Sail Away Dress Sew-Along Sneak Peek

Since the Button Down Rehab series ended, I've been hinting around that I have another mystery piece of clothing that I made out of a button down shirt. You're all probably like, "Yeah whatever, she's been talking about this hypothetical piece of clothing for weeks now. Shut up and give us a tutorial already."  Or maybe you're tired of button down shirt projects?

Well either way, I have one more for you my dear bloggy friends!

I've had this dress done since the end of BDR, it just turned out to be a monster of a tutorial because I take a ton of pictures and try to explain things as much as possible, so I decided to share it with you in several parts as an impromptu sew-along beginning Monday morning.

I hope you don't mind.

I've been loving all the nautical-themed stuff out there, so I decided to make this dress with lots of reds and blues, and of course stripes. Can you ever have too many stripes?


Or blueberries for that matter?

And the greatest part is that the fabric came from 2 men's button down shirts I had laying around (thanks hubs!) so besides the buttons and the tiny piece of elastic thread, the dress was basically free.

And boy do I love free things.

If you want to plan ahead and join me for my little sewing soiree, you'll need just a few supplies: 2 button down shirts to cut up, 3 buttons, some scraps of knit fabric for the sash, and 2 inches of 1/4 inch elastic or elastic thread.

That's it!

I'll even show you how to make your own pattern in 3 easy steps! How's that for an attention-grabbing infomercial? Are you intrigued?

I hope you'll join me for the Sail Away Dress Sew-Along next week.

Grab your stuff, I'll see you back here Monday!

Linking up to THESE great sites!

King of the Sandcastle Shirt {a Silhouette project}

After making a shirt for Haley using my Silhouette, I got brave and decided to give the Silhouette a challenge. I chose a more detailed image for an applique to see if it could cut out tiny details on fabric.

Oh yeah, it can.

On a completely unrelated note, are you loving the baby mohawk? People think we shave his head that way, but it just grows that way somehow. I tell people he was just born cool. It's a burden he'll just have to learn to bear as he gets older :)

Using the flocked heat transfer material, which Silhouette so sweetly included in my prize bundle, I ironed on some wording then used my Silhouette to cut out and iron on some fabric for a sandcastle applique.

Here's how you can make one too!

Supplies:

• White flocked heat transfer material
• Fabric for the sandcastle
• Small scrap of fabric for the flag
• Iron
• Silhouette or X-Acto knife and cutting mat
• Sewing machine and thread
• You can download the King of the Sandcastle Silhouette Studio template found HERE

Step 1: Create your wording.

You can download the Silhouette Studio file for the King of the Sandcastle Shirt HERE. If you don't have a Silhouette, no worries! Just google "sandcastle" and you can find plenty of images to print and trace onto fabric to make your sandcastle and wording.

If you want to make everything from scratch, use Silhouette Studio to create your wording. I typed "king of the sandcastle" roughly 5 1/2 inches wide and 2 1/4 inches tall. Next, I inverted the wording so when I ironed it on my shirt it would read correctly.

I positioned a square of my flocked heat transfer material on the sticky cutting mat and sent it through the Silhouette using the pink blade to cut it.

When I peeled away the negative space, this is what my wording looked like. Use tweezers to remove the little pieces inside the lettering.

Step 2: Make your sandcastle

To make the sandcastle, I used the "Echo Park Sandcastle" design from the Silhouette store and sized it to fit my shirt (approximately 4 inches tall by 4 inches wide). I wanted to cut the flag out of a different color of fabric, so I ungrouped everything by right clicking on the castle and choosing "ungroup," then I moved the flag away from the rest of the sandcastle so I could cut it out of different fabric.

Next, iron on some sewable interfacing to the back of the fabric you want to use for your sandcastle. Make sure the interfacing is an inch or so larger than you want your final image to be. For example, my sandcastle was 4"x4", so I Ironed on a 5"x5" piece of interfacing to the back of my fabric. Repeat with the fabric you're using for your flag. Cut out and remove the paper backing.

Step 3: Cut out your sandcastle and flag.

