Sweater to Girl's Sweater Dress

I found this sweater at the thrift store in great condition and decided to re-purpose the lifeless thing.

First, I cut off the sleeves and some of the sides into an A line shape. I also added a bit of a curve where the sleeves would attach. (If you need to, turn a simple cut dress inside out to use the shape of it….and get the proportions of the sleeve section right. You don’t want to make it too small of an opening.)

Then I wanted to use the original neckline, to keep things easier and that nice finished edge. But the opening was too big. So I cut a little off the top (the shoulder section) and sewed it back together with right sides together. Now you should have a smaller neck opening but should be attached again at the shoulders. (sorry…..I must have forgotten to take a picture of this step.)

Then I sewed the sides of the dress together with rigtht sides still together.

Then I used the sleeves of the sweater to create my new sleeves. Measure the length you’ll need by measuring the shoulder to the wrist of your little girl. You’ll have to cut the sleeve to be more narrow (depending on the size of your little girl’s arm) and then angle it at the top, where it will attach to the dress. Then, sew the raw edges closed with right sides together, so that you now have a tube….or your sleeve.

Attach the sleeve to the dress by pinning it all the way around while the dress and sleeve are still inside out but you’re pinning the edges together with the right sides together…….and with the seam on the bottom, matching with the side seam of the dress. If you need better step by step directions for this concept, refer to this tutorial here.

Turn right side out and embellish however you’d like. I saw these cute little satin flowers here. All you do is cut out circles of satin in different sizes and use a lighter to melt the edges…and keep them from fraying. Stack them up, put a button or a bead in the middle….or leave it plain and stitch them in place. Attach to your dress for some extra cuteness.

And then cozy up that little lady in her new sweater dress and let her do her thing.

Love it.

MP3 Player Fabric Sling

MP3 Player Fabric Sling

Materials:
Fabric
Hook and Eye tape
Sewing machine
Thread

Instructions:

1. Measure around deck of your treadmill (or any exercise machine for that matter).  Add about two inches to your measurement to allow for overlap and seam allowances.
2. Cut two pieces of fabric the length of your measurement by a 4" width.
3. Cut one piece of fabric for the pocket, measuring 4" x 4".
4. Lay your two long pieces of fabric, right sides facing and sew around three sides, leaving one of the short sides open.
5. Turn out pieces and iron flat.  Fold the open end in 1/4" and press.
6. Top stitch around the entire strip.
7. Press all four edges of your pocket square a 1/4" under.  Sew around it to create a finished edge.
8. Place pocket onto middle of long fabric strip and sew the pocket on.  Be sure to leave one of the short edges open at the top for the pocket.
9. Attach hook and tape to the ends of the long strip.
10. Attach sling to treadmill, place MP3 player into it.  Exercise away.

Both my husband and I have used the sling and it really does work.  Your arms can still get a bit tangled in your earphone cord but the sling should keep your MP3 player from flying out.  Of course, if you are a really enthusiastic arm flayer, I can't make any guarantees!  Since the sling is removable, you can throw it in the wash when sweat drips on it (because we all know you are working out REALLY hard) or if you need to take the gym with you.

Easy iPhone Sleeve

EASY iPhone Sleeve
A tutorial by Erin Erickson
Materials
• Two pieces of fabric 10.75” x 4”
• Two pieces of fusible interfacing 10.5 ”x 3.75
• One piece of batting 10.5” x 3.75”
• One piece of fabric 2.5” tall by 2” wide for
tab
Cut & Sew
Cut two pieces of fabric lengthwise with the
grain 10.75” x 4”. If you have one, use a
rotary cutter and ruler for accuracy. Cutting
and sewing straight are the key to this project.
Interfacing and batting are cut slightly smaller
to reduce bulk in seam allowances.
Fuse interfacing to the wrong side of fabric.
Fold the 2.5” tall by 2” wide tab piece lengthwise in fourths and edge
stitch.
I used my edge stitch foot.
Grain
Place fabric right sides together, add batting to
wrong side and pin in place. Place tab folded in
half in the middle of one side as shown.
Sew all around with a 3/8” seam allowance.
This is very important. Measure if you have to! If
you use a different seam allowance your sleeve
might not be the right size. Leave a 3” gap on one
side for turning.
TRIM BATTING FROM SEAMS and
clip corners.
Donʼt forget the tab!
Clip corners
Turn right sides out and carefully poke out corners. Press well.
Hand stitch the opening shut. Press again.
Top stitch the top and bottom (optional).
Fold in half with the tab at the back. Stitch as close to the edge as you can while catching all of the
layers. Use an edge stitch foot if you have one. Reinforce the top and bottom by backstitching.

