillow front.  Then there's the cute poofy center.  Adorable.  I used this tutorial.  I won't do a step by step, but her directions are great.  And this pillow was totally worth all the time it took.

And that's the pillow covers.  Now I'm off to at least try to finish painting my kitchen chairs.  There's a lot of spray paint in my future.  And sleeping in.  No school tomorrow thanks to Easter.  That's the best.

Pillow Preview

Since Missouri still hasn't got the hint that it's spring yet, we had a snow storm over the weekend, giving us a snow day on Monday.  That meant a snow day for me.  I mentioned on Monday I had a fun sewing project in the works.  It went surprisingly well.  I tend to not always get along with my sewing machine super well.  Not because my sewing machine is bad but because I'm somewhat inexperienced and impatient.  I'm working on both of those though.  And that's why a couple hours of sewing on Monday were just what the doctor ordered.

When I left you on Monday, I left you with this teaser.

If you pay an insane amount of attention, you may recognize that plaid fabric.  That is a pillow cover that I made back in the fall to cozy up the pillows.  Nothing like a little flannel to say winter.  But like everyone else out there, I am desperate for spring.  Absolutely desperate.  And nothing says spring like some fun flowers and a little linen.

I picked up some tan linen fabric weeks ago at Jo Ann's.  I had planned to just make all tan linen pillows with some embellishments.  Then I realized that was just too boring for me.  If you like all one color of neutral pillows, that's cool too.  But I'm a fan of bright pops of color.  So I grabbed this turquoise and tan flowered fabric at Walmart the other day on my way home.  I think it was just what I needed to tie it all together.

So Monday I busted out the sewing machine and sewed five pillow covers.  And started a sixth.  I'm only showing you two today.  I need to get #5 and 6 done so I can show off the rest.  But I had a slight run in with the sewing machine around 5pm on Monday and decided to call it a day.  But I have big plans for pillows five and six.  Some super fun embellishments are in my future.  I have hopes of getting them finished tonight.  If I can get the sewing machine back up and running, it shouldn't take too long.  And one of the pillows just involves hot gluing.

Ready for their big reveal, my pillows. I'm not going to give you a tutorial.  I stink at remembering to take pictures.  And they're just basic envelope pillow covers.  And I learned the best trick the other day.  Like so clever I couldn't believe I didn't realize it before.  There is no need to cut three pieces for your pillow (unless you're doing some insane embellishment on the front that will be hard to center).  Just measure and cut one long strip.  Hem the ends.  Mark where your folds should go (measure twice, sew once).  Then just pin your pillow and sew.  Seriously, why have I been spending all the time measuring and cutting three panels for a pillow.  Duh!  I feel so dumb.  It saves so much time and is crazy easy.  I only had to cut separate pieces for my super embellished pillow and if I'd been feeling extra clever or like measuring a lot I could've just left it as one piece too but I didn't want to mess it up.

So, what are you guys up to?  Anybody else super ready for spring?  Or fighting with their sewing machine?  No, just me?  Okay, I'm working on it.  Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow to share my extra fun pillows.  Can't wait!  For now, let's just stare at those other simpler pillows.

Excuse Me!

We are attending the baby shower of a couple close friends this weekend.  I've become more practical with baby gifts lately.  Maybe it comes from knowing more people with small children.  Anymore, I almost always buy diapers.  I know diapers can get insanely expensive after a while.  So I go for diapers and a couple small, practical things.  The other day on Pinterest I came across some super cute burp cloths.  Just plain old pre-fold washable diapers with some fun fabric sewn on.  Done and done!

I picked up a ten pack of Gerber pre-fold diapers and half a yard of monkey fabric.  I wrongly assumed I could do ten burp cloths with half a yard of fabric.  I had to go buy another half a yard today.  This time I got some cute Mizzou fabric.  I briefly considered something else, it seemed wrong to spit up on Mizzou fabric, but....  I went with it anyway.  The monkey burp cloths didn't come out quite as well, the flannel was a little harder to work with than just plain cotton.  BTW, I washed everything in hot and dried on high to prevent later shrinkage.

Mizzou burp cloths.  All wrapped up and ready to gift.  I failed to take a picture before I wrapped them.

Monkeys!  Okay, seriously, how cute are these!  Just waiting for ribbon.

The monkeys are all wrapped up and ready to be gifted tomorrow.

So, what else did I get?  Well, aside from the diapers and burp cloths, we got them a big package of wipes and a cute little stuffed tiger that has a shocking resemblance to Truman the Tiger, he was on clearance at Target.  Adorable!

The burp cloths didn't really turn out exactly perfectly, turns out diapers are harder to sew than I imagined they would be.  All in all though, pretty happy with the results.

On Monday I'll be back with painting.  I've been working on the bathroom walls today and I'm maybe painting the hallway on Monday.  Haven't quite decided yet.

Do you have a go to baby gift?  Are you a practical or fun gift giver?  Anybody else headed to a co-ed baby shower?

Chocolate....

This post has nothing at all to do with chocolate.  However, I cannot stop eating chocolate.  Tomorrow I have to stop.  And then I have to go to the gym.  And then drink a lot of water instead of hot chocolate or root beer.  Ug.

Today I am supposed to be cleaning the house.  It has been in that post Christmas/post traveling disaster.  Clothes everywhere.  Christmas presents everywhere.  A shocking amount of shoes strewn around the house.  A cluttered bathroom with walls waiting to be painted.  And I don't want to do anything about any of it.  I have gotten the living room picked up and am ready to vacuum.  The kitchen is under control and even swept and mopped.  And most of the Christmas presents are put away.  I'm about to start sewing a baby present.

