Take Me Out To The Ball Game! ...A Tutorial

It feels like it has been FOREVER since I have been able to get on here! Sadly our home computer has a virus that won't allow us to access the internet. :-(

So for now I have to wait till hubby comes home and brings his laptop to get ANY computer time.

So in the mean time I have been...thrift store shopping with my mom who came in to town this past weekend, giving my kitchen chairs and table a little face lift, and working on a couple of projects.

The first of those projects that I will share with you today is how to make your own classic baseball t-shirt.

The need for such a shirt for my little man, arose when I found out that his daddy was going to be playing on the church softball team. I wanted him to look the part and show his support for his daddy :-)

I am sure there is a tutorial already out there some where on how to make this style shirt but I haven't stumbled across it yet. So if you haven't found one either yet, I would be happy to share with you how to make your own for your little guy...

Okay first off, what you will need...

2 T-shirts (1 white, and 1 any color of your choosing.)
1 "Pattern Shirt" (this is a shirt that has the baseball style sleeves that you don't mind cutting up)
Paper
Pen
Scissors
Sewing Maching...of course ;-)

First off for my 2 T-shirts I choose and old white one and red one from my hubby's closet...




Next grab your baseball style t-shirt that you are going to cut up...this shirt has the baseball style sleeves but wasn't quite the look I was going for...



Cut it apart at the seams...you should now have five pieces...
1. front 2. back 3-4. sleeves 5. neck line

Next...take your front and back body pieces. Fold each in half and lay on your paper. Time to make your pattern :-)



You are going to want to do this with the front, back, and sleeves. (you can also do this with the neck line)



*Seam Allowances* You can either do this step in your pattern or when cutting out your fabric...but definitely don't forget it.
(In case your new to sewing...when cutting out fabric you will want to leave a seam allowance... or about 5/8 - 1" extra space around your pattern to "allow for seams" this way your shirt doesn't end up just a little too snug)

Next...cut our your patterns. Take your white t-shirt and front and back pattern pieces. If you look closely you can see that I labeled my patterns 'cut on fold'. Make sure you do that other wise you are going to end up with only half a back and half a front.

I also line up my pattern with the bottom of the shirt so I don't have to hem the shirt. This little step saves me so much time! (I hate to hem!)



Repeat the step above with the sleeve patter and the red (or whatever color you choose) t-shirt.
I also leave the t-shirt doubled so I can cut 2 out at once, as well as lining the pattern up with the bottom of the shirt so I don't have to hem the sleeves.




You can do the neck line one of two ways...either take the neck line from your pattern shirt and cut out the same size from your t-shirt(like the pic below)...or like I finally decided to do...simply cut off the neck from the red shirt to use as the actual neck. I prefer using the neck from the red shirt...I just like it ended up looking more put together in the end.



Okay now that you have your five pieces to the shirt cut out it is time to sew it together.

Pin your white t-shirt front and back pieces *right sides* together (once again...in case you are new to sewing...the right side of fabric would be considered the outside of this t-shirt. The wrong side of fabric would be considered the inside of this t-shirt)



Next sew your sides together.


Once you have that done set the body of the shirt aside briefly and pin together the bottom edges of your sleeves like so...once again *right sides* together...and sew this part together (but only this one side!) Make sure to leave the other sides open.




Now this part is a little tricky to explain but not at all difficult to do...

you are going to grab your t-shirt body and turn it *inside* out. Next take one of your sleeves and turn in *right side* out.

Next place the sleeve inside the body of the t-shirt and line up sides of the t-shirt arm holes with the sides of the sleeve. The bottoms near the arm pit should line up as well as the tops.

Okay that was probably confusing the way I explained it...hopefully this pic helps make some sense of that...



Now I am pretty bad at lining up my sleeves just right so I always put a running stitch (a very loose stitch) in it first because I usually end up using my seam ripper about two or three times before I get it just right.

And this time was no exception....after sewing it on I realized that the shoulder part of the sleeves was too long...so I had to take it apart... and trim it excessively.