Follow the instructions for cutting out fabric on your Silhouette. Place your fabrics on the sticky carrier sheet with the right sides facing up and the interfacing down on the carrier sheet. Make sure you pay attention to the positioning of your fabrics relative to your design in Silhouette Studio. You want to make sure your fabric is lined up where your design is located in Studio so the Silhouette will cut your fabric in the correct places. I like to double cut my fabric to make sure I have clean edges.

Send your carrier sheet through the Silhouette for cutting.

Remove the negative space around your sandcastle. Use tweezers to remove those little pieces of fabric in the windows.

Step 4: Iron on your images.

Position your sandcastle and flag where you would like them on your shirt.

Follow the instructions on your interfacing to iron on your sandcastle and flag. Mine said to place a damp cloth on top of my image and iron.

Once ironed on, stitch around the perimeter of your sandcastle and flag. Usually, applique is sewed on with a zig-zag stitch, but I chose to use a straight stitch because I wanted the edges to fray a little to give it some personality.

For your wording, position your words with the shiny side up (the letters should be right reading now) on top of your shirt and using a hot iron on the "cotton" setting, place a washcloth on top of your image and iron for the amount of time indicated on the your interfacing instructions. Silhouette flocked transfer material suggests 45-60 seconds.

Tah-dah!

Every man needs to be king of some kind of castle, right?

It's a great little summer shirt, even if you don't have a beach (*sigh*)

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

I Love Shoes Shirt {a Silhouette project}

My daughter is obsessed with shoes. I'm pretty sure she has more than I do, and for a 2-year-old, that's saying a lot. One of her favorite words is "shopping," and if we make our way to the shoe section, you can be sure she'll find the most glittery, pink pair of shoes she can find.

I think we have a future shoe addict on our hands and with the way she has her daddy tied around her little finger, this could mean major trouble for our budget.

When I won my amazing Silhouette from Grosgrain back in May, I couldn't wait to try it out. This baby has made my life SO much easier, I don't know how I ever lived without it! For my first Silhouette project, I decided it was time to take my daughter's shoe obsession public. I got my inspiration from a friend of mine who bought her daughter an adorable shirt from Target that said "I {heart} shoes" on it with flats embellished with a flower. I decided to do something similar to that.

This shirt is a relatively quick project and requires very little sewing.

Supplies:

• T-shirt
• Silhouette smooth iron on transfer material
• 2 colors of fabric scraps
• 2 small buttons
• Needle and thread
• Sewable interfacing
• Sewing machine and thread
• Silhouette
• Iron

Step 1: Create your image and wording in Silhouette Studio and cut out.

I used Silhouette Studio to create and flip my "i love" wording in BLANK FONT so it's backwards (when you iron it on, it'll read correctly.) Next, I modified the "Shoes with Flowers" design that I purchased from the online Silhouette store by removing the flowers on the shoes and creating a more rounded toe area  since I wanted to create my own embellishment later.

Following Silhouette's instructions, cut out your image and wording, then remove any negative space you don't want ironed on your shirt. Use tweezers to remove those little extra bits that are hard to get.

Step 2: Iron on your image.

Position your image and wording with the shiny side up on top of your shirt.

Follow the heat transfer instructions to attach your image to your shirt.

Step 3: Create your flower embellishments.

To create your flower embellishments, you can either cut out some circles by hand, or let your Silhouette do it for you (which is what I did.) You'll need 2 colors of fabric scraps big enough to cut out 2 1-inch circles from.

Iron some sewable interfacing to the back of your fabrics according to the interfacing instructions and remove the paper backing. If you're using a Silhouette, position your fabric scraps on the sticky carrier mat, interfacing side down, and use your Silhouette Studio to draw and cut out 4 1-inch circles: 2 from each fabric. If you're cutting by hand, trace and cut out 2 1-inch circles from each fabric.

Using pinking shears, cut around the edges of 2 of your circles to make decorative edges.

Step 4: Iron and sew on your embellishments.

