FroYo Shirts: Guest post with Come On, Ilene!

I found Come on, Ilene! just recently while blog stalking surfing and ever since, I've been hooked. She bakes, she sews, and she had the GREATEST bicycle-themed wedding that you have to check out. The tutorial that really caught my eye was for adorable FroYo shirts she made - I just love all the bead "sprinkles"! I'm so glad to have Ilene here sharing it with you today so you can make one too!

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Hi! I am ilene from Come on, ilene! Thanks for having me here, Jen! I am honored to be guest posting today. My blog is much like Jen's - full of tutorials, recipes and crafts. It's basically a collection of whatever is cooking up in this crazy little head of mine. Here are a few of my most popular posts (click to see full tutorials):


Today, I am sharing with you one of my favorite projects- how to sew frozen yogurt appliques!



We had some friends who were contemplating opening up a frozen yogurt business so I wanted to surprised their daughters with cute little froyo shirts! I'm totally loving this frozen yogurt fad, I could eat a large cup for breakfast! If only froyo stores were open that early. There is a place near our old house in Boston that had this awesome mojito-flavored froyo. Pile mochi on top and I am in heaven!

The froyo design was appliquéd onto plain T-shirts. This is a great project for using up scraps of fabric and mismatched "orphaned" buttons. I didn't have a pattern so I just drew one up with a sharpie. I tried hard not to make it look like a big cup of doo-dee:



Cut out the pattern pieces with scissors:



Then trace the pattern onto your fabric using disappearing ink:



To help the fabric pieces stick to the shirt, I like to back them with Heat N Bond iron on adhesive. You just iron on the paper-backed adhesive onto the back side of the fabric:



Then peel off the paper. Cut out the pieces and iron onto the shirt. The heat will activate the adhesive and bind the fabric to the shirt:



For the spoon, I cut out a silver piece of silhouette heat transfer material and ironed it on.

Now comes the tricky part, embroidering all around the design. This requires lots of patience and slow stitching. I used a zig-zag stitch all around:



Here is a great tutorial on how to appliqué. It definitely takes some practice!

Now comes the fun part! Adding buttons, swavorski crystals and beads as "toppings"! The girls love all things sparkly, so I wanted to add some bling!





And that's it! Two unique froyo shirts for two very special sisters!



Thanks for having me, Jen!! For more of my ideas, come visit me at Come on, ilene!

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How cute are these shirts? Frozen yogurt is all the rage in my town (I can think of 4 separate frozen yogurt places within 7 miles of each other), and I'm definitely a sucker for ice cream myself, so this project caught my eye right away.

Thanks for sharing, Ilene! Go check out Come on, Ilene! and see her other great projects, I'm sure her blog will become one of your new favorites too.

Guest posting on The Dating Divas

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! I just wanted to pop in and tell you that I guest posted on The Dating Divas yesterday and shared my tutorial for the Necklace Tee! Sorry for the late notice :)

The Necklace Tee was actually one of the first projects I did when I really started to get into craft blogging more. I had seen these kind of shirts for adults and thought, "Hey, I could totally do that!" Those kind of projects are my favorite kind! They're the ones where you can grab a handful of supplies that you already have on hand, sit down for half an hour, and whip out an awesome project. It's even no-sew - well almost, just a little hand sewing for the ribbon bows. 

So come check me out at The Dating Divas and say hi! And while you're there, check out all the great dates the Divas have put together to bring you and your better half closer together.

Guest posting at Tatertots & Jello!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm guest posting over at Tatertots and Jello today!!

I whipped up something a little fall-ish to celebrate my favorite season - and as an added bonus, I actually got to use up some of my button hoard.

Can we all take a moment of silence in honor of the fact that I actually got a holiday-themed project up before the actual holiday is a week from being over? And can we all just pretend for a moment that fall is actually a holiday?

Awesome, glad we got that all straightened out.


So anyway, head on over to Tatertots and Jello and check out my Fall Button Tree Shirt tutorial. And while you're at it, show some love! Because all you need is love. But comments are nice too :)

Monster Hoodie Refashion: Guest Post with Maybe Matilda

It's an understatement to say that I'm pretty psyched to have Rachel with Maybe Matilda guest posting today. I've always loved her blog because she's funny, honest, and she works magic with crochet hooks. And as someone who can only crochet things that are square or rectangular, that pretty much makes her a superhero in my book. But crocheting is only a part of what Rachel does. I'll let her tell you a little more about herself.

