The Caroline Dress

I'm a sucker for little girls' dresses, not that my daughter needs anymore dresses. I'm pretty sure my 3-year-old has more clothes then me, and DEFINITELY more dresses than me. When I was her age, I only wore dresses when my mother forced me into them on Sundays. These days, I'm only too happy to make my daughter wear them as much as possible until she realizes how comfortable jeans and t-shirts are over frilly girly dresses. And before she catches Bieber fever.

Sigh.

I actually made this dress for Haley for Easter and mentioned it in this post, but I'm excited to share it with you! I've been dying to try my hand at making a dress with a crossover front, and I'm happy to say this dress turned out pretty darn awesome. In fact, I couldn't get Haley to take the dress of after church. That is what we call a win.


Supplies (based on 3t/4t size):

• 1 yard cotton fabric
• 1/2 yard coordinating fabric 
• Paper to make your pattern
• Shirt that fits your child well to make the pattern
• 3 buttons
• Disappearing ink marker
• Sewing machine and sewing supplies

Step 1: Draft and cut out your pattern pieces.

First, you'll need to make your pattern. I made my pieces by first laying out a shirt that fits my daughter and drawing around it to make two bodices.

Next, I drew a line from the neckline to the armpit to make the crossover bodice. For the back piece, I just cut my pattern piece down the middle.

Step 2: Join your pieces.

Now to cut out your pattern pieces. You need 2 of each piece, a front and a back for each since the bodice has a lining. You can do this easily by folding your fabric with the right sides together and cutting out your pattern pieces, giving you 2 of each. You'll end up with 4 front bodice pieces (a front and a lining for each) and 4 back pieces (a front and a lining for each.) When you cut out your 4 back pieces, make sure to add 1 inch to the center of each for the button placket. Make sense?

Place your pieces with the right sides together and sew along the lines indicated below. You'll be leaving your shoulders and bottom of each unsewn.

Turn your pieces right side out and iron.To make the next steps easier, I numbered each of the pieces. The two front bodice pieces are 1 and 2, and the back pieces are 3 and 4.

First fold the raw edge of the open shoulder of 1 inside itself and iron so that the raw edge is enclosed inside. Insert the shoulder piece of 3 inside 1 as shown below, and pin and sew straight across to finish. Repeat with pieces 2 and 4.

Here's how your finished bodice should look after the shoulders have been joined. Match up the side pieces of your front bodice. Your back pieces should overlap an inch to account for the button placket.

(Not shown) at this point, you should fold your bodice onto your back piece with the right sides together and match up the sides. Sew so that sides of the front and back of your bodice are now joined.
 

Step 3: Make your bottom panel.

Determine how long your bottom panel will need to be and subtract 2 inches. Now, measure the length of your bodice and multiply by 2. Cut two pieces of fabric this length and width from your for the bottom of your dress. Also cut 2 strips of fabric this same length and 3 inches wide for the accent fabric at the bottom.

Attach your fabric strips to the bottom of your panels by placing the pieces right sides together and pinning. Sew to attach and serge or zig zag the raw edges where the panel and accent fabric were joined. After the accent fabric has been added, hem the bottom of your piece to hide the raw edge. Repeat with your other fabric strip and panel.

Now you'll need to gather your fabric. Sew a basting stitch (the longest length and width on your machine) straight across the top of your panel. Gather the fabric until your panel is the same width of your bodice. Repeat with the other panel, and then place the two pieces right sides together and sew up the sides so you have a tube. You could also make pleats instead (which is what I ended up going back and doing when I made the dress a little too big!)

Step 4: Attach your bodice to the bottom of your dress.

You should have 2 main pieces now, your bodice and the bottom of your dress. To attach the two, first make sure your bodice is right side out and the bottom of your dress is inside out. Also make sure that the back pieces are folded over correctly (left side should be overlapping right) and pin in place.

Insert your bodice into your gathered tube and match up the raw edges. Pin all the way around and sew. Finish your edges by serging or zig-zagging.

Now just make your button holes and sew on your buttons!

Now you have a new pretty spring dress (or an Easter dress in my case :)

This is actually the first dress I made for Haley that she's refused to take off. That does a mama's heart good.

