New Refashions for Little Girls - Dresses/Skirts

I was away this weekend at my parents for Thanksgiving, so no sewing. I did however regift my mother's skort back to her in it's various forms. I still think the pig is quite hilarious. So moving on, I stayed at my sister's NEW HOUSE overnight and she was getting rid of a bunch of her clothing. Of course I took some of it to repurpose into fun and fabulous things. I don't know why but I am currently obsessed with little girls dresses and clothing so all three of these projects are for small girls.

The first is a ladies shirt which I made into a little girls summer dress. It was quite simple to do as I only changed the top of the shirt.

The dress ties in the back between the shoulders so that it can be adjusted to fit.

This is SO simple it is ridiculous. This was a ladies short summer skirt.

By gathering it together it is now a toddlers skirt. All season if you sew up some tights/leggings to go with it.

This last one is not finished yet but I couldn't help posting it today. Here you have a women's calf length blue velvet skirt.

And here we have a lovely but not quite done baby dress. The collar and sleeves need lace and I don't currently have anything in my sewing room that matches. Once the weather (hopefully) gets a tad warmer I may venture out to buy something suitable. Until then it remains in the unfinished project pile.

The Skort That Never Ends - Potholders Upcycled From Skort

So I am sure you are all laughing at me as I try to use up the remnants of this skort. You won't believe me either when I say that there are STILL remnants. I know, I find it hard to believe myself. While browsing the net I saw these cute quilted potholders at House on Hill Road and thought it might use up some of the short part of the skort. Well it did! My quilting did not turn our quite as nice as I would have liked but that is what I get for using a stretch cotton....

I know you all have seen what this thing looks like, but for posterity I am posting it yet again.

Two lovely quilted potholders! Both sides of the potholder are in the floral fabric. Since it is a lightweight fabric I used two pieces of denim with batting in between for each of the potholders. This will ensure that no one burns their hands when lifting that hot casserole from the oven.

And of course you can set that lovely casserole right on top to keep your counter/table free of burns. The potholder looks rather large in this picture but in reality it is only about 8x8. Stay tuned to see what I will do with the remaining scraps of skort.

Funny Bunny Stuffed Toy

I couldn't resist one more craft before going to bed tonight. I mean it's not like I can do this kind of stuff EVERYDAY or anything. Well that is actually true since I will be away at my parents for the Thanksgiving weekend. Regardless, I decided to do another stuffed animal for who knows what reason. I like bunnies and so I drew this crazy bean shaped pattern on paper and some long ears. It doesn't look much like a bean now since I used three bean shapes and then sewed them together. All of the fabric is from my stash.

Bunny on the edge!

So here is my funny bunny with huge floppy ears. I may or may not sew on a mouth.

Shy Bunny.

Caught on top of the stove, bunny is a little camera shy I guess. Those ears are almost as long as bunny!

I managed to snap this closeup while bunny wasn't paying attention. I machine sewed the eyes and nose on... no I do not have an embroidery machine but thanks for asking. Personally I think the choppy back and forth straight stitch gives it a certain something... I don't know what, but something.

Skort Upcycle 2 - Refashioned Into Apron

As you know I still had loads of this Skort left from my Piggy post. Looking at the back portion of the skirt it occurred to me that it would make a cute and functional apron what with the existing pockets and all. I didn't take photos during but loads of after pictures. I used the hem around the short portion to make the tie.

Pretty easy all in all!

The Old Skort...again! :)

New Apron!

Apron Tie

The waistband contrast fabric is a nice added touch.

Pocket Detail.

The pockets are actually zippered, I guess in case you think you might lose something while cooking.

Do people actually put spatulas in their aprons? It looks like it might be a messy idea...

Flat, folded.

I am really happy with the way that this turned out! Now I should make a mini matching apron for the little piggy. I am only kidding, that would be overkill for sure. Although there are STILL the shorts from this skort to use up. It never ends.

Cute Little Piggy Upcycle Made From an Old Skort

Today as I was browsing the wide world of blogs I saw a cute stuffed monkey that someone had made. Well of course I got the urge to make a stuffed animal myself. In my room full of fabric/clothing/etc. I found this old Skort which my mum had given me along with other old clothing. I had found this really fun (and FREE) pattern online by Runo. I knew right away that I was going to make a floral pig. Well I must say that while I am pleased with my little piggy, it is not nearly as good as those displayed in the tutorial. I'm sure practice makes perfect. That snout was sure tricky!!

