Bling up an old dress for the Holidays

The holiday festivities are coming up again. I decided to 'bling' up an old plain dress for the occasions. This casual ponte knit dress was drafted and made in late 2009 when I entered Pattern Review's Wardrobe Contest:

I have some jeweled clips and brooches that I bought when my local fabric shop was getting rid of them at bargain basement prices. I just clip them up in different places and the dress turned into this:

So I think with the right makeup, hair, shoes, festive shawl and jewelry, this could be made into a  casual 'cocktail with friends' dress. What do you think?

Sweater scraps blanket for toddler girl

I just made this warm wool sweater scraps blanket for my toddler girl! I'm so happy that I have enough scraps for this. I used sweater scraps from all my Sweater Refashion projects posted on this blog plus 2 failed refashioning projects. I used her current organic cotton fleece blanket as the backing for this blanket. Then I finished the edges with some pretty cotton flannel remnants from my stash. I hope this will keep her warm and toasty this winter!

I even used the bits of the cardigan where the pockets were. I really tried to use as much of the scraps as possible.....

Italian silk dress Refashion

I don't know if this counts as a refashion or not. I bought this Italian silk dress at a thrift store for a few dollars. I usually never buy clothing with big vibrant prints because of my short frame. But I'm a real sucker for silk and cashmere. It was a bit long and overwhelming when I tried it on at home:

 I washed it and tumble-dried it (what? I tumble-dried 100% silk?) and it shrank a little bit. It's actually good because it became a little less voluminous. I then hacked off 5" from the hem and shortened the sleeves by 2". I used my serger to roll hem the new hem and sleeves. I think it looks a bit less overwhelming on me now:

It's a bit short but I can wear leggings or skinny jeans with it. So what do you think? Is the dress still too busy on my short and stocky frame?

Save your used coffee grounds!

We are a household of coffee drinkers. With 2 incredibly active kids under 4 who don't want to sleep/nap, I need all the help I can get. I always save the used coffee grounds for the compost. The grounds are relatively rich in nitrogen, providing bacteria the energy they need to turn organic matter into compost. We have a small fruit garden in the back yard and I don't really have time to take care of it. So good compost really helps it grow.

Yesterday, I read somewhere on the web that you can use old coffee grounds as an exfoliant for the skin. Well, I had to try it! My skin on my hands are very rough from childcare and house chores. I just scoop a small amount of used coffee grounds and rubbed them vigorously between my hands for a few seconds and rinse. My hands felt incredibly soft! Wow! I actually saved the grounds that I used for exfoliating and now that are in the compost heap. I didn't know coffee grounds could be used 3 ways - Awesome!!

ECing a 18 month old toddler

I don`t know if I should still call it Elimination Communication anymore. I think most people would call it Potty Training at her age. Anyways, I`m still taking her to the big toilet (with reducer) after every meal, or when we come home after an outing. About 90% of the time she would poo/pee or both. I think I got her schedule down now. She usually poos 2 a day after a main meal. But if she had corn on the cob she would poo more. She pees about 5-10 min after drinking a large quantity of liquids, and then about 30 min after that. She still wouldn't tell me if she needed to go to the toilet. It's all down to me to check the time and take her. She would only tell me 'pee pee' if she had pooed after her nap in her diaper.

I'm catching almost all her poos and a lot of her pees. But I want to know how do I train her to tell me she has to pee/poo? I had put underwear on her and she would pee in it and not be bothered by the wet pants/legs. I guess I need to do some research on that one.

Pattern Review: The 90's strike back! McCalls 5273 pants

Everything goes around - nothing is ever new. That's so true for fashion! The current fashion trends seem to point back to the early 90's. And the current craze for the red jeans? Well, I had a pair of red jeans in 1991! The difference is that my 1991 jeans were high rise and loose-fitting, whereas the current red jeans are low rise and skin tight.

