Men's Shirt Re-Do # 2: Boy's Pants

I showed you last month how I made one of my husband's old shirts into this sweet little vest applique.

There was still lots of fabric left over so I decided to make something for my son. It was the perfect opportunity to try out this kid pants pattern by Dana at Made.

I laid my pattern pieces out on the shirt to make sure there was enough material. Then I traced around the edges with a fabric marker and cut out my pieces.

Did you notice that the shirt had a front pocket? I decided that I wanted to use that on my pants. I couldn't just leave it on the fabric where it was, otherwise the pocket would be in the crotch area of the pants. Not good. I used a fabric ripper to carefully remove the pocket, still intact, and then ironed over the spot where the pocket had been to remove the evidence.

(The above picture is pre-ironing.)

I sewed the left and right back sides together so that I could get an idea about how to center the pocket and left a 1/4" seam allowance. I pinned the pocket down and straight stitched around the edges with a gray thread.

Once the pocket was attached, I sewed the front and back pieces of the pants together, hemmed the legs using some pants that fit my son as a guide, and finished the waistband with a flat front.

They are perfect. Soft, lightweight and pretty darn inexpensive since I grabbed the shirt out of our "clothes to donate" bag!

They have a flat front, so they could be worn with a shorter shirt and would still look spiffy.

But they have an elastic band in the back, so they will stretch and grow a bit with my boy.

When I hemmed the bottom I left about 1 1/2 extra inches, so in a few months when my son is taller, I'll just rip out the hem and sew it down at a longer length.

I'm still just getting into sewing clothes, so I need to make sure my efforts last a bit longer than just a few months.

In hindsight, (or perhaps hind view?), I should have taken the pocket in to make it a little smaller. I think that taking about 1/2 inch off of each side and 1 inch off of the bottom would have made it the perfect size for his little booty. Maybe compare your men's shirt pocket to a pair of your son's pants to see if you need to make adjustments. Or if you're making a more casual pair of pants, you could make it a cool front pocket.

Either way, prepare yourself for your boy to do some really cool, big, jumping in his new pants.

So rummage around in your guy's closet and grab a shirt that he never wears anymore. It's the perfect fabric for your boy projects!

I'm sure Pinterest has some good inspiration as well! Check it out and let me know what you make!

And while you're there, follow my pin boards here.

Have a great week!!

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Baby Candy Corn Costume

About a month ago I realized that, now that I have a little girl, I'm feeling the pressure to have a really cute little costume for her for Halloween. This is particularly true since it's her first Halloween, she's still pretty tiny, and obviously has no say in the matter so it is completely momma's pick.

I had planned to purchase Hannah's costume as to alleviate something from my to do list, but I wasn't overly inspired by my choices. So I decided to take a cue from my contributors (Have you seen Tiffany's Tiny Dancer, Patrice's Cupcake or Very Hungry Caterpillar costumes?), and make her something myself.

I had to look no further than my favorite Halloween treat.

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This was pretty darn easy, folks. It took me about 2 1/2 hours total, which included all ironing, measuring, cutting, and sewing. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures along the way because I was camera-less when I was making it. But it was easy and I'll walk you through.

I started off with a plain white onesie that fit my daughter, and one of her dresses to use as a guide for the costume. I decided that the skirt should be about 10" long so I pulled out my fabric.

Measure & Cut Fabric

I purchased a half yard of this orange fabric from JoAnns and decided to use some leftover yellow fabric from my stash.

I cut my orange fabric into a long rectangle, 24" x 8". I didn't have a long enough strip of yellow, so I just cut two 15" x 4" strips and stitched them together to make one long 30" x 4" strip.

Hem and Ruffle Yellow Trim

I folded the bottom of the yellow fabric over about 1/8", ironed it down, folded and ironed it a second time, and sewed it down to finish off the bottom hem of the skirt. Then I set my sewing machine to it's longest stitch, tightened the tension and sewed down the length of the fabric, ruffling it slightly.

Attach Yellow to Orange

I laid my yellow tier down next to my orange tier and adjusted the ruffling until they were the same length. Then I pinned the pieces together with the right sides in and sewed them together with a 1/2" inseam.

