ROMPER

I am so excited about this new romper I made for my daughter! I love all the rompers I have been seeing around the blogosphere, so I decided to come up with one of my own.

I found some fabric that I had been given a while back. I know some people may think the fabric is a little much, but I totally love it. I got a pair of Lena's pants that were a good length on her and loose enough for movement (some PJ pants). I laid them out on the fabric.

I cut around the pant leg making sure to leave enough for the seams and hem. I measured Lena's torso and extended the piece that much on the top, making sure to leave enough for the seams and top casing.

Then I used that as a pattern to cut the second piece, just like it.

Then I measured how far down on Lena I wanted the arm holes to go (4 inches), and I cut those out.

Then I unfolded the two pieces and laid them on top of each other right sides together. Then I pinned them along the front and back seams and sewed them.

Once those were sewn I pressed the seam open, unfolded the piece and pinned the leg seams and sewed them.

Then I clipped, turned and pressed the arm holes.

And sewed them down with two lines of stitching.

This is what it looked like at that point.

Then I turned down the top front to create a casing (1/4 inch then 1 inch) and stitched two lines. Then I did the same thing to the top back.

Then I hemmed the bottoms of the pants (also with two lines of stitching). And found ribbon I liked and pulled it through the casings. Ta Da!

Here is the back.

And the front.

Close up of the side.

Close up of the front.

It makes me so happy! The fabric and ribbon were both given to me a while back, so - free. And I made the pattern myself! I can't wait to play around with it and maybe make one that is shorts or with ruffles or pockets, oh the possibilities! So stinkin' cute! :)

Boys' T-shirts

I've been wanting to embellish some boys t-shirts for a while and finally got around to it. I was originally wanting to do a method I've seen using bubble wrap, but then I discovered that I had the wrong kind of bubble wrap. So, I tried something else. This (the gray) is a spray bottle method. First I used my Silhouette SD to cut freezer paper and ironed it to the shirt. Then I mixed water and fabric paint in a squirt bottle and sprayed it onto the shirt. After it dried I pulled off the freezer paper. It turned out alright, but I admit it is not my favorite. I still want to try the bubble wrap thing. Anyway, after that I still had the negative of the freezer paper and decided to use it on a shirt for my baby boy. I just ironed it on, painted with blue fabric paint, let it dry, then pulled off the freezer paper. This one is actually on the back of a t-shirt. Both methods are very quick and easy.

Spring/Summer decoration

Recently we went out to my parents house and had a little family reunion with all my siblings and their families. It was a wonderful time and we did a lot of fun things. For one afternoon while all the guys went out dirt biking my sister put together a craft for us girls to do. This cute deocration is pretty simple. We took a block of wood and sanded it down so that the edges were pretty smooth. Then we mod podged some scrapbook paper to the five sides that show. After that dried we applied the vinyl lettering. Then we drilled a hole in the top and put a flower garden decoration in. Lastly we tied a cute little ribbon around it. It can be used half of the year because one side says "Welcome Spring" and when you turn it the other side says "Lazy Summer Days." Super cute and fun to make!

Tiered Skirt

I got to test out another pattern for Amy (http://naptimecrafters.blogspot.com/, http://www.etsy.com/shop/peekaboopatternshop). This time it was a tiered skirt. I thought it turned out cute. So did Lena, she liked it so much she wouldn't let us take it off her to go to bed.

Romper

The gal that does one of the blogs I follow http://naptimecrafters.blogspot.com/ recently created a couple of patterns that she is going to sell in her etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/peekaboopatternshop, but she wanted them tested out first. So, she offered free patterns to those willing to make it and give her photos and feeback within the week. I jumped on the opportunity for a free, cute pattern.