Super Cute Ruffle Shirt @ ProCRAFTinatingPA

Hi blogger friends!  I realized I haven’t posted in quite awhile, and I have a few projects to share with you…but the camera is charging at the moment.  I decided to give a shout out to those ideas that I want to make soon.  Here’s one of them! Isn’t this shirt cute?!  Christina over at ProCRAFTinatingPA, shows you how to make this shirt and also gives you a couple other examples.   Click here for the tutorial. Love it!  Thanks for the great tutorial Christina, feel free to grab my featured button!

Crew Neck into a Scoop Neck T-Shirt Makeover!

(Here’s a before pic of the green one, but the shirts were identical!)

Hi there!  Here’s another shirt I quickly made over the other day.   All I did was cut the collar completely off (back and front at once).  I did an edging stitch around it, and then folded it over once and hemmed it with a straight stitch.  I made a bow using this tutorial (sewing everything instead of using glue).  I wear a brown cami under it, and it fits me perfectly!  Love what just changing the neckline and adding an embellishment can do.

I’m off to run errands and enjoy the day with my mom.  Hope you’re having a great day too!

Linked to these parties.

Tutorial: The “Britney” T-Shirt Makeover

I’ve seen everybody naming their creations, and I decided to name this one Britney.  Just because I can!  Here’s the finished project.  I bought 5 T-shirts for $5.00 each last year, and once I started wearing them I realized the neckline was too tight.  I felt like they were CHOKING me (yes, I’m being slightly dramatic).  So I stopped wearing them, and they’ve been taking up space in my closet.  I decided to alter this one into a square neck.  (I LOVE square necked shirts, but the store made ones always fall off my shoulders. :( So I made my own!  It only took me about 20 minutes, and is very simple.  Want to make your own? 

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 t-shirt that fits you (I used a crew neck)

Thread (coordinating is great, I used cream because that’s what I had)

Scissors

Sewing machine (although you COULD do this by hand if you really wanted to)

 

Take your scissors and make 1 slit on the left side of your collar, and 1 slit on the right side.  Be careful to cut slowly through the thick seams so your scissors don’t slip and you end up cutting too much!  I didn’t measure the slit, I just eyeballed it…you can too!

Flip your shirt over and do the same to the back.  I cut small slits because I wanted the back to be higher than the front.  Some square necks have the back and the front the same (or pretty close).  Do as you wish, it’s your shirt! :)

Now you’re going to fold in the slits to make your new neckline (see picture).  Pin it how you want it.  TRY IT ON.  If something looks funny, you can adjust it now. :)  (Just don’t poke yourself!)

Now turn your shirt inside out, so you’ll be sewing actually on the inside of the shirt.  (I start with the back of the shirt so I can get the feel of the fabric.  If I mess up at the first, it’s okay!  My hair will cover it!)  Sew around the neckline.  As far as seam allowance goes, I just kept the material right at the edge of my foot and I was happy.  When you reach a corner, stay with your seam allowance and don’t stress if you miss a tad of the hem.  It turns out okay, I promise!  (Oh, and don’t forget to back stitch!)

And we’re done!  It’s that easy!  (If I left something out, just leave me a comment!!!)

  Now my question for you is…do I keep it plain, or embellish?  This color is really hard to match, so if I did embellish I’d have to do a neutral (like cream) on it.  I’ve thought of buttons, but I just don’t know!

…What do you think?…

(Linking up to these parties, of course!)

Guest Posting Over at Or So She Says...

Hi friends!  I'm guest posting over at Or So She Says today.  Click Here for my guest post about activities kids love, and how to make a great babysitting kit for your daughters!  Come on over and visit me!  This is my very first Guest Post and I'm SOO nervous! :)  You should check out yesterday's post over there, especially if you have naturally curly hair like I do and don't know how to manage it! 

Hoo are You Tuesday

Hi everyone!  This week is going to be very busy for me.  I will be helping my grandparents nearly everyday, so you may not see much of me!  Here's the "Hoo are you Tuesday" to tide you over til I finish a project or two!