Since red is my favourite colour, I thought I would make a pair of red skinny pants too. I chose McCalls 5273 from my pattern stash and a stretch red cotton twill in my fabric stash. I chose a pant pattern instead of a jeans pattern because I thought it would be faster to sew, easier to alter the muslin and that pants may be more versatile than jeans.

First I measured the crotch length on the pattern and found that the back crotch was too short. I added 8cm to the back crotch - first adding about 3cm to the side of the front piece, then add the rest of the 5cm to the back piece. I have a short front waist and a high back hip so I always have to do this for any pants sewing patterns.

I then cut and sewed the pants as it was. I tried them on and found that the butt and legs were way too baggy to be skinny pants. I put the pants on inside out and pinned out the excess and then resewed the pants. Now the pants are truly skinny pants!

I also added 2 back pockets to the pants since any mom with 2 young kids would want lots of pockets in their clothing!

When I compared the fabric that I had to pin out back to the sewing pattern, I found that now the width of the pants resembled the leggings pieces in the same pattern envelope. Perhaps next time I want a pair of skinny pants, I'll just use the leggings pattern pieces instead.

All in all a very easy to sew pattern - but beware that they are not actually very close fitting pants as the envelope claims. My legs are average size and not super skinny. I cut a size 12 which is my usual size for the mainstream sewing patterns. So I have to conclude that the legs part of the pattern is just cut larger.

I'm quite happy with my wearable muslin. I love red and the pants are actually very versatile. They go with what I already have in my wardrobe - black, brown, camel, grey, white. Bring on the 90's again!

Losing the excess baggage: the baby weight

I have finally dropped down to my pre-kids weight and I have been able to keep it off for the last couple of months. The last 4 years I had been either pregnant or trying to get pregnant. After having 2 kids, the excess baby weight was really difficult to lose. I'm still nursing so I don't want to cut my food intake drastically. I am so busy with the kids that I hardly have time to exercise. When they are finally in bed, I'm exhausted mentally and physically that I don't feel like exercising at all! I thought I just had to accept the excess weight as part of being a mom.

The only thing that seems to have worked for me was to listen to my body: eat when hungry. I know it sounds simple but because I had been ignoring my hunger signals for so long that I really couldn't tell when I was really hungry or just thirsty or restless. So I pause to think and feel my hunger before I put any food in my mouth. For example, I have always heard that one should eat a big breakfast to be healthy. I followed that advice for a long time until I realized that I wasn't actually hungry when I woke up. My hunger only kicks in about 3 hours later. So I would eat a decent breakfast then instead of having 2 breakfasts (one when I wake up and one 3 hours later).

As for the rest of the day's meals, I would eat a generously portioned lunch and a good size dinner. Because the meals are of good portions, I don't need to snack in between except to drink some water or coffee (with milk and no sugar). After dinner and after I put the kids to bed, I would stay away from the kitchen in case I get tempted to snack as a relaxing activity. I would busy myself with chores, sewing, bills, doing stuff on the computer and then go straight to bed.

Just by cutting out the after dinner snacks and eating breakfast when hungry, I dropped about 7 lbs, which was a lot for me because I'm short. My clothes fit better and I feel less bloated. I'm still not exercising as much as I would like. I really should add weight training and aerobic activities back into my weekly routines, even if it's just for 15 minutes here and there. My birthday is in a month's time so I'm hoping that I would drop a few more pounds by then Wish me luck!

Refashion/Upcycling: when should one say stop?

I have been wearing these black leather driving mocs for a good 8 years. They served me well when I had to run to the train station from the office, when I feet were very bloated during the 2 pregnancies, and when I need to run after 2 active kids. In fact, I think the cost per wear must be about $0.06. So when this pair of well worn, well loved loafers fell apart, I tried to glue the split leather back together. Then I filled in the scuffed area with black marker and polished them with shoe polish.

My husband saw all the effort I put into restoring the shoes and he asked me why I did all that considering that they still looked pretty worn out and mishapened. He actually said, 'why don't you be a woman and buy a new pair of shoes?'

