No Sew Loopy Scarf

This scarf is fun, fast, and easy to make!  What more could a girl ask for?

It’s cute, too!  :)

Start off with a tee shirt, scissors and some ribbon.

Cut off the hem, and cut the shirt (starting under the armpits) into one inch strips.

Give all those loops a good stretch, and you’re done!  (Oh, I made a red one, too…)

Layer them and embellish the scarf however you want.

With ribbon…

With a stretched strip of tee shirt tied in a bow…

Or with a fun fabric flower.

The possibilities are endless!  :)

DIY Lap Swim/Triathlon Suit

Okay.  If I give you this tutorial, you have to promise not to judge me.  I know I am a cheapskate.  I also know that I am a clothing snob.  If it doesn’t fit the way I like it, then I tweak it to my liking. 

I guess if we’re still friends after the toddler underwear tutorial, then I’m probably pretty safe, eh?

Okay.  So, why would I make a lap swim/triathlon suit?  Because I can.  A friend and I are going to compete in our first triathlon this Summer.  We’re training hard and super excited.

But, really?  I know we’re exercising and no one is looking, but WHY do lap swim suits and triathlon suits have to be so unflattering?!

Lap swim suit:

Not unflattering if you have a figure like a Supermodel.  But me?  No way!  I also hate that it has no…ahem…bra in it.  Yes, I KNOW I’m just exercising, but still…

Next up, the triathlon suit:

Oh my.  No way; on so many levels.  Even if I had a Supermodel’s figure…no way!

Bathing suits are cute and can be flattering, but they just don’t hold up.  Not only that, but they don’t stay put, either.  There’s too much movement in lap swimming.

So, what is a girl to do?  Well, I don’t know what anyone else would do, but THIS fashion snob took matters into her own hands!

First off, I bought these outfits off the clearance rack at JCPenney:

In case you’re wondering; yes, that is what I look like when I’m wearing them!  :)  Ha ha ha!  I sure wish!

Anyway, I checked the fabric content, and both of these outfits had the same polyester/spandex ratio as a lap swim suit.

I first started with the tops.  They only had shelf bras in them, so I added cups!

Much better.  I just cut them off of a couple of bras I had that I never wore.  The shoulder straps didn’t fit right.  You could also use these:

For the bottoms, I cut them off into shorts.

I pinned them the length I wanted them, which was 14.5 inches up from the hem.

When you’re cutting shorts, it’s important to measure up from the hem.  The pants or capris have more fabric in the back to adequately cover your booty.  Moving on…

Measure…

…cut…

Check out this Self Healing Cutting Mat the Hubsters gave me for Christmas!Love it!  Love him!  Moving on…

Shorts cut?!

Fabulous!  Next, serge or zig-zag stitch the raw edges.

Hem the shorts and you’re done!

I know these shorts look super short, but really, they hit me mid-thigh.  Oh, and no.  I will not be modeling this suit for you! 

Not bad, eh?!

I did the same things to the yellow and black outfit.  I got all four pieces for $10.00 a piece.  That’s less than a lot of lap swim suits and way less than triathlon suits.  Not only did I get TWO for less than the price of the other suits, but they fit perfectly, they hold up great in all the chlorine, and they’re more flattering!  Score!

…you know…if Spandex can possibly be flattering…  ;)

Hopefully someone out there (other than me) will find this tutorial helpful!  :)

Refashion Show

A long, long, long time ago, I organized a “Refashion Show” at my church.  I should have blogged about it before now…

…hanging my head in shame…

But, I’ll share what we did now and you can forgive me later!  :)

I picked up a bunch of stuff at a local thrift store, and I handed it to several ladies in my neighborhood. 

Here are the fun ways they refashioned them:

This was refashioned into a cute vest and a headband with a flower.  I do not know where the picture of the finished product went.  Sadness…

This awesome “grandma nightgown” still had the original tags on it:

I refashioned it into this fun skirt:

It’s cute AND comfy!  The tutorial will come later…

This silky “grandma-shirt” was refashioned into a cute skirt-purse!

…complete with pockets!

This GIGANTIC dress was refashioned into a “Mom and Me” dress set.

So, so cute!

This little boy’s dress shirt was refashioned into a toddler girl’s dress.

