Sunshine Day Tunic and Clam Diggers – Tutorial

 

 

Well, the name is Sunshine Day BUT the pictures for this were taken on the COLDEST day we have had since moving here!!!!! LOL There was no way I was going to make Cailey stand outside in 40 degrees…..

 

For some reason this outfit (or maybe just the striped fabric) reminds me of…….

 

 

Y’all remember that, right??? LOL I loved watching Brady Bunch reruns after school when I was a kid.

 

 

ANYWAY…. Here is the tutorial.

 

 

What I used – 

3/4 yard of the stripes (very silky and flowy)

1/4 yard of the gold cotton for the yoke at the top

1 yard of heavier, stretchier cotton for the clam diggers

1″ elastic

 

 

 

 

I had this idea… I was going to make the front and back yoke one piece…. with lining….. Yeah… I even cut a muslin (above).

It took me a bit to figure out the problem. LOL

One I realized that I wouldn’t be able to turn it right side out after sewing the lining, I resigned myself to 4 pieces instead of 2.

 

 

So, then I made a pattern piece after much measuring and figuring. LOL

 

 

 

 

Pin the lining pieces to the main pieces and sew all around, leaving the bottom open.

 

 

 

Clip the corners, turn right side out and press.

 

 

 

Cut the pieces for the bottom of the tunic. I cut the top of it about a 1/4″ wider than the bottom of the yoke.

Make it as long as you like, widening as you go and curving the bottom.

 

 

 

Pin the bottom of the yoke to the top of the bottom piece, with right sides together. Sew then press your seams.

 

 

 

 

Now, pin the front to the back, with right sides together. Sew the shoulder and the sides.

 

Next, fold up and press 1/2″ on the bottom. Then fold up and press 3/4″. Sew the hem.

 

 

 

Remove the cat from your work space.

 

 

 

Grab a pair of your child’s pants to use as a cutting guide for the clam diggers. Turn up the leg bottoms to your desired length.

 

 

 

 

If you have a right side/wrong side fabric, you will want to flip the pants guide over to cut the second leg.

 

 

 

Sew up the inseam from the bottom to the start of the crotch curve.

(If your child is very small, you will want to hem them first.)

 

 

 

Turn one leg right side out and slide it into the other leg. Pin and sew.

 

 

 

Now for the elastic casing. Fold over 1/4″ and press. Fold over again by just over 1″, press and sew the casing, making sure to leave a section open to insert the elastic.

 

 

 

Pin the ends of the elastic and insert into the opening.

Then pull both ends out and secure with zigzag stitches.

Sew the opening closed.

 

 

 

Fold up and press the bottom of the legs by 1/2″. Fold up and press another 1/2″ and sew the hem!

 

 

Turn right side out and press!

 

YOU ARE DONE!!!! 😀

 

 

As always, let me know if you have any questions. You can always use the Contact Me button at the top of the page.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

 

 

 

SquigglyTwigs Designs Pattern Tests AND My Signature Look

I was planning on creating a separate look for the Project Run & Play Signature Look Challenge BUT I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the way the pattern tests for SquigglyTwigs Designs Cute and Quick Pants and Peasant Blouse turned out so I will be entering them. 😉

I have very eclectic tastes and style.  Just like my preferences for reading, music and movies, they seem to be all over the place! I love modern, retro, vintage AND classic looks, so it’s sort of hard to pin down just one look to describe my signature style….

 

 

I used SquigglyTwigs Designs Pretty Peasant Dress pattern for the tunic. I used the standard size 8 with added ruffle.

The capris are SquigglyTwigs Designs Cute and Quick Pants custom size 7 with added ruffles.

 

 

 

If you’ve been following my blog for a while then you’ll know how much I LOOOOOOVE eyelet! I can’t get enough of it! LOL And I think it goes wonderfully with the 2 vintage look prints.

I have to say, though, that print was a pain in the rump to sew with!!! It’s woven but it reacts like knit!! PAIN IN THE BUTT!!! And every time I took the iron to it, it would expand! I love it but it was a PAIN! 😉

 

 

 

 

 

I also made Colin a pair of pants from the same pattern. I used the standard size 6 with added cuff. I used a heavier weight knit for the main pant portion and a medium weight knit for the cuffs. He LOVES them. He would rather wear knits than anything else! 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will be linking this up with the sew along linky party at Project Run & Play tomorrow!! You should go check out all the AWESOME looks that link up every week! SOOOOOOOO much talent!!!!