I don't know the answer to that question. But it got me thinking: when should one stop rescuing old well worn items that might have passed their due dates, when one is able to buy new ones that can serve a long time in the future? Can one go too far with this refashioning thing?

I look forward to your comments!

Pattern Review: Simplicity 4877 Dress

Simplicity 4877 has to be my all time favourite, tried and true special occasion dress pattern. It's a stretch knit pattern and includes different sleeves options, different hem options, different length options. It has a gentle A-line and a ruched front neckline. It fits my body and my body shape so well. I have made a few dresses with this pattern already and had worn them on different special occasions. I always got compliments on them (more so than any other special occasion dresses that I have made).

The pattern is extremely simple to sew and one can just whip up a special occasion dress in less than 2 hours! Gotta love that! I made the usual short waist adjustment. For 2 of the dresses, I gathered the ruched front with a rhinestone brooch instead of sewing it down. This way I could adjust how lowI wanted the front to be depending on the stretchiness of the knit.

This is a brown poly matte jersey knee length dress with flutter sleeves. I basically made view C but in a shorter length. I wore it for a family wedding in the summer and it was super comfortable (can eat a full meal easily) and I didn't sweat much.

This dress is made with a red crinkle poly knit with a slight shimmer. I got it in the cheapy bin so I'm not entirely sure of the content. I basically made view C but omitted the sleeves. I went to a couple of X'mas parties in it. Again, super comfortable and I ate a full meal in it. I wore stiletto boots with them and made the dress a bit more rock and roll! LOL!

This next one was also in view C without the sleeves. I actually sewed down the ruched front this time and added a tab to it. You may not be able to tell because of the print of the fabric. The dress is made with a slinky sparkle knit I got from the cheapy bin again. This knit is a lot more stretchy than the other 2. I wore this to a company X'mas party. This was also super comfortable and I ate a big meal with it too!

View B has long sleeves that has a slit from the elbow down. If made in a black velvet can really look like Elvira's dress! Wouldn't that be great for a Halloween dress?? LOL!

Pattern Review: Mccall's 4593 Long skirt

It's time for Fall/Winter clothing again! This time I chose a stash pattern and a stash wool mini houndstooth fabric. Long skirts aren't terribly practical for a mom with 2 young kids but I like the look of the skirt on the pattern envelope. I thought the asymmetric hem would be flattering for my inverted triangle body shape. I chose view A in a size 12.

The skirt was very easy to put together. I even added a lining to it by drafting my own A-line lining. I think it looks sufficiently like the one on the pattern envelope and it seems to look okay on me. I'm short so I will definitely need to wear heeled boots with this skirt.

As much as I like this pattern, it is a very distinct look so I'm not sure I would sew a 2nd skirt like this. All in all, no dislike. I would highly recommend this for someone who wants an easy to sew but slightly different looking skirt pattern.

Thank you shellybean for the Versatile Blogger Award!

Thank you Shellybean @ Follow me Home for passing on the Versatile Blogger award! This is my first Blogger award too! Thanks Thanks!

 Here are the Rules for the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Add the award to your blog. 

2. Thank the person who presented it to you. 

3. List seven random facts about yourself. 

4. List the rules. 

5. Pass the award onto seven other bloggers. 

6. Inform each blogger they have won by posting a comment on their blog

Seven Random Facts about Myself:

1. Interior Decoration was my first love. I spent all my pocket money since age 6 to buy Interior Decorating Magazines and books. I was actually studying for an Interior Decorating certificate part time until the Programme Director told me that the graduates earn $8 an hour at the Sears Home Store (and those were the lucky ones apparently).

2. I have had my hair in the same style for almost a quarter of a century. I can't do anything with it and I'm too lazy to try to style it. So it remains the same natural way.

3.I once trained 8 hours a day for Kayaking competitions when I was young. Definitely no too healthy for my body.

