Basic Leggings for Boys!

This post should have been posted a few weeks ago, but life precedes over any other obligation –so here i am.

It has been a long cold winter here in Michigan. It actually snowed yesterday! Usually we make it a point to get outside most days, but this winter has been so cold, we have been cooped up indoors.
On the days we have ventured out to play, I found myself wishing that we had long johns (or long underwear) for the boys.

*I understand long johns may not be a common thing, they are tighter fitting waffle knit clothing worn under regular clothes to add warmth.

Mama Nene to the rescue. If you don’t know, Mama Nene is the woman behind Serger Pepper. The blog is full of useful sewing tips, tricks, and tutorials. She has also started writing/publishing sewing patterns. (Remember my Sheer Top?) I am so fortunate to be on her pattern testing crew.

This time around she needed testers for Basic Leggings. I almost passed on this one because the boys in this house don’t wear leggings. But then the wheels in my head started turning…leggings look a lot like long johns!

I started by digging through my refashion pile.



I found a few castoffs that the older kids have outgrown.



I used the Basic Legging pattern. I choose a size 4, in hopes that they will fit the boys next winter too. (Because winter will end soon, right?) The pattern is sized from size 3 to size 14, so this is another pattern that will grow with your child.

This pattern was so easy to cut out and sew, and Mama Nene’s instructions are very clear. This pattern would be a great confidence builder for a beginner.



This pattern has two features that I feel make it a must have to any pattern library.

#1 Long leg length. I love that my boys can run and play (in the huge mountain of snow we still have) without the legs riding up. This feature also makes this pattern perfect for comfy pajamas.

#2 High waist. My boys hate when their butt is falling out of their pants. And honestly, while I’m talking about it does it really cost that much more to add an inch or two to the waist height? Too many of our store bought pants barely cover the boys’ tushies. I couldn’t imagine if they were still in diapers. Okay, I’m done ranting.

This pattern covers their rump, and keeps it covered while they are playing.

Head on over to Craftsy and get your pattern. New to Craftsy? It is quick and easy to sign up, then grab your Basic Legging pattern!

pattern was given to me to test, but all opinions are mine
Craftsy links are affiliates, I receive a small bonus if you sign up or make a purchase through my links.

What would you make with this pattern? I have plans to whip up some pajama pants from my t-shirt stash. There were so many cute girl versions too. The possibilities with the pattern are endless.

Plaid Footed Pajamas

Two posts in one week, what the?!!

This past fall I may have bought a huge mess of sewing patterns at a deeply discounted price…
One of those patterns is the Classic Footed Pajamas from peek-a-boo pattern shop. (affiliate link)




It is so hard to keep these little guys to stay still for very long. Needless to say, they like their jammies.



I would call this pattern an advanced beginner, borderline intermediate sewer. While the pattern was not hard, there were a few more advanced techniques. Fortunately, there are detailed step-by-step instructions for said techniques (zippers anybody?).

I made these late at night (and any of you who have followed me for some time, know I tend to make mistakes when the sun sets), so there were a few spots that I had to re-read the instructions.

                   

Both pairs are made from fleece, and the sleeve cuffs and neck binding are made from t-shirt scraps. The sleeve binding was a little tricky, but patience paid off.

The only problem I have had with these pajamas is that the zipper irritates the boys at times. This is not the fault of the pattern, I choose to skip the zipper facing. Next time I will definitely add the facing.

I love that this pattern (and most of the patterns in the shop) comes in sizes 3 months- 8 years. I have been thinking about making all of my nieces and nephews pajamas for next Christmas, and this pattern would have them all covered.
Have you made footie jammies before? I am not sure that these are actually cheaper than buying pajamas from the store, but they sure are cute! And I love that little sense of accomplishment I get seeing the boys run around in footed pajamas that I made for them.

Sweater to Slipper Refashion

It seems that most of my projects these days are necessity projects. Today’s project is no exception.

Yesterday I debuted our new space (sewing space for Mama, and play space for the boys). Since our new space is in the basement, the floors tend to be cold (a bonus in the summer, but gives you shivers during a Michigan winter). Another problem with the floors….when in a sewing frenzy, Mama tends to drop pins. I’m getting better, but I still do not to risk one of my little guys stepping on one.

I had a solution.

Slippers.

My husband had chucked a wool sweater into the donate box. I quickly pulled it out knowing I could do something with it, it was wool. Unfortunately I don’t have a before picture because I cut into the sweater pre-blogging days.

I used this tutorial and template from Leafy Treetop Spot. The slippers in the tutorial are made with fleece. I have plenty of fleece, but I was envisioning something warmer and a little bit sturdier.

The outside upper slipper, and inside sole are cut from the felted sweater.

The bottoms are made from Blue Jean Buttercup leftovers.

I used some red fleece left from the boys’ Halloween costume to line the slipper uppers. The Velcro is also from my stash (which is why it doesn’t match).

I made size 10/11. They are quite big on the boys right now, but they’ll grow into them. The tutorial is very easy to follow, and would make wonderful last minute Christmas gifts.

Do you dive for wool sweaters? If so, what are your favorite wool projects? That sweater barely touched the donation pile before I snagged it up. It seems like wool sweaters are a little harder to thrift these days.

DIY Thing 1 and Thing 2 Costumes

Lately I have been feeling spread thin. There have been so many demands, but not enough me. It is so weird to hear myself complain about this, in my younger days I strived on being busy all the time.

Now, as a thirty year old wife and mama I long for a slower pace.

Enough whining.

Growing up, my mom always made our Halloween costumes. (She did a pretty darn good job, too.) She was amazing, we would tell her what we wanted to be, and she would fabricate the perfect costume. (You should see the Ninja Turtle costume she made for my brother, AMAZING!)

Making my kids’ costumes is something I also look forward to every year (even if some years they are simple).

This year the holiday sort of crept up on me. I have been busy with school and other areas of life, I just forgot how close the holiday was. Sunday night I had a mini-breakdown, “I am a horrible mother…I don’t even know what my kids are going to be for Halloween…”

The hubby suggested going to the store and buying a costume. GASP! Can you believe it! What was that man thinking?



Monday I stopped at Wal-Mart on my way home from school. I had to figure a costume out now! (Thinking about it, I bet my family would have appreciated it if I had also figured something out for dinner.)

I found a pattern (I have looked and looked, I cannot find a link to this pattern anywhere) Simplicity Sew Simple 0892 ($0.97). It is actually a bear costume, I just omitted the hood, bow, and footies.

I grabbed three yards of red fleece (at 2.97/yard), two blue hats ($0.87 each) four skeins of blue yarn ($2.97 each) and two pair of red gloves ($0.87 each). I had the notions in my stash. For about $25 this is what I came up with:



I used this tutorial as inspiration for the wig. My sewing machine was not very fond of this method. Instead I looped and stitched (by hand). So sorry I didn’t take pictures along the way, maybe in the future…

I downloaded the logos from here. I printed them on printable fabric (because I had it in my stash), and sewed them on.

I am so glad I decided to use fleece. It was a cold and rainy night for trick-or-treating. The fleece helped keep my little guys dry.

This year was so fun watching the boys figure out Halloween. They were very polite saying, “Trick or treat,” “Thank you,” and “Happy Halloween costume.” Yup, you read that right. Happy Halloween costume, we may need to work on that one…



Anyways, so sorry for being MIA lately. (I still cannot promise regularity.) I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

Ending Refashion Month with Tanks, a Tote, and a Wristlet

Today is the last day of July Refashion Month. I didn’t finish 31 refashions like I had intended (one of my 31 by 31 goals, but I still have 10 more months). I did manage to whip out a few more projects. Today I want to show you a couple refashions I finished, but haven’t posted yet.

First is two more muscle shirts for my boys.

These were made from two men’s 2XL t-shirts. I was able to cut two tanks from each shirt. I had completed the first two shirts in June, and mailed them off to Sewing to Rebuild. The other two sat on my sewing table cut out and ready to sew for way too long.

The next one was a super quick project.

The boys’ preppy shorts left me with two sleeve cuffs. (Which had adorable pearl snaps.) I kept looking at the cuffs, trying to decide what to make of them.

I stitched the cuffs together using a wide but short zigzag stitch. Then I covered up the stitching with ribbon. The ribbon also helped the project look a little less masculine (the ribbon has sparkles!). I cut a piece of ribbon for a strap. Then I folded the rectangle into a pouch, tucked in the ribbon, and topstitched along the original seam.

This last project is also one that has been sitting on my sewing table, cut out, for way too long!

I have made so many of these bags. They are made from bed sheets, and can be made in any size.

I use these as my reusable shopping totes, beach bag, overnight bag, and just about anything you can think of bag. These totes are my favorite for three reasons. 1. They hold so much stuff. 2. No need worrying about getting them dirty. Just toss in the washer. 3. They fold (or in my case roll) up super small.

*I know it is hard to tell, but the bag rolled up is smaller than a soup can.

Did you participate in Refashion Month? If so, share a link. I would love to see your creations.

Do you have projects that have been sitting in your to-do pile for a long time? Seriously the tote has been cut out and waiting to be sewn for a couple of years. I know the reason this project sat so long (my machine was acting up and I gave up and packed her away for a few months), but I have quite a few other projects that I do not have an excuse for.

Birthday Refashions

The boys had their second birthday Saturday.

Since their birthday is only two days after Independence Day, we always have an insanely busy holiday weekend.

Friday we purchased, and picked up their birthday present; a huge wooden playscape. During Saturday’s naptime I stained and weather sealed the set. Now we are just waiting for some man power to move it one more time and set it up. (Expect updates soon!)

