Recycled Mens Shirt

The girls and I just got back from a vacation at my parents house for the week. I mean where else can you get home cooked meals, free babysitting 24/7, mom doing laundry, free entertainment for kids and being with your best friends (mom, dad and brother) all week?!? Nowhere! Poor Will T had to stay home and work and study for boards. Boo! So while I was there I found this tutorial on Pinterest and after raiding my brother's old closet I was able to dig up a men's dress shirt and give it a try! It was super easy and only took about 30 minutes. 

Before....

After....

Note...this would look a lot cuter with more accessories....long necklace, belt, bracelets and scarf maybe? And please ignore my awkward pose. HA!

I have a couple of things to add to the tutorial that will help you if you try it:

-after you tack the elastic at each end of the shirt and adjust the gathers so it looks right, you should also run a short stitch through the casing and piercing the elastic on the shoulder seams of each arm. This will keep the elastic from rolling and keep the shirt from gathering too much in one spot

-make sure when you cut the neck off to stay close to the top button. I had to add a snap at the top of mine b/c I had too much fabric flapping around above the button

Here's a Sally Bubble I just finished for a friend

In sewing machine news for me.... mine is still in the shop. HATE this machine!!!! I'll never get one of these again! All it does is jam, break and tear my lace and fabric.

So my sweet neighbor let me borrow her Bernina. I've worked on a lot of different machines before but this one is definitely the best. I looooooove it and wish I could keep it forever.

But...unfortunately I can't keep it forever and still need a good backup. So Mom found not 1 or 2 but 3 machines for me to pick from and had already gotten them back from her repairman for servicing:

A.

B.

C.

I ended up going with A because it was the most familiar to me and I could work it right off the bat. The other 2 were cool and worked great but were a little um...ancient and complicated. No offense to those who love them. I'm sure these machines make beautiful things but I think we're going to sell them on ebay. 

I'll leave you with this....Happy late Halloween from (as E would say) "a policeman and a robert!" HA!

We're having a frustrating day around here. Sally ate about 3 Kleenexes, 1 marker and is refusing to take a nap. My phone is broken and keeps powering itself off and now my SEWING MACHINE is broken! Ah! I pretty much hate this machine. I've had nothing but trouble from it since the day I got it. William thinks it's a lemon. Boo. I'm working myself up now to call the store and chew them out about it but I've never been very good at that. I always end up saying yes mam and thanking them for something. Ughhh. Don't worry if you're waiting on an order from me though....I'll find a lender machine somewhere even if I have to brush the cobwebs off of my mom's ancient one in her attic. Hopefully it doesn't have a manual foot pedal. HA! 

Here are some cute pants I just finished for Parker! Love this fabric. I'm pretty sure she got this at In the Making in Cahaba Heights.

Sally Bubble

 Sam Overalls (these can be reversible)

Something else I'm doing today is going to Joanne's to check out the new Babyville Boutique line! It's a company that makes a great line of PUL fabric (polyurethane waterproof and breathable fabric). This fabric is perfect for cloth diapers or any other baby products that get messy.....changing pads, bibs, diaper bags, wet bags...etc. They also sell 2 books with baby patterns for $9.99 each (could be as low as $5 or $6 with coupons). OR you could use this free pattern from Cloth Revolution for a cloth diaper. I haven't tried it yet but am planning to after my visit to Joanne's. Ugh....I keep forgetting that my machine's broken.

More info about Babyville here on their facebook. (website is still under construction)

Here's their fabric selection. Love the monsters!

Summer = Bubbles!

I love a good bubble on a baby! Their fat little legs sticking out just makes me happy. I put my daughter in them as long as I could...until we started the potty training and she couldn't get out of them herself. :)

Here are some recent bubbles that I've finished (Note - I don't do cross stitching...the inserts below were done by my sweet mom who's services aren't for sale, only for love. But I can do smocked inserts that look cute too!)

Beach Bubble (Can be made with ruffle or without for a boy)

Allan's Bubble


Taylor Bubble

Sally Bubble with Insert

Bishop Bubble



Shelley Bubble