Old T Shirts = New Skirts, Another Refashion Adventure!

I love taking something old and out of date, or out of fashion and making something new out of it.  I wish I had more time to play in my sewing room.  It's so run to create new things.  Refashion is a passion of mine!  I have refashioned old clothes, sweatshirts and more.  Recently, I came across a cute skirt on Etsy.  I don't even remember what I was originally looking for!  This skirt is adorable!   I knew I wanted one for myself. This particular skirt wasn't my size. If you want to see the skirts she has for sale, click on the photo.  I wrote to the seller to ask her if she sold directions.  She was so sweet!  She told me about the book that inspired her.   I ordered it right away!!  And, then I ordered another one for my granddaughter!

 There are a ton of ideas in this book.  Most of them are for a younger person (than me), but the ideas really open up a whole lot of creative thought about what you can do with old T Shirts.  If you want to read more about this book, click on the picture.

Rather than throw them away because they have a stain or a tear, why not take that old, used T Shirt and refashion it in to something brand new.  Something wonderful!!  Something totally fun! 

I went through my old clothes and gathered anything that was made of T Shirt material.  I started to see my T Shirts as a new fabric source. 

Let me tell you.  I have a lot of T Shirts that I don't wear anymore.  I'm so glad that I didn't get rid of them!  

I piled them on my sewing table and sorted by color.  

I chose three T Shirts to combine for my first, experimental skirt.  I thought that these patterns would look great together.  I love black.  You can never go wrong with black.  The T Shirt in the middle was never even worn.  When I got it home, the pattern was just to big and too overwhelming for me.  Now it's going to be perfect for my new skirt. 

After the T Shirts were chosen, I cut them open all the way on the sides. 

Next, I made a pattern piece.  I used some heavy paper that I already had.  I used the measurement from the book.  I believe it was my waist, plus four inches, divided by six.  I made the top of the pattern piece slightly smaller than the bottom to give the skirt some flare.  

I used weights whenever I can get away with not pinning.  I simply laid my pattern piece on the fabric to my liking.  I wanted to get as much of the design as I could, but I also hoped to have enough design for perhaps another piece or a pocket.  That's why I didn't lay my pattern piece right in the middle.

Cut it out. 

There you have it.  My first pattern piece.  Repeat six times.

Side note.  When I showed my finished skirt to my daughter, she thought it was too narrow for her taste.   I agreed.  My second pattern piece was much wider at the bottom.  My third try was wider still.  The third skirt with the wider bottom has the most "flare" and is my favorite!

Next, take each pattern piece and pin them to each other.  I did them one at a time.  Pin two pieces together.  Sew.  Pin the then piece, LOOK AT IT before you sew.  Make sure that it looks the way you want it.  You can change the order of the pieces.  I chose to alternate solid and prints.

Here is my first skirt before I sewed the final pieces together.  I was satisfied with the result.   

I used my serger for this project, but you can use a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine.  The book even shows people how to hand sew their project.  Side note.  The serger I have is from Walmart.  I have read lots of comments telling folks to avoid this machine.  I disagree.  It's really affordable (under $200).  The better machines are a REAL investment.  Walmart offers a 3 year warranty on the machine for only $20.  For $200, you will have a serger for at least three years.  That's worth it to me.  It's complicated to thread, but after you've done it a few times, it's not so bad.

I made the waist band from the bottom of a T Shirt.  I just measured about four inches tall.  For the width, take your actual waist measurement and add an inch.  That should be fine.

I folded the piece in half longways and sewed it to the top of the skirt, right sides together.  

I made my own little adjustment here that was not in the book.  I snipped a little opening on the side and inserted a piece of elastic about half the size of my waist with a long piece of ribbon on each end.  The ribbon hangs out of the opening and it tied in a bow.  This gives me a very comfortable and adjustable waist band.  And, the ribbon is a pretty touch.  

Here is my finished skirt.  Front. 

Back.

