DIY: Dang Cute Shirt
Want to make a dang cute shirt like this? We got the basic pattern idea off of Make it and Love it, but we have added our own little twist to it and taken out and added some things. We made these shirts at the same time and took pictures of both of our fabric so sometimes you will see white fabric and other times you will see maroon fabric.
What you will need:
A shirt that fits you just perfectly that you already own.
A yard and 1/2 of Knit Jersey fabric
Pins and Scissors
Fold your shirt in half and place on the fold of the fabric.
Cut out around shirt about an inch away leaving room for seam allowance. You will need to cut this out TWICE on a fold so don't cut in the middle of your fabric leaving no room.
Don't cut out the sleeve just yet. Cut a curve instead.
This is what the back piece of your shirt should look like. Now do it again to make your front piece.
We wanted the front of our shirts to have more of a round neck instead of choking us, so we cut out a larger neck.
Laid out flat, here are the two pieces we just cut out. A front piece and a back piece.
Now it is time to cut out the sleeves. You will need to fold your fabric again and cut out a sleeve on the fold leaving room for seam allowances. Do this TWICE so you end up having two sleeves! Unless you like only having one... :)
Here is what one cut out sleeve looks like cut on the fold.
Here is what a sleeve looks like when it is laid out flat.
Put the sleeves aside for now and start pinning the body of your shirt RIGHT SIDES together. You will need to sew only the sides of the shirt (NOT THE SLEEVE HOLES) and the top of the shoulders. Pull your shirt right side out and take a good look at it. It should look like this.
Now go and get your sleeves. Pin right sides together like this. No need to pin any further up the sleeve since you wont be sewing that part of it yet.
Sew the sleeve together stopping at the curve.
To attach the sleeve, line up the seam of the sleeve with the seam of the shirt, right sides together. Pin the sleeve up to the shoulder and all the way around right sides together. Sew away!
When you have got both sleeves on, pull your shirt right side out and take a look at your craftiness.
Now you need to start hemming. Pin up the raw edges and hem away! Do this to the bottom of the shirt and the end of the sleeves.
Here is your hemmed shirt with sleeves. Now to embellish. You really can do a number of things. I took about four long strips of fabric here and just went at it.
I just scrunched up the fabric and worked with it until I liked how it looked.
Then I pinned the strips in place so I could easily hand sew the design I desired in place.
Once the strips are pinned in place hand sew your embellishments. :)
If you want your shirt to look like this below......
Place the strips of fabric on the shirt in a circle and hand stitch it in place. You could try using your sewing machine, but you would have to spin your fabric a lot as you go. Thats why I just hand sewed it on there :)
In the end, your shirt will look like this. For this shirt I did not make a neck. I just left it raw because that was the look I was going for.
Cut 3 long strips from your extra fabric. About a foot and a half long.
Place the strips of fabric on the shirt in a circle and hand stitch it in place. You could try using your sewing machine, but you would have to spin your fabric a lot as you go. Thats why I just hand sewed it on there :)
or your shirt will look like this.... I added a strip of fabric here to add a little texture around the neck. Have fun! Let us know how your dang cute shirt turns out!
So all the bibs my little girl has are tiny! I remembered that my mom made bibs for us when we were youngsters out of dish towels that pretty much covered our entire bodies. Here is a bib you can make for your little one.
Step 1. You will need and old towel or a new towel, whichever you want, some double sided bias tape, some chalk to mark where you will cut, some pins, some scissors, an iron, and an ironing board.
Step 2. Fold your towel in half "hamburger" style. Mark the outline of the bib making it a little curvy to add some character. (I used black marker so you could see it better, but you should use your chalk.)
Step 3. Cut out on the line! Pin the bib so things don't slip around.
Step 4. Lay out the towel flat and mark at the top of the bib a place for your child's neck to go. I made mine a couple inches deep and about 3 inches wide.
Step 5. Iron your double sided bias tape to the edge of the bib. The heat from the iron should make the bias tape curve to the bib. Don't worry about the neckline yet, we will get to that later. Pin as needed.
Step 6. Sew on your bias tape! I like to sew things at the edge of the presser foot. Start at the neckline and end at the neckline. Clip off the ends of the bias tape.
Step 7. Cut a piece of bias tape about 30 inches long for the neck tie. You could make it longer or shorter depending on what you like or what will fit your little one. Find the middle of the bias tape and the middle of the neck. Put the middle of the bias tape over the middle of the bib's neck and start ironing away like you did with the edge of the bib.
