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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Roadside Find to Nursery Dresser

 So, it's no surprise to any long time readers that I LOVE to pick up furniture off the side of the road. Okay, well truth be told I hate to actually do it, but I am really goo at convincing my husband to do it for me! I have gotten quite a few signature pieces around my house from another man's trash.

The latest addition to the trash to treasures stash was a dresser for our coming baby's nursery. I had been searching garage sales ALL week long, and low and behold my husband happened to drive by the perfect project right around the corner from our house. My favorite thing about it, it was FREE!

So, follow my journey as I turn this:

Into this:

 

First, I wiped and sanded down all of the surfaces that were to be painted. 

 

To keep with the 'free' theme, I used some leftover 'Manhattan Mist' paint from our living room makeover last summer. It is the perfect gray/ blue hue to tie the other nursery elements together. 

 

It was a slight bummer that the dresser didn't come with knobs, but who am I to complain? I found just what I was looking for at Hobby Lobby, and wouldn't you know, knobs were 50% off that week. So, for a grand total of $23.00, I purchased 17 new knobs for my dresser. (Yes, I need 18, so I am on the search for just one more!)

 

While this dresser is old, all of the drawers are in working condition, it is the perfect size, and it was just the right price. I love thrifty finds! And with all the other money we are putting into another nursery, I am sure my husband doesn't mind either. check out the sweet detail on the base of the dresser below, it might just be my favorite part!

 

What thrifty finds have you had lately? I would love to see them!

Now for a little reminder:

Next week begins July, and a new weekly layout for us here at LTC. We hope that you will join us for our first ever LINK party next Thursday! I cannot wait to see what you have to share with us then!

Happy Thursday!

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T-Shirt Pom Poms

I've been wanting to make these super cute t-shirt pom poms for quite some time now. Unfortunately, I haven't really had a chance to make them and I haven't had much luck finding good tutorials to follow...until now.

As I was searching through some of my favorite blogs as I often do, I found this oh so simple tutorial here.


After following the steps I created this Easter wreath for my front door!




I really thought this was a great way to celebrate Easter as well as Earth Day!

I used a couple of my old shirts for the project, some scrapbook paper for the bunny silhouette and I covered the wreath with awesome printed packaging tape that you can purchase now in various prints!

This was by far one of the easiest projects yet!




Don't you just love the vibrant colors! It makes me feel so springy inside!


I also created extra pom poms for other parts of the house.





This would also be great for pom pom garland, place settings or topiary trees (which I attempted, but I need a new strategy..they were really heavy and kept falling over...boo..).

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be partying at these great linky sites!
Happy Friday, Happy Earth Day and Happy Easter Weekend!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow!
Enter to win a giveaway from Freschetta Pizza!
You won't want to miss it!

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