4. I have been refashioning/upcycling/repurposing for years before I had heard those terms. My friends/family just thought I was being cheap.

5. I have loved Artistic Gymnastics since I was a wee child. I am glued to the TV/Computer during every Olympics Gymnastics competition. I would record it and watch it over and over again.

6. I love sewing now. But I detested it and did horribly during Home Economics classes in my teens.

7. I have way too many hobbies and interests than I have time to do them. Unfortunately I also need more sleep than an average adult. This is not a good combination! 

I follow many blogs and am constantly amazed and inspired by the creativity I find in the blogsphere. Here is just a small list of the ones I read often (in no particular order). Check them out!

1. Charity Shop Chic

2. The Vivienne Files

3. Miss P

4. So...Zo what do you know

5. Eric B's DIY style

6. A Femme d'un Certain Age

7. LittleCleo at Home

Pattern Review: New Look 6774 dress

This is the first time I use one of these 'design your look' patterns. I tried the combo E+J+L without the frills on the shoulder nor the pockets. I used fabrics I had in my stash: a blue lace pattern quilted cotton for the dress and poly cotton broadcloth for the straps and the waistband. I sewed a size 14 based on the bust measurements at the back of the envelope. The pattern instructions seemed straight forward enough. I read it once and didn't look at it again. It took me a while to fit the straps on properly. I guess I was too much in a hurry and made some errors. Otherwise, the dress came together without major issues.

The waistband is very tight at my ribcage and looks a bit stretched. Perhaps I have a larger than average ribcage? I don't know. I used a good weight quilting cotton so the gathers in the front also pooches out a little too much for me. I look a bit pregnant.  If I had used a lighter weight fabric with more drape may be that wouldn't be a problem. Also, there was a gape in the chest area so I improvised and added an additional tuck in the middle:

Overall, I think it was an okay pattern but I will need to tweak it to work for my body. I might wear this out once and see how comfortable it is. I have lots of other dress patterns in my stash  so I'm not going to 'play' with this pattern for a while
.

The attempt in making a Wedding Dress....

I have been married for a LONG time. The first year I started to learn to sew as an adult, I made a wedding dress. I was engaged at the time and I was stupid/bold enough to try to make my own wedding dress. I went through the pattern books at the fabric store and chose this one:

I thought it looked elegant and sexy with the open back. I bought some cheap polyester white satin and made a muslin. Of course as a beginner sewer, I struggled with the cheap slippery satin and the open back was a bit wonky. I was very fit then so I managed to slip it on without it falling off. I wished I had taken some pictures then because now I don't actually know where that dress is and I'm sure I won't fit into after so many years and 2 kids. Sigh! All that beginner's effort......

But the dream of making a proper wedding dress still creeps into my head from time to time. I mentioned that to my hubby and the first thing he said was there was no way we would have another wedding again. He was scared that if I actually manage to make another wedding dress that I would demand to have another wedding ceremony! LOL!

I have been collecting wedding dress sewing patterns over the years and I'm still hoping one day I would have the time to sew a wedding dress. May be when the kids are in university? But right now they are only 3.5 years old and 16 months old! Perhaps I can use the patterns for my daughter's first prom dress (if she would let me make her prom dress)?

Grey cashmere sweater dress refashion

This is a super simple refashion! I thrifted this very long grey cashmere cable knit sweater dress for a few dollars a couple of years ago. The dress was in perfect condition. It was way too long for my short frame and the neckline was unflattering for my stumpy neck.

First a quick cut and hem at the knee. Then use the cut off material to make a circle and attach it to the neckline. Voila! A much better sweater dress for me. The cashmere is soft and warm and I can flip up the folded cowl neck for the bitter Canadian winter. I can't wait to wear it this Fall/Winter season! Let's just hope that my 2 active kids don't ruin a nice cashmere dress on the first outing.....:-)

ECing a 16 month old girl

The ECing has been on and off the last few months. Some days she would tell me in no uncertain terms that she needed to poop. Other days, she would just poop while standing up! It's worse when her brother is home because she loves following her brother around and is so distracted by him. I try to remember to keep an eye on her for about 20 min after each meal to see if she looks strained (trying to push the poop out). I also try to remember to put her on the potty right after we come home from an outing. If she had been eating/drinking a little, she would actually wait till she gets home to poop. She doesn't like sitting in her poop in the carseat.

