Ruffle Cuff Pant Legs

Just a quickie to share something great I found today.   If you liked my Knot No-Hem Pants tutorial, I'm sure you're going to love these from A Mother Huddle:

Source

This Ruffle Cuff Pants tutorial shows you a great way to transform pants that are either too short or too long into ones that fit and are completely adorable.  I wish I were younger so I could make some of these for myself! 

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy crafting. :)

--CC

Knot No-Hem Pants for Adults

Look familiar?

If you were reading back in May, you'll probably remember my knot no-hem capri pants tutorial.

Well, ta-da!  They work for adults, too. And yesterday I whipped up a pair of them for myself!

Sorry about the goon-tarded face!

I had these denim bermudas that were made to look like cutoffs.  I just never wore them because I thought they were an awkward length and kind of boyish.  So I cut off the bottoms and added some pretty fabric using my knot no-hem tutorial.

And you could probably do this with an old pair of jeans or long pants, too.  So many options!

The fabric I used matches a lot of the pink, purple and blue shirts that I have in my closet, plus I think it will look fabulous with this top that I made back in the spring.  ;)

Now you know where the fabric came from.

I never used to wear this pair of bermudas and now it looks like I'll want to wear them all the time because of all the tops they match!  And what's best is that this project cost me nothing because I already had the pants and the fabric on hand from another project.  Wow!  Don't you just love how refashioning an old item can freshen up your wardrobe so easily and cost effectively?

Have you refashioned anything lately?  Share a link if you'd like!  I'd love to see.  :)  Happy crafting and thanks for reading!

--CC

This post is linked up here.

Refashion: Men's Dress Shirt to Sleeveless Blouse

Ta-da!  I told you I'd be back with this shirt refashion today!  Anyway, I made this top using this tutorial, except, of course, I made it big people size instead of child size.  :) 

Tyler donated a button-up shirt that didn't fit him anymore and I cut it up using a sleeveless blouse of mine as a pattern.  It does pucker a little bit around the bust, so if you try and make this top I suggest cutting it a little larger than needed so you can add darts.

Notice the slight puckering near the arm holes?

Anyway, I kept the same bottom hem as the original shirt, so all I had to do was sew together the sides and the shoulders/neck, plus add bias tape (which I made myself for the first time!) around the arm holes.

I did everything pretty much the same as the tutorial, except that since my shirt was adult sized I didn't have enough fabric leftover for the neck tie.  Sooo...I just happened to have this teal and navy satin fabric that I scooped up at Jo-Ann's for $2 a yard way back when and it matched fabulously.

I think I like the top with the satin tie around the neck better than I would have liked it if the whole shirt were just the navy blue fabric.  I think it gives it the shirt a little surprise factor and femininity.

This top was so easy to make it was ridiculous, and now I have something new I can wear for work that cost me less than $2.  Hooray!

Thanks for reading and happy crafting to ya!

--CC

This post is linked up here.

Tutorial: Sleeveless Bow Top

A lot of people are afraid to try and make clothing or draft their own patterns.  At least, I know I was when I first started sewing!  But a few tutorials of easy projects (like this one or this one) helped me find my bearings and I’m proud to say that I finally feel confident venturing out and making some of my own patterns.  And today I want to help you see that you can draft your own pattern and sew your own clothes, too!  Sooo….

Introducing the Sleeveless Bow Top Tutorial!  It's my first "big girl" tutorial, so bear with me (and email me if it doesn't make any sense!).

I modeled the Sleeveless Bow Top after this top I saw for sale online recently.   It’s a cute, comfortable top to finish out the summer with, and might even be great under a cardigan for the fall.  And the good news is it's made a lot like a pillowcase top so it’s just about one of the easiest garments you can sew!  I know you can do it, so follow me after the break to get started.

Tutorial: Slide On Dog Collar Bandana

Recently I showed you how to make a cute felt flower dog collar embellishment for your pooch, but you might remember way back in December when I first came up with the flower idea that I told you I'd been making bandanas to slide over my dog's collar for a few years.

We've never been able to get bows to stay on our Pomeranian, Monica.  They just drive her crazy and she paws them off her head.  For awhile we tried tying bandannas around her neck and that didn't bother her, but they fell off easily.  That's when we had the idea to sew them with a little tube at the top so they slide right over her collar.  This solves the problem of them falling off and getting lost.

