Shirt to Skirt Refashion

Shirt to skirt tutorial

I got this shirt for a few dollars at the end of last summer on clearance. So cute! However, it squished my chest in a weird, unflattering way. (In the photo I had already separated the top from the bottom of the shirt; I kept the original elastic with the top for future use.) See the elastic waistband on the right? That was a leftover from this project:

I had removed the waist from these atrocious pants (left. The r. pic is after the refashion; much cuter now!). I kept it, knowing it would have a use someday.

 

The plan: sew the waistband of the pants to the top of the removed "stomach" of the shirt.

See my creeper kitty? She loves to "help" me sew...she is always right up in my business or trying to get on my lap to cuddle when I'm sewing!

And there you have it, my "new" white eyelet skirt! Sorry there's no picture of me wearing it; it looks cute on. The waistband sits at my natural waist and the hem hits a couple of inches above my knees.

I'll keep the top of the original shirt, too. Perhaps I could make it into a tie-back beach top (with added ties, which would be adding fabric and then it wouldn't be too tight).

Shirt-dress refashion

Olive drab shirt-dress refashion, 12 March 2013

I bought this dress from a clearance merchandise outlet store for under $2! I LOVED the color and style, but it did not fit my body well at all. The waist was too low, the length was too long, and it was too large. 

(Side-note: I'm wearing red legwarmers/boot "socks" I made from the sleeves of a sweater. It's still cold here in my little part of the world!)

No matter! I took up the waist and took in the sides to fit my 5-foot frame, and here's the result:

...or the mess! I've got a few home and sewing projects in the works. What do you think? I can't wait to wear it when it warms up.

Homemade Peanut Butter

Today I made homemade peanut butter! It was very easy. 

I bought some peanuts (two 16-oz dry-roasted containers). They were $2.50/apiece.

I put one container at a time in my little food processor. I processed until smooth (takes about 5 minutes total, although I stopped after every minute or so and gave the small processor a several-minute rest). 

I have sensitive ears so I used ear protection as I processed (in case you're wondering what the ear protection was for!).

You can see the consistency here, very smooth.

Here is the final product! I put it in the fridge to slow the separation and to help it keep longer. I can't wait to try it!

I've had "natural" peanut butter before but always bought it from the store. Hopefully I can find organic peanuts that are cheap for future batches. This was very easy to make...the cleanup is the worst part, but that's because we don't have a dishwasher. Well, I guess we do: me! LoL

From Jeans to Lace-Trimmed Shorts Tutorial

What I used:

Old jeans or shorts

Lace trim (mine was from an old cami top)

Sewing machine

Pins, thread color of choice

Stitch-ripper, scissors

Yesterday I was in a sewing mood! I've been seeing some really cute new fashions/styles lately that I would love to create for the coming warm season. I've also been looking forward to Spring lately and this is a good way to spend some time creating new clothes that will get me even more excited to wear once it's warmer.

I had a pair of jeans that had never fit me well. I don't know if they shrank or what, but they were too short even when wearing flats (although I am only about 5' and 1/2"). Last summer I cut the legs off to make them into long shorts, but as shorts, they were too tight in the leg-holes. I cast them aside for a possible later project.

After trying them on and folding them out to the desired length and pinning (with them on in front of a mirror to be sure of length), I ripped out a couple inches of the outer seam to allow more leg-room. *NOTE: If you are cutting jeans, don't cut too short! You want to leave them at least an inch longer than you will want your finished shorts to be. See the picture below...see how I left extra fabric before I did final cuts? This is an important step.

Next I trimmed the excess material right above my pins. Because my jeans are dark, I didn't want the contrast between the jeans and the white lace to be too stark. So I hemmed them with the inside of the jeans folded out with white thread. I wanted a semi-deconstructed look between the dark jean color and the lace, a mild "ombre" effect. And I left the edge raw instead of rolling it under for even more of the look I was going for (it will fray mildly with use). Be sure to use a zig-zag stitch for this so fraying doesn't get out of control later on.

Now for the lace. I had an old white lace-trimmed tank/cami that I no longer wore. The body of it was no longer a crisp white and it was rather short in the torso. So I cut and stitch-ripped off the lace trim to use for this project! I love that the project was almost free (save for the electricity I used to operate my sewing machine ). And I'm going to use the discarded portion of that shirt for another project.

*Note: I took this right after cutting the lace from the cami. I still had more stitch-ripping and cutting to do after this pic was taken to get straight, usable lengths of lace for the trim.

I tried on the shorts again and placed the lace both under and atop the bottom edges to see what would look best. I decided to put the lace atop, as close to the edge as possible. You can pin the lace if you'd like; I didn't because my lace was stretchier than the jeans and I just slowly kept re-positioning it as I went. I used a straight-stitch for this part, carefully sewing the smaller-scalloped side of the lace onto the very bottom edge of the shorts. I wanted the larger scallops on the bottom. If your lace has different edges like mine did, be sure to match them on each leg; you don't want to realize the oversight later on and have to rip out the stitches and re-sew the lace on the right way.