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Hi! I'm Rachel and I blog at Maybe Matilda about crochet, sewing, and clothing refashions. Now, right off the bat, I'm going to warn you: I'm not one of those ladies. You know the kind, with their houses all decked out weeks in advance of every holiday, thoughtful handmade gifts to give, and clean, well-behaved children wearing home-sewn clothes (probably sewn from home-spun fabric, too). 

So I'm going to lay it all out right now: this is the only semi-Halloween-ish item in my home right now. And it's one of the only clothing items I've ever made for my little boy. And I purposely didn't make it too Halloween-ish, because I didn't want it to be limited to wear for the next week or so, so it hardly even counts as a holiday item. And, to top it off, it's dirty in the pictures (which, of course, are fuzzy). Gimme a break--he's a real boy and his clothes stay clean for all of about 20 seconds. If you're still interested and not completely turned off by my lack of mothering superpowers, maybe you'll enjoy this sneaky peeky monster hoodie refashion I pulled together for my little fella:

I have to admit, I think it's pretty cute! I bought him that hoodie a few weeks ago for a few dollars, but he already has a few plain hoodies and I thought maybe he could use one with more character. I reverse appliqued these cute little monster heads onto it, and wild guess here, but I think he might like it!

Here's how I refashioned his little hoodie with some peekaboo monster fun!

You'll just need:

- a hoodie

- knit/jersey fabric scraps

- sewing machine

- hot glue/fabritac

- googly eyes

- felt

I started by sketching and cutting out the monster heads on white paper. I thought it would be cute to have them "peekabooing," if I can make up that word right now, into the sweatshirt, so I drew one popping up out of the pocket and another poking out from the zipper.

Make sure your fabric scraps are a bit larger than the designs you sketched, and pin everything together. The layering, from top to bottom, should be paper, hoodie, fabric scrap.

Now sew around the shape of the pattern sketches--you're not sewing onto the paper, but using it as a shape/guide to sew around. Make sure you're sewing through both the hoodie and the fabric scrap behind it. Try not to stretch the fabric as you sew, and if you get to points or curves that are hard to navigate, just stop sewing while the needle is down in the fabric, lift up the presser foot, and swivel your fabric, then lower the foot and keep sewing. When you're finished, remove the pins and you should have a nice stitched outline of your sketch:

Here's what it'll look like from the back:

I sewed straight over a fabric fold by accident . . . whoops! No biggie--it's in the back, so I just left it. (Perfectionist? Not even a little. I can thank my mother for that--we've jokingly nicknamed her Kathleen "Goodenough" LastName.)

Now trim away the excess fabric from the back, being very careful not to accidentally cut the hoodie fabric.

This is the part that made my heart race. It's a little scary, so be cautious. Carefully, carefully, cut out the monster shape from the hoodie fabric. Make sure you're staying inside the stitching lines, and be very careful not to cut the scrap fabric from the back! It's easiest, I find, to pull the two fabrics apart as much as you can, and use small sharp scissors to start with a little snip in the center of the design:

Then work from there to cut the rest of the fabric away, without getting too close to your stitch line.

Add some googly eyes and teeth cut from a bit of felt, and you're all done! (I used hot glue to attach the googly eyes and felt, and time will tell if that was a poor decision or not. I'm sure something like Fabritac would hold up better in the washer and dryer, so it's possible that my son's hoodie is going to lose its facial features after the first wash. I'll put an update on my blog after it's been washed.)

Thanks for inviting me to write a guest post, Jen, and I hope you guys will come visit me at Maybe Matilda!

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Isn't he such a cutie? I just love a little guy in monster gear. Thanks for sharing, Rachel! Make sure you go visit Maybe Matilda and check out her other great tutorials and projects!

No-Sew iPhone Costume

Halloween is 7 days away. Oh wait, you knew that? Apparently I chose to completely forget that fact. And also the part about how my son still had no costume for his first trick-or-treat.