They stay in place and they look adorable on a boy or girl dog, so I thought you'd like to know how to make a slide-over-the-collar dog bandanna for your puppy.  It's a great way to use up scrap fabric, it only takes about 15 minutes and it's super easy.  I've made it even easier by creating the template for you!  So join me after the jump to learn how to make your own dog collar bandana.

P.S.  Did you know you can spell "bandana" with one or two N's?  Bandana or bandanna is acceptable according to Dictionary.com.  Weird, right?  Okay...on with the tutorial. :)

Tutorial: Knot No-Hem Capri Pants

So, sorry about the long break.  Things got a little crazier than I expected (financially, academically, and moving-ly).  But I finally had a little time to do some sewing and blogging today annnnd....I have what you've been waiting for (maybe)!  Remember this picture I used to taunt you in my last post?

Well....Introducing the Knot No-Hem Capri Pants...

Because there's knot no hem on them!  Get it?  Hahaha.  I crack myself up.  :)

 But, okay.  Seriously, let's talk about the pants.  I made three pairs of these pants for my boyfriend's niece and thought they were worth sharing.  They can be made into shorts or capri (cropped) pants.  I made mine capris because I figured the elastic would stretch to still fit in the waist as she grows and then as the length gets shorter maybe she can wear them as bermudas or even shorts (if they still fit in the waist by then). 

They're super easy, super cute and they don't take much fabric at all.  I made mine out of some scrap fabric and a remnant I bought at Jo-Ann's.

But you can make the project even easier than that.  If your youngster has some long pants they wore this spring that you know won't fit by fall, why not cut off the extra length and add the cute knot to the bottom to make them into a new summer item?

You could even make an adult version with some old jeans for yourself!

So without further ado, here's the Knot No-Hem Cropped Pants tutorial.  Join me after the jump to learn how to make your own pair.

Tutorial Review: Quick and Easy No-Hem Skirt

So, I know this means I'm still off-track with my MayFlower event and I promise more flowery posts to come, but today I want to share with you a review for the Quick and Easy No Hem Skirt from Hickety Pickety (great new blog I just found, by the by!) I showed you yesterday.  If you didn't get a chance to see that post, here's the skirt that's up for review:

So let's get started!

Accuracy: 10

Clarity of Directions: 9
Helpfulness of Pictures: 10 
Difficulty: 3
Overall Rating: 10

Time: ~30 min.

Recommended

For the full details, join me after the break. :)

Rainy Day Skirt-a-thon

First off, sorry if I'm getting a little off my MayFlowers event the past couple of days.  I promise to get more flower tutorials to you.  I've just been on a clothes-sewing kick.  Which brings me to today's post!

Saturday I planned on finishing up a MayFlowers tutorial for y'all, but I woke up to a cloudy day--not ideal for taking pictures, especially with my super-picky-about-light camera.  So instead, after reading this post on Noodlehead, I decided to spend the day sewing a few skirts for my and my boyfriend's nieces. I used the Quick and Easy No-Hem Skirt tutorial from Hickety Pickety. 

Now, let me tell you, I've been told a few clothes-sewing projects were easy before and found them to be rather difficult.  (Maybe it's just that I'm not that talented.)  But this tutorial really was super easy and super quick, just like it claims to be!  So instead of making just one skirt, I ended up making three!

One in a 2T...

(That fabric's starting to look familiar now, isn't it?)  One in a 3T...

And one in a 4T...

And then it was still raining and I still felt like sewing so I took a stab at a little more challenging skirt that's been on my list for a long time, the Pint-Sized Party Skirt from Creative Spaces.  It turned out pretty cute, too.  Dontcha think? 

And the best part?  Four skirts all made of scrap fabric.  And I already had the elastic on hand, too, which means that I got to spend the whole day in my pajamas sewing!  What a great day. :)

Anyway, if you're wondering about these tutorials now and want to make your own skirts, don't worry.  I'll give you all the details in my reviews coming up later this week.  Until then, happy crafting!

--CC

Tutorial: Heat Therapy Pillow

Awhile back you might have read this post about heat therapy pillows I made.  If you didn't read before, basically they're small pillows filled with rice or flax seed that you can keep in the freezer and use as ice packs or microwave to use as heating pads.  They make wonderful, inexpensive and thoughtful gifts for a variety of occasions.  I think they're perfect for get well, Christmas, Mother's Day (hint!) and "just because" presents.

I've received lots of positive feedback on mine, so guess what?  Today I'm going to teach you how to make one for yourself!  My heat therapy pillows feature removable pillow shams for easy cleaning.  Join me after the break for the tutorial by clicking "read more."