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Shirred top to dress {clothing refashion}

I have this shirt that I can't bring myself to part with. I've had it for about 5+ years now, and I've always hung onto it because I love the embroidery detailing on it, and more importantly, I had my engagement pictures taken in it.

Aw, look at young, blonde me!

Unfortunately in this case, I am a skinny girl and that carries over to my *ahem* bust area. The shirring on the top of the shirt is pretty, but I can't manage to keep it up very well :) I didn't want to throw the shirt away though, it just looked too pretty and carried too many memories, so I refashioned it into a dress for Haley. It's cool to think I wore the shirt over 5 years ago when my daughter was just a dream, and now she's running around playing in it. What a great way to repurpose a piece of cherished clothing!


Supplies:

• Shirred top
• Disappearing ink marker
• Double fold bias tape
• Scissors
• Sewing machine and basic sewing supplies

Step 1: Size your shirt. 

Here's the shirt I started with. I put it on my daughter to figure out how much I needed to take off the sides.

I simply turned the top inside out and pinned down both sides. Then, I used my disappearing ink marker to mark the areas that I would be trimming off. Using a zig-zag stitch, I sewed along the sides of my dress on the lines I drew and cut off the excess fabric.

Step 2: Make your straps.

Next, measure your child over the shoulders to determine how long your straps would be and add 1/2 inch. For my 3-year-old, my straps were each BLANK.

Position your bias tape on the inside of your dress and stitch down using 2 separate rows of stitches. Repeat to attach the straps to the back of your dress. I decided to cross the straps so they would make an 'X' in the back.

To add more visual interest to the dress, I made an inverted box pleat

And that's how an old, loved shirt became a new dress for my daughter :)

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T-shirt to a dress {with ruffles}

Hellooooo refashion season! Winter is over, and that means shorts, skirts and dresses. This past weekend, I dug through my kids' clothes and put away all the long-sleeved shirts and brought out the summer stuff. It was like Christmas morning. I get just as excited about putting my kids in new clothes as I do when I buy new clothes for myself. Is that weird? Clothes for kids are just so much cuter than adult clothes sometimes! I wish I could rock a pair of glittery shoes like my daughter. Sigh.

Along with the new clothes, I also pulled out some thrifted shirts and pants for the kids that needed a few alterations before they could be worn. One shirt in particular, a cute Bambi shirt that I got at a garage sale last year, was a bit too long to be worn as a long shirt over leggings, but a bit too short to be worn as a dress. Solution? Ruffles. Made from cutting the bottom off of men's undershirts, because you know how I love using men's undershirts to refashion clothes.

You can see how I utilized men's undershirts in these other projects (click on the picture to be taken to the link):

Here's what you need to make a ruffled t-shirt dress!

Supplies:

• Shirt
• Men's undershirt (the larger the better)
• Dress to use as a template
• Disappearing ink marker
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Sewing machine and sewing supplies

Step 1: Measure your shirt.

First, you'll need to figure out how long you need your ruffle to be. Using the dress you have as a reference, lay your shirt on top of the dress to determine how many more inches you need to make the dress nice and long.

Add 1 inch to your measurement for seam allowance. I needed about 3 inches of ruffle to make my dress long enough plus 1 inch, so I needed a total of 4 inches. 

Step 2: Cut your ruffle fabric out.

Now, lay your undershirt out and measure the amount of fabric you need (in my case 4 inches). Use your disappearing ink marker and ruler to draw a line straight across your undershirt from one side to the other.

Cut out your strip of fabric, and it should look like this. See how the bottom is already hemmed for you? Yay for shortcuts!

Step 3: Make and attach your ruffle.

Now, you're going to sew a basting stitch (which is basically just a really long stitch.) Set your sewing machine to the highest number for stitch length and width. Sew a straight line across the top of your fabric strip about 1/2 inch from the raw edge of the fabric (don't backstitch at the beginning or end!)

Pull one of the threads and push the material away from you to make the ruffle. Make your ruffle the same length as the bottom of your t-shirt.

