Spunky Repurposed Ruffly Baby Top...and Tutorial!...

So, apparently I have some addictions.

1. I am addicted to naps...for my children. Mama is a better Mommy when the kids take naps.

2. I am addicted to sewing. I have experienced some major sewing binges over the course of my life. I am experiencing a sewing binge currently.

3. I am addicted to cutting up t shirts and repurposing them. Guess what? Jersey does not require finished seams. COULD. IT. GET. ANY. EASIER!?

Mash them all together and you get: Mama on a mad cutting up t shirt sewing during nap time spree.

First it was the maternity shirts. And don't even think I'm through with them! I have an entire pile in my bonus room awaiting their turn at my sewing machine.

Next up was the 'donation' pile of clothes. I may never donate another article of clothing in my life.

So, I'm just going to go ahead and warn my husband that his closet may soon be raided. Any t shirt that you haven't worn for a few months may be subject to my Fiskars, sewing machine and whim. Consider yourself warned.

During today's mad cutting up t shirt sewing during nap time spree I cut up an old shirt that someone had given me. It was old, didn't fit, and screaming to be sliced up. So I obliged.

Old blah shirt:



SLICE!



After an embarrassingly long time of hemming and hawing (tee hee, pun intended!), I cut out a simple front and back dress shape using the finished bottom shirt hem as the dress hem. I sliced long lengths to use as ruffles, one arm cuff to use as a headband, and some small pieces of the bottom hem to use as shoulder straps:



I sewed front to back and tacked on the straps. Next up I basted then scrunched up the ruffles:



Then started adding them wherever I felt like it. First up, the sleeves:



Don't be stingy with pinning, folks! They are necessary to achieve a nice seam with ruffles!



(p.s. it's MUCH easier to sew on ruffles BEFORE you finish sewing them to the back.)

(p.p.s. - yes, that IS coffee I was consuming in the afternoon. Don't judge me!)

Then I got so preoccupied sewing on ruffles that I forgot to take photos. So I made a quick little tutorial for you:


Here is the finished ruffly dress/shirt and headband:



Melikey RUFFLES. Melikey sewing ruffles.

Besides, Lil Chick was starting to feel left out of the yellow invasion and needed some spunky yellow wear:



See? She's already feeling decidedly spunky:



Off to chop up some more t shirts...

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300th Post And A GIVEAWAY!!!

*contest is now closed and a winner has been chosen*

I've been watching my post count, and we are officially hitting 300 today! Which means I have wasted many MANY hours writing bloggity nonsense and stories of poo and craftiness.

In honor of my 300th post, we are doing a giveaway! To enter to win, head on over to the Vintage Dutch Girl Giveaway Blog and leave a comment to be entered to win!

This giveaway is from a lovely store that has fun home accessories and dining room furniture.

* You do NOT have to run a blog to enter. Just click in as anonymous and make sure you tack your first name and email on the bottom of your comment. Enter to win and join the fun!

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Maternity Shirt Renovation...

You know what? Maternity shirts can be VERY cute.

Also? Maternity shirts can be VERY flattering.

However? Maternity shirts worn when 8 months (gah!) postpartum may still be VERY cute...but are VERY unflattering.

So today I started cutting them up.

And cut some more.

And sewed a bit.

And embellished a bit.

And am very happy with the result.

Meet Mrs. Blah Yellow Maternity shirt:



I got sick of her making me look all poochy and pregnant...you know, since I'm NOT PREGNANT anymore...so I cut her arms off and pinned her sides smaller to match a shirt that currently fits me:



After sewing up the side seams I had all these extra pieces:



So I trimmed off the old side seam and was left with these randomly shaped pieces. I basted right down the middle, grabbed hold of one thread and cinchced it til it got all nice and bunchy:



Sorry, no bunchy pictures. I was too excited to finish my project to stop and take another picture. That, and I was talking to my sister on the phone while sewing, as well as yelling at Bubbalu to stop trying to make his sister topple over. I'm a multi-tasker but I do have my limits.

Anyways, I had three bunchy strips which I pinned to the front and sewed down. I'm very happy with the final result.

Meet Miss Sassy Yellow Bunchy Tank:



Not too shabby for an afternoon (less than an hour, really!) spent with my scissors, sewing machine, diet coke and a wildly insatiable need to craft something:



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