Week 14 - Pillow Mat

This may have been one of my (and my kids') favorite projects so far.  I saw a pin that showed a blog with instructions to make a pillow mat.  It looked so cute that I couldn't resist trying it out!  The pillow mat instructions came from the blog Southern Disposition.  The instructions were super easy to follow, and this project took me about an hour the first time, but only 45 minutes the next.

I started with a shopping trip to IKEA to get the duvet cover and the pillows.  The duvee cost me about $16.99, and, after some searching, I was able to find the $.99 pillows.  I got to work with the duvet when I got home cutting it into half and stitching it per the directions.

I measured the same way she did by laying out the pillows, then I marked the spots to stitch with pins.  It was overall pretty easy, although I did mess up some of the measurements creating some pillow pockets are little bit bigger.  The mat worked out well though, I am just going to add some velcro to avoid the pockets opening and allowing the pillows to come out.  She loved it!

We found that you can even fold one pillow on top of the other to create an elevated pillow for extra cushion under her head. :)  My son wanted one once he saw hers, but I couldn't find a duvet that looked boyish enough for a 7 year old, so we went off to Target to look for a flat sheet.  We found an entire sheet set for the same price that I got the duvet at Ikea in a space print, so we got that.  I figure that I can use the sheets one his bed with a different flat sheet.  It was not hard to convert the instructions to a sheet.  I first cut the sheet to the length of the four pillows since I knew it would be longer than the duvet.  I sewed the raw edge to clean it up.  I folded the sheet in half and pulled out the bottom half of the sheet until the tops half matched the width of the pillows.  I then cut the bottom half about 5 inches longer in width to create the pocket.  I sewed the bottom and top together then sewed up the raw edge and completed it the same as the duvet.  I think that this actually did better b/c the length was created exactly for the pillows making the pillow pockets just right.  The sheet was also a little thicker fabric, not stretching as easily either. 

End result, they both love them!!

They use them for mattresses when they do "slumber parties" in the playroom, and they have actually started using them on top of their real mattresses in their bed b/c they are so comfy!

Week 8 - Ruffled Tier Skirt

Sorry about the delay!  I am a couple weeks behind on posting, but I am still crafting! :)  On week 8, i decided to try my hand at making my daughter a ruffled skirt.  Now I have only made one other sewing project from a pattern and that was a pillowcase dress, which is pretty hard to mess up.  The measurements on this one had to be a little more exact and I had to create a waistband.  I took it on excited about learning how to ruffle as well!  I know that I can buy a ruffling foot for my machine, but that costs some $$, and if I can do it with what I have, that will work! 

I took the pattern from this pin on pinterest which led me to the blog, Craftiness is not Optional (http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2012/02/l-o-v-e-tee-and-easy-tiered-skirt.html).

Cute blog with pretty easy to follow instructions.  I cut my fabric to the to my calculations per the directions on the blog.

Now looking back at just these measurements, I can see why this skirt wasn't as cute as I thought it would be.  I didn't get enough length on my middle fabric.  A couple more inches on the cupcake fabric would have led to a probable success on this one.  Oh well! :)

Not realizing my mistake, I went ahead sewing the skirt.  I did a zig-zag around the top and bottom edges since I do not have a serger.  I ironed up a hem on the bottom layer of the skirt and zig-zag stitched to secure it.  After this I sewed a long single stitch on a tension of 5 across the top of the bottom and middle layer. This will create your ruffle! :)  I was able to pull one side of the thread to ruffle the fabric.  It took a little time to figure out just how to get the fabric to bunch, and it's hard to explain, but one I got it, I was able to ruffle it pretty quickly.  She probably does a better job of explaining this process on her website. 

I then tied my strings to the string on the other layer of fabric to complete the full circle of that layer and zig-zag stitched them together wrong sides out.  I did this to both the bottom and middle layers.  I then took the middle layer and turned it inside out and put the top of the bottom layer inside of that to pin together to sew together wrong side out.

I ran this through on a zig-zag stitch to connect together.

Looks cute so far right?  Well attaching the top layer is where I went, "huh?"  I prepped the top layer by ironing the top over to create a space for the waistband to go into.  I threaded the elastic through using a paper clip that pierced the elastic and a pin to grab it and pull through.  I really should get some safety pins!  That would have made that process a little easier.  Oh well! I got it through and sewed it together.  I then attached the top layer to the middle using the same method as before.  It was at that moment that I though, "This doesn't look right."