Option.  I thought it might be fun to add a pocket.  As a photographer, I'm always wanting more pockets.  Who wouldn't want extra pockets?  They were easy to add and they come in very handy.  I have plans for more pocket ideas in the future, so check back.

Okay.  Truth.  After I piled all of those T Shirts on my table, I didn't actually "like" them.  So, I went to the store to buy some cheap T Shirts for my next skirt.  Guess what?  I discovered that the larger size T Shirts have a LOT more fabric for the same price!  I bought the largest sizes I could find.  Woo Hoo!

I have made three skirts for myself and they are my FAVORITE thing to wear. So So Comfy!  And cute!  I get compliments on them every time!

here are all three.

I love my skirts so much!  I wear them as is and I love to put on leggings if it's chilly.  

On a recent visit to my son's house, I made a skirt for both my granddaughters and my daughter in law.  Here they are modeling their skirts for you! 

I loved my skirt for hiking.  It was so comfy!  I want to make more in a variety of colors and patterns. 

If you make a skirt, I would love to see it!  Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram and share your pic!  If you like the skirt and don't want to make one, click on the first skirt above and you will find more skirts on Etsy....they are not made by me....but there are lots of choices!

Pumpkin Flower Arrangement

inspiration pic

I saw a picture on Facebook of a pumpkin flower arrangement and I wanted it so badly!!  Here is the picture.  I wish that I could tell you where it came from and give credit where credit is due, but I don't know.  

It was just one of those "wish" kind of wants.  I wouldn't want to spend the money on real flowers and then they wouldn't last.  And, a pumpkin will go bad after a while too. 

But.....a fake pumpkin and fake flowers.  That would last.  In fact, I could use it year after year.  I looked at flowers in the craft store and nothing was calling to me.  So, I let it go.  

But, it just kept coming back to my mind.  I bought a pumpkin and I thought I would just cut the top off.  The label said "carve-able"....even better!  I didn't buy any new flowers.  I decided to use my stash.  That's what it's for, right?

 I asked hubby to carve it for me.  He was happy to do it. I bought one of those round balls in the floral department to hold the flowers. 

I went to my flower stash and pulled out everything that looked "fall".  I just started to stick flowers and some greenery in until I was satisfied.

 

 

Here is the result.  I love it!  I look forward to pulling it out year after year. 

Happy Fall decorating!! 

If you enjoyed my fall decorating idea....here is some more inspiration for you....Pink Saturday!  Click here and read all about it.  

Maternity Tutu

I was looking at photography websites and I saw some beautiful pictures of pregnant ladies with amazing full length tutus.  Here is the website, her photos are amazing: http://loridorman.com/  I wanted to try to take a similar picture of my daughter and I thought I could make a tutu for her.  I procrastinated as usual and suddenly time was running out.  My daughter came over and helped me make the tutu and then she posed for the picture.  I went online and got some great ideas for making the tutu and here is what we did.

I chose these colors because I LOVE THEM and I knew that they would look good on my daughter.

I made a quick measure of how long I wanted it to be and then I just laid out the fabric and started cutting in to strips.

I found some ribbon in my stash that looked good with the fabric and I started to tie the strips on to the fabric.  It took a few tries to get all the knots to face the same way.  Also,

I was tempted to pull too tightly on the knots.  They are much prettier when they are loose.  I just tied the end of the ribbons to keep it in place.

And, here is the tutu!  Lovely! (if I may say so myself!)

And, here is my beautiful daughter (9 months pregnant) posing for me.  

By the way....this is my first photo since taking my photography class.  I got flustered with the camera controls....I have sooooo much to learn!

Isn't she pretty?  Still my princess.  Now...for the baby!
 

Baby Shower

I was so excited that my daughter allowed me the honor to host her baby shower.  She has a number of friends who would have been happy to do it.  So....I wanted to make it very special.

She does not have a theme for her baby room and I had trouble coming up with a theme for her shower.  She picked out these cute invitations and I decided to use them for inspiration.

