I love refashioning, taking something that already exists and getting at it with my seam ripper and making something from the pieces.  Not only is it rewarding but it helps with new sewers, you are able to reuse things that you are not good at yet, like hems, collars etc.

Little Boys Button Down to Toddler Tie Top – My son Bailor just made six, so he has a closet full of button down shirts that may have been worn 2 times each that are too small.  I used my seam ripper to take off the collar/top part of the shirt and the sleeves.  I ironed down an inch/inch and a quarter seam across the top of the back and front of the shirt.  I stiched up that seam and finished up the armholes with some biastape.  Last step is to make/thread the ribbon through the top pocket.  I used a basic cotton in a solid fabric but you could easily use ribbon as well.

To make the tie I took a long strip of the fabric probably about 4 inches wide and stiched up 2 of the 3 sides.  I turned it right side out then stitched up the end and threaded it through the top with a safety pin.  TaDa! There you have it, a new little top for Luna to wear with skinnies or leggings that will look so cute this spring and summer.  I will defeintely be making more of these out the outgrown shirts we have!

Little Boys Button Down to Patchwork Bubble Dress

The best thing about making clothes for a tiny girl is the fact that you don’t need much fabric! With the leftovers of this 4T button down (the sleeves mainly) and the left over purple fabric I used as the tie I was able to make an entirely different dress for Luna to wear.  I started with the long sleeve of the plaid button down with the cuff cut off.  I placed the button of the sleeve at the top to create a cute little V neck with button look.

I surrounded the sleeve panel in the front with two purple strips for the left and right of the front piece. I created a similar back piece in the oposite pattern, purple in the middle, plaid ont eh sides.  to finish up the top, I sewed a pocket to the top of the front and back pieces for my tie to go through and hemmed up the armholes and the sides.

Next I created a super easy bubble hem skirt by folding my purple fabric in half and stitching up the top seam with elastic thread.

Lastly I sewed the skirt to the top (be careful not to sew one piece inside out….I did this ) and create your tie or even use a ribbon to connect the top together.

Two new items for summer/spring out of one old button down and 1 yard of $2 fabric!

What do you think of the looks? Is this something you will try? If you do make sure and post a link to your photo/project in the comments or tweet/facebook/pintrest me about it!

-Drama mama out

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I am so stinking excited and proud of this sweet little tank dress I made for Luna.  I am very new to sewing and this is honestly the best looking thing that I have ever made.  I am not good with actual patterns so this little dress is a combo of online tutorials and improvisation.  I used this photo/tutorial for the inspiration of the ruffle, the back and the tank style but I am challenged when it comes to sleeves which is why I chose to keep mine sleeveless.

What you will need:

1/2 to 3/4 of a yard of fabric depending on your child’s size
coordinating thread
sewing machine/supplies
iron
double wide bias tape
skinny elastic
button

I started by creating a simple tank shape for the body of the dress.  Find the fold of your fabric and fold it again length wise  on the fold of the fabric so that I wouldn’t have to sew the straps together.  For Luna  I measured her chest (18 inches) and space from the top of her shoulder to her cleavage.

Once you cut the dress peice out you will be left with the front and back of the dress only connected by the straps.

The first thing I did (feel free to do it in whatever order you like) is create the ruffle peice for the front of the dress.  I took two rectangle peices of fabric to create this ruffle.  The first would remain whole to create the middle straight price and the other would be cut in half to make the two ruffle sides.  I started by cutting the part that would become the ruffle down the middle vertically.  I pressed a 1/4″ hem along 3 edges of these two ruffle peices leaving one long side raw.  Then I created the ruffle by runing a loose stitch along the raw long side. Create the ruffle by gently pulling on the strings from the loose stitch.

Rectangles for Ruffle

Once you complete this step you will need to create the middle part of the ruffle.  Press the large rectangle peice so that it has a 1/4″ hem around all 4 sides.  Pin the flat rectangle to the top of the two ruffles.  Run a seam down both sides vertically connecting the flat rectangle to the two ruffles.  TaDa the ruffle is done.

Now we will need to finish up the dress.  Turn the dress inside out and line the arm holes with double wide bias tape, pin and stitch.  Next pin up the side seams of the dress while its inside out and run a straight or zig zag stitch to close up the sides of the dress.  Cut any excess over the seam with picking shears.  Press your hem and stitch to your desired length.

Lastly we nee to connect the ruffle to the front of the dress.  Pin the ruffle to the top of the dress butt up against the raw neckline.  Stitch all the way around the flat rectangle trying to stay very closely to the same stitch lines you used before.  Next up cut a small slit into the back of the neckline straight down to create an easier opening for your little one’s head.  Fold the edges of your slit into the inside of the dress and trim and pin the entire neckline and back V with the same bias tape as the arm holes.  Stitch all the way around the neck and back V to finish off the dress.

I added a small elastic loop and button on opposites sides of the V in the back to hold it together but this is completely optional.

Close up of ruffle

Isn’t this adorable? There are so many possibilities for this sweet little ruffle dress.  Do you think you will try this dress? If you do please post a link to your photo in the comments.

-Drama mama out

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Bailor, my 6 year came home last week with an assignment to create an art project made only of recycled materials. After racking our brains we decided to create a Pintrest favorite, melted crayon art.

We opted to use an old, warped, aged peice of plywood as our cavnas to get the party started.  We didn’t have a saw so we had to break the plywood by hand (by foot really) but it gave it a nice raw ragged edge which I LOVE and I think totally makes the peice.

The next step was gathering the crayons, we were only supposed to use old crayons and I thought that we may have to cheat due to the size of the plywood but I was surprised that we had plenty.  This was the perfect job for Bailor, he was able to gather all of his old crayons, group them by color and actually create a rainbow.

We glued the crayons on using a hot glue gun and this step was way easier than I thought.  Because the plywood was already pretty rustic looking I didn’t stress about the crayons being a perfect line with all labels showing etc, we basically glued them on pretty quickly in about 45 minutes or so.

Once they are all in place we took it to the bathroom for melting with the blowdryer.  BEWARE- this step can get messy, once the crayons start to melt they will splatter, especially on the ends, I would suggest doing this step outside.  I heated up the crayons using the hairdryer going back and forth until I was happy with the result. Depending on the size of your canvas this  can take some time, be patient!

All in all it was a super fun project to do with Bailor and it would look so good in any child’s room or playroom.  Also by thinking outside of the box by using plywood instead of a canvas the peice is more universal and interesting and not so juveile which I love.

The good news is that the judges of the recycled art contest at Bailor’s school loved it too! He won the Kindergarten category and won best overall in the entire school!!! I was so proud that a super easy and free project came out so great and was able to take the grand prize.

Suck it stay at home moms! (joking, SAHM have a super hard jobs but it is nice to come out on top when most of the projects we do get overshadowed by kids with moms at home with time to focus on them)

What do you think of the art project? Do you think this is something you will try with your kiddos?

-Drama mama out

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With all of the cute subway art I have been seeing on Pintrest I decided that this would be a perfect way to create some super cute custom colored art work for Luna’s room that would match her bedding perfectly b/c I have been having a hard time finding what I want.  I figured that I was creative & patient enough to make my own subway art….and I was!!

This collection of Luna’s birthday stats is super cute, matches her bedding exactly (I literally extracted the colors directly from the bedding) and it lets me remember the who, what, when, where of one of my favorite days in history.  I loved this so much that I decided to bite the bullet and post it within an etsy store, Drama Filled Printables,  to make it available for you guys.  There are so many printables on etsy and some are down right expensive so I decided to sell them for about 1/2 of what most others go for.  I have posted an 8 x 10 version of your kiddos birth stats to be used as wall art, birth announcement etc in a printable format.  Once you have it you can do what you want with it, resize it, frame it, send it as a postcard etc…the sky is the limit.

I am also working on name meaning peices as well to go as a companion to the birthday stats print.  You can order your custom print on my etsy store and choose from the colors listed or email me a color combo or bedding set you are trying to match and I can create a custom match color combo just for your room.

What do you guys think? Are you in love with the subway art trend? What other things would you like to see in Subway art style?