I didn't take a picture of this step because it's pretty self-explanatory, but stack one of the circles you trimmed with your pinking shears on top of one of the other circles (as shown above) and place on top of one of your shoe images. Place a towel on top and iron on according to the interfacing instructions. Sew around the perimeter of your circles to secure to the shirt, and hand sew a button on top.


Repeat this process to embellish your second shoe (see below.)

Now Haley can wear her obsession proudly.

And we can be reminded of where all of our money is going.

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

"I'm with the muggle" HP shirt tutorial

Have you seen the newest Harry Potter movie? I'm sure all of you probably have, most of my cash goes to my kids so movies are hard to come by these days unless they come from Redbox. I will unfortunately have to wait until the movie comes out on DVD to watch it (or maybe go the old fashioned route and read the book - I've read all but the last one!) I do, however, have a friend who is a giant Harry Potter fan and who has gone to every midnight showing of the Harry Potter series so far.

I think the midnight showings would be fun to go to just to people watch. You know the people who go that late/early are undying Harry Potter fans. For some reason, I imagine a theater full of costumed people yelling spells at each other from across the theater, popcorn flying everywhere. I kinda wish I had gone to the midnight showing just to people watch.

Being the last movie in the HP series, I just had to make my friend a Harry Potter shirt, so we decided to go the freezer paper route and whip one up. I wanted to do a play on the "I'm with stupid" shirt but with a Harry Potter theme, so I made a "I'm with the muggle" shirt.

Here's a quick refresher on how to make a shirt using freezer paper stenciling (which is one of the easiest ways to make a great looking shirt with minimal work - woo hoo!)

Supplies:

• T-shirt
• Fabric paint
• Freezer paper (found at the grocery store or Wal-Mart in the same aisle as the foil, baggies, etc.)
• Paint brush
• Iron
• X-Acto knife and mat

Step 1: Trace and cut out your letters.

First, go HERE to download the free Harry P. font. If you're using a craft cutter, type up your wording with an arrow underneath in the size you would like, then cut out your wording on the sticky carrier mat using freezer paper.

If you don't have a craft cutter, simply type up your wording (and add an arrow underneath) in a word document in the size you would like, then print out and place under your freezer paper. Trace the wording, then use an X-Acto knife to carefully cut out each letter on a cutting surface.

Make sure to remove the little paper bits you won't need, but hold onto the inside scraps in the e and letter g's (use tweezers if needed.) Using a hot iron on the "cotton" setting with no steam, Iron your freezer paper wording to the front of your shirt with the shiny side down.

 

Step 2: Apply your paint.

We had to represent for Gryffindor, so we mixed up some red and blue fabric paint to make maroon.

Before painting, make sure you insert some cardboard inside of your shirt so the paint won't leak through to the other side. Carefully paint your fabric paint onto your shirt, painting from the outside in so you don't jam paint outside of the stencil area.

Let dry for the amount of time stated on the bottle. You can heat set it with an iron if you want, I never do but better safe than sorry!

 Step 3: Peel off freezer paper and wear.

After you let your shirt dry for the allotted time, carefully peel off your freezer paper and wear! You can wash and wear as usual.

I totally screwed up and touched the wet paint and got a dot of fabric paint on my shirt....which is why I added a lightning bolt and the HP over the smudge. I kinda like it though.

PS, Rachel over at Maybe Matilda made a great Harry Potter-themed shirt too (check hers out HERE.) Nerds unite!

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

Button Down Rehab Day 9: Bib Dress

Today's BDR guest poster is Rebecca from Searching Out Simple.

Rebecca always makes adorable clothes for her son and little girls, so I knew she would come up with something awesome to share. ______________________

Hi! I'm Rebecca from Searching Out Simple. I have three kids, two dogs, an Army husband and a to-do list that will keep me busy for years if I ever get it all done. I love creating things for my home and family as well as gift giving. If I'm sewing or Mod-Podging things together you know there is a pile of laundry on the bed and stack of dishes in the sink. But a girl's gotta have priorities right? Right. ;)

I was so excited about Jen's BDR series and flattered that she asked me to guest post. My dress is somewhat inspired by a drop waist dress I saw at the store and thought "hey, I could make that for less than $5". I love a challenge. I hope my tutorial inspires even the beginning seamstress, that with enough determination {and maybe a few choice words} you can see a vision come to life and learn some lessons along the way.