Once I did that I tried it again...


...and finally success! So don't feel bad if it doesn't turn out just right the first 2,3,4,5 or however many times it takes to get it right!

Once the sleeves look right you are going to sew over your running stitch with a tighter stitch to secure them.

Now...for the neck. At first I had cut out a strip of fabric and sewed it on top of the shirt alot like the way Dana does for her 90 min. Shirt...but decided it just didn't quite work for this type of shirt.

So I decided to cut the existing neck off of the red shirt that I had used for the sleeves. And measured and cut it to fit Jack's shirt.

To sew the neck onto the shirt you are going to want to turn your neck upside down and pin it to the t-shirt...*right sides* together.

Like so....


Maybe this pic will help it make more sense...



To attach the two sew closely to the top of the shirt like the picture above shows. Then remove your pins and flip the neck line back up.

If you are unsure by my directions on this step grab a t-shirt in your house and examine the way the neck is attached to the t-shirt...hopefully that will help :-) If not feel free to ask me and I will try my best to explain it a little better.

And that is it! You are done!



Put it on your little man and enjoy :-)



What is this mommy?



hhhhmmmm...I bet this would taste pretty good...



How to get it in my mouth though...



I think I've got it....



AAAAHHHH! SUCCESS! IT TASTE SO GOOD!

I also plan on adding his last name and a number to the back of his shirt....I think I am going to buy some nice iron-on letters to complete this look.

Hope you have fun trying your own classic style baseball t...happy sewing!



p.s. Feel free to ask me any questions and let me know if any of the directions were confusing or unclear :-)

An Easter Suit For The Little Man

Last on my list of things to make before Easter...a new outfit for Jack for Easter Sunday.

I have noticed lately that you can find a TON of cute Easter outfits for little girls...but it seems like the little men of this world have been forgotten. The selection for little boy clothes always seems to be pretty minimal.

So, I decided to go ahead and make little man an outfit myself. This is my second attempt at making this suit for Jack...you can see my first attempt here...and I am so pleased with the way it turned out!


The vest and pants are made out of a pair of my hubby's dress pants that he can no longer fit into.

The vest is lined with black satin from an old robe of mine that I never used.

I just love re-purposing...don't you!!!


His entire Easter outfit cost me a total of $0!
Let's see...
Fabric for Vest and Pants- Daddy's old dress pants
Fabric to line Vest- never been used robe
Buttons for Vest- Salvaged off of Daddy's dress pants
Elastic for Waistband of Pants- already had on hand from a while ago
White button up shirt - given to us by a wonderful mommy in our church
Hat- bought at a thrift store by Jack's Hunny (Grandma)

The only thing I really need to finish off this look is a pair of dress shoes; and a tie or bow tie (which I plan to make out of fabric I already have on hand).

All in all a pretty amazing deal for an Easter outfit!

And doesn't he look handsome!

Gone Hunting...For Eggs!

I have been sewing up a storm lately! With Easter quickly approaching I had a few outfits in mind that I just had to make. I knew I wanted to make Jack an Easter outfit, an Easter dress for myself, and a shirt for Jack for the big Easter egg hunt on Saturday.

I decided for Jack's Easter egg hunt shirt I wanted to try a freezer paper stencil...you can find a great tutorial here on how to properly use this technique.

So my first attempt at this technique was not what I would call successful. I wasn't positive what I wanted his shirt to say or have on it...but I knew I wanted an Easter egg on the front. So I decided to paint that on first.

Now freezer paper stenciling seems like a very simple process, and in fact it was...but for whatever reason my attempt did not look good! I may have bought the wrong paint...maybe it did not dry well enough...I am not sure. What I do know is that I need to practice more!

So after the egg I decided to scrap the freezer stencil for now and went to plan B...Applique...

I love to applique!!! I find it to be very quick and easy...and love the way it looks!

...here is how Jack's Easter Egg Hunt shirt turned out...