See how the raw hem is slightly frayed above the zig-zag stitch? I kind of pulled at it to make it do that. With use it will fray more.

 

Here is how they look on from behind. I'm kinda sticking my tush out a bit to get a better shot of the shorts. Hopefully they will look nice with a loose, breezy summer shirt. The jeans/lace go up a bit on the sides; sorry I don't have a picture of that. It gives it even more of a feminine flare.

I've thought about adding more lace on the pockets to cover the design there, or maybe to the edges of both the front and back pockets. For the time being, I am happy with them.

I'm not going to lie, I was freezing cold during this project! 

Now, warmer weather, where are you? :::Outside my window, snow continues to fall from the gray sky:::

The winter blahs have been setting in, but this project lifted my mood!

T-shirt Quilt

I made this quilt this past weekend out of some t-shirts and a fluffy blanket. It is 50" x 60". It was easy and I am happy with how it turned out!

Make your own Board and Batten shutters

Once upon a time, there was an anemic and very old house on a very old street next to other very old, prettier houses.

There was a black, gaping, hollow hole in the front of the house, that some who didn't know better might call a picture window. In reality it was the house's mouth, silently moaning out a haunting dirge for all who dared gaze upon it in passing.

Can you hear the house quietly moaning out it's dirge?

I decided to make my own decorative shutters because the ugly vinyl/plastic ones are SO overpriced in stores. Also, the board and batten wooden style shutters are much more appropriate on our old house. 

I went to Home Depot and bought wood planks for about $2 each (for an 8-foot length). I also bought another couple of pieces of thinner wood for the horizontal connector pieces. 

These shutters cost us only about $10 each!

Once home, I measured and marked 8 planks at 60" (the height of our window frame; yours obviously may be different). Make sure the marks are straight. Cut the planks on the marks so they are all equal. I used a table saw, but you can use whatever saw you'd like. 

Lay 4 pieces next to one another, touching (I've seen styles with gaps, but it wasn't the look I was going for). Measure the width of the shutter and mark out that measurement 3 times for EACH shutter along the length of the smaller piece of wood. Cut. These pieces will be the horizontal connector bars.

Measure and mark half-way along the length of each shutter. Then, for ours, I measured 9 inches from the top and bottom of each shutter to place the top and bottom connector pieces.

Make sure all pieces are flush and even, and make sure your connector bars are exactly on their marks. Nail the connector bars in place, making sure to get the nails through the connector bars and into each wood plank of the shutter. A nail-gun will be your best bet for this part. Next, flip the shutter over and use a hammer to bend the nails down and make them flush with the wood. 

Above: The completed set of shutters, ready to be primed and painted. They are 5 feet (60in) tall.

* (OPTIONAL: These shutters could also be STAINED and sealed with a stain color of your choice! That would be a very visually interesting and beautiful option as well, on the right house. It would lend a more rustic or cottage-y feel.)

The next day I primed the shutters, back and front, with 2 coats of Kilz2 Latex primer. 

Above: The back side of the shutters, primed. We were also in the process of priming and painting the deck, so that's why I didn't care if I got primer on the deck. You may prefer to prime/paint the shutters with cardboard underneath, or maybe lay the shutters across a couple of boxes in the grass for this step. 

I next painted the shutters 2 coats with a medium brown color (also the color we decided to paint the deck). The type of paint I used was Glidden Porch and Floor latex paint. It is important to use a paint that is formulated for outdoor applications. Allow to dry fully between coats and before installing; I waited 24+ hours. 

Then I installed them using 4 very long screws for each shutter. 2 screws just above the top connector bar, 2 screws just below the bottom connector bar. To do this , I propped a shutter up with the end of a shovel, leaned the shovel against the house so the end of it was at the right height (just below the window frame where the bottom of the shutter would be). I used a scrap piece of wood to prop against the middle of the shutter (just under the center connector bar) to keep it in place while I drilled/screwed the shutter in place. If my husband had been home, I would have had him hold them in place while I installed them. 

Above: after I installed the shutters and painted the window trim the same color.

Above: Shutters, trim, and deck all painted the same color. 

Our sad, aged house is singing a different tune! The window doesn't look as gaping, bare, or somber. The face of our old house now looks alive and inviting, not hollow and scary as it did before. 

Ours is no longer the spookiest or ugliest house on the street. 

Before:

 After:

The house is smiling after it's face-lift :o)

Blog Purpose

It has been suggested to me that I share my home improvement/decorating projects in a step-by-step instructional. I decided to create this blog to have a platform to do so. In it I will be demonstrating how I successfully completed low-cost projects that have added to the quality of my home(s). I will try my best to be thorough, and hopefully give you the confidence and knowledge to complete projects in your own home. I will also share my experiences as a homeowner in general, how I taught myself to sew, do's and don't's, how I turned a profit when selling our previous home, budgeting/money-saving ideas, etc. General home-ownership skills I've learned along the way :o)

Bear with me as I set this blog up...hopefully I'll have a project posted within a week!