Easy sew skirts for girls and their American Girl doll friends

Twirly Skirts

Twirl Skirt from Indietutes - This tutorial is very easy to follow. All you need is a few strips of fabric!

Twirly Skirt from House on Hill Road - Another simple tutorial using larger fabric swatches.

Matching patchwork twirly skirts.  Follow the easy steps for a girl-sized skirt at Indietutes and for a doll-sized skirt at Twirls for Girls. It can fit an American Girl or similarly sized doll.

More Easy Skirts and Dresses


Skirts from dishtowels from Grace Violet.

Solar dress - Super easy, super adjustable fluid dress from Indietutes. The delightful model is wearing the dress while coloring the pattern for the dress.

Recycled sweater gore skirt from Martha Stewart - Make one for a little girl and follow the same instructions to make a pattern for a doll

 

For general resources for sewing for kids check out the tutorials at Whip up including this kimono wrap.

Or try this highly rated book "Sewing Clothes Kids Love."

No sew Fantasy Fairy Wings and Skirt

Halloween costume? Winter Sugar Plum fairy? Birthday princess?  Lots of reasons to make your own fairy wings for gift giving.

Here's an easy way to make no sew fairy wings from Kids Sewing Projects.

Now...to add the skirt!  Here is a tutorial for a no sew tutu skirt from Plumtickled.

Great lighting advice

The dark days of winter are on their way.  Who am I kidding?  Here in mid-Michigan we have the dark days of spring, summer, fall, and winter.

And with a house that does NOT take advantage of ANY natural lighting, I'm always searching for good lighting solutions.

Here are some great lighting tips from Diana Vreeland at In My Own Style. It also includes a link to some freebie magazines!!

What can you do with discarded plastic VHS cassette tape boxes?

Responding to a craigslist add for some storage boxes made me the lucky winner of an overflowing shopping cart full of old VHS cassette tape boxes.  Technically they were for audio tapes so there are small prongs inside to make the small cassette fit into the large box.

Savvy 'n Sassy Ribbon was excited to get them too...her stash below is considerable smaller than mine!

My initial idea was to use them to make the zillions of learning game kits and materials for centers like Ms. Powell (now Mrs. Watson) from Cornerstone Teaching uses. She uses zip top baggies but I thought these cases would be much more sturdy and perfect for the job!

I figured I would also be able to use them for storing small crafts like Materials for the Arts has done.

But with this abundance I need to tap into some more creative juices.  Here are some ideas others have already found:

The librarians had the most ideas!
- Detective kits for reading program "Get a Clue" theme
- Book safes
- Decorate for treasure box
- Pencil and school supply holder (and can be checked out for use at the library)
- First aid kits
- Zoo in a box kit
- Scrapbook kits
- Travel game box

Here's a mini-book, photo holder, craft kit from Savvy 'n Sassy.

You can make an impressive cover for your logic analyzer or project boxes.  Unfortunately I have no idea what that is. I clearly have no need for this but it looks really cool!

Now this is more like it!  Here's the tutorial for turning the VHS case into a purse!

How about a "dummy" key holder?

Back to School Crafts & Projects

A pile of things I'm itching to create and make to capture the end of summer, embrace the new school year, and think ahead to Christmas gifts:

Kicking off the school year

Marking Milestones. This modern take on paper cut-out silhouette and the painted growth chart, from the crafting chicks, let you capture the unique attributes of your child at the beginning of each school year.

Making back to school wardrobe accessories.  Here are some fun craft projects to enjoy making together before the back-to-school crazy schedule begins.  The washer necklace and flower hair clip are from the crafting chicks, and the recycled ruffle headband is from instractables.

Enjoying fun food treats. Capture the essence of summer with these faux watermelon jello treats or tickle their funny bones making these edible crayons from Gourmet Mom on the Go.

Looking ahead to Christmas and winter birthday gifts

Toy Kitchen & Laundry. These spectacular DIY projects, including a toy refrigerator, sink, stove, and washer/dryer, are from the amazing Ana at Knock-off Wood who makes every wood working project look super easy with her fabulous plans and drawings. There are also plans for a little library, post office and others to complete the little city.  There are more play kitchen designs from the Apartment Therapy Ohdeedoh website, many from repurposed furniture.

