Tutorial: Easy Maternity Skirt

Let me just start by saying that we've had a cool spring here in Utah. It basically rained all day every day during the month of May. Lately the sun's been shining and the temperatures are rising, though it's still cool enough that I don't need to pump my AC all day long. But, I know those 90+ degree days are just around the corner, and I've decided the only way to keep from overheating is by wearing loose, lightweight skirts.

 This one started with a dress I picked up for free at our neighborhood Big Giveaway. It was a cute dress, but the length was too short.

 So I used a skirt I already had to determine what length I wanted this one to be. Then I cut off the top part of the dress so I could use the hemline that was already there.

 Next I found an old knit T shirt. (If I had it to do all over again, I would use one that was a little bit of a tighter knit, but this one worked just fine.) I decided I wanted the rollover waistband to be about 4 inches, so I cut a piece off the shirt to equal 8 inches, because it folds in on itself.

 I measured around my waist where I wanted the skirt to sit (right beneath the giant tummy). And then subtracted 5 inches. This became the new width for the waistband. The reason you subtract like that is to make sure the waistband will be tight enough to stay in place on your body. Believe me, this is essential. Otherwise, your skirt will fall to the floor and you'll die of embarrassment while walking down the aisle at Macey's.

 

 Connect the two edges of your waistband with a single seam, forming a big loop of fabric.

 Fold that in half and pin it. Then sew the bottom side shut to keep things nice and together when you add the main skirt piece.

Do a quick gather stitch on your main skirt piece, then attach the gathered skirt to the waistband. Think this step through. You want your seams to be on the inside of the skirt, so make sure that you pin and sew it that way.

All finished! You don't even need to create a hem because the old dress had one! So simple! I seriously made this during naptime while my older girls had someone over to play with them. Which means that I did it in less than two hours with interruptions for making snacks, turning on the Tangled soundtrack, and watching them outside selling lemonade. (A lot of pinning was done outside on my porch. Love it.)
I used Ashley's tutorial from Make It and Love It to get me going on this project.

Ottoman Slipcover Tutorial

The ottoman is one of my favorite peices of furniture. It's so comfy! I love having a place to put my feet up while I watch a movie, for the dog to stretch out on, or for the kids to use as a trampoline. Talk about multi-tasking! 

But it was in need of a makeover after we painted our family room, and five months later, I finally got around to doing it. I don't know why it took me so long, because it was pretty simple.

Here's what you need to do:

I. CUTTING FABRIC/HEMMING

Measure your ottoman. I learned the hard way that you should measure more than once. Measure the top, sides, and height. I found it helpful to draw it out.

I purchased 4.5 yards of fabric, but I probably could have gotten away with 4 yards.

Cut your fabric according to your measurements. You should add an inch to each measurement (ie, if it measured 26 inches, cut it to 27 inches to account for seam allowance.) To make the pleats on the bottom, cut 4 squares that are 13 inches x the height of your bottom section. For me, this worked out to be 13x11.5.

Next, sew together the bottom peices. It should go in a pattern like this:
LONG SIDE--SQUARE (the 13x11.5 peice looked squarish, so it will be hereafter referred to as such)--SHORT SIDE--SQUARE--LONG SIDE--SQUARE--SHORT SIDE--SQUARE.
It will create an enormously long train of fabric.

Next, you want to hem the bottom edge. It will be so much easier to do this now, rather than once your pleats are in.
So, unless you're luckier than me and have a serger-- go ahead and do the double fold/iron method to create a hem.
(Doesn't my ironing board cover make you want to puke? I found it in my great aunt's basement. I should really upgrade. They're probably like $6.)

Sew down your hem.
Then sew your fabric train together, so that it makes a big circle. You'll be connecting LONG SIDE with SQUARE.
Now make sure you press all your seams.

II. PLEATS
The pleats really were simple. You'll be glad you did it, otherwise your ugly ottoman will show through, and it will make you sad whenever people come over. Believe me, I speak from experience.

Take one of your SQUARE peices and find the center. Mark it with a pin. Mine was 12 inches wide, so I marked it at 6 inches.

Then take one side of your square and fold it over so the seam lines up with your center pin. Iron it down, nice and flat. And pin it, of course.

Do the same with the other side of the SQUARE. The two seams should meet in the middle.

Repeat this procedure with all four SQUARES, then take it to your sewing machine and sew those pleats in place!

III. ALL THE REST
Now you want to attach the middle section peices to your bottom section. Line up the edges of the middle peice with the corresponding seam on your bottom section. You should leave about 1/4 inch overlapping at the seams (in between the middle peices) for seam allowance.