We're not huge into Halloween at my house. I have no decorations up and I still don't have a pumpkin (it's probably a lost cause by now), but there is one thing I celebrate very passionately in October: candy. Halloween has always been all about the candy for me. You can keep your suckers and Pixy Stix (and if you are one of those families that give out toothbrushes I know who you are and I will be skipping your house), give me the chocolate! Specifically the Reese's cups and the Baby Ruths.

As a kid, I always made sure to go through my stash after I went trick-or-treating and pick out the good stuff to hide in my room somewhere because we all know that when parents do the "candy inspection" they're not really looking for needles and opened candy, they're looking for chocolate. Now that I have young kids, you better believe I will be doing plenty of candy inspections myself until the kids catch on.


I was feeling the pressure this past weekend since it's my son's first trick-or-treat experience, but since I was low on time and resources I decided the costume had to be inexpensive, quick, and no-sew since I didn't feel like sitting down to a major project. Then as I was surfing the net for ideas on my iPhone, then I realized the answer was right in front of me. I got to work and whipped this baby up in roughly 1 1/2 hours (the apps were what took the longest to cut out and piece together) and while I made this for my 11-month-old, it would easily make a great costume for any age. And I even designed some apps for you to print and cut out. Consider it your Halloween treat!


Supplies:

• Shirt that fits to use as a template
• Felt or fleece for the main fabric
• Assorted felt squares for the apps
• Free app template HERE
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
• Scissors
• Disappearing ink marker

Step 1: Make your main piece.

First, fold the piece of felt or flannel that you chose for the main fabric in half with the fold on top. Tuck the sleeves in and lay your template shirt on top of the fabric to determine the length and width you want your final costume to be (extend it 1 1/2 + inches wider on each side to be safe). Using a disappearing ink marker, trace around your shirt where you will be cutting.

Cut out your rectangle, making sure not to cut across the top where your fold is.

Use your template shirt to determine where your neckline should be and how wide and deep it needs to be and mark this with your disappearing ink marker. I would make the neckline slightly larger than your template shirt's neckline because the felt isn't as stretchy as knit.

Use a CD to round each of the corners like an iPhone.

Cut out your neckline and each of your rounded corners.

Step 2: Cut out the detail pieces.

Now, cut out a rectangle for the screen (use a CD to round the edges like you did above), a small rounded rectangle for the earpiece, and a circle and square for the power button. Position and hot glue these components in place.

Step 3: Create your apps.

This was the really fun part! Determine which apps you want to make for your costume. I looked at my phone and picked several of the simpler ones. I designed the 6 you see below and included them HERE if you want to print and cut them out to make yourself. Just cut out each piece on card stock (which I prefer because it's thicker) or regular print paper, and trace onto squares of felt. Cut out each component and hot glue to assemble.

Now, just arrange your apps on the screen and hot glue them down. Simple!

Step 4: Glue sides.

Pretty explanatory. Since the sides are open, you can choose to leave them this way, but I decided to glue the sides together so my little guy couldn't wiggle out. Just lay your template shirt on top of your costume and use your disappearing ink marker to mark where you want the bottom of the sleeve to be. I marked about an inch down from the sleeve on either side. Hot glue the two sides together from this mark to the bottom of the shirt right before it curves.

And there you have it, a super easy no-sew iPhone costume!

Now obviously since this costume is hot glued instead of sewn, it's not machine washable so just wipe any stains with soap and warm water.

Check out my sidebar to see where I link up each week!

Cheating my way through a winter wardrobe

Thank you to all of you who left your sweet comments on my Babushka Doll Shirt on Monday! I wanted to get you in on a little secret of mine that I applied to that shirt. You might not have noticed, but it's a sneaky trick that I use to winterize Haley and Connor's summer wardrobes.

Did you happen to notice in my previous post that the shirt began as a short-sleeve top and ended up as a long sleeve shirt?

That's because I cheat my way through my kids' winter wardrobe. If I already have a shirt on hand that I want to use for winter but it's short-sleeved, I just add sleeves to it using one of my husband's undershirts. Cheap? Maybe. I prefer "clever." :) Plus, I really like the look of the different colored sleeves.