So, since I'm obviously avoiding doing actual work, let's see what I got for Christmas.  My sweet hubby got me a new charm for my Pandora bracelet.  A cupcake.  And we're eventually getting a new living room TV for our big present.  My in-laws also got me a new Pandora charm, a sea shell, they're taking us all to the beach this summer for our Christmas present.  I am so blessed to have married into such a wonderful family. Not because they take me to Florida to vacation, but just because they are super nice and wonderful people.  I've inherited great cousins too, girls I really love hanging out with.

Okay, back to Christmas.  I got lots of great new house stuff.  My living room cozy factor has seriously been increased.

That is a new leopard print throw you see in the background.  I loooove it.  With the whole extended in-law family, we draw names.  One of the cousins I work with had my name.  She totally knows my favorite winter goodies.  I got a basket loaded with this cozy leopard print throw, a bottle of Moscato, a travel coffee cup, hot chocolate, and a yummy candle.  Perfect present.  I loved it so much.  

A pretty new turquoise and silver lamp.  Ooh, it's so nice.  That was from my sister.  We draw names with my family too, since with boyfriends & husbands included, there are 9 of us.  Nine in my immediate family.  Sheesh.  My oldest sister had my name.  I got this shiny new lamp base (Target) and fancy turquoise shade (Lowes).  It replaced the tiny lamp I had before that I'd made the leopard print shade for.  So much nicer.  And the pattern looks like the flooring my parents had in the 80s.  Amazing.

And in the background of this picture you can see a turquoise sweater-y throw.  That's from my sweet Mama.  So cozy.  We curled up under it last night and watched some TV.  And there's a book.  A Nicholas Sparks book.  Every year my husband buys me a book for Christmas.  This may seem like a super non-romantic gift.  But it's really the sweetest.  The first year we were dating he got my a subscription to Real Simple (this man seriously knows the way to my heart).  And every year since then I've gotten what he fondly refers to as a "trashy romance novel"  Every year it's something different.  And every year it ends up being a book I love.  It's so luxurious to spend a whole day during Christmas curled up, being lazy, reading my book.  I love it so much.  He totally knows how to take care of me.

And now it's time for me to be productive.  It really has to be done.  I have some burp cloths to make for a baby shower on Saturday.  Cloth diapers and monkey print flannel are waiting in the dryer, they've now been pre-shrunk and are ready to be sewn.

How was your Christmas?

Christmas Candy

Okay, I'm back and feeling a little more festive today.  Whew!  Thank goodness!  Maybe it's because I know school is almost over and it's nearly winter break.  One of the wonderful things about working in a school, winter break!  It's my second favorite, next to summer break.  Anyway.

Tonight I'm going to working in my little elf workshop.  I have a couple of sewing projects left to finish.  And then it's candy making time.  I love making Christmas candy!  I could really care less about eating it, but I love the making.

This year I'm making penuche.  It's my mom's favorite.  My granny used to make it and I still use her recipe.  It's like a brown sugar fudge.  I'm also going to make divinity assuming the weather cooperates.  You can't make divinity if it's raining or too humid out.  They're predicting snow tonight, so my fingers are crossed that the weather will work with me.  I don't know what it is, but divinity won't set up if it's too humid.  Candy magic I guess.

What am I sewing?  Sew glad you asked.  Ha ha ha.  I know, I'm so funny.  So, I'm making winter earbands for my mom and sister.  I also have a few more little kitchen towels to sew.  Sew, nothing major.  Oh man, the puns just keep coming.  I just have to get my bobbin threaded.  I know, it's ridiculous.  I always have problems when I have to do new thread.  Sew, (last one I promise!) wish me luck.

How bout you guys?  Any last minute elf workshop business going on at your house?

I'll be back tomorrow with candy recipes!  Yum!

Old dogs, new tricks

Well, the dog isn't really that old.  He's.... oh, about 7 months old now.  And living up to the name of Rowdy.  Anyway, Rowdy has been slowly destroying our basement.  Specifically our couch.  So we decided it was time for Rowdy to get a new bed that he might hopefully want to lay on.  He has a really cheap bed that stays in his kennel.  He doesn't sleep on it.  Ever.  All I can really tell that he does with the old bed is hump it.

To prevent humping and to save our couch in the basement I sewed him a new bed.  My first On My Own Sewing Project.  I had great ideas of how this dog bed would work.  We had an old egg shell mattress on one of our spare beds.  I decided it could be turned into a dog bed.  It was off a full size bed so I cut it in quarters.  I put two of the quarters together bumpy side together.  When I had two stacks of foam I put two cheapo pillows between the two layers.  So that was the fluffy part of the bed.  Then I sewed an envelope pillow case out of a plastic table cloth to cover the fluff with to make it waterproof-ish.  Once the bed had the plastic cover I started on the actually cloth cover.  I used two of those $6 fleece blankets from Walmart. (the fall print blankets were kind of ugly).  I made a second envelope pillow case out of the fleece.  It turned out reasonably well.  It's not super attractive because a) the fabric was not very cute and b) it's hard to sew furry fabric.  It got the job done though.

Rowdy still isn't too sure about the bed.  Hopefully he figures out its his place so I didn't waste all my time making that crazy dog bed.

In other news, I really need to get my bathrooms more organized.  I have no drawers and no good space to store all of my stuff.  I accidentally (maybe when I was sort of looking up bullying stuff on pinterest) came across this amazing hair tool holder.  And now I want one.  Remember that post this morning about being obsessed with cool things I find....  Now I desperately want one of these caddies for my hair dryer and flat iron.

pb teen

I think if I asked my dad he could build me one.  I think I'm going to ask for one for Christmas.  And then I wouldn't have to rummage around under my bathroom sink every time I wanted my hair dryer or flat iron.  

And it's possible this is the second thing from Pottery Barn Teen that I'm in love with.  I may have problems. Sheesh.  They just have such cute stuff.