It looks lots cuter with a pink belt and white leggings….  I did this one, too.  I’ll post a tutorial on it later.

I don’t know where the before picture went for this one, but what started out as a pair of fuzzy, brown, toddler-sized pants ended up as a monster pillow!

Seriously.  How cute is that?!

A BIG THANK YOU to all the awesome ladies who participated in the challenge!  You have fabulous imaginations!

Toddler Underwear from a Tee Shirt

Ashlee interrupting you really quick

K, how cute are these pick a boo lace socks? I just bought 1 of each (turquoise, pink, yellow and gray) for $8!! Wooohooo!! Head over to Pick Your Plum now!!! Anyway, back to Nat!

I said I wasn’t going to post this.  I don’t want you thinking I’m too crazy, but we’re past that point, right?!  You all know what a cheapskate I am!

So, without further ado, here’s my underwear tutorial!

A few months ago, I got about a million tee shirts off the clearance rack at Wal-Mart for $1.00.  Score!

I’ve refashioned a lot of them, but I've also had my boys wear some of them.  I love cheap shirts, and if my kiddos ruin their shirts, who cares?!  It cost a dollar!

Moving right along, one day, Monkey told me that he wanted to wear “big boy undies.”  I didn’t have any underwear in his size, so I did what any cheapskate good mother would do; I whipped up a few pairs for him.

I started off by making a pattern from freezer paper by using a Onesie as a guide.

Cut the Onesie where the waistband of the underwear would be:

Cut the side seams and open it up.

Lay it on some freezer paper and trace it.  Trace it a bit bigger for seam allowances.

Draw a curve where the snaps meet the front of the Onesie.

Cut out the pattern.  Cut out the pieces.

I was able to cut four pieces at one time by folding the shirt in half.  The only problem with this is that the undies now stretch the wrong way….   I should have folded the shirt the OTHER way.  Oh well…

Now you need to cut the waistband, the legs, and the faux fly from a contrasting fabric.  I used four different colors of knit from my stash. 

You’re going to have to measure your pattern to determine the length of the pieces you’ll need.  The waistband needs to be a little more than 2x longer than the top (or bottom) of the undies.

The waistband I cut was 3 1/2” wide.  The legs were 1 1/2”, and the fly pieces were 1”.  We’re going to fold all these pieces in half.  That’s why they’re cut wider.  Moving right along…

Press all the pieces in half lengthwise. 

Now, take the waistband, unfold the pressed edge, line the sides up and sew them together.  Fold the pressed edge back over.  You should now have a circular waistband.  The pressed edge is the top of the waistband.  See that seam?  That’s what you just sewed. 

Now, measure your victim’s waist and cut some elastic the same length.  Sew the ends together.

Wrap the waistband around the elastic.

Fold the waistband back over and sew the elastic into place on both sides of the seam.

Now, sew around the entire waistband as close to the elastic as you can.

Grab one of the main underwear pieces and line up your “faux fly” on the front and sew it into place.

Why the “faux fly” you might wonder?  Because Monkey is two, and won’t need the real fly until he is much older.  That’s why!  ;)

Next, take the leg pieces and line them up on the “legs” of the undies with all the raw edges together.  The pressed edge of the leg lining is going to be the outside of the legs.  Sew into place.  Do this for both legs.

Serge the raw edges; or don’t.  It’s knit, so it won’t fray.

Now, turn that serged or raw edge under and stitch over the top of it to hold it into place.  You don’t want the legs of the undies flipping out the wrong way.  Lengthen your stitch so it stretches better.

Fold the undies in half with the right sides together.  Make sure your side seams are lined up.

Sew the sides together and serge the raw edges.  (Or don’t…)

Now take the waistband and lower it inside the top of the undies with the raw edges lined up with the raw edge of the undies.  Make sure your waistband seam is in the back of the undies.

Pin the waistband to the undies and sew into place.  Serge or zig-zag the raw edges.

Flip the serged/zig-zagged edge down and stitch into place with a lengthened stitch.

…and you’re done! 

Now make as many pairs of toddler undies as you can!

Four pairs of toddler underwear for $1.00…not bad, eh?!

P.S.  These would be easy to make for a girl, too.  Just skip the “faux fly” step and use cute, girly fabric!  :)