jean re-do

Lil Miss must have hit a growth spurt because NONE of her current jeans will button!  After I bought a few pairs of the next size up, I thought about a re-do that might get her some more wear out of her current jeans. 

I cut the top off of the jeans, from under the zipper in front to the top of the pockets in the back, so they look like this...

I cut a length of jersey knit, 9.5" tall by 10" wide.  I folded it in half and sewed the 9.5" side to make a tube.

I folded the tube in half, wrong sides together, and pinned the raw edge around the top of the jeans.  I stitched it on the jeans and voila! 

I know that they look maternity-ish...however, they fit her well!  Hopefully she can get a few more months out of them!!!

hello again!

I've been absent because I was on Spring Break with my family!  We had a wonderful week away!

We got home late last night and I had my sewing machine running this morning!  I've been doing more alterations rather than full on sewing.  I've found that if I alter a shirt just a little, I wear it a lot more! 

I bought a ton of these shirts a few years ago.  They fit well for awhile, but then they stretched out or something and started fitting poorly.  I took off the bottom band {with a seam ripper} and made the band a few inches smaller.  I cut it the same size I made the bands for the dolman tops, 16" wide.  I resewed the band on the bottom of the shirt and voila!  a much better fit! 

I got this shirt in the mail while we were gone.  Super soft material, super comfy....but the length was awkward on my short torso.  So, I opened the bottom hem and snuck a length of elastic in the hem.  I sewed the elastic together {to make a loop} once it was in the shirt and then sewed up the opening I made.  Now, I rest the elastic on my hips and the rest gathers...love it!!

Something I've had to do to quite a few dresses I have, is shorted the straps.  In the family picture above, I had to cut two inches from each strap and sew the straps back up.  Super easy and makes the dress fit so much better!  I bought a dress on vacation that needed the same alteration. 

I think it's safe to say that I'm no longer afraid to alter store bought clothes! 

Here's another mama that has been altering her maternity clothes.  Check out her swim suit re-do and maternity shirt re-do!  It's amazing what a little alteration here or there can do!!

Holiday Dress

I have mentioned N's Christmas dress before, in this post. Before Christmas day, I ended up shortening the dress by about an inch. Before noon on Christmas day, I took off the apron. I ended up liking it a lot better this way!!

Before, with apron...

After, without apron...