Since that secret is out now, I might as well share the details with you so you can save some money and cheat your way through your child's winter wardrobe too!

Supplies:

• Short-sleeve shirt that fits your child
• White men's undershirt (or any other knit shirt you may want to use)
• Disappearing ink marker
• Sewing machine and basic sewing supplies

First, find a long-sleeve shirt that fits your child well. Lay one of the sleeves on top of your knit shirt flush with one of the edges and the bottom of your shirt (this is so you don't need to hem your sleeve). Use your disappearing ink marker to trace around your sleeve, making sure to make a j-like curve at the top where the sleeve meets the shirt. Repeat on the other side edge of your shirt to make 2 sleeves.

After cutting each of your sleeves out, they should look like this when they're open:

Fold them in half long ways with the right sides together, and pin along the long side. Sew down the long side from the edge of your sleeve to the top (make sure you don't sew either of the shorts sides closed!)

Turn your sleeve inside out, and you have a completed sleeve! (sorry, I didn't take a picture of the finished sleeve, but I'm sure you all know what a sleeve looks like :) The long side you just sewed is the bottom of your sleeve.

To attach the long sleeves you just made, turn your shirt inside out and stuff the existing sleeves of your shirt inside. Locate the original seam where the existing sleeves are sewed onto the shirt. This is where you will be attaching your long sleeves you just made.

With your long sleeve right side out, insert the sleeve inside of your shirt's armhole, matching up the raw edges of your sleeve with the edge of the armhole.

Pin your sleeve to the armhole and sew all around the armhole to attach your sleeve.

When you pull your sewn on sleeve inside out, it should look like this:

Turn your whole shirt right side out, and now your short sleeve shirt has been winterized! You can do the same thing with little boy's shirts. It's a little addictive. Especially if you stock up on cheap, end-of-the-season sale shirts from summer.




The only downside is your husband will start to wonder where all his undershirts went. Just tell him you're saving money on your kids' winter wardrobe :)

Babushka Doll Shirt {a Silhouette Project}

I just love the ladies over at Prudent Baby. They're so sweet every time I talk to them, not to mention all of the great projects they have for mama's and kiddos. They had a contest awhile ago to see who could come up with the cleverest phrase to go along with a Silhouette Babushka Doll cutouts they were giving away. My entry was "Sometimes it's ok to be full of yourself." I thought it was pretty clever. I didn't make first place, but they were sweet enough to humor me and send me a cutout of the doll anyway. Awesome!

I have several babushka dolls that I've collected through the years, and they now sit in Haley's bedroom up on a high shelf along with all the other things she's not allowed to touch. She always asks for them, so I knew she'd love it if I made her a shirt using the babushka doll cutout.

Supplies:

• Shirt
• Babushka Doll design in Silhouette Studio
• Iron on transfer material
• Sewable interfacing
• Scrap fabric the same size as your doll cutout
• Scrap felt for the flower
• One small button
• Basic sewing supplies

Step 1: Cut out your 2 doll pieces.

You will need 2 babushka doll cutouts: 1 of the full design on transfer, and the second just a silhouette of your doll in fabric.

First, use your Silhouette to cut your babushka doll design. Weed the excess transfer material, saving the outline of your doll (seen below).

Next, follow the instructions on the sewable interfacing to iron interfacing to the back of your scrap fabric. Using the outline you saved from your babushka doll template, trace your outline on your fabric using a disappearing ink marker.  Cut out.

Iron your babushka doll fabric onto your shirt and sew around the perimeter of the doll.

Step 2: Apply your iron on transfer material.

Now that your design has been weeded, place the design on top of your fabric. Follow Silhouette's instructions to iron the transfer material to your shirt.

I use a little Fabric Fusion to stick down any unruly edges that don't want to be ironed down well.

Step 3: Make your flower embellishment.

Cut two circles out of your felt: one that is 1 inch in diameter, and one that is about 3/4 inches in diameter.

Place your biggest circle on the bottom, then stack the smaller circle on top followed by the button. Hand sew your flower to your shirt.

Not too bad, right? (Besides the fact that you can see the blue disappearing ink marker I used to trace the doll :)

Haley was just happy that I let her play with the dolls during the photo shoot.

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