Ruffle Orange

Next I sewed a running stitch down the other side of the orange fabric, setting my tension as tight as it would go so that the orange fabric was very ruffled. I adjusted the ruffled fabric so that it was twice the length of my onesie, folded it in half with the right sides of the fabric facing in, and sewed the ends together.

Attach Skirt to Onesie

For the next part I followed the instructions for the 10 Minute Dress Tutorial. This is my second onesie dress using this method and I have still not managed to do it in anywhere close to 10 minutes, but I'm pretty sure it's a user-error. I still consider myself new to sewing, especially when it comes to sewing with knits. :) I took my time and that seemed to give me more control.

My only modification to this tutorial, is that I wanted the "skirt" part of my dress to start at the bust line instead of the waist line as they show. But once you have your "skirt" you can play around with it on the onesie and see what you'd prefer before you attach it.

You're Finished! or Embellish!

As soon as the skirt was attached I just loved this little dress. I squealed, waved it in front of my husband to admire, and texted a picture to my mom and sister. And the next day I embellished it a little. (Sometimes I just can't leave well enough alone!)

I thought the "onesie part" seemed a bit plain compared to the "skirt part." So I pulled out my Ultra Hold Heat N Bond and used it to attach a 1" grosgrain ribbon around the waist. I left the ends unattached in the back for a big floppy bow and hit the ends of the ribbon with a fabric no fray. I also made a tiny bow with orange ribbon and hand stitched it under the collar. Perfect.

I used the same yellow and white polka dotted fabric and this tutorial to make these bloomers for Hannah when I was about 6 months pregnant. I was so excited to discover that they still fit! So her costume is set.

Now I just need to make the perfect headband. :)

I'll be linking to some great parties this week, feel free to stop by to say hi!

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Pinterest-Inspired Nursery Projects

Welcome to our first Week of Pinterest!

If you missed our Week of Pinterest post you can see the full details here, but, in a nutshell, the first week of every month will be dedicated entirely to Pinterest!

We all need an excuse to start actually doing some of those things that we are pinning for "one day," right?! Now is the time!

Here is what you can expect the first week of each month

- Monday through Wednesday, Tiffany, Patrice and I will each share a project that is Pinterest-inspired.

- On Thursday YOU will have a chance to show us how Pinterest has inspired you in our Pinterest Linky Party.

(It doesn't have to be a DIY project, it could be a recipe, a game you tried with your kids, a picture, anything so long as it originated from Pinterest!) We'll be pinning our favorites, so don't forget to link up!

- On Friday Jess will be doing a Best of Pinterest Roundup. Love it!

To start off I thought I would show you how Pinterest helped me with a few ideas for decorating my daughter's nursery.

I saw this adorable bookmark and fell in love. My son has spent tons of time reading in our laps and I know that his sister will be the same way, so I wanted to get this saying up in her room.

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I played around with several different fonts and layouts, but eventually used something similar to what was used on the bookmark in the first place. The frame was an unusual size, so I used fabric as a mat, and printed the saying on photo paper so that the red pattern from the fabric wouldn't show through. I sewed the bunting from fabric scraps that match Hannah's bedding, and hot glued the bunting to the back of the frame. I love this!

I had cardboard letters to spell out Hannah's name beside her crib, but I couldn't decide how to embellish them until I came upon this picture of a beautifully wrapped package.

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I had already used doilies to make Hannah's mobile, so I thought this would be perfect. I cut out the center of some 5 inch doilies, and wrapped them around the letters, securing them with a glue stick. I used Command Strips to stick each letter to the wall, and framed them with an elegant but aged frame that I had purchased from a thrift store and re-sized.

I wanted just a bit more color beside her name, so I decided on some beautiful pom poms. Where better to find instructions than Pinterest?

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They are light and lovely. And the pop of color is perfect.

Don't you think?

Come follow my pin boards here.

I'm really looking forward to Thursday!! I can't wait to see what you guys have come up with!!

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OED and Me and Reader Discount!