Next, turn your ruffle inside out and pin the raw edge of your ruffle to the bottom edge of your t-shirt all the way around. The right sides of your shirt and ruffle fabric should be facing each other. Set your machine's stitch length and width back to normal, and stitch your ruffle to your shirt.

 

Ta dah! Super cute new ruffle dress.

Haley was even kind enough to model it for me without much bribing. She's finally getting to the age where she puts up with my photo sessions and (dare I say) enjoys them. I'm loving it.

And she even struck a pose! Check out that sass! Do I have a 3-year-old or a 13-year-old? Sigh....I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Bambi shirts will be replaced with Bieber shirts....

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Up! Party: DIY "Ellie Badge" and printable Wilderness Explorer Badges

When I first envisioned all the details of Haley's Up! birthday party, I knew I had to make Ellie Badges as part of the giveaways. If you don't know what an "Ellie Badge" is, it's the little grape soda bottle pin that Ellie gives to Carl in the movie when she invites him to be part of her explorer club. Carl continues to wear it throughout the movie, and then gives it to Russell at the end as "the highest honor he can bestow."

via

I really couldn't have an Up!-themed birthday party without Ellie Badges now could I?? There are several sellers on Etsy that sell Ellie Badges, but I was looking to make my own from scratch because it looked simple enough. And you know what? It was :) Here's what you need to make your own Ellie Badges.

Supplies:

• Bottle caps
• Silver spray paint (if your bottle caps aren't already silver)
• Hammer and a small nail (like one used for hanging pictures)
• Mod Podge
• Ellie Badge template free for download HERE
• Cardstock 
• Diamond Glaze, Dimensional Magic, or a similar dimensional adhesive
• Large safety pins

 Step 1: Make holes in your bottle caps.

First, you'll want to gather up your bottle caps. You can tell which brand of beer is the favorite in my house! :) It's ideal if you have bottle caps that are silver but if not, no worries, we'll go over how to fix that later.

Put a bottle cap on a piece of wood or some other surface you don't mind getting nail holes in. I used a soft sanding block in the pictures below, but a wood block would have been a much better choice. Position your nail on the inside of the bottle cap.

Hammer until you get a clean hole that your safety pin will fit through. Repeat for a second hole on the other side. Tip: don't make the nail hole directly across from the first nail hole because it's more difficult to thread your safety pin through. Instead, move the hole several millimeters closer.

Step 2: Spray paint your bottle caps.

If your bottle caps are already silver, you can skip this step. Take your bottle caps outside and spray them with a coat of silver spray paint. I used Krylon metallic silver. Allow to dry.

Step 3: Add your labels.

Print and cut out the Ellie Badge template. A hole punch would be wonderful for this, but unfortunately I don't know if there is one that is the right size, so I just used a pair of scissors and tried my best to cut slowly and carefully.

Next, use a paintbrush to apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the back of your circle.



Place on your bottle cap, making sure it's centered correctly between the two holes that you made in the top of your bottle cap.

Step 4: Apply your dimensional adhesive.

Carefully outline the edge of your bottle cap with your dimensional adhesive.

Once the outside edge has been lined, flood the rest of the top of your bottle cap with your adhesive. If you have any bubbles, hold a lighter up to the bubble and it will burst. Let the caps dry according to the instructions on your adhesive bottle.

Step 5: Add your safety pins.

After your caps have dried, thread your safety pin through the back like so:

And there you have it, your very own Ellie Badges perfect for an Up! birthday party :) I gave these away to guests as they arrived.



While I was at it, I also made some Wilderness Explorer Badges to go along with the pins. In the movie, Russel is a little boy who is part of the Wilderness Explorers, which is kind of like the Boy Scouts. His goal is to get as many badges as he can to become a Senior Wilderness Explorer.

I originally planned on making felt sashes for each child so that they could color and glue their Wilderness Explorer Badges to it, but I ran out of time. You can download the free Printable Explorer Badges HERE. You could have the child color the badges and glue them on, or it would be fun to have the child complete different activities to earn each badge.

I hope you're enjoying all the details of my daughter's Disney Up!-themed birthday party. Please remember, all printalbes are for personal use only.

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