Stains: Frustration or Inspiration?

      Awhile back we were using gentian violet to treat J's thrush.  If you have ever used this stuff before, you know how badly it stains.  If you have not; there is no describing it.  The tiniest speck makes a dark purple blotch the size of a silver dollar.  So you can imagine what my bathroom looked like after

I 

dropped 

the

whole

bottle.

       Strangers were asking me what happened to my hands for a week.  I had to wear jeans in 90 degree weather because of the purple blotches and streaks running down my legs.  Eventually I went back to normal.  And after about 3 weeks and hours of scrubbing I got most of the purple off the sink and the tile floor.  (The few places it got in the grout are still there.)  I threw out the rug and the hand towel.  I repainted the wall behind the sink.  Pretty much everything was looking good, except for this:

  

several purple spots along the bottom of the shower curtain.  

I didn't want to buy a new curtain just for those little spots.  Too expensive, besides, it took me forever to find this one that I liked, I didn't want to try looking again!  

So I turned this

 

Into this

And now I like it better than ever!  That touch of purple was just what I needed to liven up the bathroom a bit.  Add a few new towels (we're long overdue for new ones anyway!) in a deep purple, and it'll look that I planned it from the start.

Want to add a few floral embellishments to something of your own?

Here's How I Did It:

Choose a couple of ribbons to go with your project.

Those purple blotches got me thinking purple, so I choose a lavender and a deeper purple for my flowers, and a shade of green that matched the stitching on the shower curtain.  I chose several different textures too.

Cut pieces of the green and pin them in place for your stems.  Heat seal the ribbons ends before you pin them down.  Be sure you're going to cover your stains!

 When you have them all in place, stitch over them with a narrow zigzag.

Now, cut smaller strips of your "flower" ribbon.  Don't forget to heat seal all the ends.  For very narrow ribbon, like my dark purple, just sew 1 line of gathering stitches down the middle.  For a little wider ribbon, it will be easier if you do two lines of gathering stitch.  Tack the stitches down on one end, so they don't pull through when you gather.

Gather and pin these pieces onto your "stems".

Stitch each of these down, using a very narrow zigzag.  

Clip and remove all your extra threads, and you're done!

I love a great deal!

Which is why yardsale-ing is one of my all time favorite Saturday morning activities!

Although if gas prices continue to rise, I may have to limit my route to only those yard sales within "little red wagon" range.

I've never been much of a sleep-in person, even before my 3 darlings made it an impossibility, so on Saturday, we're up and out with the birds, looking for the next priceless treasure, just waiting to be discovered and taken home for a dollar. And weekends when Steve has no meetings or other things to do, and I can escape without the little monsters, I mean, munchkins, are really great! Just me and the thrill of the hunt, footloose and fancy free (read, "the only seat belt I have to buckle is my own").

Take a look at the jackpot I hit this week!


Here's the list:
Child's upholstered rocking chair
Ann Taylor Loft dress
Boys leather sandals
Small fondue set
Glass beverage cooler, new in the box
Dozen children's books
3 embroidery hoops
6 sets of boys pajamas
2 2T girls outfits
6 women's tops (Ann Taylor, Abercrombie)
Solid oak cheval mirror


I don't remember the breakdown, all I know is I left the house with $25, and came home with all this! And completely broke for the week.

Toddler dress alteration

Here's a cute little dress of A's that was just too long. She kept tripping over the hem whenever she attempted to navigate the steps, or climb on her rocking horse, or chase her brother, or do any of the hundred other things that toddlers need to do!







Unfortunately, it's been at the bottom of the "do something about that"list. Until today! She woke up early from her nap and the other two were still sleeping (which never happens, she's my one dependable sleeper!) so she and I went out to the porch to play. I was sitting on the swing watching her explore without her brother around to compete with, and she nearly broke her neck trying to climb back up the step to show me something. So I popped the dress off, stepped inside, and in 10 minutes I had it back on her, problem solved! If I do say so myself, I really like the cute tucks, I think they add something that was missing in the original! And as she gets taller I can let them out one at a time to lengthen it little by little.








Here's what I did:
The hem had a little ruffle, which I didn't want to lose, and I certainly didn't want to remove and reapply! So I folded the dress up about 3 inches from the hem (wrong sides together) and made a line of stitching 1 inch from the edge. I then folded it up a little higher and made another 1 inch "seam". One more time, and there we were! I may actually add one more to take it up a little higher, we'll see how she does in it.