**This is not a compensated post. All opinions are 100% mine based on my experience with the products and seller.**

Well, I don't know about you guys, but over these last few weeks FALL has officially arrived here in Illinois! We had a blip of 80+ degree weather a few weeks ago, but ever since the temperatures have been firmly planted in the 60s and 70s, which I just LOVE! Time to bundle up in that cool weather clothing, and I am just so pleased that little Hannah is regularly sporting a little crocheted cap instead of her usual headbands. Sweet, right?!

I got this adorable Claire Cloche for Hannah before she was born, and I'm just so excited that it is cool enough for her to wear it now. She may or may not have worn it around the house all afternoon because it was just so darn cute. That is, until her dad came home and declared that I was crazy. But that is beside the point.

If you need some cool weather goodies for yourself, you must check out the fun Etsy shop OED & Me here. I've brought this site to your attention before in this post, since I got a few of Hannah's baby photo props from this shop. I couldn't have been happier with them! So soft and snuggly, just like the baby inside of them.

In addition to hats and baby photo props, the shop is filled with other fall and winter-weather goodies, like scarves,

sweet stuffed animals,

hats,

bags,

and lots more.

While you're there, don't forget to check out Amanda's prints. As an accomplished photographer who has had her work showcased and sold in galleries in Cincinnati, she has both prints and notecards available for purchase.

Great shop, right?! Hannah agrees. :)

OED & Me has a special discount running right now for Lemon Tree Creations readers!!

Simply enter LEMONTREE at checkout for 20% off your order. This offer is good until next Monday, October 10.

Happy shopping!

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Decorating With Portraits at Kristen Duke Photography

Have you guys been following along with this great series over at Kristen Duke Photography?

Each day throughout the month of September there is a different blogger sharing how they decorate with portraits in their homes, just check out the calendar below, and I was delighted to share my take on this yesterday.

Did you miss it? Check it out here, along with many other incredible tips.

As always, have a great week!!

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Men's Shirt Re-Do # 1: Vest Applique

I have seen so many great tutorials recently about cleaning out stashes and re-purposing old clothes, and I thought it was about time that I tried it for myself. My husband had this old shirt that is really soft but doesn't fit quite right, so I wanted to find a few ways to make it work for a little guy instead. It turns out that a long sleeved mens shirt is a lot of material, so I got 2 projects out of 1 shirt. Come back next week for project #2!

I thought this pattern and material was pretty cool and a bit dressy for a little boy, so it must be turned into a little vest applique!

Project #1-Vest Applique

My first step was making a pattern. I lined a piece of paper up on a plain white onesie and roughly traced where I would need to cut the paper away for the neckline and sleeves.

I cut along those lines and laid the paper onto the onesie.

I lightly sketched one side of a little vest, making sure to extend the middle piece slightly past the middle of the onesie.

I traced the vest pattern onto some fusible webbing, flipped it over and traced the pattern again to make the left and right sides of the vest.

**Do not forget to flip the pattern over before you trace the other side of the vest! Otherwise, when you go to iron your applique onto your onesie, you will realize that you have 2 left sides and this will not work. Ask me how I know.**

Iron the fusible webbing onto your fabric, and trim around the edges.

I made the little black tie using the same method as in my Little Man Tie Applique tutorial, ironed it onto the onesie, and then sewed the edges down with a zig zag stitch.

Next, I laid my vest appliques down exactly as I wanted them, ironed them on, and then sewed those edges down with a zig zag stitch as well. I made sure to pin a fabric stabilizer to the back as I was sewing to keep the fabric from stretching as I sewed and it worked like a charm.

(New to sewing appliques? Read some of my beginner tips here.)

I made sure to use thread in coordinating colors so that it wouldn't draw too much attention to the stitching.

I selected a few dark gray buttons to complement the vest and hand stitched those on, centering them above the point in the tie.

There you have it! A onesie any little cool dude would be happy to wear.

Men's shirts are PERFECT for little boy ties, tie appliques or vest appliques. I challenge you to rummage around your husband's closet and see what old duds can be transformed into something perfect for your little dude! :)

Also, have you seen the fun new series Decorating with Portraits over at Kristen Duke Photography? Kristen has an all star cast of bloggers lined up for the whole month of September to share the ways that they decorate their homes with portraits, and we are thrilled to be participating! Look for us on September 18!

I'll be linking to some of these great parties! Happy Labor Day!

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