Shiny Teal Dress

Here's a dress I made back in August 2021 using a mid-weight, stretch knit I found in the Walmart bargain bin. Its hard to tell in the pictures, but the fabric also has a slight sheen to it. I used a mash-up of several patterns for the bodice and sleeves, but mostly it was my own design. And Eesa helped a little, too! The waistline uses elastic to cinch the waist. I wanted a little something extra so I added a couple of ruffles to the bust. When Eesa tried it on, something didn't look right to me. I decided to add another row of ruffles. That extra ruffle sure improved the overall look of the dress! A cute dress for a cute girl. She wore this dress fairly often at first, but lately she hasn't. 

Before

After!

Freezer Paper Transfer Tree Frog

Here's a quick an easy project I did in August 2021, in honor of my son's tree frog that passed away a few months before this. I bought a shirt at Walmart for a couple of bucks and printed out a tree frog illustration. Same process for all my freezer paper transfer projects: Print, tape to paper, cute with x-acto knife, place, iron, and paint. I think the shirt turned out cute, and he wears it just like any other shirt. The fabric paint as faded quite a bit since I first made it!

Some Random Tops From Years Past

I made these in probably 2017, I forgot to post them so here they are. Some cute shirt I made for Eesa when she was 5 or 6, using the Maisie pattern from Violette Field Threads. 

A cute purple shirt, using fabric from the thrift store and some fun lace trim. I don't remember her wearing this very often, even though it looks super cute. I don't even know what happened to it.

This looks like a dress, but it's a shirt. I wish I would have either bought enough fabric to make it a dress, or not gathered it so much. Either way, she never wore it and I think I just donated it to Goodwill.

Boy's Pajamas

I made these pj's for my oldest boy, just because it's not very often that I get to sew for him. And well, frankly it's hard to find pjs for teens that are in sets and that are cotton and not plastic polyester. For the teal pjs, I used some cotton flannel-type fabric that was given to me. The black/Christmas Cactus pjs were made from flannel I found on clearance at JoAnn's. I bought all the rest that they had. If they had more, I would have bought it in order make more jammies for my other kids because I love that print! Thanks be to the sewing gods because I had just barely, barely exactly within-a-centimeter, enough for these pajamas. Yikes!

I used the Violette Field Thread's Grace Pajama pattern, but I altered it to make it into boy's pj's. I wish I would have altered the bottoms even more. They could have used a couple more inches in length, and the inseam needed more length as well. Well, good to know for next time, even if it did take me two times to realize that. Anyway, he wears these pj's still, and is outgrowing them so they will be handed to little brother soon.

For future reference or anyone who wishes to make boy's pjs (they are designed for girls!) out of the Violette Field Thread's Grace Pajama pattern, here ya go and you're welcome: 

 

Top: 

-straight line for side seams (the pattern curves in)

-buttons on other side

-widen the shoulders by about 1/4"

-short Sleeve lengthened by 1/2"-1"

-reduce sleeve gather using your preferred method (I just redrafted my own sleeve using the pattern as a guide)

Bottoms:

-lengthen inseam (at top) by 1"

-lengthen hemline by 2"

These measurements are approximate of course, and for a size 12. You'll probably want more or less depending on size. 

 

Christmas cactus!  

Bonus! 

I made this other cutie some pj's out of some ribbed knit white cotton I found in the Walmart bargain bin. I don't recall what pattern I used though. I asked him if he wanted them tie-dyed or a design on them, but he said he just wanted them white, haha silly kid. He still likes to wear them, a year later!

Princess Dress

Here's a dress I made in May 2021 for a friend's daughter that was turning 3. I used the dress pattern "Josephine" from FooFoo Threads. The Josephine was a pattern I used to sew with a lot when Eesa was younger, so it was fun to pull it out again and make this cute dress. A friend down the street gave me a huge bag of fabric, and there were a couple of Disney princess prints in there. Eesa's much to old, but I still hang on to that fabric for occasions such as this! Her mom sent me this picture. The back uses shirring and I added a sash/tie. I still have lots of Disney print fabric left, I'm sure it will get used up eventually, for projects such as this:

 

Light Pink Tank Top

Here's a tank top shirt I made in May 2021 for Eesa. I used a combo of some Ellie & Mac patterns, but it turned out a bit too big...better too big than too small though! The under arms gaped, so I sewed in an extra piece of white fabric to make it more wearable. She wore it a few times and has kind of grown into it, but I think in 2023 it will fit her better! I used some really thin, pale pink knit fabric from the Walmart bargain bin, and I had to double the fabric, in order for it to be not see-through:

Mommy/Daughter Matching Shirts

Here's a matching set of shirts I made for myself and girly in May of 2021. I was inspired by this shirt I saw an amazon:

I didn't have any cheetah print fabric, but I had something similar, even though it was fabric for things like leotards or swimsuits. It was just a small strip, so it didn't matter a great deal. The black fabric was a soft knit I found in the Walmart bargain bin. I did have to draft my own pattern, from a dolman top I already had (Ellie & Mac's). It wasn't super hard to draft my own pattern, and like the way these shirts turned out. But....if I had to do them all over again, I would have made the sleeves a little wider/looser, and the length of my shirt a bit longer on mine.

A very bad pic of both of us, but the only one I have of both of us together in the shirts.