Tutorial: t-shirt to little girl's dress

Feeling inspired by this shirt tutorial I mentioned in a previous post, I may have gotten a little carried away by the knit flower embellishments.  But it's so easy and cute, and a great way to use all those t-shirts you never wear (or that your husband doesn't really need, right?)

So, here's a tutorial on how to turn an old t-shirt into an adorable toddler's dress in just one afternoon!

First, cut off the bottom of your t-shirt just under the sleeves.

Then, I cut along both sides of the graphic in the back to leave myself a large rectangle of solid blue. (If your shirt has no graphic, you can skip this step and use the whole thing.)  Once you have cut off the section you don't want, fold it in half, right sides together, and sew a new side seam.  (Be sure to use a stretch stitch and a ballpoint needle whenever working with knits!)  You should have a tube at this point, with the old shirt hem at the bottom and a raw edge at the top.

 Next, fold the tube in half, with the shirt hem at the bottom, and matching your sides.  (Notice I matched the side with no seam with the stitch line of the side seam, rather than the actual edge.)  Cut a small curve into the top side edge, about 1" in and 2" down.  This will be the arm hole.  Having your sides together ensures that the armholes are symmetrical.  

Next, take a look at your hem line.  I wanted the hem to be unfinished and curl up, so I cut off the bottom hem.  You can also leave it on for a more finished look!

Now, sew two lines of gathering stitch across both top edges, armhole to armhole.  Decide how wide you want the dress to be at the chest.  I measured across the top (armhole to armhole) of a onesie I knew fit her, instead of trying to measure a squirmy toddler!  I came up with 7".  Add an inch to that to allow for seam allowance.  That gave me 8".  Cut two pieces of ribbon your desired length and heat seal the edges.
Cut two more pieces of ribbon the length you want your straps (measure the onesie from the place you measured the chest, and add 1") and heat seal those edges too.

Now, pin the straps in place, and pin the other ribbon, raw edges even with the armhole edges, and about 1/2" from the top edge (covering the raw edge of the strap ribbons).  Pull the gathering stitches until the top edge is the same length as the ribbon.  Pin and stitch the ribbon down along both edges.
Repeat for the back.





It should now look like a little dress!

One more step and then the fun part.  Turn under about 1/2" along the armhole edge and sew it down with a stretch stitch, catching the raw edges of your ribbon.

Okay, here's the fun part!  Gather up all the scraps you cut off your t-shirt -- sleeves, tops, etc. and fuse two pieces of knit together with a double sided fusible webbing (I used wunder-under).  Trace whatever shape you want to use and cut out your flowers.  I cut a few out of another t-shirt too, to add a little more color.

Now, pin all those little flowers in place on the dress where you want them to be.  Stitch them down, putting a little pucker in the material if you want to give it more texture.
Trim your threads and you're done!
Stitch a pucker into any leftover flowers, clue them to a metal clip and you have a matching hair bow!

Now go play!

Like I said, they were so simple and cute that I may have gotten a little carried away one night when Steve was out of town.  I used several maternity tops someone had given me that were much too big.  (Much more feminine colors than any t-shirts I could find in Steve's drawer.)  Also, instead of the gathering stitch and ribbon across the top I finished my armhole edges first and then folded down an inch along both top edges to make a casing for a ribbon.  This "drawstring top" makes it much more adjustable, so they can go in my stash for gifts for any size little girl!

 

 

I tried embellishing a couple plain little onesies too, cutting up stained onesies for the flowers.

  

Try one next time your little ones are napping!

Tuesday again

If you're a stay-at-home mom, like I am, you've probably heard something like this before -- "I wish I could stay at home and watch TV all day like you do!  Seriously, what do you do all day?"
So today I was thinking, "What DO I do all day?"  By the time I fall in to bed each night, I really can't seem to think of a thing I actually have to show for my day!  SO, today I thought I'd try to keep track and see what I came up with...