Here is the quick rundown on how to make your own Easter Egg Gone Hunting T-shirt...
(Sorry I don't have any step-by-step pics...I got a little carried away and forgot the camera!)
You will need:
1 T-shirt any color of your choosing
1 T-shirt for the letters....or you can just use left over scraps from another project
2 different colors of ribbon (or as many colors as you choose)
1 Disappearing ink fabric pen (not sure if this is the "technical" name for it)
Scissors
Sewing Machine
(optional) Heat & Bond or Wonder Under

Next go to your computer and print off the words GONE HUNTING to use as a template.
...or you can just free hand the letters like me (I still don't have a printer). You can also print out a template for your egg at this time...or once again just free hand it.

Now you will want to cut out your template letters and egg and trace them onto your accent fabric. Or...it you don't have a fabric pen you can pin your templates onto your fabric and just cut them out that way.

The next part is optional....and is something I only do when I have a big piece of fabric that I am going to applique on since this tends to be so time consuming.

...so next you CAN... take your Heat & Bond or Wonder Under and trace and cut out each of the letters and egg and follow the directions on the packaging to attach the letters to the shirt.

...or...you can simply pin the letters to the shirt and sew around the edges like I did. A lot less time consuming!

Now for the design on the egg...I simply cut out four strips of ribbon -two white and two green. Then pinned them around the egg and sewed around the edge of the egg to keep them in place.

Finally I sewed the egg on top of my botched freezer paper stenciled egg.

I can't wait for him to wear it now!!! He is crawling all over the place so it will be interesting to see what he thinks about crawling around outside :-) a little dirt and grass is supposed to be good for little boys right?

...then again it probably won't be very good for his pants...but maybe then his grass stained pants will give me some incentive to try this Knee Pad Pants Tutorial I have been dying to try.

Later this week I will be sharing Jack's Easter Sunday Outfit...only a few more details and it will be done! :-)

Have a WONDERFUL week!

Jack's St. Patty's Day Shirt

I have been loving making clothes for my little man! Well St. Patrick's Day rolled around and I decided to whip up this cute little shirt for my little cutie so he could avoid being pinched.

However, he has those adorable chubby little cheeks that you just want to squeeze any way!

I picked out this fabric for him because, I hate to make something that he is only going to wear one time...seams like a waste of my time. Plus, this fabric was just too cute (and on sale!) to pass up in the store :-) ...those are monster trucks on his shirt...in case you were wondering.

I made this fun shirt using MADE's 90 min T-Shirt tutorial, yet again. You can see the others I made for him here.

These shirts are so easy to make...that is all except for the part where I have to attach the sleeves. I'm not sure if I just don't have the pattern right or what...but I have resorted to stitching the sleeves on with a running stitch first. This allows for me to take it apart with my seam ripper much easier!

Of course, I then get the sleeves even and sewed on just the way I want...and I realize that I have sewed them on inside out...when it is 1 a.m. all you can do at that point is take a deep breath grab that seam ripper and get back to work. Otherwise I might be tempted scream...and that would leave me with one crying baby and one unhappy hubby...and I am pretty sure the neighbors wouldn't appreciate it much either!

One thing sewing has definitely taught me...PATIENCE!

Another new challenge for me was working with ribbing for the very first time. That stuff is NOT easy to work with! I am sure there is some trick to working with it...but I guess for now I will just have to keep practicing. Good thing my motto is "Completion not Perfection"!!

Hopefully, in this case practice will make perfect, because I still love to make these shirts...until then I will keep practicing my patience as well :-)

So here he is once again in his new adorable shirt...



...being his adorable self...

Don't you just want to pinch those chubby cheeks!!!!

More Re-purposing Fun!

Once again I have been inspired by the art of re-purposing! There are so many great ideas and endless options for those who want to re-purpose.