School is starting soon so I hope that I will be able to keep her in underwear more often while her brother is at school. Hopefully that will put us back on track for the ECing. I really hope that I will get her fully trained while she is awake before next April, her 2nd birthday!

Preparing for a Self-Stitched Sept 2012 challenge!

Last September I entered 'So, Zo...'s Self-stitched Sept 2011 challenge. It was the first time in a long time that I had really thought about what I was going to wear each day. Usually I just go to the stack of folded clean clothes in the corner of the bedroom and grab the things on top. It was actually fun to plan and coordinate each outfit for the week. I haven't really looked to see if another blogger is having a Self-stitched Sept 2012 challenge so I'm going to just do it myself for fun. If you would like to join me, please drop me a line!

This Fall is probably going to be a season of sweater dresses. I refashioned 5 sweater dresses when I was pregnant with my 2nd child. I tried them on last night and some require some adjustment. I would like to refashion 2 more so that I would have a different one for each day of the week. I also need to make some more leggings to wear with these sweater dresses. I need to search through my fabric stash to see what stretchy fabrics I have. I am trying to not buy new materials and just use whatever is in my fabric/refashion stash to make new clothes. So I'm going to be busy with making leggings and sweater dresses for the next few weeks.

Again, if you would like to join me for a Self-stitched Sept 2012 challenge please let me know!

Gold Brocade dress - New Look 6752

I have had this antique gold polyester brocade fabric for a long time. I made a trumpet skirt with it 5 years ago and wore it to death: to the office, on date night, to the theatre, etc. And then I made simple A-line dress with it using New Look 6752 which also has been in my stash for a while.

The dress is a pull-over style with no zippers. It has a few pleats in the front neckline. I made View A in size 12 with no sleeves. It is super easy and fast to make. That's the kind of perfect sewing project for a busy mom with 2 young kids! I didn't look at the instructions because the pattern pieces spoke for themselves.

I'm pleased with how it turned out. The brocade is probably stiffer than the recommended fabrics but I like that it holds its A-line shape well. It seems like a very versatile dress that can be dressed up or down. I have worn this dress out with a little black cardi and heels for a night out. It has a shape but not too fitted so one can eat a full meal plus dessert  in this dress. And best of all, because it's polyester brocade, it doesn't wrinkle and doesn't require ironing. Perfect!

Blue Boucle Cardigan Refashion

The summer is almost over! :-( But Fall/Autumn is coming soon - I love sewing Fall/Autumn clothes!! :-) So it's time to look at building my Fall/Winter 2012 wardrobe.

I made this comfy single layer boucle cardi when I was pregnant with my first child (see this post). It had been well used throughout 2 pregnancies. I even received a number of compliments for this jacket while pregnant.

But now it just looks sad and shapeless on me:

Using a well fitting sweater jacket as a pattern, I cut out the excess material on the side, slimmed and shortened the sleeves and serged it all back together. 

And now it fits much better! A quick and easy refashion on a self-stitched garment. 

Beige loafer shoe Refashion

I have always admired bloggers who are brave enough to dye their shoes or add all sorts of embellishments on them. Since I'm new to shoe refashioning, I thought I would just try a very simple one for now.

I thrifted these almost new beige loafers for a great price. They are very comfortable but just really boring looking:

I also thrifted these medallions from the thrift store. They are quite heavy and seemed to have been components of a bracelet but someone has taken them apart already:

I just glued them onto the loafers with 'No More Nails' adhesive. I hope they will stay because the medallions are heavy and they can be flung off if I run in these shoes.

