Burlap!

My cute sister in Law and I were talking the other day how we have been seeing burlap being used everywhere! It is so fun to see what people come up with, when given a piece of burlap! But I ran into this post and fell in love with this table runner! I love the simplicity look of it! And what a fast, easy, and cheap project. Go check it out, and then go make one!!

10 Year old Fashion Designer

Did anyone else see this story on the Today show Last week? I'm not going to lie, I RARELY watch the today show. I mean lets be honest usually the only thing showing on my TV is Clifford the big Red Dog or Syd the Science kid. But for some reason I actually had mom TV on last Thursday and they were doing a story about this 10 year old fashion designer! My  little Madi girl was sitting there with me and when the story was over she looked at me and said, "Mom let's go sew!"  This girl is amazing for a 10 year old! She has her own successful clothing line and blog. You have to check her out go to her site and let me know what you think!

ROCKS!

I love lots of little details for any kind of event. I think it just adds so much to the party or event. I somehow was blog hopping one night and came across Theviolethours blog and a post about these place rocks! I LOVE THEM!! What a great idea! I love the simplicity of them and the detail it adds! This is something I for sure want to try!

Onesie tunic top

Ok so Walmart last week had these awesome onesies for 3 bucks! They had all kinds of colors and sizes so I had to buy one to make something for my little meezers. I was thinking an elastic band tunic top... What do you think???

1. Super easy, and I thought of several ways to do it as I was doing it and I am still not sure which ways are the easiest. So here is what I did.

I cut the bottom of the onesie off about 1-2 inches below the arm pit. You choose how far down you want to cut it, it depends on where you want to place your elastic and how big your elastic is. I used 1 1/2 inch black elastic from walmart.

2.Next I cut my elastic 1 inch smaller then Mia's bust measurement.Then I sewed the elastic together making a ring, essentially a skirt top.

3. I chose my fabric. The amount of fabric that you use depends on how full and ruffly you want the skirt, and how long. For Mia's I wanted it to be a little shorter so it was more of a shirt rather then a dress, and I didn't care for it too be too full so I just doubled her waist measurements.

4. Here is where there are several options but this is the way I did it. I sewed the skirt right sides together to the cut off end of the onesie (obviously!) and the top of the skirt.

5. Next I just pinned my elastic onto the onesie and skirt and then sewed the elastic directly over the dress. on top and on bottom of the elastic.

6. Next decide how you want to embellish it if at all. I originally added this black and white hounds tooth to the hem but changed my mind later and folded it under and sewed it up. Which I think is kind of cute when it shows every once in awhile!

7. Don't forget to hem your skirt and pair it with some cute leggings and there you have your own little tunic top!

The 3 in One baby!!

Do you ever start a project and it turns out COMPLETELY different then what you were first envisioning? This is how this 3 in one piece came to life! And I am glad because I LOVE it! I bought this fabric back in October at Material Girls  (my favorite fabric store) First it was going to be used for a jacket, and then I started sewing my panels together for a twirly skirt but half way through changed my mind. I have been dying over the paper bag waist skirts for awhile now and I decided it was time to give it a try. I LOVE how this turned out because it is a skirt, dress, and shirt all in one! Too fun!!! I am going to attempt a tutorial for you but like I said when I sat down to sew I wasn't intending to make this skirt so I'll do the best explaining that I can!

1. Pick your fabrics. I decided to piece mine so my rectangles are about 5 inches wide and 12 inches long. But you don't have to piece your fabric you could just do one rectangle of the same fabric. The measurements need to be 4 inches longer then your desired length and the width is 2 x your waist measurement. So Madi's waist is 24 inches and I usually make her skirts 13 inches long so my rectangle was 17X48

2.

I wanted the top of my skirt, the paper bag part I guess you would say, and the hem line to be a different colored fabric so it would stand out a little more, so take that into consideration as you are making your rectangle. You just need your entire rectangle to be your desired Length plus 4 inches and your width twice the size of your waist measurement.

2. Fold your fabric width wise right sides together and sew down the length side seam making a tube, or body of the skirt!

3. I didn't take pictures of some of these next steps because, well just because!! I wasn't really thinking! I got too excited sewing! So listen carefully! Turn your skirt right side out now and go to the top of your skirt, the waist line. Turn your waistline under 4 inches stitch the waist line all the way around the skirt but leave a 1/2 inch opening to later put in your elastic.

4. About a 1/2 inch above the stitch that you just did you are going to sew again all the way around your waist essentially making a casing for your thin elastic.

5. Insert your elastic through the opening that you left and cinch it all the way around the waist. When you get the two ends together sew the elastic together and then stitch up that opening hiding your elastic.

6. And now for the hem. I am kind of weird. I want ted my hemline to look clean and pretty so I did my hem this way. You can definitely just do it the good old way of ironing a half inch twice and stitching it up but this is how I did it. I took my bottom piece of mismatched fabric and folded it in half. I ironed it really good and then sewed the raw side to the right side of the skirt. Does that make sense??? Then folded it over and Ironed it again. This is just my preference I just like the way it looks underneath the skirt.

7. I have never sewn with the pom poms before so I may not have done this the way it is supposed to be done. But I liked the way it turned out so who knows! I just sewed the pom poms directly on to the hem line stitch.

And lastly just so this could be worn as a shirt, or a dress for Mia I added two strings to the top of the skirt. They are long enough to be tied around the girl's neck as a halter, and short enough to hid in the skirt when Madi is wearing it. I almost forgot, I like the look of a string/belt around the waist line so you can do that too if you want. Don't tell anyone, but for my string/belt I took bias tape sewed the edges closed and used that!! Can you do that??? I just did!

Please let me know if you have questions! Sometimes it is hard for me to explain how I actually did it! I can visualize it so much better then teaching it! Have fun, and send pics!