1. What is your favorite restaurant?

I love Olive Garden, In N Out, Cafe Rio

2. What kind of music do you like?

I used to like country, but lately I'm leaning more towards John Mayer, Michael Buble-ish stuff.  I call it "chill music,"

3. What do you watch on TV?

I don't have tv at my house.  Too pricy.  And Antennas don't work where I live. :(  I watch Gilligan's island and Cosby and Hogan's Heroes on DVD though! (and I Hulu biggest loser occasionally) :)

4. Do you enjoy reading and if so what kind of 

books do you read?

I LOVE to read.  I'm the type that can curl up on the couch and read ALL day long if I let myself.  I love reading LDS romance novels such as Anita Stansfield, Michele Ashman Belle, and Rachael Ann Nunes.  I also love a Christian group of books titled "Love finds you in..." (and the books take place in cities all over the country!)  It's fun!

5. What is your favorite color?

Caribbean Blue, Hot Pink, Purple, and lately...I love yellow for some reason! (I think it's because I've lived without the sun around for too long!) 

 

Hope you have a great week!

Lynette

Tutorial: Ruffle Polo Shirts!

A couple years ago, I bought two polo shirts for $5.00 from a sale online.  They were a tad big.  I’ve gained enough weight to finally fit in them! (Yes, I am one of those sick people who celebrate when they gain weight!)  The look was a little boxy and plain for me, so I decided to spice them up with some ruffly-ness.

Here are two different varieties:

I will show you how I made the blue shirt with the Cream ruffle, and then at the very end I will tell you what I did different for the white shirt with the Lime green and Caribbean blue ruffles .

You’ll need:

A polo (the one you’ll wear)

Knit scraps (I used left over material from this shirt)

Sewing supplies (sewing machine, scissors, and all that jazz)

First:  Cut your knit into 1’’ strips.  I cut several, because if I didn’t use it in this project I’d use it in a future one.

Second:  Sew the strips together at the ends to make one long strip.  My length was close to 50’’.  This was plenty long for me. (The pic just shows the ends sewn together…I trimmed the edges to the seam as well.)

Third:  Using a ball point needle on your machine, and your longest stitch length (and NO backstitching), you’re going to make ruffles.  If you haven’t done this before, I’ve used this tutorial before as a guide.  I set my needle to the right to get the seam as close to the edge of the strip as I could. 

Fourth:  Pin your ruffle to the shirt.  If you have a little bit left on the ends, leave it for now!  We’ll take care of the extra at the very end! :) 

Fifth:  Try the shirt on, being careful not to get poked!  Trying the shirt on always helps me make any adjustments I need to before it’s stuck there for good! 

Sixth:  Sew the ruffles on!  If you ended up having a lit of extra at the ends (I did, see my picture), make sure you backstitch really good where you want the end of your ruffles to be.  Then cut the excess off.  Because the collar is on top of this part, you don’t have to stress about it looking perfect (yay!).

We’re all done!  Try your shirt on, twirl around in the mirror, and rejoice in another made-over shirt!

Alright…here’s the other variation.

 

For this shirt, I did three rows in alternating colors.  I also changed the buttons to green to tie the shirt together.  Instead of sewing my ruffles on the edge of my strips, I sewed these right down the middle.  I think that’s all I did different.  If something is missing, comment and I’ll be sure to fix it!

Linking away to these parties!

Hoo are you Tuesday #4

Hi friends!  I'm happy to be sharing my answers to another hoo are you tuesday!

1. Do you have any siblings? 

Yes.  I have one brother and one sister, both younger.

 2. Do you have any children? 

Not yet.

3. Are you a morning or night person?

By default, I'm a morning person.  I'm up at 6 to send my husband to work, so by 7 I'm either doing homework or laundry or something somewhat important (unless I'm having a "grumpy nap").

                       4.Are you organized or spontaneous?  I think I'm somewhere in between.  I am a planner, and love to plan how and when I'm going to get done...but I know that it doesn't usually happen as planned.  Sometimes I get a great idea, especially for crafting and I just have to do it RIGHT NOW.  (Did that even answer the question?)

 5. What is your typical 4th of July like? Laid back at home? Community celebrations? etc...?  4th of July is pretty laid back for us.  We will go out to watch the firesides, but we enjoy bbq's with immediate family and sometimes grandparents.  The day is usually used for projects, four wheeling, or something we normally wouldn't be doing if we were working!

I've got a really fun tutorial ready to be posted early tomorrow morning, so be sure to check back!  I can't wait to show it to you!!!