Sew all four middle peices to the bottom part before worrying about attaching them to eachother. It will look like a big circle when you're done. Press your seams.

Then, pin together the sides of the middle peices and sew them together, starting just under the seam where it meets with the bottom section. This will ensure it all sticks together, without gaps.
Press your seams.

Finally, attach the top peice. This is tricky because you kind of have to fiddle with the corners to make the seams line up. Just bend and tuck to the best of your ability, and if you don't like it once you've sewn it, try again.
Press your seams. Last time!

Try it on for size! Actually, I recommend trying it on for size as you complete each section, to make sure things are going according to plan. The first time I put mine on, it was 3 inches too long! I really have no idea how it happened, but I'm glad that I fixed it before adding the middle and top sections!

 Check out those pleats!

It really helps to bring the room together. Loving it!

Repurpose: Girl's Ruffled Neck T Tutorial

Look at this adorable little T I made for my little girl yesterday.

It started with this men's shirt I bought for 30 cents last summer.

For a great tutorial on creating your own pattern from a shirt you already own, check out this from Ashley at Make It and Love It.

Once you get the pattern cut, sew the shoulder seams together. Then, carefully pin the sleeve peices on. It will look like this.

Sew the sleeves on, then iron the seam. It will look like this. (See how I was super clever and used the existing hem from the shirt for the hem on the sleeve? I did this on the bottom of the shirt as well. Just a way to make life easier.)

Flip it inside out again and sew. Start at the edge of the sleeve, then follow down the side of the shirt.

For the ruffled collar, I cut two strips across the length of the old T shirt. One was 1.5 inches, the other 1 inch. I did a gather stitch on each one, then layered the smaller peice on top of the larger peice and pinned.

Then I pinned this to the neckline of the new T. It's awesome because it covers up the unfinished edge of the shirt.

I wrapped and pinned all the way around the neck, then snipped off the extra. I sewed it to the shirt using a regular straight stitch and it was good to go.

Love that adorable little ruffle!

Getting ready for spring with some short sleeves. Can't wait for warm weather!

Fleece Scarf Tutorial

 

I am trying to hurry and get this post done because fleece is on sale right now at JoAnn, but the sale ends the 29th of January. So if you want to make one of these adorable scarves, buy your fleece right away!

You need 2 coordinating colors of fleece. If you are only making one scarf, you can probably get away with 1/4 yard of each. We did them for Activity Days, so I bought one yard of 4 different colors and we got 13 scarves out of it.

Start by cutting your fleece into a long rectangle, approximately 5 inches x 36 inches. Layer your two peices of fleece on top of each other and pin.

Then sew a straight line down the center. Don't worry if it's not perfectly straight.

Trim your threads, then cut slits in the fleece. They should be about an inch apart. Try to get as close to your sewn line as possible without cutting through it.

Fluff it up a bit and you are good to go! 

See how the girls used the sewing machine all by themselves? Yeah!

Lookin' good!

Ruffled Scarf Tutorial (from an old T shirt)

I bought a new dress a few weeks ago; I love it because it makes me feel like Rapunzel on Tangled. Which is fun, but not especially winter-ish. So, inspired by Dana at MADE (when am I not inspired by Dana at MADE), I whipped up a cute little ruffle scarf from my husband's old white T shirt. You know the kind that they wear underneath other shirts? That's the one. It was SO easy, took less than an hour. You can do it too!

First, cut off the arms and the bottom hem of the shirt. Then cut 3 strips from the remaining shirt. Mine were 6 inches wide.

Don't forget to cut a straight edge on the strip that curves from the arm holes.


When you're finished, you'll end up with 4 strips of fabric.

Pin the edges together and sew into one long strip.

Now, to create the ruffles. It's so easy, especially with the knit T shirt fabric. (Incidentally, I loved that I didn't have to hem the edges because I was working with knit.) Just adjust your tension and your stitch length on your machine to the largest number possible.
Starting at the top of the strip, sew a straight line down the center. It will naturally gather as it goes.

Then, sew another ruffle stitch down the center, about 1/4 inch from the first. No stress if your line isn't perfectly straight.

(Yes, those are my 4 year old's fingernails. She's such a helper!)

Finally, adjust your tension and your stitch length back to normal and sew a straight line on each side of your ruffle stitches. So, it will go Straight Stitch--Ruffle Stitch--Ruffle Stitch--Straight Stitch. Make sense?

Trim your threads and you're good to go! Ruffly goodness to wrap around your neck.