Add a split ring or carabiner.
Now you can throw your phone in your purse and not worry about it getting scratched, or attach it to
your purse’s key clip so you can always find it!

Coloring Tote

Toothbrush Holder

7 Ways to Make a Ruffle

1. Basic fold-over ruffle: Fold over strip and gather the top.


2. Basic hemmed ruffle: Hem the bottom by folding over 1/4" twice. Press and stitch. Gather the top.


3. Serged ruffle: Serge the bottom edge, gather the top edge.

4. Tube ruffle: Create a tube by folding a strip in half, sewing and turning it right side out. Gather in the middle of the strip.

5. Two-tone ruffle technique: sew two different color strips together, press the seam open and fold wrong sides together. Press again and gather the top.


6. Bias ruffle: Cut a strip out on the bias. Gather at the top or the middle for ruffle that won't fray (too much!).


7. Knit ruffles: Make a ruffle with a strip of knit fabric, since it's a knit you don't need to finish the edges!

Gathered Clutch

Materials needed:

• 1/4 yard each of three coordinating fabrics (you'll definitely have scraps leftover)
• 8" zipper (you can always purchase a longer zipper and shorten it, just follow the directions on the package
• scraps of medium weight fusible interfacing

Cutting the pieces:
For the main exterior, cut two pieces, one 5.5" tall by 9" wide, and one 5.5" tall by 13" wide (this will be the gathered front)
Pieces of medium weight fusible interfacing for exterior pieces of clutch: (2) 5.5" tall by 9" wide
For the front band, cut one piece 4" tall by 9" wide.
For the lining, cut two pieces 5.5" tall by 9" wide
For the zipper end covers: two pieces 1.5" tall by 2.5" wide.
Optional Parts:
For the divider pocket, cut one piece 8" tall by 9" wide (apply interfacing to half, you'll need at 4" x 9" piece)
For the card holders, cut one piece 7" tall by 9" wide (apply interfacing to half, you'll need at 3.5" x 9" piece)

Seriously, the most time consuming part for me is always picking out my fabrics and cutting them, the rest goes together pretty easy, so let's go!

Take the front band piece and fold it in half the long way (right sides together) and sew together using a 1/2" seam allowance. 

Turn tube right side out and press with seam in the middle.  Set aside.

Grab the 13" wide main exterior piece.  Sew two lines of gathering stitches down the middle, about 1" apart. 

Pull the top threads to gather, pull until the length is 9" long.  Press the gathers in place. 

Take the front band and pin it in the middle of the exterior piece you just finished. 

Top stitch along each side of the band.  Take the 5.5" tall by 9" interfacing piece and iron it to the WRONG side of the gathered piece.  This makes all the gathering and stitching stay in place nicely.  Set aside.

Make the divider pocket: 

Fuse interfacing to half of the piece. 

Fold fabric in half with WRONG sides together, press.  Topstitch along folded edge and then add another line of topstiching about 1/4" below the first line of topstitching.  Set aside.

Make the card holders:

Fuse interfacing to half of the piece.  Fold fabric in half with WRONG sides together, press.

Topstitch along folded edge and then add another line of topstiching about 1/8" below the first line of topstitching. 

Take one piece of the lining fabric and line up the card holder with raw edges together, one on top of the other baste along side and bottom edged of card holder (the plaid fabric). 

Grab your credit card or driver's license and mark with a pin how far you want your card to stick up from the slot.  Sew a line across the lining/card holder piece where you marked with the pin.  Sew one line of stitching down the center of the card holder. 

Take your card again and mark with a pin where the edge of your card is (you can leave a little wiggle room, but it's nice to keep it pretty snug to hold your cards in place).  Sew a line for the side of the card, repeat for other side.  Now you should have two card holders!  Set aside.

Making the end tabs for the zipper:

Fold the piece of fabric in half width wise, turn down each raw edge to the center crease and press (the pic above doesn't show it pressed in far enough).  Repeat for other end tab. 

Take your zipper and sandwich the fabric around the zipper, just poking over the little metal bits.

Topstitch a line straight across the zipper with a very small seam allowance being careful not to hit those metal parts!  Repeat for other end.  Trim the fabric tabs to the width of the zipper.  IMPORTANT!  The length of the zipper with the tabs on should measure about 8.5" end to end. 