5:30 am Wake up because the baby is NOT crying.  Check to see if she's still alive.  She is, but I can't get back to sleep.  Why do Daddies never have this problem?
6:30 am A cup of coffee and a long quiet time with my Savior leaves me feeling refreshed and strengthened, ready for anything.  A shower with no children in the bathroom is wonderful too.  It's going to be a great day!
7:15 am Send Steve off to work with a nice lunch and a good breakfast.  Feeling great!
7:20 am Hear noises from the girl's room and go to get them up.  They both have had diarrhea and need baths and all their bedding washed.  While I'm working on that, JL trys to pour himself juice and spills it all over the kitchen, then lets the cat in, who walks through the puddle and tracks it around.  My "mother's helper" is going to be here in just a little more than an hour and I still am not dressed and no one has had breakfast.  I want to go back to bed already!
8:55 am My "mother's helper" arrives. I have everyone in the kitchen eating oatmeal, the messes all cleaned up, laundry started, animals fed, house tidy and I'm dressed.  The baby's still just wearing a diaper, but all in all, not bad. 
9:15 am Send the kids outside to play with my sweet "helper", nurse the baby again, and tuck her in for a nap. Make myself another cup of coffee.  Sure would be nice to have a french press that could make more than one cup at a time.  But then I'd probably drink too much coffee.
9:43 am Pull out my sewing things and try to decide what to do with my morning.  There is a pile of mending, which is necessary but a tedious use of my precious 3 hours!  Or I could start that new project I've been so excited about...  I decide to do the mending quickly and then have more room for a new project.  (My "craft room" consists of a dresser in JL's room, a large tray-style basket, and my kitchen table.)
11:12 am The mending took longer than I wanted it to, but I feel very virtuous.  Decide there is plenty of time to be starting something new before lunch.  (Yes, everything has to be cleared off the table before the kids can eat.)  Pull out my new project.
11:17 am Wonder about that awful smell coming from the bags of potatoes Steve dug a few weeks ago.  Investigate and find that in one bag one has gone bad and is rotting all over the ones around it, inciting more rotting in its neighbors.   Sort them all out, putting the good ones in a new bag, the sketchy ones in the sink, and the rotting ones in the compost.
11:40 am Get a call from my mother with some terrible news about a good family friend.  Spend some time crying and praying. My mother's helper's mother comes to pick her up and prays with me.   Baby wakes up.  Mop up, put away the sewing, and get the kids lunch.
12:30 pm Change more diapers.  Put A down for a nap and let J play on the kitchen floor naked to dry out her awful diaper rash.
12:55 pm Work on catechism and a reading lesson with JL.  He read "This cat is sick.  This cat is sad." all by himself today!  We're interrupted when the baby has diarrhea again, all over the kitchen floor.  Clean up again.
1:46 pm Everyone is quiet. A is still sleeping, J and JL are "building a train" in JL's room.  (J is wearing a diaper again!)  Decide to pull my project back out and try again.
2:50 pm Am really getting interested in my project when the baby crawls into the mudroom and starts to eat dog food. Get her and realize that it's almost 3! Where has the time gone? And why did J never go down for her afternoon nap! Too late now.
Get all the sketchy potatoes cleaned and peeled and some ready for dinner. The rest I put in my biggest pot to make a huge batch of potato soup for the freezer.
3:20 pm Realize that A is still sleeping. Briefly consider waking her so she'll go to bed well tonight. Laugh at myself for such a ridiculous idea as disturbing a perfectly peaceful moment. Instead, leave JL to entertain the baby and go out to pick beans for dinner.
3:55 pm Come back in to find that A is awake and screeching because JL locked her in. J has rolled under the couch and is crying. JL is nowhere to be found. After the girls are calmed down, JL is found outside riding his “motorcycle”. He was coming to get me and got distracted. Another round of clean diapers.
4:15 pm Start dinner and snap the beans, along with my two “helpers”. JL is actually getting to be fairly useful. A... not so much. I give her her own bowl so that I can go over all her beans and pull out the stems later.
4:45 pm Have everything on for dinner. Go outside to bring in the girl's clean bedding from the line. JL comes after me carrying the baby. Rescue the baby. Go back inside and work on getting the house tidy before Steve gets home. J is complaining loudly about her lack of an afternoon nap. Blanch and freeze the rest of the beans one handed. Finish dinner one handed.
5:30 pm Dinner. More or less. In between feeding the baby, picking up dropped forks, cutting meat, mopping up spilled water, and telling JL to eat.
6:25 pm Start cleaning up while Steve gets the girls ready for bed. JL is still staring at his dinner, but not really eating it.
6:45 pm Cuddle with A and then nurse the baby while Steve reads stories and says prayers. 
7:00 pm Back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up, finish the potato soup and freeze it, water my plants and the garden (and halfheartedly pull a few weeds while I'm setting up the sprinkler), and carry the scraps to the chickens.
8:10pm Snuggle with JL for a “few minutes” after his Daddy tucks him in.
8:20 pm The house is so quiet! Work on some stuff for the church nursery and our Bible study group. Order more diaper liners from Amazon, but get distracted picking out the french press I want for Christmas. Talk to Steve about plans for the fall.
9:45 pm Look back over my notes of what I did today. Think about going to bed early, but instead waste an hour here.

