Could You Add Some More PINK?

I am finally posting the pictures of the little dress I made out of a favorite pin-tucked ruffled shirt. I asked Lylah if she would like mommy to make her a dress and she said yes and she wanted it pink. I had my eye on the cutest fabric at Joann's and used a coupon to get it 1/2 price. So excited about that!

So I got the fabric and sewed all night...literally. I went to bed at 4 am!! I sewed a skirt onto the top to make the dress. I put in tiny box pleats and made a little belt finished off with vintage yellow buttons. When I got Lylah up the next morning she was tired and less than impressed. I showed her the dress and she said, "hmmm. Could you add some more pink?"


Unfortunately it was too baggy and needed to be taken in a smidge. So I had to take off the whole skirt and belt, take in the top, add darts on the back, and sew the skirt and belt back on.

I also made knee high socks from a too small pair of tights. I used this tutorial from Ruffles And Stuff.

Here's the reveal.

The favorite shirt that was too short to wear anymore.
Added the box pleats and skirt. Added hot pink buttons and a ribbon belt but thought it looked too country.



Took off the country parts and added a belt and vintage yellow buttons. oh how I love vintage buttons!! Perfect!

Lylah wearing the dress and socks after the re-re-do. The shirt was taken in and darts were put in the back.

Fail

I was going to call this little post a craft fail...but as I looked at the pictures I chose to take of my kid wearing the craft fail, I see that there is more than just a "miss-craft" going on here.

There are fails on many levels.

1. Child standing on the dining room table (with shoes on, too)

2. She looks like she may either jump or fall off the table...and yet, I just keep taking the picture.

3. Child playing with keys and wearing a rather devious grin...

4. Child's lunch getting cold on the table because Mommy needs another picture.

5. She was allowed to write with a dry erase marker and no art smock. She got a permanent mark on her lower left side. WILL NEVER COME OUT!!

6. Good thing it was a fail in the craft department and I will have to scrap it and try again.

On to the craft fail portion...

I have seen tutorials on making your kid's too small t-shirts into a dress by adding a skirt. Looked easy. Looked fun. Seemed like a money saver. I thought I would give it a try.

But here's the catch, I just can't seem to do anything quick or easy. Why is this? I try to hard to make stuff look awesome and am never satisfied? Maybe. I cannot grasp the concept of "less is more?" Maybe. I am not really a sew-ist? Sometimes true.

Whatever the case, I made this wreck in about 5 hours. Yes 5!!!

WHAT?!! You may ask if I merely sewed a skirt onto a tee. Yes. I also made long sleeves into short elastic sleeves. And it was a bubble skirt. And I gathered a whole yard of fabric onto the skirt. A whole yard gathered up!! For a little one with a 20 inch waist!! I mean, over kill, right?!

I over gathered and the skirt looked silly, and too much, and dread!! HOMEMADE. (in a bad way)

But since she ruined the shirt, I am not going to attempt to fix this dress. I am going to un-gather the skirt and use the yard of cute fabric for a little sundress or shirt and shorts or something.

When it is done I will show you a non-fail. I might even photograph it in an more appropriate location, like the front yard. Smile.

Creating a Woodland Fairy from existing clothes

I thought I might do this blog in a psudo-tutorial way. But I forgot to take pictures at several key points. Oh well, I got it done! I started with a dress my mom sent Lylah for last fall. It is a bit too short now. She grew so much over the year. To make the dress an acceptable length I made a tulle topped twirl skirt to go under it,like a petty coat. I made a brown skirt first and then added the tulle in layers on top.THUS ENDS THE PICTURE STEP BY STEP PART I then made wings by recovering some other wings I had with panty hose and glitter and such. I made a system to hook the wings on under her dress so that you could not see the attaching place. It hooked through the button hole area in the back. I then made a belt of ribbon and put felt flowers on it. Next came the felt flowered head piece. ( TOOK FOREVER!!!) Lastly, I made the toadstool wand-- Her favorite part by far.
Ta Da! An interpretation of a woodland fairy ( on a $5 budget). Oh how I love this picture. This was the Thursday before Halloween. we were getting ready to go to school for our field trip to Trick-or-Treat around American Family Insurance. I love the cheeks here. I want to kiss them and eat them up. She used her wand as more of a cane or walking stick most of the time she held it.