wardrobe refashion: the first of many t-shirts

You know you’re getting old when the phrase, “They don’t make them like they used to…” creeps into your conversations. But seriously, can someone explain to me how my Gap t-shirts from college are still going strong almost 20 years later, but t-shirts from the past few years are falling apart?
I have this grand [...]

wardrobe refashion: pj pants to nightshirt

When I was at my craft weekend away, one of my friends was serging a nightshirt for her daughter. Another friend was making dresses out of t-shirt scraps. I blame them for this crazy idea: a nightshirt out of a pajama top and bottom scraps.

This was a lot cuter in my head and my sketches [...]

wardrobe refashion: lollipop shirt

My daughter was absolutely devastated that her lollipop shirt had gotten too small. (Yes, devastated—three-year-old drama is so… dramatic!) So I did what any sewing mama would do: appliqué.

I used heat-n-bond and reinforced it with a zig zag stitch. My only mistake was leaving the extra heavy duty needle in the machine. I hope these [...]

wardrobe refasion:
adding long sleeves to a t-shirt

I was putting away laundry in my daughter’s dresser and found her preschool t-shirt. I can’t remember the last time it was warm enough to wear short sleeves. I don’t think it’s even been worn once. I decided to add some long sleeves so she can wear it before she outgrows it.
(I know [...]

thrifty finds: advent calendar

What a busy week! I’ve been overwhelmed by all of the nice comments and entries on my giveaway. Y’all are so sweet. Thanks!
I’ve also been kicking it into high gear for the holidays. Unfortunately, that means it’s hard to show you work-in-progress pictures. I’ve knitted quite a few gifts over the past year and spent [...]

how to add adjustable elastic to kids’ pants
in 5 easy steps

My daughter is growing like a weed, except she’s only growing up, not out. She’s got 4-5T legs and a 3T waist. That means that most of the pants we find that are long enough won’t stay up.
I try to only buy pants with an adjustable waist, but sometimes I come across a great deal [...]

my creative space

In my creative space today is an unfinished tutorial. I was hoping to have it posted this week. (Sorry, Amy!)
If you follow me on Facebook, you know that was feeling a bit like a mending rock star last week when I figured out how easy it is to add adjustable elastic to kids’ pants. [...]

a little bicycle mending

This summer we bought our daughter a cute bike from our neighbor’s garage sale. My husband is planning to take the pedals off and make it a balance bike. My job was to mend the handle bar cover, which was torn.
Using my trusty seam ripper, I picked out the hem and removed the velcro. With [...]