Adding Sleeves to an Adult's Shirt

Remember the cute toddler skirt I made about a month ago? I held onto the rest of the t-shirt.
I just liked it.
So I came up with a way to use the rest of it.

I had a white t-shirt that is short-sleeved. "This could use some style," I thought.

I cut off the striped sleeves at the point where they would match up width-wise with the white sleeves. I pinned them into place. Then, I cut a piece of the neck to help add some color and fabric to the white shirt's scoop neck.
I wanted to add some sort of detail to the sleeves. I sewed two tubes, turned them, and then top stitched them.
This is how I added them. I intend to add buttons to them, too but haven't found just the right ones yet.Here is a sideways view of the shirt. I don't know why my pictures sometimes post sideways!
You may notice I had to switch out the neck piece. It wasn't even!Then I took out the neck piece all together. It just didn't look right.
Now I have a great mid-weight fall shirt to wear!

Sewing Project: Scarves

I really like scarves. They're fun to make, too.
If you need an easy gift for a friend, try making a scarf. It makes a great first sewing project, too, if you're scared to jump in with something more complicated.

Here's how I made mine:

-Procure 2 yards of fabric. I got mine in the clearance section for $2/yard.

-Fold it in half once (with right sides together) and cut two long pieces. -Pin them together. -Next, sew on your machine. Leave an opening for turning!

-Turn the scarf and make sure you pop all the corners out so they look nice and square.

-Pin the opening closed. Press the scarf nice and flat so the seams are sharp.

-Top stitch all around the edge!
Celebrate! You are done!

Help, Help! I have a sewing question!

Many times, my sewing machine makes awful jumbles of thread on the back of my projects. This tends to happen when there is more than one layer to sew through. This is an example. A tame example.

Why is this happening? Is there any troubleshooting info out there? My sewing machine is so old that we've thrown away the manual.

Help. Please.

Crib Skirt Tutorial

I found a few sites with crib skirt tutorials. I made my own! It even matches our little guy's green dresser which we garbage picked late this summer.

It took some time to make but it wasn't difficult. Here's how I did it.
Note: I made this to fit a standard crib when the crib's mattress is in the lowest position, or 12" from the floor.

Dimensions of fabric needed:
-1 piece of fabric 28"x51". This is the part of the skirt that goes under the mattress. You shouldn't see it when the project is complete and installed in the crib. I actually used an old tablecloth.
-2 fabric pieces 28"x13". This leaves room @ the bottom for hemming.
-2 fabric pieces 51"x13". Ditto on the hemming.

I began with two pillowcases I bought from Target for less than $2. (They're the teal-colored.) I removed their seams to make them flat.

I used a zoo print fabric remnant I found at the store for about $2.50. I loved it but it wasn't wide enough or long enough for the dimensions needed for this project. So I added onto the sides and bottom. I miscalculated the fabric needed to get to 51" so I had to add a bit at the ends, as you can see! I ended up hemming three edges of each panel (the bottom and sides). I 'serged' the top edges. Since I don't have a serger, I used the zig zag stretch stitch my machine has. This may also be known as the triple zig zag. It worked well. Then I attached the edges that show to the middle piece that does not show. I did not sew right sides together; I just attached the edges so that 12" of the showy fabric hung down (does that make sense?) I had some problems with things not being exactly square. So this helped me avoid gaps at the bottom of the skirt.

That was it. I ironed it within an inch of its life. But it could've stood some more ironing. I love it. Now I've gotta make some painted canvases...or pillows...or sheets...something to match!

High Chair Cover

This project seemed really hard when I saw the tutorial on another blog awhile back. However, I decided to give it a try because the high chair cover our son uses at my parents' house is a little, well, awful.

I got some upholstery fabric on ebay. I have a ton of it so I decided to try this project using a bit of it. This is the finished product:

This is what the old stuff looked like (it's vinyl, which is more practical than what I used):Here's how I did the new cover.

1. I made a pattern out of a paper bag by tracing the vinyl cover.
2. I cut out a piece of the upholstery fabric and a piece of quilted batting stuff for a cushier layer. I did not cut extra for a seam allowance since I used a binding to finish the edges.

Here's a view of the cushier layer:3. I cut a half-moon shape for the back. The original design was held on by a back pocket flap. 4. I used some binding to finish off the back flap. 5. I laid the back flap in place and pinned. Then I went to the store to buy some more binding!6. I am not exactly sure of the 'right' way to apply bias binding. But I used double fold binding and, after using what felt like 200 pins, sewed it on the front first. Hint: Remove your pins before you sew over them. I have most of mine bent from prior times I've just sewn on over them.
See?
7. Then I folded the binding over the old stitches and sewed it again. This covered my old stitches so there was only one set showing on the top of the binding.
8. I added little elastic feet to hold the 'leg' parts to the high chair. (The high chair has plastic hooks underneath the seat for these elastic feet to grab onto). Done! All ready for my little guy when he wakes up from his nap.