Surfer Dude Boy's Shirt

Today's post is more of a here's what I did then a tutorial... sorry!  But I used Lil Blue Boo's T-Shirt Hoodie Pattern.  It is the only pattern I have ever bought.  And I love it (It comes with all the pattern pieces and step-by-step instructions.  No- I am not an affiliate I just love it).  I left off the sleeves to make it into a summer shirt.  I also added some heat transfer vinyl (From Expression's Vinyl - cheapest vinyl around!) to give it some boy flare!

Here are the pattern pieces and my jersey knit fabric.

Before:

After:

If you would like the Silhouette File of the surfer and the words, email me and I will send it to you.  

I used the free font: Pacifico FontFace

I also made the shorts to match...But I didn't tutorial that because there are lots of shorts tutorials already.  Let me know if you want another and I will put one together for you.

Recognize this little girl in her romper  in the background?

 

SIY: Kids Clothes- Cute Halter top with Lindsay {PA Country Crafts}

Let's welcome our next Guest Poster for our Sew It Yourself: Kids Clothes Series! 

Today we have Lindsay from PA Country Crafts!  Take it away Linsay! 

_______________________________________________________________

 Hi! Thanks so much to Fawnda for letting me share a tutorial with her readers!  My name is Lindsay and I blog over at PACountryCrafts.  I am married with five kiddos- one boy and four girls and we live on a little “farmette” in Pennsylvania, where we actually call them "lightning bugs" instead of fireflies.   On my blog you will find lots of my craft projects, some tutorials, yummy recipes, and a little look at our crazy life out here in the country.  A little bit of everything...

For my guest post, I decided to make a little halter top for my youngest daughter - she could use a few more shirts in her wardrobe.  This could easily be lengthened to make a dress, but she isn't quite walking yet, so this way she doesn't have to bear crawl to avoid getting her knees stuck. 

OK!  Let's get started!  I like to start out with a shirt that already fits well- for this one I folded and traced a tank top.

If your side isn't already an a-line shape, make it slant out as pictured.  I added seam allowance to the side (3/8") and the top (3/4") but I let the underarms alone since I used single fold bias tape.  To make the back, I just traced the front pattern from the bottom of the arm holes down, adding an inch to the width and 3/4" to the top to insert 1/4" elastic (Note: If you are making this in a larger size, you will want to use thicker elastic, so leave more seam allowance.)

Then, cut on the fold for each piece-  I used a lightweight cotton.

For the neck ties,  cut two strips 2" wide by 21" long (or as long as you need to make them fit the size you are making mine were pretty long, and probably a choking hazard- wear under supervision.) The ruffle for the bottom should be 2" wide by twice the finished width of the entire bottom- 44" long for mine.

To make the front, use single fold bias tape along the edges of the arms.

See?  Not too bad.  I don't even like single-fold bias tape, but it is just a little, so I did it with minimal grumbling.

To make the straps, sew the long sides together with a 1/4" seam then flip the tubes right side out.

Press and topstitch both long edges and fold one end in twice to hem.

 Fold the top edge under 1/4" and again about 3/8"-1/2" and insert the straps at the ends.

Sew the top about 1/8" from the folded edge.  Flip the straps back up and sew them in place.

Now, let's move on to the back...  Press the top edge of the back under 1/4" and again 3/8"-1/2".  Sew 1/8" from the folded edge to create a casing for the elastic.

Cut a piece of elastic the width of the back of your original tank top- for me I used 10"- and thread it through the casing, sewing in place with a small zig-zag stitch at each end.

Sew the front to the back along the sides and overlock or zigzag stitch over the edges to make them all neat and tidy.

Almost there!  Now for the ruffle... sew the strip in a tube and press it in half.

Sew a long basting stitch and pull to gather.  Pin it to the bottom edge, making sure it is evenly gathered the whole way around. Sew it in place, trim a million loose threads, and overlock or zig-zag to finish it off.

To make it extra pretty and to keep the ruffle from flipping up, topstitch close to the bottom edge.

TA DA!  Super cute, and I think it was pretty easy, too!

Front

Back

I also added a little flower on one side to embellish it, but to keep this from being the longest guest post ever, I put the directions for that over on my blog, so you can go HERE if you want the details.

A cute summer top for my cute little girl!  I paired it with denim shorts and a matching flower headband, but it would be so cute with a matching ruffle diaper cover, too!

Sunshine Dress Tutorial

My next Sew-It-Yourself: Kid Clothes tutorial is of what I like to call the Sunshine Dress after my Daughter whose name means "Sunshine" and- she just so happens to be the Sunshine our our lives!

Supplies:
Knit Jersey
1/4 inch elastic
Sewing machine with common sewing tools.

1. Create your pattern:

Take a tank top the fits your daughter.  Fold it in half and fold over the neck so that it is flat accross the shoulders.  Make an "A-line shape.  My daughter wears a 3T so I went straight down the folded side 6 inches lower then the shirt and the over 8 inches and then made a diagonal line up to the bottom of the arm pit.

2. Use your pattern and cut 2 pieces (on the fold) for the front and back of the dress.  

This is what they look like unfolded:

3. For the Neck Casing: Cut 2 strips the length of the neck and  4 inches wide.  Fold over the end and sew to finish each side of the strips. 