*Disclaimer* I am still fairly new at making clothing. I have a lot to learn about clothing construction and this did not turn out to be a drop waist dress.

Supplies

* button down shirt {I used a short sleeve my husband didn't want}

* coordinating thread

* white or coordinating color cotton {1/4 should be enough}

* extra buttons {optional}

Step 1

First I put my trusty seam ripper to work and removed the sleeves, collar and pocket from the shirt. Set those pieces aside, you'll use some later. Fold what's left of the shirt in half and place a dress that fits on top, also folded in half. Trace around the dress leaving room for seam allowance. I believe most people use 5/8" seam allowance.

Step 2

Put right sides of dress together {I didn't cut the top of the sleeve so I just folded the dress in half at the shoulder with right sides facing). Fold the bottom of dress 1/4" two times to create new hem, press, pin and sew. {Ignore the horizontal stripe pieces shown here, this was an idea that didn't work out}. Do the same thing on the sleeves to hem. Then sew from the edge of sleeve to the bottom of dress on both sides.

Step 3

To create the bib I referred to this tutorial. Instead of one piece of white cotton I had two pieces so it could still button up to put on and take off. My pieces were 8"x12" with two inches for the button up center. I accidentally sewed my button hole to the inside piece instead of the outer piece so this dress buttons backwards on the top and I sewed a white ruffle to the top. As you can see, I wasn't very careful while cutting the bib shape, I thought I could cut it folded in half but it didn't come out evenly. Definitely trace a round object and cut along your line. I attached the bib to the button down like sewing an applique, next time I'd like to try a cleaner method.

The second picture shows a lesson learned. If you're sewing past your bedtime, triple check what you're doing before cutting fabric. I accidentally cut the back of the shirt while cutting the front for the bib. I pieced it back together and later sewed the tag that was on the inside to the outside, I thought it was something unexpected.

Step 4

Next came the ruffle at the bottom. I used two pieces of white cotton measuring 2" x twice the width of the dress bottom. I pressed & sewed a 1/4" hem on both sides of the strips then created the ruffle by sewing down the middle of each strip with my tension at the tightest setting and stitch length at the longest. Next, pin the first ruffle strip starting at one side of the front with the bottom of the ruffle lining up with the hem. Continue pinning the second ruffle overlapping slightly in the back and finishing up at the other side of the front. 

Step 5

Add a pocket! That pocket you set to the side before can be made new again. I made a gathered pocket method I've used before using this tutorial and put a piece of the collar along the top and some extra ruffle strip.

Step 6

The dress was fine without a collar but seemed a little unfinished. So I hemmed the rest of the old collar and sewed it to the inside of the neckline with a zig zag stitch, about 1/4" overlapping.

Step 7

I don't have pictures showing this step but I replaced all of the original buttons on this shirt. They were originally a shiny off white. My daughter chose tan for the buttons on the stripes, blue for the white {backwards} and I put a brown one on the pocket.

And there you have it!

A button down turned dress with a crooked bib, backward buttons, ruffle trim, functioning pocket and little collar. I would still like to add a little button and finishing technique that Jen shared on day 4 of BDR to the sleeves and maybe a little elastic in the back to hold it's shape better but those will have to wait.

I really do love how this dress turned out, though during the process it was one of those things that makes me want to poke myself with a needle in the eye. If you make a dress using this tutorial I'd love to see the finished product! Thank you for having me Jen!

____________________________________________

Thanks, Rebecca!

I've seen so many cute bib shirts and dresses out there, this is definitely something I'll have to try for my daughter. If you haven't already, make sure to check out Rebecca's site, Searching Out Simple, and share some love.

 

Tomorrow will be the final post in the Button Down Rehab series. I kind of can't believe it, my life has been so full of button down shirts for the past month! I hope you'll drop by for the final post, it's a good one!

Click on the picture below to see the BDR projects you may have missed: