Mele Kalikimaka--Merry Christmas!

Mele Kalikimaka

Merry Christmas

and

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou

Happy New Year

Take some time to spend the day with the ones that you love.  Have a great Holiday Season!



Weekend Tote

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here both at home and at work.  Unfortunately I have not had a chance to do much sewing.  I was able to finish sewing a tote bag that I started back in June and never finished.  I made it for a gift and had a hard time letting it go. 

I used the Emily Bag pattern by I Think Sew.  I love her patterns.  They are very well written and she has a nice variety of bags, clutches and cloth shoes.  This was my first time making this bag and like her other patterns I found the instructions easy to follow. 

The bag itself is a nice large size.

It has a snap closure and interior pockets. 

I used upholstery fabric for the exterior and a light blue for the interior.  For the straps I used some scrap polka dot denim I had on hand. 

I hope my busy schedule lightens up soon because I am really itching to do some sewing.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. 

Men's Shirt to Boys Shorts

I love thrifting and garage sales.  They are a great source of creativity.  Recently I found this shirt made beautiful green plaid.  It was a size XXL and you know what that means, lots of fabric.  Better yet it was only 50 cents. I knew I had to make a pair of shorts from this shirt.

The only problem was that it had a big stain on the bottom front.  I figured I could work around it.

So I deconstructed the shirt.

Cut out my pattern and sewed it together.

I had planned on using the front pocket as a rear pocket for the shorts, but with an XXL shirt comes an XXL pocket.  It was much too big for a size 4 shorts.

I ended up using it as a side pocket instead.  I think it worked out perfect. 

And there you have it.  A totally cute pair of shorts from a men's shirt.  This pair will be added to my collection for Hopeful Threads July project.  Shorts pattern by Fishsticks, Mud Puddle Splashers.

Garage Sales R Us & a Giveaway

I have just discovered a new (to me) blog, Garage Sales R Us. This blog is all about Garage Sales and all things thrifty. If you like to go to garage sales, have garage sales and bargain shop than this is the sight for you. Right now Garage Sales R Us is giving away, 1 Personal Electric Cutter Cricut Machine. This machine can quickly and easily cut alphabets and shapes.  To get more information and enter to win visit Garage Sales R Us.

Simple Cargo Pockets

I have been making shorts for Hopeful Threads July Project, little boys shorts. I dug into my fabric stash to use my fabric on hand including scraps and short cuts of fabric. In some cases I found that I didn't have enough fabric for side pockets. Now we all know that little boys love their pockets. Where else would they put their rocks, sticks or whatever else they find laying around. I used some scrap fabric to add a simple cargo pocket. I didn't use a pattern so I thought I would share with you the formula I used to make the pockets. I took this idea from a pair of shorts my son has.

First you need to decide the size of your pocket. Add 1/2 inch to the sides and bottom of the pocket and 1 inch to the top.  

Cut the flap 1/2 inch wider than the pocket piece and 2 1/2 inch tall.

finish the edges all around.

Fold down the top edge 1 inch, right sides together.

Sew down the top edge 1/2 inch in on the sides. Trim seam to get rid of bulk.

Turn right side out and fold in sides and bottom 1/2 inch.

Open the seam and fold the corners in diagonally.

Fold the seams back in to create a nice corner.

Sew the top down.

Pin the pocket to the front and back side seam.

Sew two rows of topstitching.

To create the flap fold piece in half, right sides together. Sew side seams using a 1/2" seam.

Sew two rows of topstitching.

Pin down 1/2 inch from the pocket and sew down using 1/4 inch seam.

Fold flap down and stitch the top edge.

And now your done.

The shorts pattern is Mud Puddle Splashers by Fishsticks.

I made these shorts for Hopeful Threads July project, little boys shorts for Cambodia. It's not too late to participate. Check out her blog for details.



Hopeful Threads

Fun Dots for Purse Palooza

I just found out about Purse Palooza last week and wouldn't you know it is almost over.  So this past weekend I dug into my fabric stash and made this bag. 

I used a heavier weight fabric to make the bag sturdy.  I bought brown with multicolor pink dot fabric from a local fabric discount shop.

The interior fabric is brown cotton and I used some the exterior fabric for the pocket.

The pattern I used is Sweet Pea Totes Simple and Chic.  I love this pattern.  I have made several purses using this pattern.  It is just the right shape and size to fit just about anything.  The pattern instructions are detailed with lots of pictures, I think I spent more time preping than sewing. 

I had time this weekend to start another purse project.  I hope to have it finished soon.

Have a great week!



Hopeful Threads Giveaway

If you like contests and you love fabric, then pop on over to Hopeful Threads.  She is hosting a giveaway for a $25 shop credit to Fabric Seeds.  Head over to the Fabric Seeds website and take a look around.  They are also offering a 10% discount to the Hopeful Threads readers.  Stop by the Hopeful Threads blog to find out more and to enter for your chance to win.  Contest ends 6/27/12.  Good luck!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Hubby!

Makana's Colorful Skirt

My daughter Makana is 5 and loves anything colorful especially rainbows.  She thinks rainbows are the greatest thing ever.  Everything she wears has to be bright and colorful.  She wanted me to make her a skirt and she wanted to pick out the fabrics herself. 

This is what she picked out.  I thought... well, that is interesting.  The best thing to do with this combo of fabric is to make a tiered skirt.   I chose a layered tiered skirt from Tenderfeet Stitches. I love this pattern.  The instructions are easy to follow and there are so many options to customize your skirt.

This is how it turned out.  I think the fabric combination actually works. 

I made a cupcake shirt to match.

Miss M. thinks its perfect.

Welcome and a Refashioned Skirt

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.  I am a first time blogger and am still trying to figure everything out.  Any helpful tips will be appreciated. 

For my first post I wanted to share with you a skirt that I refashioned for my daughter. 

My daughter received this hand me down skirt (love hand me downs), but he skirt part was faded and stained. 

So I removed the ruffles.

I picked out some bright, fun fabric and used the old ruffle as a guide to cut out the new one.

For the new skirt I decided to do a layered ruffle rather than a tiered one.



Once the you  sew up the sides of the ruffles layer them, gather and attached to the upper part of the skirt.

Top stitch.

And the skirt is done.  Fast, easy and way cute!

Sassy girl loves it too!