My current craigslist project...restoring vintage chaise lounge chair set

Thanks to the generous craigslister I am the new owner of these soon-to-be-gorgeous vintage chaise lounge chairs!!  She received them from a friend several years ago. The friend had purchased them at an estate sale. 

These appear to be Woodard Ionian chairs made in the 60's and 70's.

CRAZY CRAFTY IDEA #1 - TAPE IT

Looking for a low-cost immediate fix for the chairs, I momentarily (or longer) considered using duct tape!  It comes in so many wonderful colors, you know! Hot pink and purple would look really cheerful especially with winter doldrums ahead, right?

CRAZY CRAFT IDEA #2 - WEAVE IT

Well, it's not so crazy, exactly.  It may be a tad less "metropolitan" but it does speak to my country roots. Yes, it is macrame! 

If you've been to a craft show you've probably seen an old lawn chair frame refurbished in macrame cord with [insert your local team] emblazoned on it.


There are many more cool ideas and free patterns out there!! And there are loads of colors to choose from including some glow in the dark cords and some variegated varieties.

Actually, here is a very sophisticated macrame option that actually imitates the old caning and accentuates the architecture of the chair beautifully. Plus I love that the crafter needing advice finished this project super quickly!

CRAZY CRAFT PRACTICAL IDEA #3 - STRAP IT

To really "restore" these I would need to use replacement vinyl straps and j-clips. Here's the typical color palette available by the roll (or in pre-cut strips) including clear:

These straps and supplies are available online from suppliers such as: Chair Care Patio,  A+ Redemption,  Patio Furniture Rehab, and DJ Patio and Furniture repair along with free instructional videos ( Chair Care Patio video and A+ Redemption video each offer a different perspective.

Should I be pink, seafoam, or boring white?

BEFORE AND AFTER GALLERY

Restoration by A+ Redemption Customer

Restoration by DJ Patio Customer

Restoration completed by A+ Redemption 

 

Here's a space saving design from Lowe's for an art station at home. 

Goodness knows it is difficult to cram art supplies, math & literacy stations, science experiments, and a computer lab along with the dining room table in a small house!!!

I suggest making the background a little larger than the paper to prevent "spill-over" effects.

The next time somebody says your homeschooled kids need to be socialized....

This is just too funny!  Yes, it is sarcastic and full of great talking points. Enjoy!

No Thank You, We Don’t Believe in Socialization! -- by Lisa Russell

Project Runway Fans: 20+ No-sew or Easy-sew fashions!

Do you LOVE watching Project Runway and wish you could whip up something fashionable...but you don't really sew? 

Then try these re-purpose, re-fashion, re-cycle projects. They require very few sewing skills since you aren't starting from scratch. Even more fun, they can be made from the stuff in your closet, bathroom, kitchen, or garage.  No need to run to Mood.

(1) T-shirt into woman's skirt

(2) Girls T-shirt into girls dress

(3) Adult T-shirt into Girl's dress

(4) Multiple adult t-shirts into layered long dress

(5) Multiple t-shirts into a flapper dress

(6) Bath scrubbies into Mini-dress

(7) Duct tape to prom dress

(8) Men's button-down shirt into girl's dress

(9) Pillowcase into women's skirt

(10) Pillowcase into girls dress ; and another dress with trim; and another

(11) T-shirt to halter top

(12) Strips of tulle into dream tutu

(13) One seam infinity dress

(14) Adult sweater into girls dress










(15) Adult T-shirts into girls streamer skirt

Don't forget the accessories!!

(16) Placement into purse

(17) Jeans into purse

(True confessions....my mom and I made these when I was a kid using instructions from ZOOM that I got by sending my SASE....remember those days anyone?? I loved my jean purse!!)

(18) Washers into necklace

(19) Fabric scraps into designer shoes

And don't forget the dolls or dogs!

(20) Baby clothes into American Girl clothes

(21) Baby clothes into dog clothes










Looking for more ideas?  Check out these books!

Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures




Rip It!: How to Deconstruct and Reconstruct the Clothes of Your Dreams