Somebody stole the spotlight, and a giant zucchini

This is the first zucchini we harvested from our garden! One of the good things about living in the desert, is we have 2 non-traditional growing seasons. Still waiting for our peppers, eggplants and all melons to come in. Looking forwards to grilling this guy on sunday! We are having good friends over, lots of kids, jello shots, and a Slip-N-Slide! Should be so fun!

I made another version of this top, this time using a tee shirt from the dollar store, and some AMH Good Folks. I love it! First time I've ever made something twice. Somebody thought my bathroom photo shoot was about her. This was actually the best photo.

Just to give you a little perspective on the size of this thing! Huge!

Happy Long Weekend! -S

Easy embellished T-shirt to skirt, a la Alabam Chanin

My mom and her husband came over the other night. I still have my "Spring" banner hanging on our front door, and she says, "You should probably change your banner". I said, "What? to 'Hell?' "

Because that's what we get here in phoenix: Winter, Spring and Hell. No Fall. And no Summer.

It goes from pretty nice and breezy to unbearable in about 90 seconds. We're not there yet, but I feel it coming.

Summer here is so undescribable. Imagine getting burns from your car seat buckles. Not being able to breathe the air in your car if you get into it after it's been sitting in a parking lot. I was pregnant last summer, and didn't want to wear anything but a mumu. I had two black dresses that I wore every single day. My summer wardrobe this year is sadly lacking, due to my physical state last summer. 

I decided to make myself something from a pile of ever-growing knits in my sewing room.

I'll start by saying I love dying. I lerve it! I may or may not have dyed underwear. For my hubs. (He wears them as often as they are clean!!!) I probably dye once a month or so. It's a good way to cover up preschool paint stains, sweet potato baby food stains, sweaty pit stains (read a few posts ago if you want the inside scoop on that!), coffee spots, etc. Dana at MADE has an awesome how-to on dying in your sink. It's really quite easy. Whenever I have my buckets of dye out, I go through the dressers and pull anything white. I recently pilfered several of the hubs Costco tees. One went in the black (still uncut!), one went in the pink ( a cute pair of gaucho sleep pants!tutorial to follow), and one went in the brown. I pulled out the brown one this morning, and got to work!

Tee as is.

Cut carefully around sleeves, and straight across the top.

Raid scrap stash for other fabrics you think will go well. I picked piece of pretty robin's egg blue knit from an old yucky tank top. Lay across t-shirt. Imagine a beautiful abstract pattern.

Starch is my secret knit weapon. Did you know if you spray the back of your top fabric, and then press it on, it will stick? I use this trick all of the time! It's like temporary adhesive! Awesome! I sprayed the back f the blue piece, and then ironed it onto my brown shirt. I find it's better to tap the iron. It you pull the iron back and forth, your knits go all wonky.

See? Nice and smooth.

Next draw your beautiful abstract design with water or air soluble marker.

Stitch the design. I always use a ball point needle when sewing knits. Another trick I've found to walk my machine around tight curves is to go in two stitch increments, lifting my presser foot and adjusting the entire garment every two stitches. Never pull knits. They will distort. This may sound tedious, but this whole piece took maybe 15 minutes.

CAREFULLY trim around your appliqued pieces.

Next I picked a pretty cotton that went with my design. Iadded a few more whirls and swoops, starched my cotton scraps to the underside of my brown shirt, and stitched using the same "two-stitch"method.

Carefully trim the brown away from inside these last areas, leaving a reverse applique.

Isn't it pretty? Very Alabama Chanin, if I do say so myself.

Next I made a casing to accomodate 1.5 in elastic. I like thicker elastic on adult garments. It looks more professional.Carefully thread in your elastic, being sure not to twist it. It's very noticeable on thick elastic!

Try on! have 5 year old take pics of you, which you then have to edit to high heaven.

Sheesh. Help these days.

Close up of applique/reverse applique.

Finished product! Total time: approx 1 hr. Total cost: about 2 bucks.

btw, I left this skirt on all day after the photo shoot! So comfy and cute!

And, just in time for the crafterhours: Skirt Week! I adore these gals, and am so excited! 

-S

Tutorial: Ruffle Butt Bloomers

Problem #1: We cloth diaper at our house. Most of the time, anyways. I love those little dress and bloomer sets sold at warehouse stores, or even Target. However, I'm finding that those tiny bloomers don't accomodate Ruby's fluffy tushy.

Problem #2: We have beautiful granite tile counter tops. With a very rough edge. All of my shirts look like this. I refuse to spend more than 5 dollars on a shirt. I have seriously worn this shirt twice. Seriously.

Solution: Women's t-shirt to baby bloomers! With an awesome short-cut!

First, I cut out the holey part. (giggle, giggle) Cut across the top where you would like the top of the bloomers to be. Mine is about 7 inches from the bottom. I also pressed the top down about an inch. I always use spray starch when sewing knits. It make them a lot less slippery, bendy, and generally unruly.

Next I cut across the top in successive strips (omitting the pocket). I ended up with four 1" strips (picture shows two 2" strips, before I cut them in half.) Switch to a ball-point needle. Your regular needle will wreck knits. Trust me. A four pack is like 2.59. You will thank me.

I ruffled the strips with my sewing machine tension set to way loose, and thread length super long. (I love doing this!!)

I tacked down 3 of the strips on each side (not sure yet if I would use the fourth strip). I then stretched the ruffles to fit, while sewing them right across the gathering stitch with a zig-zag stitch)

Turn them back inside out, and sew the crotch together. DO NOT sew all the way down to the sleeve hem. You will use this little casing to thread the elastic through.

I used 1/4 in braided elastic in both the waistband, and the leg casing. Thread through, sewing the elastic securely together, then sewing the leg casings shut. Do the same with the waistband, finishing the opening where you inserted the elastic. Don't worry if it's not perfect, your baby won't care!

Enjoy the day. You could totally personalize these, with an applique of your choice. They took me about an hour, but I had all three kids at home today. And one had strep. Ugh. If I could've muscled through, I would say these are a 45 minute project. Even ommiting the ruffles would seriously shave down on the construction time. You could use some really cool shirts to give these some extra flair!

PS, I used the last ruffle to make this super cute flower headband! It took me less than 5 minutes!