The Skort. I only used the front skirt panel for this pig so I have lots of fabric left over.

Side view of my precious little pig. His back leg is not really squared off, I think it is just how he is sitting on the couch.

Oink! The snout was tricky, but this pig is also a lot smaller than the site actually tells you to make it. Ideally you should use A4 paper when printing the pattern but my printer does only standard sheets and I haven't got access to a photocopier at the moment. Super cute nonetheless!

Plain Jane Kitchen Chairs Made New

We have had these kitchen chairs for almost three years now, stock from Ikea, and I was starting to get a bit tired of them to be honest. They were a bit scuffed and the screws in the legs made them look cheap. I started by covering the screws and any of the cracks with wood filler and sanding it down. Two of the chairs needed additional wood filler so I left them on the deck and began painting on the remaining two. I must say that I made a bit of a mistake with the white paint I bought for this project. If I could do it all again I would pay more money for a better paint. I purchased BEHR for my other project and would recommend it to anyone. It required only one coat whereas this white paint has had about three coats already! Well I guess you learn something new everyday.

Old chair with wood filler.

Two bright white chairs.

All that is left is to sew some new cushion covers for these chairs. Oh and do something about the pitiful table they are now sitting around. The table had a bit of an accident when we were moving here... now there is a big chunk missing...

Fall 2009 Outfits - Lots of leggings!

A couple of the outfits I have been wearing since being home. It is getting chilly out there! I was hoping there would be a few more days of summer left before winter. Alas it seems it is not so.

Friday:

My own skirt (see Refashions), BCBG Max Azria tank top, Ginger G black shirt, Tights I have had FOREVER, Spring boots, Silver Drop necklace H&M, Clover necklace heirloom from my Great Grandma.

Saturday:

NAOT boots, See You Monday leggings, H&M dress, XXI draped vest.

Sunday:

ECCO Boots, H&M Leggings, Clockhouse black dress (underneath), Thrift store purple dress, Handmade caribou antler necklace (fr. Whitehorse), Ginger G. black sweater.

Wednesday:

NAOT boots, random garage sale scarf, H&M dress, H&M leggings, blue knee high socks from Christmas. Also there was snow on the ground this morning. Horrible.

Small Bookshelf Before/After

In an attempt to make the living room more cohesive I am painting all of the beech coloured bookshelves a dark molasses brown. I honestly never liked the lighter colour of the wood but for some reason Aren does. Go figure. The first of the three to be painted is the smallest shelf. I am very pleased with the BEHR paint that I used. It covered so well without streaking. Well worth the money.

The beech shelf full of books.

Empty and ready for painting.

Painted shelf. What a diffference already!

Tada! One shelf down, two to go.

Plain Old Rocking Chair Before/After

I know it's not much different, but I really didn't like the beechy colour of the caning in this chair. I painted it white white white and it looks great!

Before

After

Tired Gold/Beige Lamp = Peppy Silver/White Lamp

As I mentioned in my previous post, Aren and I were looking for a floor lamp to redo last week. Well we wanted to paint it silver and were painting the other lamp in our bedroom silver as well. I don't have a before picture but it was a gold lamp (very standard) beforehand. I will be sure to post a photo of the old shade as well so you can get an idea what it was like.

Painting on the balcony.

The beige shade before.

White shade.

The finished lamp!

It is going to look so great once the whole bedroom is finished!! I can hardly wait to see everything all put together. It's just too bad we can't paint the walls.

Old Sewing Desk Chair - Refurbished with paint and fabric

Hello All! I have been away for 3 weeks at work, but I am back now. I am so excited to get working on all of my projects again. Of course I had some major ideas for new ones and am super stoked about that too. Aren and I were out shopping at the Thrift stores the other day looking for a floor lamp to redo when I saw these AMAZING sewing desks. Basically thy are desks wih sewing machines in them. Awesome. We bought two (I love you Aren) and I got to work right away. 

Sewing Desks.

Hideous Chair.

Painting on the Balcony.

TADA!!

I am really happy with the way that it turned out. The sewing desk to go with this one will be painted white as well, hopefully I will have that done soon and posted.