Step 8. Sew the neck tie onto the neck and stitch a little zigzag stitch where the two bias tapes meet to secure everything a little better. Tie knots at the end of the ties and you are done!!! Your baby will be cute and covered.
Let us know what you think!
Stephanie
Have you ever seen those stinkn' cute aprons in the mall? Well this may not be EXACTLY like those cute flirty aprons, but it sure is fun to DIY and personalize your very own flirty apron.
Here's what you need to make your very own flirty apron: * An old apron for the pattern
* One yard of dang cute fabric (This is for the body of the apron)
* One yard of corresponding fabric (This is for the ties and trim)
* Matching thread for sewing
* Pins
* Scissors
* Chalk for tracing
1. Fold your dang cute fabric of choice in half. Trace your old apron pattern on the now folded fabric. Folding your fabric in half will insure that you get two apron pieces. One will be for the front, and the other the back of your apron. After tracing, cut it out.
2. Now that you have two apron pieces, a front and a back you can set that aside. Get your corresponding fabric out to create the trim. We decided that measuring 6 inches wide was sufficient. The length of the trim is up to you. The longer, the flirtier... (is that even a word?)
3. Fold your 6 inch wide fabric in half and iron. Now your trim is long and 3 inches wide.
4. Sew your 3 inch wide trim on the opening edge. Make sure that your sewing machine is set to a wider stitch, or a basting stitch. After sewing this straight and very long line you will have a tube like piece of fabric.
5. Remember how we used a basting stitch... well now it's time to use it! Gently pull the end dangling thread on one side so that your fabric will become gathered. You may find that your gathered piece of fabric isn't as long as you wanted. This is easily fixed by repeating steps 2-4 and then sewing your two gathered trim pieces together. The following 3 pictures below show how this can be done...
6. After getting the desired length of your flirty and gathered trim, pin your trim to your apron pieces. This trim, is for the bottom of the apron (**Just a reminder :) ). This may be tricky to see so I will attempt to do some easy yet intricate explaining...* Take one of your already cut apron pieces and lay it on a flat surface, right side facing up!
* Now take your gathered trim. Like the above picture shows, pin raw edges together. Notice how the finished side of the trim seems to be facing up towards the right side of the apron piece.
* Pin trim and first apron piece together.
* Now take your second apron piece and place it on top of the pinned trim and first apron piece. Be sure to place the second apron piece wrong side facing up and right side touching the first apron pieces right side. So basically right sides together.
7. Sew first apron piece, flirty trim and second apron piece all together. As you sew you will notice that your apron is inside out. ONLY SEW THE BOTTOM OF THE APRON WHERE TRIM IS ATTACHED!!!!!!
8. Turn your sewn apron right side out. Above is what it should look like.
9. Now it's time to make the ties. Now you will need to repeat the following steps 4 times. There are 2 ties that tie around the neck and 2 ties that will tie around the waist.
7. Sew first apron piece, flirty trim and second apron piece all together. As you sew you will notice that your apron is inside out. ONLY SEW THE BOTTOM OF THE APRON WHERE TRIM IS ATTACHED!!!!!!
8. Turn your sewn apron right side out. Above is what it should look like.
9. Now it's time to make the ties. Now you will need to repeat the following steps 4 times. There are 2 ties that tie around the neck and 2 ties that will tie around the waist. Follow steps 2-4 4x. Be sure not to do a basting stitch this time, because a gathered tie would not be the most ideal for tying.
Now that you have four 3 inch strips of sewn fabric notice the picture above. All of your strips should have an open top and bottom, kind of like a tube. To make your ties more finished, simply sew one side of each strip diagonally.
10. Once you have sewn each strip diagonally on one side you can use scissors or rotary cutter to cut of the excess fabric.
10. Once you have sewn each strip diagonally on one side you can use scissors or rotary cutter to cut of the excess fabric. Next, take each strip and turn right side out.
11. Iron your ties, so that they are nice and crisp.
12. Pin your crisply ironed ties to the top of the apron and the sides, and sew away!
11. Iron your ties, so that they are nice and crisp.
12. Pin your crisply ironed ties to the top of the apron and the sides, and sew away! FINALLY YOU ARE DONE, your very own DIY Flirty Apron!
Stephanie and
Megan
