another t-shirt resized

Either my daughter has an abnormally long torso, or most kids' t-shirts are simply not made long enough. Either way, her belly seems to be peeking out half the time. Resizing adult t-shirts is the best way I've found to supply her with "long enough" t-shirts. One of my favorites is the yoga shirt. On this most recent t-shirt downsize, I tried out some new ideas.

 Shirring at just the back of the neck.

 

A tie from contrasting fabric with the ends sewn on the top and underside of the shoulder seam. Tied together, it makes a cute little scrunched sleeve.

Also, today is the last day to enter the giveaway!

wearing it out giveaway: pink cashmere

I've finished the first in our year of repurposing giveaways. The giveaway winner sent me this pink cashmere sweater set that was too small for her, envisioning something with short sleeves for her five-year-old, lover of all things girly, daughter.

This is what I sent back to her.

The socks are a bit of an experiment. (I've rescued socks with holes in them before, turning them into smaller socks, but making them out of sweater sleeves is new territory for me.) I couldn't let those deliciously soft sleeves go to waste. Hopefully she'll let me know how they hold up.

I thought the pink needed something to offset it, so I embroidered some dandelion seeds in pale yellow.

Here's to wearing it out!

an extra leisurely tutorial

This jumpsuit is, by far, my favorite thing to put on my baby these days. The sweater I started out with just happened to be perfect, making this quite a leisurely project indeed. Chances of finding a sweater exactly like this one for repurposing purposes is unlikely, yes, but the general method can be tweaked depending on the style of sweater you are using.

This is the sweater I began with.

I left the collar untouched. The length was also perfect for my baby's length, so bottom was finished as well. I laid a pair of my son's pajamas over the sweater (centered over the zipper and collar) to get an idea of the width, inseam, and armhole size. The white lines below show the places I cut into the sweater.

Next, I cut out a circle to add a bit more room for his big diaper bum.

I pinned it to the crotch of the back piece, right sides together, and stitched it about halfway around. (Note: on all seams, I sewed a straight stitch first, then used a zigzag stitch over top to keep edges from unraveling and to make the seams stronger.)

This is what the back looks like once the circle is sewn on.

Next, sew the side seams, right sides together, up to the armholes.

Measure the circumferences of the armholes. Cut two strips this length, and about 1 1/2 inches wide.

Fold the strip in half, right sides together, and stitch the short ends together. You will use this as a binding for the armholes. Pin this, right sides together, to the armhole.

Sew the binding to the armhole. Turn the jumpsuit inside out, turn under the edge of the binding, and pin it to the inside of the armhole.

Whip stitch the turned under edge to the inside of the armhole.

Finish the inseam as you like: snaps for diaper changing ease, simply sewn shut, or, as I opted for, a zipper! (I'm now wondering why all baby inseams don't have zippers - so much easier than fumbling with snaps as my baby frantically tries to crawl off to his next adventure.)

The embroidery on the back was such fun. And, in fact, quite leisurely. I just freehanded it (the little knits all throughout the garment were kind of like grid lines to keep my lines more or less straight). This was my inspiration.

extra leisurely suit

Ah, leisure suits. Or, even better, leisure jumpsuits!

image source

For my baby, who is just about as leisurely (and dashing) as any of those classy people from the 70s, here is the epitome of comfort and style. Whether contemplating what to order for lunch,

or composing a little music,

 he'll be doing it all in a cozy wool jumpsuit, repurposed from a Goodwill sweater.

 

With some city row houses embroidered on the back for good measure.

Tutorial forthcoming...

as girly as we get around here

When my daughter discovered this t-shirt in my pile of potential sewing projects fresh from the thrift store, the purple-sequined bird silhouette immediately caught her eye.

"Is this for me??"

I had recently made her a rash of t-shirt concoctions out of shirts that didn't look particularly girly. My daughter, who I've tried so hard to steer away from princesses and all things frilly, was dying for something a little prettier. She requested a dress and I got to work on it. This one took me all of about half an hour. I cut down the sides, then used those strips as a yoke to gather the shirt onto. I then cut off the bottom, decreased the width of it a bit, then gathered the bottom of the dress back onto it.

 Girly enough, yet still suitable for romping about in the park.

 

 

downsizing (a sock redemption tutorial)

 

I admit it. I have a problem letting things go. It's hard for me to say, "This item is completely unusable. Its time has come. Let it go, for heaven's sake!" A pair of ratty pants, patched multiple times, finally given up on and put in the trash... oh, the immense guilt that ensues!

Yes, there is the option of turning clothing past its prime into rags, but I always think, "There must be some way to keep this usable as clothing."

I happen to like socks. Knee high socks. Argyle ones in particular. My recent admission that I do not mend socks means that I regularly have to throw out socks that are perfectly fine everywhere except the bottoms. I have a few long argyle ones that developed holes long ago that I never wear, yet haven't mustered the courage to put to rest in the trash can.

 

As I was about to finally man up and throw these away the other day, I realized there might be a chance to save them. I put one on my 3-year-old and pinned it so that it comfortably fit her little leg. I then took it off and cut along the pins, leaving the top of the cuff intact.

Next I pinned the sock, right sides together, and using a straight stitch I sewed the side seam until the heel, leaving the bottom part open. I went over it again with a zigzag stitch for added durability. I then trimmed the seam close to the stitching to reduce bulk.

I had my daughter put the sock on again to check the fit, then traced around her foot. I cut out a new bottom for the sock, using two layers of a knit fabric and adding about 1/2" around the tracing.

I then pinned the new bottom to the sock, right sides together, stitched around it (again with a straight stitch first and then a zigzag stitch), and trimmed the seam. And there they were: a cute pair of knee-high argyle socks for my little girl.

I am not blind to the fact that remaking socks is a perilous journey to undertake. My children regularly go into hysterics because the toe seam of their socks is slightly skiwampus. I have a few more pairs of great argyles dying to be put back into circulation. Perhaps I'll skip the bottom altogether next time and simply make some little leggings. My daughter said these downsized socks felt "a little funny", but she happily wore them as we played at the park surrounded by the glory of autumn.

 

(I hadn't thought of matching the pattern at the back when I cut out the socks, but I imagine it could be quite easily done.)