 

So began the hunt for decorations that were blue and white, checked and polka and elephants.  I was so stumped.  I was in a party store and I actually wished for decorations that were blue, white and elephants in a theme, so I wouldn't have to create anything.  I turned a corner, and lo and behold, there they were.  

Blue, elephants, they had plates and napkins, plus all sorts of decorations.  Anything I could possibly want.  And, guess what?  I didn't want them.  All I could think was that they were kind of cheesy.  And, they just didn't seem personal.  So, I went back to coming up with ideas to make the party special and personal.  Unique.  Not a party in a bag kind of party.  

I knew that I wanted to put balloons out front.  And, I saw some pretty banners on Pinterest that I wanted to copy.  I searched for paper to cut and make my banners out of.  I found some that would do, but not perfect.  And then.....my neighbor, Kelli (who is also one of my daughter's best friends) stopped by to tell me that she had an idea for making banners.  Wow.  We had the same idea.  She came over and we made these pretty banners.  She made the paper herself with photoshop and cut them into triangles.  We punched holes on each side and threaded some ribbon through.  I found some baby diaper pins to hang them up on my umbrellas.  

I loved this shower.  I couldn't have done it without help.  Kelli helped me make the decorations and on the morning of the shower, Meghan showed up early and put them all up!  

Meghan also took charge of the games and prizes.  How lucky am I?  I told her that I really don't like some of the games that they play at showers and she agreed.  The games she came up with were fun!  We all guessed with a piece of yarn what size my daughter's belly was.  Mine was about double what it should have been!  We also played a memory game with a BIG baby bottle filled with baby essentials.  And the gifts were terrific.  Woo Hoo!

That's Kelly in the Stripes and Meghan in the solid blue.  

For the shower, we had a brunch.  I made two casseroles, one was bacon, eggs and hash browns.  The other was french toast.  Mmmmm, brunch is my favorite meal. I set up the food in the tent.

 Kelli brought the "fruit baby", which was a huge hit!

Jesi made the most wonderful and beautiful cupcakes.

I put them on the cart.

I set up the bar with mimosa punch (non alcoholic in honor of the mommy to be).

  The punch was yummy with orange juice and ginger ale.  I froze some orange juice in cup cake tins to make huge ice cubes that wouldn't dilute the punch as it melted.

I also made big cubes with lemon slices for the water.  And, clear ones for the apple juice.

For dishes, I thought about getting paper plates, but then I found clear glass at the thrift store for only fifty cents each and I found a clear mug at the dollar store.  Somehow these just seemed the perfect fit.

We just visited and played a few games.  Kristen found this vintage shower game that I just love!

Stork Bingo!!

One BIG surprise was that her friend, Terry, from her work came all the way from the bay area.  I knew that she was coming, but I left it for a fun little surprise for dear daughter.

My daughter's friend Stephanie, had a baby just a couple of months ago.  Here is Meghan holding him.

 

My daughter was wearing "our" shoes.  We "co" bought these a while back.  I haven't worn them yet.  Aren't they cute!

 

I had three kids myself and never once had a shower.  I don't think I ever even went to one either.  Did we do this kind of thing back then?  I never know what to buy people, so I love the idea of a gift registry.   My daughter used Babies R Us.  I made her promise to NOT look at the registry so that she would be surprised. 

 

I set up a table with a vintage table cloth for the gifts and we sat on the deck for the unveiling.

My girl was like a kid at Christmas.  How fun!!  Her friends and family were beyond generous.  I can't wait to see the nursery all set up.  

I had the doggies on the deck all morning and they were dying to get close to the people.  When we came down to the deck, they shied away.

I took this picture of the girls and when I posted it on Facebook, they noticed little Pookie under the couch, posing for the pic!

A princess needs a crown.  I found this perfect little tiara for her.  

We packed her up.

And filled up Terry's truck and off she went to get hubby started on putting things together.  Lucky guy.

When it was all over, I didn't want to take down the decorations.....ever!

It was a great time.  Now let's have that baby!!