-Drama mama out

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I am new to sewing, I mean really new.  I bought a machine last year on Black Friday and until 2 weeks ago it was in the box.  I am starting out small with easy to sew patterns, pillowcases and little girl dresses but I am so fascinated by “refashioning.” There are lots of blogs dedicated to taking old things you don’t wear anymore or that are just plain dated and ugly and turning them into something else that you are proud to call your creation.

Last night I was feeling inspired and I went “shopping” in my closet.  I came across a black and pink floral patterned circle skirt that I may have worn once.  I loved the use of pink against the black fabric as well as the general volume of the skirt when I bought it. I decided to turn this into a sweet little maxi dress for Luna, my 2o month old.  I started by measuring the width of the waist band with a dress that Luna wears often as the waist band would be rutned into the horizontal top of the dress that would run across the chest.  After measuring I stitched up the side keep the size xip on the other side.

Because I cut the skirt to fit her chest I had anoth peice of skirt with waistband attached.  I decided to turn this into a flutter sleeve.  I kept the waist band as is and cut the a line orgtain of the skirt bottom down to create a short sleeve.  I hemmed up the edges and attached the flutter sleeve to the dress chest band.

I didn’t have another waist band peice to make another sleeve so I made a simple bow tie spaghetti strap for the other side.  So I didn’t have to attempt to make the spagetti straps (I am not that good at sewing really small things yet) I cut the hem off the bottom of the scraps, tied off the raw edges of the straps with a simple knot to keep from fraying.  I attached these straps to the inner lining of the chest straps.

Tada! Its done, a super cute maxi dress for my little one.  I didn’t take pictures during the process b/c I was in the zone and didn’t realize I was acutally going to come out with a funcitoning garmet.  All in all I am really happy with it and I can’t wait for her to wear it.

-Drama mama out

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The amazing pintrest.com has recently inspired me to become crafty.  If you haven’t checked out Pintrest.com make sure you sign up and start pinning.  Its basically a site that allows you to bookmark all of the amazing images and ideas you find online and organize them into inspiration boards.

So to start off my craftiness I decided to make a birthday gift for a 7 year old girl…she would be forgiving of my first project.  I saw all these amazing projects online using paint chips as art….I was amazed.  I started thinking…I can do that..so I did and here is what you need.

• Paint Chips from Home Depot, Lowes etc – stolen aka $0

• Canvas – I used an 8 x 10 canvas and I got a two pack for like $4 on sale so it was $2 for the one project

• Wooden Letter – $1.99 Hobby Lobby

• Paint – I used acrylic paint I already had

• Mod Podge – amazing stuff I used it as adhesive and top coat $6.49 for the bottle

• Foam Brush – I had one on hand but these are like $0.35 at Hobby Lobby

• Ribbon – I was going to hang the canvas with ribbon but in the end I didn’t need it (Optional)

First figure out with kind of design you are going for.  My paint chips were slightly rectangular so I decided to go easy and do a geometric grid.  I cut off the names of the paint colors on the chips and made sure all of my chips were roughly the same size. I also painted my letter at this point and gave it one coat of Mod Podge to give it some glossiness.

Next brush on the Mod podge onto your cavas and begin laying your paint chips and press down as you go.  Other sites used spray adhesive for this part and I think that is a great idea….the wetness of the Mod Podge made some of my paint chips want to curl so I think the dryness of the spray would work better for laying the chips down.  Continue this step until your canvas is covered in a design you like.

Once your design is complete and your canvas is covered brush a layer of Mod Podge over the entire thing, don’t worry it will dry clear.  Come back in an hour or so and do another coat until you are happy with the look and texture of the piece, I did 3 coats.  During this process I had to have some help holding down some edges as they wanted to curl so I used Binder clips to keep my paint chips flush with the side of the canvas and it worked pretty well.

When my Mod Podge was all dry (about 24 hours later) I glued my letter E on with a little crazy glue and TADA done! Originally I was going to use some ribbon to use as a hanger but I thought it looked too busy.

All in all this was a pretty easy and inexpensive project.  I spend around $11 for this one project but that is including the huge bottle of Mod Podge that is going to last through lots of other projects.  Another great thing is that I was able to give a really unique gift that was handmade and Emma really loved it.

What do you guys think? Do you think this is something that you could try?

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-Drama mama out

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