My first shoe refashion! Yay! So, what do you think? Is the embellishment too ornate for such a casual shoe?

Refashion: Floppy hat is no longer floppy

I have had this floppy hat for a few years. Over the years, the hat got more and more floppy until I wasn't able to see anymore:

So I sifted through my sewing/beading supplies and found a roll of 24 gauge beading wire, and some double fold bias tape:

I sewed a narrow channel at the folded edge of the bias tape and push the wire through the channel. Then I sewed the bias tape to the edge of the brim of the hat.

I was hoping the wire would be able to let me shape the brim as I liked. But I would have needed a thicker wire in order to achieve that. I just used what I have in my stash instead of buying more supplies. I figure that this new wired brim has already achieved what I had intended - to be able to see when wearing the hat! Another simple refashioning project......just don't look too closely on the sewing......;-)

80's knit dress to Chanel-esque dress Refashion

I thrifted this big huge 80's coral cotton knit dress and jacket set last year. I thought it was a good deal of material for a few dollars. I had no idea what to do with them until I saw this:

I liked the look of the dress but I thought it looked a bit too fussy. My baby girl would surely like to yank on the front tie or the buttons. So I decided to refashion the coral dress into a simplified version of this Chanel dress.

I know it doesn't look exactly like the inspiration but I actually prefer the simpler version. The steps I used to refashion this:
1. The dress was HUGE. I first washed and tumble-dried it and it shrunk a bit in width and a lot in length. I cut off 4cm from the centre front, 4cm from the centre back, 3 cm from each side seam.
2. I sewed on a black grosgrain ribbon all the way down the centre front.
3. I redrafted the neckline and then sewed a piece of black ribbed knit to form the new neckline.
4. I ripped out the pockets from the jacket and added them to the dress. Unfortunately I damaged the pockets slightly when ripping them out. You can see that they are a bit wonky. I added black grosgrain ribbon to the top of the pockets.  I used the buttons from the jacket to add to the  pockets.

I usually wear this dress with leggings. It's super comfortable. The pockets are nice features as well as essential for a mom with 2 young kids.

As for the jacket, I have grand plans to make a tunic and pants for my baby girl for the Fall. There is still plenty of material for that.

ECing a 13 month old baby

ECing this past month has been okay. I have decided not to stress myself out too much to try to catch every pee/poo. Instead, I just focused on the poo because it's easier to see the signs when she has 'pressure'. She is pretty good now in telling me she is going to poo. She points to her butt and says 'ca-ca' (poo in French) to me. It's really cute! When I see that I quickly whisk her away to the potty, take off her diaper and sit her on it. I will then present some flyers, pamphlets for her reading pleasure. Usually within 2 minutes she would poo. I have about 80% success in catching her poo. Of course if we are out at restaurants or in the car then she would poo in her diaper. But in general I think she understands that she is supposed to poo in the potty.

I did try to hold her legs up in a public restroom but she wouldn't poo/pee. Perhaps I should remember to bring the potty everywhere I go now. It's kinda a pain because it's quite big. But I guess I shouldn't complain because she is 13 months old and pooing pretty consistently in the potty already! The next thing I need to do is to remember to catch her pees after a meal. She usually pees about 10 min and 30 min after a meal. I am usually too busy taking care of my son as well to watch her too closely for the pees. My son eats more food and more slowly than my daughter.

I took my new swimsuit for a Test-swim

I went swimming with my daughter this morning in my new me-made swimsuit. It held up well enough! Now I just have to see how well it fares after a wash. Chlorine can do a real number on swimsuits.....

Now I'm itching to make my next swimsuit! I just have to figure out how I'm going to modify the Kwik Sew 2690 pattern.....

I sewed my first Swimsuit!!! Kwik Sew 2690

I sewed my first swimsuit! I'm so happy! It's one of those milestones for us sewist, please understand. I have been reading blogs about sewists who had made their own swimsuits and I had been doing a lot of thinking and fantasizing and now I have done it!

