He Sowed She Sewed

I had my first real New Years Resolution test this afternoon.  I was returning a shirt I received from my sister at Old Navy.  Usually I would return the item, see how much I had to spend, and then go run amuck in the kids department.  But I could not do that because I am not buying any new clothes for my little girlies.

So I browsed through the women’s department but was not really that excited about anything.  Aleah and I meandered over to the kid’s section.  Big mistake.  There are so many adorable dresses, coats and even hats that were calling out to me “Buy! Buy! Buy!”  But I held strong, bought her a 25-cent bouncy ball, and left the store with my resolution still intact but faced with the realization that this is going to be really hard for me.

A particular dress I had to pry myself away from

Wool sweaters are almost impossible to find at thrift stores because of all the mittens and felt being made from them.  So I have a project that can be done out of those not very attractive, non-wool sweaters that fill our closets and resale shops: Pants!

These are so perfect for this time of year.  It has been about -30 this past week and sweater pants have been just the thing for the girls to wear on errands and other outings that do not require snow pants.

Start with an old sweater

Cut the sleeves off the sweater just before the shoulder seam

Cut the top of the sleeve so it is even on top. Then cut down into the sleeve. 12 inches from the crotch to the bottom. 18 inches from the top of the pant to the bottom leg of the pant

Line up the sleeves and pin the back together.

Sew along the pins and then do the same with the other side. Make sure you sew over the very bottom a couple times so they stay together.

Fold over the top of the pants and sew in about 17 inches of elastic.

Sew the elastic together and then finish off the waist seam so it is completely closed

And here is my fashion queen

My little ham

The pants actually fit both girls because Aleah (2 1/2 years) doesn't wear diapers. I can just roll up the pants a little on Sophia (10 months) and they work great for both girls

My goal this year, instead of losing 20 pounds or running a marathon, is to hand-make all of my daughters’ clothing.

They currently have clothes, some they received from Christmas gifts and others they have had for a while. Many of the clothes are almost too small for them and instead of going out to Target and browsing through the 75% off rack, thrifting, or even getting suckered into stepping into Gymboree (my favorite children’s clothing store, minus the prices), I will be sewing them.

For the past month or so I have been working on taking some of the shirts I’m sick of and transforming them into clothes for my oldest daughter. I am no seamstress but I am starting small and building my skills with lots of practice. Hopefully we can all develop our abilities and make some cute clothes along the way.

Here is a dress I made from a shirt that I really didn’t wear that much. It was pretty tight on me and was just taking up room in my closet. The shirt has a deep, earthy green that I thought would look amazing with my daughter’s blinding orange hair.

Cut off the sleeves, leaving about 1/2 an inch after the shoulder seam

Fold the extra sleeve fabric under and zigzag stitch all the way around.

Fold shirt inside-out then place the correct size dress on the top and pin around edges

cut off the excess fabric and you are set to go

The head band is simply one of the sleeves and the tie around her waist is the extra fabric from the bottom of my shirt

THE END