Baste the card holders to one piece of lining and the divider pocket to the other piece of  lining, aligning the raw edges at the bottom.

Almost done! 

Assembling the clutch:

Place your gathered exterior piece RIGHT side up (whoops!, had it wrong in the pic, don't worry, just get out your seam ripper and start again).  Put the zipper teeth side down with the pull tab to the LEFT.  Then put the lining piece WRONG side up.  Pin in place. 

Using your zipper foot sew along the edge of this zipper sandwich.  Flip pieces so the WRONG sides are together.  Please note that in a few of these shots the zipper with end tabs sewn on is longer than the clutch exteriors and linings, it was the first one I made and have since made adjustments to the measurements, all updates are inluded here in the tutorial.

Grab the other exterior piece, place RIGHT side up.  Put the zipper teeth side down with the pull tab on the RIGHT this time. Place the remaining lining piece WRONG side up on top of the zipper.  Pin in place, sew.  Flip pieces so the WRONG side are facing eachother.  Press! 

Put your regular sewing foot back on and sew a line of topstitching on either side of the zipper.

Now open your zipper about halfway, don't forget this!  I actually forgot to do this on all three clutches, don't worry, you can still wiggle the zipper open if you carefully pull at it through the fabric.

Place the exterior pieces RIGHT sides together and the lining pieces RIGHT sides together.  Push the zipper end tabs in towards the lining, hopefully this side view pic makes sense. 

Sew all around the edge using a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving a 3-4" opening in the lining for turning.  Make sure you try to sew right next to the zipper end tabs and not actually throught them, click here for a visual.  Clip corners.  It also helps to sew with a slightly larger seam allowance when you go to sew around the lining pieces.

Turn the clutch right side out.  Push corners out.  Stitch the opening in the lining closed using a small seam allowance.  Tuck the lining into the clutch.  Press again and your DONE!!!   Phew.  It does seam like a lengthy process, but it really does sew up pretty quickly.  For the biggest time saver, just skip the divider pocket and card holders! Or add a handle!  The one below I just put in a mini pocket!

**Update**  If you don't add the divider or card pockets, I would recommend adding a layer of fusible fleece or even canvas as interfacing, it will make the clutch more sturdy.

Terms of use: For personal use only.  Thank you for respecting that. 

Have fun with it and give that mom in your life a big hug!

Have a great Mother's Day!

** UPDATE**  Interior shots

interior card holders (2 - side by side)

interior pocket divider (it's the green polka dot fabric)

Large t-shirt to fitted t-shirt

So, here's how it's done. 

1. Start with a t-shirt you love that's just too big
   
   
2. Turn the shirt inside out and lay a shirt that DOES fit you on top of it, lining up the collars so that you can be sure it is centered over your large t-shirt.
   
   
3. Trace the shirt that DOES fit you onto the large t-shirt.  Turn both shirts inside out so that you don't mark on the front of the shirts.  I used a sharpie, but you'd be better off to use a washable marker, chalk or a fabric pen.  When you do the sleeves, try to make your line parallel to the top shoulder.
   
   
    
4. Next, fold the large t-shirt in half to make sure that the armpit marks line up.  Mine did match up, but if yours don't, you can just re-mark them to match.
   
   
   
   
    
5. I went ahead and pinned the front and back of the shirt together, so that it didn't slip while we were sewing.
   
   
    
6. Sew along your traced lines.  Or, in my case, have your MOM sew along the traced lines. :)
   
   
    
7. Try on your shirt (inside out) to see how it fits.  Mine was still a little big, so we sewed it up again about a 1/4" more on each side.  Then it looked like this:
   
   
    
8. If you like the fit, then you can trim off the excess fabric.
   
   
   
   
    
9. Turn the shirt right-side out and try it on.   You can leave it as is, with longer sleeves, or you can cut & hem them - which is what I decided to do.
   
   
    
10. While I was wearing the shirt, I marked with a pin the length I wanted the sleeves to be.  Then I took it off, turned it inside out again and drew a line.  Okay, two lines, because I remembered that I wanted to angle the sleeve a little bit.  Then I cut about 5/8" past the line (to allow for a hem).
    
    
    
    Try it on and make sure it looks the way you want it to look.
    
    
     
11. Fold the shirt in half and cut the other sleeve to match.
    
    
     
12. Hem both sleeves.
    
    
     
13. You're done! Try it on & love the new look - preferably with cute jeans...not gym shorts and bright blue fingernails. :) But hey...we don't all do our crafting while looking our best, right?