4. Cut a piece of elastic a little over half the length of the neck so that when you stretch it out fully it goes the full length.  Fold your Casing strips in half (with the right side facing out)  and place on the RIGHT side of the neck of the dress.  Place the elastic of top.  While sewing stretch out the elastic.  This will give you the gathered look of the neck and allow it to stretch over their head too!  Repeat on the other dress pattern too so that the front and the back are the same.

5.  Finishing off the bottom of the dress: 

Cut 2 strips that are the length of the bottom of your dress and 4 inches wide. 

Sew the strip to the bottom of the dress with the right side of the strip facing the wrong side of the dress.  (When you open it up it should look like the first picture)
Folder over the bottom edge of the strip about a 1/4 inch.  Iron if you want (I didn't)
Fold over again to cover your seam.  Pin in place.
Top sew to finish
Repeat on the other dress pattern too so that the front and the back are the same.

6. Now we are going to finish off the arm pits with binding. 

Cut a strip the length of the whole armpit  and about 1 1/2 inches wide.  

Pin with the right side of the strip facing the wrong side of the dress and sew. 

Flip it open to see the right side of the dress and fold about 1/4 inch and fold agian to cover up your first seam and pin in place.

Top Sew to finish.  

Repeat on the other armpit.

***Note: Binding used to scare me before I made this dress... yeah for getting over my fear!***

7. Make the yoke for the neck of the dress. 

Cut a strip at last 18inches.

Fold in half (right sides together) and sew.  Flip right side out. 

Feed the strip through both your neck casings.

Fold over the end and push the other end inside to finish off the circle.  Hide the seam inside one of the neck casings. 

All done! 

Now go make some SUNSHINE! 

{I think that she looks 14 in the picture!}

SIY: Kid Clothes Towel Wrap with Lindsay {Artsy-Fartsy Mama}

Let's welcome our next Guest Poster for our Sew It Yourself: Kids Clothes Series! 

Today we have Lindsay from Artsy-Fartsy Mama!  Take it away Linsay! 

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I'm so excited to be here at Fireflies and Jellybeans today!

I'm Lindsay, and I blog over at Artsy-Fartsy Mama where I share a little of everything: crafts, sewing, tutorials and anything artsy. I really enjoy anything DIY and saving a buck.

Here are a few readers' favorites:

Printable Weekly Planner

Twix Bars

Princess Peg Dolls

Refashioned Ruffle Skirt

So without further ado,

I'm going to share my tutorial for turning this:

 

Into this:

This is a very simple project. It probably took me about 2 hours to make it - and that's mostly because I had to chase the little one around to get a measurement, then chase her around again to get the measuring tape back, and to chase her around once more to make sure it was fitting right. So, it really only took about an hour - tops. Super simple, super affordable, and super cute! Can't beat that, right?

What You'll Need:

Towel/Hand Towel*

{on clearance $3}

Wash Cloth*

{on clearance {$1.50}

Sew-On Velcro

{I had this on-hand, but it's really inexpensive}

1 inch wide Elastic

{I got this for $0.50!}

*As far as towel choices go, these size towels fit my 22 month old daughter. When choosing the towel for your own wrap, be sure to check that when it's turned horizontally, it's long enough to cover you {no need to flash anyone!} and will also wrap around you with overlap. Also, a thinner towel will be easier on your sewing machine. You can also purchase terry cloth fabric instead of a towel to guarantee a fit. Straps can be made from scrap towel pieces, a hand towel or wash cloth, extra terry cloth fabric, or even ribbon or cotton fabric.

Alrighty, now that we have all that covered, let's get on with the tutorial!

 

First, I unpicked the wide seam/edge on the sides (both of the shorter edges) of the towel because it was too thick to fit into the sewing machine. Then I folded it over once and made a new seam that would be easier to work with.

{Depending on your towel, you may not need to add in this step}

With the towel laying horizontally, I folded the top edge down about 2 inches and pinned it down.

{Make sure this is one of the long edges, and not the short edge}

 

Sew along the folded edge to create a casing for your elastic.

Measure around the chest and cut your elastic an inch or two longer. Attach a safety pin to the edge of your elastic and pull through the casing. Sew about 1/4" from each edge to secure the elastic in place.

To attach your velcro, cut a piece a few inches long. Place the soft side of the velcro on the part of the towel that will be the outside flap so that when you're taking it off, the velcro won't scratch you. I sewed around the velcro a few times to make sure it would stay on.

If you don't want straps, that's fine, too. You would be all done at this point!

My daughter is a wiggly one though, so I wanted to have straps to make sure it stays on.

To make the straps, I cut two 3x12 inch strips from the washcloth. I folded the strips in half and sewed down the length of the strips. Then I turned the straps with a safety pin.

Next, I put the wrap on my daughter and got an idea of where the straps needed to go. If you don't have someone to try it on, you can guess where the straps will go. I ended up putting them on both sides of the velcro in the front, and almost the same area in the back when the towel is folded and laying flat.

Open up the towel and pin the straps in place, about 1/2 - 1 inch down and the seams facing up (so when worn, you won't see them). I sewed a box with an "x" inside of it to make sure they were going to stay secure. You can keep the straps straight, or do like I did and cross them over in the back.

And that's it!!

I love how the crossed straps look and fit her so much better!

Hopefully I've inspired you to try one of these towel wraps for yourself!

Thanks so much for letting me share my tutorial with you!