 

 

Men’s Shirt Refashion Tutorial (of sorts)

 

 

 

I didn’t take but a few pictures during the making of this outfit but I think I can still walk you through the process with what pics I DO have. 😉

 

 

 

I started with a large men’s shirt and my BFF, the seam ripper.

 

 

 

First I picked the seams off the sleeves.

Next came the collar (the fold over part).

Then I picked off the cuffs.

 

 

 

 

I cut the shirt along the white line.

Then I sewed up the side seams.

 

 

 

Next I sewed a finishing stitch along the arm holes/sleeve edges.

Then I pinned and sewed on the sequined ribbon.

 

After that I pinned and sewed the sequined ribbon to what was left of the collar.

 

Next I pinned and sewed the sequined ribbon around the high waist, leaving it open on the ends for the elastic casing.

I then threaded the elastic through, pulled the ends out of the casing and sewed the casing closed. After that I pulled on the elastic and cut the ends.

I did NOT hem the bottom of the top. I plan on going back and adding the sequined ribbon to the bottom as soon as I can get my hands on more of it! LOL So for the time being it just has a finishing stitch across the bottom. (Done after the pics were taken.)

 

 

 

The pants were a little tricky. You have to cut the tops of each sleeve below the curve where it fits to the arm holes. If Cailey had been any taller it probably would not have worked so well. LOL

After the tops are cut off, turn one sleeve inside out and slide down into the other sleeve. Then sew the crotch seam.  The inseam is already there from the sleeve seams. 😉

Next, I sewed a finishing stitch across the waist of the pants. Then I folded and pressed about 1″.

After that I sewed the elastic casing, inserted 3/4″ elastic and finished it up.

The last step was adding the sequined ribbon to the bottoms of the legs.

 

 

For the cuff bracelets, I cut a little out of the middle of each to make them smaller. Then I sewed them back together.

Next i took off the plain buttons and added the sparkly ones. 😉

 

 

 

 

 

The whole thing was MUCH easier than I thought it was going to be. If I knew it was going to be that easy I would have taken more pictures! LOL

OH!! I almost forgot!! Her hair tie was made from the fold over part of the collar! LOL I just top stitched the open seam. 😉

 

I hope this is helpful!! If you have ANY questions, please use the Contact Me button at the top of the page and send me an email!

 

Knit Peasant Blouse and Gingham Capris Tutorial

 

 

You will need- (or maybe I should say what I used LOL)

1 1/2 yds of knit

2 yds  of gingham (or fabric of your choice)

1 1/2 yds lace  or ribbon (if you want to do the empire waist)

3/4 in. elastic for waistband of capris

1/4 in. elastic for neck of blouse (also for the sleeves if you want them fitted)

 

A little note about sewing with knits, it’s a good idea to pull slightly as you are sewing. That seems to prevent the wavy lines knit can get. Also, you will need a ball point needle for your sewing machine.

 

 

Step 1- You will need to decide how long you want your blouse. Since I am using gingham for the capris I wanted the blouse to be long enough to cover my back side (gingham is thin…. LOL). I just measure from my shoulder down to where I wanted the blouse to be and marked it with a pin. Then I folded the fabric over and cut. Set the left overs to the side for your sleeves.

 

Step 2-  Cut the fabric in 2 pieces- 1 front piece, 1 back piece

Step 3- Pin the pieces together and fold in half.

Step 4- Measure 8″ from the fold and mark with a pin

 

Step 5- Measure 10″  from top corner down the side (not on fold)  and mark with a pin.

 

Step 6- Cut at a slight curve from the fold to your top pin. (The one that measured 8″) This will be your neck.

Step 7 – Leaving a slight straight edge cut at a slight curve from your 8″ mark down to your 10″ mark. This will be where the sleeves attach.

 

 

 

Step 8- Grab your left over fabric and fold. Measure 17″ by 11″  while folded.  Cut 2.

 

Step 9- Place both of your sleeve pieces (still folded) under your bodice pieces lining up the outer edges and the top edges. Using the bodice pieces as a guide, cut the slants into the sleeve pieces.

 

 

This is what you will have.

 

 

Step 10- Pin the sleeves to the front bodice piece – Since we are using knits there is really no right side or wrong side. If you are using something other than a knit then you place right sides together. 😉 Also both the front bodice and back bodice pieces are the same…. LOL But using that term might make it less confusing.

Sorry that the pic is kind of crappy…..

 

Step 11- Sew the sleeves to bodice piece. (I forgot the pic for this part but it’s simply sewing the sleeves where you pinned them.)

Remove the cats from your cutting/pinning board. SIGH…..

