T shirt resizing tutorial tonight!

With two days of no naps for my littlest I haven't had time to write the tutorial. BUT... I have made and taken detail pictures of the different shirts and definitely figured out how to do the knit ribbing on the collars! I will get it written tonight after R's bedtime for sure.  Here's a preview of the other 2 I made after my first abercrombie shirt. (with SMILES I might add!!)

Did you know Abercrombie made toddler tshirts? Well..no actually they don't, but I do!

Let's face it.. really cool tshirts are pretty limited for toddlers, unless you want to pay big bucks.

R's big brothers have a ton of Abercrombie shirts they have outgrown..and even on sale ,$10 a tshirt between 2 boys for a few tween years, ends up to be..A LOT.  So when I found out I was pregnant and having a boy the first thing I knew I would save would be all the Abercrombie things.  Seriously I have no idea where their cotton comes from but it lasts and lasts and gets better and softer with each wash!

He was very busy watching Diego and did not want to pose!

So today I searched the saved clothes bin and grabbed a size small Abercrombie tshirt.  Then I read about a million different tutorials on how to resize a shirt.  My fav being Nancy's Couture.  Then tried it on him and realized I didn't have to do anything to the collar because it was already really small.  (Which I now remember was always a problem with my big kids trying to fit their heads through)  So now, none of the tutorials I had applied to what I needed to do.  So I just went for it! Turned out pretty darn good too. Thank you Lou Ann for teaching me how to add sleeves the right way so I could figure this out!!

So I decided I would do my own tutorial with another Abercrombie T-shirt (by this weekend at the latest)

Fabric Covered Burp Cloths for Baby - Beginner Easy Tutorial

Now you can get spit up on in style!! Here's how to make a fabric covered burp cloth for your baby or a cute baby shower gift (goes great with my Vinyl Changing Pad Tutorial)

Materials Needed:

Gerber cloth diapers - These are the best ones Gerber 6-pack Premium 6-ply Cloth Diapers but my Babies R'Us tends to run out of them quickly.  So this time I got the Gerber 12-Pack Prefold Birdseye 3-Ply Cloth Diapers - White  Do not get the single birdseye gauzy type..they are too thin.   The 3ply will give you twelve diapers for the same price as the six you get in the 6ply.  The 3ply seem to be working great this time, although from personal experience the 6ply will last through a million washings.  If you have time, just click on my link above and you can order online and get the good ones.  Sometimes certain Targets will carry the 3 and 6ply.

Fabric - I prefer cotton because it washes well with the diapers

Matching thread

..that's it, short list!

First step is to wash and dry the cloth diapers and your fabric (you should always wash and dry your fabric)
The cloth diapers shrink A LOT!
Then iron out the cloth diaper and the fabric.  Lay your cloth diaper down onto the fabric.

Then cut your fabric to the same size as your cloth diaper (it will not be straight but don't worry)

You will see the 2 lines already sewn into the cloth diaper, go ahead and pin down those 2 lines to keep your fabric onto your cloth diaper.

Sew into those 2 lines. (backstitch at beginning and end)  I pick a color that blends into the color fabric I picked.  You can barely see the color on the backside of the cloth diaper, but I suppose you could always use white bobbin thread.  Never tried that.

You can barely see the stitching.

You have to look really hard.

 Now if you have a serger you can serge down all the sides.  I don't, so I just zig zag stitch on all the sides.  I go around twice so that it stays really well.

That's it!

Adorable gift!

 *** Some additional embellishments I have done are to add some ribbon and just do half the cloth diaper in fabric, also you could always bias tape all the way around.  Personally after having used all kinds of these.  The simple ones like this seem to wash and last the best!

Kimono update on Sewing for Lilly

What a blessing you all have been! Lilly has 17 kimonos! We have surpassed our goal!
I am so glad I was able to help in some little way and I thank everyone who participated.
One day Lilly will grow up and have this experience to look back on and know what heart-felt and caring people are out there in the world.
God bless! I will update next week after Lilly's surgery to let everyone know how she is doing!
Once again here is the link to her flickr pool to see all the cute kimonos!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1638241@N21/pool/

2 tutorials! Make your own spool and bobbin storage and fabric boards!

This board for your bobbins and spools of thread is super easy and pretty quick!

Materials needed:
At least 1 inch think board.  I just bought a 12x24 piece of pine at home depot. 
It was 3.00.  The pine is a softer wood that is easy to hammer the nails into.
Box of "finished" nails.  The reason to use finished nails is so your spools of thread fit over the end of the nail.
Spray adhesive or hot glue
Staple gun if you prefer
Fabric (I used a heavier home decor type fabric)
Picture hangers

First thing you do is drill your picture hanger holders into the back of your board.  Be sure to put them down a little from the top so your fabric can fold over.  (Again with the pine wood this was easy to screw into)

Next lay your board on the fabric.  If you want to spray adhesive the front of your board then lay it on your fabric you can.  I suggest that for thinner fabrics.  I didn't do it with mine.  Here is also where you can just grab a staple gun and staple the fabric around.  Hot glue was more available for me.  So I started gluing my fabric around.

Corners are always a little tricky.  My fabric folded pretty nicely.  Keep hot gluing! Don't burn yourself. When you get the bottom done, make sure you start pulling your fabric tightly before gluing the top part (if you didn't use spray adhesive)

Voila! I kinda then added some hot glue around my ends of my fabric so it wouldn't come loose or fray.  Next we add the nails.

I love that my fabric was checkered because I kind of had a little guide to go off on my lines.  So if you want straight lines you may need to draw some with a sewing pencil that can be erased easily. 

Remember you need to nail your nails in at an angle so when it is upright your spools don't fall off.  As you can see my first row angles are all different LOL.  But you can't tell when its up.  I got better as I went along.  Also I put these too close together for my spools so I suggest you test that out.  So these became my bobbin holders.

Also my nails were so dirty! Look at your fingers while you are nailing so you don't put your dirty hands on your clean fabric.  Just keep making rows!

Here it is.. I left a little space on the right because I am thinking about adding some velcro to the back of my pin tomato and having it hang out there on the thread board while not in use.

 Should be easy to hang up with your pre-installed picture hangers.  See you can't even tell my nails are at different angles.  :) Enjoy!
Now onto my fabric boards...

Fabric board tutorial! This is even easier.

Materials:
Foam Board - I bought the industrial size at home depot.  It is 12 feet by 8 feet and about 8 dollars.  It also has a shiny silver side and writing on the other, but my fabric covers that up! I had them cut it into 1/4ths so it would fit in my car.  (You can go by the foam board at the fabric and craft stores that is super white but I had a lot of fabric and it would have cost me a LOT LOT more!)
Exacto knife and ruler

Basically I cut my foam board in the size I needed which was 8"x12" then wrapped my fabrics around it and stuck in a couple of pins!!
That's it!
I love having the foam so I can just pin it and it will stay.  Any questions just ask!

New sewing area is almost complete!

I love it! (I think I love Ikea a little)

Refinishing a dresser for more storage next to table

I made this thread board!

Tutorial on this thread board coming this weekend! ($6 to make!)

Another heart baby that needs Kimono's soon!

This sweet little girl is on her 3rd open heart surgery!
Here is the link to a blog about her and all the info to make kimono's for her too! Her surgery is right after Lilly's on March 27th! Here's hoping she is as blessed with help as Lilly has been! I will be sending her something right away! Please keep her in your prayers!
Josie Mae's information