Where it was supposed to tier out it was almost gathered tight.  I had my daughter try it on, and she was excited at first, but then decided that she didn't like "lumpy" skirts.  I had to laugh b/c she pretty much hit it on the head. :)  The tightness of the skirt on the middle created a bubble on the top part. LOL! 
I am going to try this again with some changes.  I will DOUBLE check my math this time.  I am thinking it was user error and not the fault of the pattern as I look back.  I would also tighten the waistband about an inch tighter.  It said to add an inch to your child's waist size, but for my daughter the waist was a little big, so I think I will keep it exact next time.  I will post an update with a hopefully better looking skirt! :)

T-shirt Ruffle Dress

Ok, so I was a little more ambitious this week on my project.  I saw this on pinterest and repinned it for later, only to realize that when I went back for the instructions, it was just a link to a dress to buy.  Upon finding this out, I was a little discouraged, but still determined to make something similar.  I used the directions from another style of t-shirt dress then just made the rest up myself!

I started off with this picture from pinterest as the original inspiration:

I then took my daughter to our local Hobby Lobby to pick out her choice color of ruffled fabric.  She picked out a bright pink (shocking, I know), and we went in search of a black t-shirt to put with it. I bought about 19 inches of fabric, but I could have about about 12-15 after I ended up chopping some off the length later.   I already knew that I had a black and white patterned ribbon to go with it at home.  After looking at a couple stores, I finally found a black short sleeved shirt at Walmart for $3.88.

When I got started I laid out the t-shirt on the table and measured three times the t-shirt width for the fabric width.  I figured this would give me a little room to pleat the skirt a little to give it more volume (my daughter has to have dresses that spin or it's just unacceptable by her standards).  then folded and pinned the fabric in half to ruffles out to make the first stitch of the seam.  One word of warning, make sure that the ruffles are laying the correct way before stitching, or you will sew them to lay in correctly.  I just ran the seam through my sewing machine using a straight stitch.

For some reason, my pictures are not showing up as the edited versions that I have saved to my computer.  Sorry for having to crane your neck from side to side to look at the pics!  Back to the dress...

Then I flipped the skirt inside out to make an  inside seam to make the seam more sturdy, as well as, cover up the excess from the first seam.  I think this is called a french seam, but I am now sure.  For those who know, feel free to call me out! ;)  I made another straight stitched about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in to be sure that I covered up all the extra.  Once finished, I flipped it right side out again to reveal a nice little seam! :)

I then cut off the bottom of the shirt leaving about 3-4 inches below the sleeves (Save what you cut off for project I will do later this month!).  This will get rid of excess fabric from shirt to make the sewing much easier.  I then lined up the seam of the skirt with the seam on the side of the shirt and pinned it.  I pulled the fabric out so it laid it half and took the end and pinned it to the other side seam of the shirt.  After this, I pulled the fabric up to find the middle of the fabric between to two sides of shirt and pinned it to the middle of the shirt.  I figured this was the easiest way to make sure the skirt fabric was evenly distributed around the shirt.  After those three pins, I made two pleats per side and pinned them.  I did the same to the back of the shirt, then sewed a straight stitch to secure the fabric. 

 

I added the ribbon to the shirt just sewing over the front half leaving the back half open to tie to the size needed for my daughter.  I learned the hard way from a past project to not sew a ribbon all the way around a shirt, if you want your child to be able to squeeze into the shirt.  T-shirts are made to stretch for a reason!

The finished project, while it doesn't quite look like the original, turned out pretty cute!!  My husband was surprised and impressed that I made it!  I can't wait to pair it with a cute pair of black leggings (the ruffled fabric is a little sheer) and see it on my daughter.  Unfortunately, she wasn't feeling too well and wasn't up for a photo shoot. :(

Overall, this ended up being way easier than I thought and took under from start to finish.  Much cheaper than buying one from the website!  One recommendation I would make is buy two sided ribbon.  My ribbon is one sided, so when I tie the bow, it doesn't show the decoration on one side.  Not horrible, but definitely a note for next time.  I am also thinking to cut the fabric shorter and make some ruffle shirts for summer. :)