Since we decided not to throw a huge party this year, I spent a little time making them birthday shirts.

These tanks were refashioned from daddy’s old softball shirts. I used the same method as I did for these muscle shirts. Instead of binding the armholes, I folded to the inside twice and hemmed.

The collar and applique came from my scrap pile. It’s hard to differentiate in the photos, but one is blue and the other black. (We try not to dress the boys the same.)

Their birthday celebration was low-key, but absolutely wonderful!

Do you throw big birthday bashes every year? This was a difficult decision for my husband and I to make. Our family loves a good get-together. But they are extremely overwhelming for us. We decided to keep our focus on the boys this year (instead of planning, cleaning, cooking, and being a good host/hostess).

Independence Day Refashion

For everyone in the U.S., happy Independence Day. (And happy Thursday to everyone else. Hey, we all need a reason to celebrate now and then.)

Today’s refashion is another baseball inspired refashion. Since our school colors are red and blue, I am also throwing it in as a holiday refashion. (Two birds, one stone…)

All-star baseball tournaments start next week. The twins needed something that will show team support, and keep them cool while we cheer on their big brother.

This refashion is short and sweet. I bought the tanks at Wal-Mart for $2.00.

I traced our last name from the back of my step-son’s baseball jersey onto freezer paper. Then cut the letters out with an exacto knife. Iron the freezer paper to the shirt. Lastly, paint. I painted three coats (letting dry between each application). Finally, remove the freezer paper, and try to get your boys to pose for the camera.

Normally, all the boys allow me to photograph is their backside. Today they were hamming it up:

They even performed a little dance number:

Happy 4th!

DIY Muscle Shirt How-To

I have two more completed Free Summer Sewing projects to show you.
The Muscle Shirt:

These were so easy to whip up. (Even easier than the t-shirts.)
I put together a quick how-to for you.
You need:

• T-shirt
  
• Ribbing
  
• Pattern*
  
• Sewing supplies (either machine, or needle and thread if you are a hand sewer)

*For the pattern, I self-drafted a pattern from one of the boys’ muscle shirts. You could use a t-shirt pattern, sans sleeves. You want to make the shoulder about an inch shorter at the armhole.

Cut front and back from t-shirt.

*Be creative about ribbing. You can buy ribbing at the fabric store, but since I didn’t want to spend money, I took a look around. Ribbed tank tops work great!

Cut ribbing into strips. I think I cut mine into 2 inch strips. Next time I will go three inches, its completely up to you.
Fold the strips in half and iron.

Match shoulders, right sides together. Only sew one side.
Match up edges of neckline and ribbing, right sides together. Sew.

Sew the other shoulder.

Sew ribbing to armholes the same way as the neck.

With shirt right sides together, match bottom hem and arm seams. Pin and sew up each side seam.

Fold ribbing to inside, making sure to catch the stitching on the inside.
*If dad may be dressing the kids, put in a tag. I just used a little piece of ribbon.
Pin and sew. *I like to sew right next to were the shirt and ribbing meet, on the shirt.

That’s it, you’re done….unless you have twins; then repeat.
Oops, I almost forgot the last step: Bribe your boys with Cupcake Goldfish and Matchbox cars and try your hardest to get a decent picture.

And number two:

Wait, we need a twin shot!

These shirts are very easy to whip up. If my instructions were not very clear, let me know. I am happy to answer any questions you have!
Have you been working on summer clothes? What’s on your list?

Check out the parties:

Preppy Shorts Part Two

I apologize for not getting this post up Friday (like I had said I would). We ended up having a pretty full weekend.
The boys and I walked (I walked, they rode) our first 5K.

My brother ran (and came in fourth place). His girlfriend and my nephew walked with us. We were blessed with the most beautiful weather!
On to round two of the summer wardrobe.

(It is so hard to photograph these kids!)
This refashion started out as one of hubby’s discarded button-up shirts.

Like the last refashion, I wanted to incorporate the back details.

I cut the sleeves off, and lined up the pattern pieces to my liking. Then I sewed it together using this tutorial again. The elastic was leftover from the first pair of shorts (salvaged from a pair of leggings).

Front view.

Back view.
Total Cost: $0.00
I have had a blast sewing up these shorts. It seems to be easier to cut into clothes that are destined to leave the house than my fabric stash. (I tend to fear making mistakes and having to scrap the project.) Now I see so much potential in our unwanted clothing.
Next on my list are summer shirts to coordinate with the boy’s new shorts. I have one finished, and the second one cut out. (Hopefully I will be able to share with you this week.)
Your turn: Have you tried using unwanted clothing as a fabric source, or do you prefer sewing with new fabric? I love hearing your thoughts.
*On a side note, I have been cleaning, I promise. I hope to post an update later today.

Participating in these amazing parties: