Wonder Woman for kids

I had an adorable little wonder woman outfit for myself. But, the leggings just never fit right, and the shirt was too tight.

One day, my daughter had gotten a wonder girl tiara in her Mcdonald's Happy Meal. I thought, hey, why not make her a wonder woman outfit!

Me in too tight leggings and shirt for halloween.

I bought a red shirt from Walmart, then pre-washed it

by itself.

Then I found a cute Wonder Woman embroidered patch and some

heat set rhinestones in red.

I ironed the embroidered decal on, then after it cooled

I sewed around the patch. I placed the rhinestones where 

I liked them and then put down my pressing cloth

and ironed them down. 

For the leggings, I used the pattern below. It has a capri legging pattern.
I just extended the pattern to match Goose's inseam.

I'm afraid I don't have pictures of me 

cutting out her leggings from my leggings. 

But honestly, it wasn't that exciting.

Here they are finished.

I got to use my double needle stitch on them.

Why oh Why did I take so long to try a double

needle?  Then, I added a little stretch

lace in a bow to the front. So she knows

which way to put them on.

I added a little stretch lace to the hems.

So far, I haven't been able to get her to wear it. But one day I hope I can.

,Rudy

DIY Spiderman Dress!!!

DIY SpiderMan Dress from T-shirt.

Make a Spiderman Dress from an old T-shirt!

I've done a lot of these t-shirt dresses before. In fact, my mother made them for me as a child. Maybe you have some old t-shirts. Maybe you can't find a cute dress for your kid. Maybe there aren't a bunch of cute dresses that feature Spiderman. There are many reasons to sew a dress.

So, grab your t-shirt.

Use a piece of clothing, a shirt or dress
that fits the kiddo. Use pins, or draw outline
where you want to take in. Leave some room
for seam allowance.

Sew the side seams to the correct measurements.
(according to the markings you made
from the fitted piece)

 Use a ballpoint needle, and either a zig zag  stitch (or a stitch for knits) or a serger for these side seams and for most of the stitching. A straight stitch wont stretch and it will rip some seams.

Add some sparkles!!! Or not, whatever
you or your kiddo likes.

Use the other piece (skirt, or shorts)
to measure where you want the skirt to fall.

 I measured the skirt on the original dress. It was a bit larger than the hem of the shirt due to some gathers to add fullness to the skirt. If you need a real measurement, then use the hem measurement of the (cut and sewn) shirt, and add another 1" for the seam allowance. Or you can add more if you want some gathers. I used the same measurement of the shirt hem because I was planning on adding three gathered ruffles sewn to the underskirt.

Cut out your base fabric. I used a stiff double
knit as my base skirt. I sewed the ruffles onto
it. The ruffled fabric was too transparent
to go without a liner. Plus, I wanted
three layers of ruffles, not just one.

Now, I forgot to take a picture of my layout, and the making of the ruffled pieces. But, I cut about three times the length of the skirt, for the ruffled fabric. Then I gathered the ruffles to fit the measurement of the underskirt. I like to use an elastic thread in my bobbin (you have to hand wind it not use the bobbin winder on your machine) Then I have a long zig zag with a looser tension. Then, I pull the elastic thread by hand to fit the measurements. The fabric I had used (a very thin almost pantyhose like knit) wouldn't work well with my gathering foot. Then, I pinned my ruffle on to the skirt, and sewed it on (carefully). I also finished the ends of the ruffle pieces with my serger. I hadn't test washed this fabric so I wasn't sure it would hold up without a hem. 

Make sure to use the correct ballpoint needles, and the right stitch (either zig zag or serger) to make sure you have stretch in the finished garment. 

I used my serger to attach the
skirt to the shirt. But then I also added a
sparkly elastic over the seam. 

There's the goose, cute as can be in her Spiderman dress. As she tells me often,

"Spiderman is Peter Parker, and Peter Parker is a GOOD GUY."

Couldn't have said it better Kiddo.