So what did I do today?  I'd have to say I'm still really not sure!

Blouse refashion

I've had a top in my closet for months that I really like, with its dusty blue floral print and crochet-look lace trim.  But I never wear it because it's much too low for my nursing self to ever wear in public!

    I really don't understand why for so many clothes the only "size" they change for larger sizes is the circumference. The little triangles that are supposed to cover you don't get any bigger, just a little wider!  The same thing is true for shoes -- a 4 inch heel is the same 4 inches in a 9.5 as it is in a 6, even though for the size 6 you are practically wearing pointe shoes!  Whatever happened to proportions?

Enough of that, and back to the top.  So, I bought this top  (clearance rack, $1) in a large, thinking that it would cover a little more, but instead all I got was an ill-fitting, indecent shirt that looks cute on the hanger and never leaves the hanger.
Have any tops like that?
Well, I decided to do something about it.  Feel free to follow along with your own!

Notwearable to Wearable: Blouse Refashion

I started with the top I liked and dug through my husband's t-shirts until I found one in a coordinating color. I decided that he didn't really need this t-shirt anymore.

Next, I cut the blouse along the waistline, first removing the little bow.  After I had the upper part removed, I cut up the side seams, so I had two roughly triangle pieces and a long rectangle.  You won't use the rectangle. (I stuck that in my scrap pile, I'm sure I'll find some use for it one of these days...)
























  Now, set that aside and pull out your "borrowed" t-shirt.  Cut this off under the arms, or as high up as you can get without getting that graphic in there.

Cut this in half up the middle, and cut along the sides, so you now have 4 large rectangles all the same size

Out of the left-over parts of the shirt, cut two 4 1/2" x 5" squares.  These will be your shoulder pieces.

 

Now, sew two line of gathering stitches along the tops of your 4 large rectangles.

Gather them and pin the along the 4 1/2" sides of your shoulder pieces.  Sew.

You should have two pieces that look like this:

Press and top stitch for a neater look.

Now, fold the piece in half along the middle of the shoulder piece, right sides together, and sew up one side of each of these pieces to make your underarm seam, starting at the bottom and sewing towards the shoulder piece; I made mine seam 7" long.

You should now have two bodice halves.  Drape these over your shoulders (or those of a handy dummy.  I used Cordelia; you could use a friend, or a sister; don't use your husband.  You need...well, you know...curves.)
Pin the two halves together in the middle, front and back, overlapping it as much (or as little, but we're going for more modest here!) as you desire.

 

Now, wrap a tape measure or string around her "waist", just under the bust or wherever you want the waistline to be, and mark this line, pulling the fabric down so it lies nicely over the bust and back, and is gathered under your string.  Somehow I don't have a picture of the string on there.  The bottom edge will look very uneven.

 Mark this line (I used pins because my "helper" had run off with my marking pencil.) and cut off the extra fabric about 1" below your marking.

Pin this bottom edge (the two halves of the bodice still overlapping as you pinned them) to the top of the bottom half you cut off the original blouse, right sides together.  Sew.  Press the seam allowance toward the bodice and topstitch this down 3/4" from the first seam to make a casing; leaving a small opening to insert your elastic.  

Wrap a piece of elastic around your waist, just under the bust, stretching it just a bit.  Add 2" and cut.  Thread this through the casing, overlap the two edges together by 2 inches, sew them together, and let the whole thing pull back into the casing.  Finish your top stitching to complete the casing.

You now have a completed new blouse!  Time for the embellishments.  

Remember those two little triangle pieces you cut off at the beginning?  Trim those raw edges so they make a gentle curve from edge to edge.

Now, pin this along the shoulder of your blouse, right sides together, matching the center of the triangle with the center of the shoulder piece. 

 

Sew this down.  Press and top stitch for a neater look.

And that little bow you cut off?  Sew that down in the middle of the front again!

There you go!