Jack Jack is sporting a new shirt thanks to some great inspiration I got from this momma. It has been Celebrate the Boy month over there and I have been LOVING it! It is so hard to find really cute stuff to make for my little man and she has tons of ideas. So using her oh so easy tutorial on the envelope shirt I whipped up three new, adorable shirts for my Jack Jack.

As I have said before my hubby has put on a couple extra pounds (it is a good thing! he NEEDS the extra padding!). Therefore, I have tons of extra t-shirts, jeans, and pants to breathe new life into. I grabbed three t-shirts from that stash- a black and gray baseball style shirt, a plain red one, and a plain green one.

Next I found an old onesie that still fit Jack but had an ugly painted owl on the front of it (one of those trial and error kind of projects!) so he wasn't going to wear it ever again. I cut it up and used it as my pattern for the shirts. I had to adjust my pattern several times so each of the three shirts fits a little different, but overall each fits pretty well. I am still working on getting the pattern just right- it needs just a couple more tweaks and it will be perfect :-)

I loved using Chad's old t-shirts for this project! Mainly because I lined the bottom of my pattern up with the bottom of the t-shirt and cut the sleeves out of the existing sleeves. By doing this I did not have to hem anything! Wonderful!

Since the t-shirts we're very plain I decided to applique some cute little things to the front, a tractor, a fire truck, and an airplane. I found the patterns for the designs at this website...and guess what...they are free! (I love that word!) You can print the stencils off...or like me you can just cut out the shapes free hand. Next I used some heat-n-bond to attach them to the t-shirt and sewed around the edges to make sure they didn't come off in the wash.

I do have to say I was pretty intimidated by this project! It took me a lot to work up the courage to try it...but surprisingly it was...easy. Now easy doesn't mean that I didn't have to re-attach the sleeves about a dozen times (to make matters worse I lost my seam ripper right before this project!) and re-do the pattern a couple more times just to get the fit right, or that it came out perfect; what easy does mean is that I finished it!!! Completion not perfection my friends, that is the key to a sane sewing experience :-)

Jack's New Outfit

So I have seen a ton of posts lately on re-purposing old clothes and objects into something new. I LOVE the idea! Well this is one of my first (and favorite) attempts at re-purposing.


Since I got pregnant with Jack my hubby has also been gaining weight :-) He has gone up at least one if not two sizes in just about everything. So....I now have a ton of t-shirts, jeans, dress pants, etc to re-fashion into something for my littlest man!


So as I was digging through hubby's clothes I found a pair of dress pants...I have been wanting to make Jack a nice outfit for church and he has been growing so fast that I didn't want to buy a new outfit when he probably will only get to wear it one or two times! (I'm sure most mom's out there can relate to this problem!)

I grabbed up the pants and went to my kitchen table(i.e. my "craft room"...wish I actually had one!) Then I found a pair of pants that currently fit my growing little man and a vest I found at the thrift store. Next I made patterns. There are tons of post out there on how to make patterns for pants...if you Google it I promise you will find it :-) (not really sure how to post the links on here yet, it is on my list to figure out!). The pants were the easiest part of this outfit I just lined up the pattern with the bottom of my hubby's pants so I didn't even have to hem the bottom! The waist band is just an elastic waist band -much easier to put on baby that way! I also cut the belt loops off my hubby's pants and attached them to Jack's.


Since I cut the pants out of the bottom of hubby's pants I had the whole top part left over...so I used that part to make the vest. These particular dress pants were lined, so I used that lining to line the vest. The vest is made up of three parts: the back, front left side, and the front right side. I think next time I need to make the vest pattern a little bigger since I sewed the outside and lining right sides together, then turned it right side out, then sewed the seams together (it fits pretty snugly right now!) Definitely need to make those adjustments...but altogether not too bad for a first try!


I am planning on making another outfit for Jack for Easter out of a pair of gray stripped dress pants...maybe I will try and do a step by step "tutorial" to post on here when I tackle that one. Now all I need to do is figure out how to make that bow tie he is wearing! (which is actually his daddy's...that would be the reason it is so big on him...but it was just to cute to resist!)