 

 

 

 

Step 12- Lay the bodice piece with the sleeves attached down. Fold sleeves over. Lay the other bodice piece on top (other than knit it will be right sides together) and pin the sleeves in place

 

Step 13- Sew the sleeves to the bodice piece.

 

 

Love on your cat and see if she will let you continue…….

 

 

Step 14- Pin from the bottom of the sides of the bodice all the way up through the ends of the sleeves.  This will be the pinning for your side seams and sleeve seams

 

Step 15- Sew a continuous seam from the sleeve to the end of the bodice, attaching the front bodice piece to the back bodice piece.

 

 

Step 16- While still inside out, fold over 1″ from the top of the neck line and pin in place.

 

Step 17- Sew your neckline elastic casing, making sure to leave an opening.

 

Step 18- Take your 1/4″ elastic and place it around your neck where you would like your neckline to sit. Cut.

 

 

 

Step 19- Pin a safety pin to both ends of the elastic and push through the elastic casing, either holding tightly to both ends or pinning the “loose” end. This will keep you from losing one end inside the casing.

 

Step 20- Sew the elastic together.

 

Step 21- Sew the elastic casing closed.

 

 

 

Step 22- Now, you can be done here OR you can hem the sleeves the blouse  OR you can add elastic to the ends of the sleeves in the same way you did the neckline making them more fitted. I like leaving my knit unfinished. I like the way it looks when it rolls. 😉

If you want to add the empire waist stick right here. If not, add whatever finishing touches you want to your blouse and move on to the capris.

 

Empire waist-

 

Step 1- Try your blouse on and mark with pins where your empire waist should sit.

 

 

 

Step 2- Pin your lace/ribbon/whatever to the right side of your blouse taking care to keep it straight and leaving plenty of excess for when you sew it.

 

 

Step 3- Sew the top of your lace/ribbon/whatever.

 

Step 4- Sew the bottom of your lace/ribbon/whatever making sure to leave an opening for the elastic.

 

Step 5- Take your 1/4″ elastic and measure under your breast line. Cut.

 

Step 6- Pinning both ends of the elastic with safety pins, repeat the steps used for the neckline. 😉

 

 

Step 7- Tuck one end of the lace/ribbon/whatever into the opening. Fold over the other side and tuck it in.

 

DONE!!!!

 

Now, on to the capris. I cheat a little here…. 😉 After a couple of steps I am going to cut and paste the tutorial for the pajama pants… So when the fabric in the pics change, don’t be alarmed. 😉 LOL  All the steps are the EXACT same. This is the way I make all my pants, capris and shorts. It’s VERY simple and easy.

 

Capris-

 

Step 1- Find a pair of capris/pants/shorts that fit you well to use as a guide. If you are using pants you will want to cut shorter for the capris. If you are using shorts you will want to cut longer.

 

Step 2- Fold your fabric and line it up with the width of your guide making sure to leave room for seam allowances.

 

 

Step 3- Place the outside line of your guide on the fold. Pull the crotch of your guide ALL the way out.

 

Step 4- Cut around your guide leaving excess for seam allowance.

 

 

Step 5- If you are using a fabric that has a right side and a wrong side you will want to flip your guide piece over and cut it that way.  Place your newly cut leg as a guide and cut the second leg.

 

Now I will be copying and pasting from the pajama tutorial. Hey! It’s Sunday! A day of rest! LOL 😉 And like I said, they are all made the same anyway…. LOL It’s taken me longer to put this tutorial together and the natives are getting restless… LOL

 

Step 12- Take one leg and pin the side with right sides together sew up from the bottom to the point of the crotch. Do the same with the other leg.

Step 13- Turn ONE leg right side out and stuff it down the other leg, matching up seams. Pin in place and sew from the top of one side, down to the crotch and up to the other side.

Step 14- Turn pants wrong side out and pin 2″ from the top to make your elastic casing

Step 15- Sew your elastic casing, leaving an opening to thread the elastic through

Grab your child and measure the elastic around the waist. Other people will say to add a little for seam allowance but I find that always makes the pants/skirt/shorts a little too big. 

Step 16- Put a safety pin in both ends of the elastic and thread one end through (you can either hold tightly to both ends OR pin one end to the fabric (Thanks, LaVonne)

Step 17- Sew ends of elastic together.

Step 18- Sew the opening closed.

Step 19- Pin and hem the bottoms of the pants! (I forgot to take a pic of this but I figure if you’ve made it this far….  )

 

 

Now here you are! You have a new peasant blouse and matching capris! 🙂

 

 

 

Let me know what you think! Is this easy to follow?