Anthropologie Inspired Shirt

I had bought this long sleeve shirt on sale and wanted to transform it into something for summer.   The first thing I did was cut off the sleeves.

Then I found a cute shirt on the Anthopologie website that I thought was cute and wanted to do something similar.

So I used one sleeve to drape from one shoulder along the neckline and the other sleeve I gathered and attached to the other shoulder.  What's that called, ruching? If so then that's what I did.

I thought for a shirt that I bought for next to nothing to turn it into this, was pretty exciting.

Little Beach Bum

I found this cute Hawaiian shirt at a local thrift shop, but it was 5 sizes too big for my little guy.  Since it was only $2, I decided to cut it down to his size.  I can ever get fabric that cheap and I liked the fabric of the shirt.  I had a pattern for this style shirt in his size and just used it to cut the shirt down.  It worked out so nicely that I was able to reuse the placket on the shirt, the sleeves, and the collar.  I had to trim the collar down a bit, but it all came together nicely in the end.  Now we are ready for the beach.

Adding length

I'm sure my daughter isn't the only one who outgrows the length of her pants before the waist.  It always seems to happen right around this time of the year.  I need the pants to last just a bit longer before it's shorts weather.  I've come up with a solution that you can change out to coordinate with outfits instead of attach permanently.

I found a pair of jeans that were too short to add the length to it.  I thought it would be nice to be able to swap colors out on it.  My model was asleep by the time I finished this set.

All it takes is a little bit of fabric and velcro to make this happen.  I attached the velcro to the inside of the bottom leg of the pant.  I used the loop side for the pants and the hook side for the fabric strips.

I cut out two strips with the right length that needed to be added to the pants. Sew a hem on all sides of the fabric. I also went ahead and sewed a coordinating ribbon on at this time too.

Next you baste the fabric so that it can be gathered to fit the leg of the pant.

Once I figured out the right size I sewed the hook side of the velcro on to the fabric.  Now it can be velcroed on to the pants and you can get those jeans to last a little longer.

Re-fashion Sweater

I've been holding on to this black cardigan for the past few years and I'm not sure why.  It looks terrible on me.  This past week I decided I'd cut it down to size for my 4 year old daughter.  It turns out it looks much cuter on her!
It's a very easy project, so if you have an old sweater or cardigan hanging around go get it. 

To get the measurements I used a jacket of my daughter's to pattern the size. Then I cut out the pieces and sewed them back together.

The tricky part for me was the neckline, but luckily my mom helped me with that part.  She just pinned it with her wearing it and then sewed it in place.