, Rudy

Sewing up-cycling

I find a lot of my clothing off the rack just doesn't fit very well. Or after they get holes or stains or shrink I still try to work around the issues by "up-cycling" them into some thing new. Here are some of my repairs and re-workings.

This went from a nice pair of jeans, 

into a ripped up pair of jeans,

into a patched knees pair of jeans, 

into a pair of Bermuda shorts, 

and then into a pair of cut offs. 

Above shows the idea of using some old 

t-shirts and making some binding

 around the hem and the 

patch pockets.

I don't usually like the frayed edges on my jeans.

It becomes necessary to find a solution. Binding!!!

It fit in the store. But then I washed it.
This shirt sleeves were too short, and it was too short
as they always are on my long torso.
I usually figure they shrink after my first
wash, so I look for the larger size. However,
I couldn't find the larger size,
but figured, I could suffer with short
sleeves. Well, I couldn't. 

I opened up the faux henley button placket
and added two inches of ribbed knit from an
old tank top, to the sleeves and the hem. I added
a little insert to the neckline
to cover my bust. I re-attached
the sleeve tabs and sewed on white contrast buttons
to flank the insert at the neckline.

Same issues as before. The sleeves were too short
the shirt was too short after washing.
I didn't have any fabric or old
t-shirts that would have worked with this shirt.
So I went and found some very cute
printed jersey.

I love my dress-form. It's always nice to work on
a dress-form. Good old Sea-wolf.
I got one that was as close to my
actual measurements as possible
so I could sew for myself. 

Super cute printed jersey that matched
the color.

In progress

Draped on my dress form.

I changed out the body fabric to the
new print. Added the extra fabric on the hem.

And changed the short cap sleeves
to a flutter sleeve. 

So much stretching while
I was sewing. (I"m such a naughty girl)
Again, use a ball point needle.
Use the correct stitches for knits.
Or use a serger. 

Knit stay tape (water soluble) is a great thing.
On this project I couldn't make a longer sleeve
work. So I just make a flutter sleeve. It's not tight
on my bicep, or deltoid muscle, which is nice.
But even tho the sleeve is still short,
I don't mind it as much since
it's not so tight on my upper arm.

$3 shirt from Walmart Clearance.
Again, too tight on upper arms and too short.
I know, just buy a larger size Ruth!!!And yes, I usually do!!
However, they didn't have a larger size
available. And I loved the stripes.
$3 was ok with me.

Of course, even tho
I buy the large, they are too large in the
waist. I usually buy the large,
and then if it's too big in
waist (even tho it fits my bust and arms)
I'll just do a quick stitch down the sides
about 3/4" to take in.

So, I lengthened the sleeves
by unstitching the hem. And
added a small godet to the
side seams.

I hemmed the sleeves and hem
at only 1/4" instead of the 3/4"
that it came with. Lengthened it
a 1/2". I found a cute printed
fabric that matched the colors
perfectly. The stripes don't match up
on the right side, but they did on the
left!!! So, half success. 

Inside of shirt.
This shirt was pulling uncomfortably
in the bust.
So the side godet added a bit of room for
me to feel more comfortable.
It also loosened
the sleeve since they are usually too
tight on my arm. 

Inside of godet. 

Cute tank, with adorable embellishment.
However, I never wear tanks without
a cardigan since I burn so badly in the
sun. You never saw the hummingbird
when I did that! 

Just a comfy green t-shirt that matched
the hummingbird.

I thought I could re-use the embellishment
on a shirt I would wear more often.

I cut my t-shirt 1/2" below the arm.

When sewn, I noticed the embellishment
was at an add spot on the bust. 

Too low on the the bust. But since I didn't
want to change the armhole I decided to raise
the shirt by the shoulder seam.
And change the neckline.

New Neckline.

Tried to use old hem as neckline.

I used an elastic for the neck after all.
I made it a petal sleeve.

I like it!!!

Anyway, Cheers!!

Ruth