I have never liked the RTW swimsuits. They never fit me properly because of my unusually shaped body. And now after 2 kids, there are many lumpy bits in the middle front as well as back fat. RTW are usually quite expensive and I haven't seen any that are fully lined front and back. The sewing on the RTW suits are usually quite sloppy. If I want sloppy sewing, I can do that myself!! LOL!

I used Kwik Sew 2690, a pattern that I bought a couple of years back. I used a basic black swimwear fabric that has 20% spandex in it. I didn't have any Powernet lining or anything like that so I lined it with the same swimsuit fabric. I wanted it to be snug and sturdy to hold back my lumpy bits. If I had used my body measurements, the pattern envelope would have had me make a size M. However when I compared my RTW swimsuit to the pattern pieces I found that it was more a size S. So I just made a size S to assess the fit. Good thing it's a wearable muslin.

The instructions are very good (Kwik Sew patterns are known for that). The adjustments I made include:
1. I didn't use the pattern to make a swim dress. Instead, I used the pattern pieces for the lining to make the actual body of the swimsuit.
2. I didn't gather the front tie all the way. I wanted more fabric to cover my chest area.
3. I didn't gather the straps in the front. I also cut off at least 2 inches of the length of the straps because I found them to be too long for my body. I also positioned the straps in different positions than what was suggested in the pattern.

If I were to make this suit again, I will make sure that I add more fabric to the chest area as my boobs are a bit squished. I will also add foam cups to the bodice. I messed up the elastics for the leg openings so I hope next time I will do a better job at it.

All in all I'm very happy with the fit of this suit. I will sew a few more swimsuits in the future. I don't think I'll want to buy another RTW swimsuit again!

2 Men's tees to 1 Dress Refashion

 I inherited 2 grey thin cotton undershirts. Both size XL. One has a plain front and one has a front pocket. What to do with them except to sleep in them? Well, I was inspired when I saw this picture:

 

I know I know. I only have 2 well worn tees. I was in a bold mood.

Steps:
1. Use one of my existing tees as a template, cut off the excess width from the men's tee. I made mine a bit loose.

2. Cut off the crew neck and fold the fabric in about 1cm. Finish the neckline.
3. Cut off the body of the other tee to make a skirt according to your own hip measurements. I made mine too short and snug due to miscalculations.
4. Use the remaining fabric of the 2 tees to make a tie and a faux wrap front.
5. Sew the top and the bottom together and tie the tie around the hip.

Voila! Not the most sophisticated thing I have done. It's quickly made and the body is a bit too loose.  But I can certainly wear it to the beach!

ECing a 1 year old

My baby girl is 1 year old! Where has the time gone? She is walking assisted right now and is more bossy than ever~! LOL! What a little diva! She fights with her brother for toys even though she can't really walk yet. She antagonizes him at every turn with a grin on her face. I have 2 very lively kids keeping me busy at all times!

ECing this past few weeks has been hits and misses. She only fought me on the potty 50% of the time. I would catch 1 poo and miss 1 poo each day. She would pee in both of the potties in the home but only poo in 1 of them. Don't know why! She did pee at Starbucks, the library and Ikea without complaining. I have no idea when she would fight me on the potty. I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and hope for the best!

Another Men's shirt refashion

I love refashioning Men's shirts! This is an extra large jean shirt I inherited. I immediately thought of making an outfit for my baby girls upcoming birthday.

I drafted a simple dress shape and a pair of bloomers. I used the shirts' button front as the back, and the bottom of the shirt hem as the dress hem. No extra hemming required. Yay! I also made a pair of bloomer shorts from this shirt fabric. I used remnants of the yellow polka dot fabric and made bias tape with it to add some contrast. I also used that same polka dot fabric to make another pair of bloomers for a mix and match style. The whole outfit didn't take long to make and it was really fun. I love making clothes for my kids! I can't wait to see her in this outfit!