Valentine's Ruffle Pants

A long, long time ago, I saw a tutorial from Make It and Love it on Pinterest for some cute and easy leggings. I knew that was a doable sewing project for me but never really got around to it.
Then last week we were walking around in Hobby Lobby when I saw that their Valentine's fabric was 50% off and I knew this was the perfect opportunity to try out the leggings tutorial.
To see the original tutorial, go here.

I bought a cute pink fabric for the pants and cut out the pattern using another pair of leggings. I sewed the pieces together using the tutorial above and then got started on my ruffles. Isn't thi heart fabric adorable? I spent less than a dollar on this much fabric and I still have a lot left over! I cut two 4 inch strips of heart fabric and hemmed one side. I then ruffle the fabric and attached it to the bottom of the leggings.Cute cute cute! After the ruffle was sewn onto the pants, I sewed the top and put the waistband in. This literally took me less than an hour from start to finish.And with that extra fabric, I made a pair of leggings for my baby niece, Ellie. So cute!Here's a picture of the matching girls. Unfortunatly, Ellie's pants were too small(!) so we put another pair of pink pants over them for the pictures...and then we brought them home and gave them to Petey's baby doll. :)I also made a cute little headband for Ellie.I am so glad to have another girly in the family. I love making things for little girls! :)

And that's how Suze sews it.

Cork Screw Bows and Leaf Garland

Since the leaf garland tutorial is so easy peasy, I thought I would combine another fun tutorial in there for those of you with little girlies.

Things you will need for the leaf garland:

• fake leaves (I got mine in the $1 section at Target)
• needle and thread

First, I strung each leaf onto the thread, sticking the needle through the leaf in two places so that it fans out and doesn't go sideways.

Then just keep stringing until you have the length that you want. I didn't put my leaves in a pattern but just strung them on randomly.

And then I strung them across under my "GIVE" letters.

Now onto the cork screw bow tutorial. I have loved making these for my daughter!

Things you will need for cork screw bows:

• ribbon (preferably 1/4 in wide)
• metal skewers (I used metal chopsticks...anything oven safe is fine)
• bobby pins or clips (also something oven safe)
• thread
• hot glue gun
• scissors
• alligator clip
• oven

First you want to preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Then start by clipping the ribbon at the top of the metal skewer and wrapping it around the skewer. I wrapped my first few really tight and they were too tight. The second time I did it, I wrapped in an even spiral and they turned out a lot cuter. Cut off the ribbon at the bottom and clip it to the skewer.

Put your ribbon skewers on a pan and put them in the oven for 20 minutes.

When you take them out, let them cool completely before unwrapping them from the skewers.

I cut mine into thirds before making them into a bow. They were each about 3 inches long.

Then line them up, put a piece of string in the center and tie the middle. They will pop out and go every which way which is what makes these bows so cute. I also tied a piece of ribbon in the center to hide the white thread that I used.

Attach it to your alligator clip and you are all set.

And that's how Suze crafts it!

Arm Warmers

Do you remember these cute leg warmers I made for Petey for her awesome Halloween costume? They now serve two purpose. Leg warmers---and arm warmers. I found the idea HERE and just knew I had to try them out but we were in a hurry to get to the park so I used a pair I had already sewn into leg warmers and just cut tiny holes for Petey's thumbs. The thumb hole is her favorite part about them. :)

These are perfect for our Arizona winter weather during the day. It gets cool but not freezing so we usually wear light sweaters but I think you'll be seeing a lot more of these on my girly. The only thing I did differently than the tutorial was that Petey's arms are shorter (and actually her legs too, since we originally made these into leg warmers) so I cut the socks right after the heel.

By the way, I apologize for missing Flashback Friday. Did you even notice? :) I'll be missing it this week too with all of the Thanksgiving festivities but possibly it will start back up in December.

And that's how Suze sews it.

Altering a dress shirt

I bought a really cute shirt (technically a dress but too short for my liking so I usually pair it with jeans or leggings) about 6 months ago without trying it on. Brave, I know. I never do that. But it was unusually cheap and I didnt have time to try it on (nor did I have the patience with 2 kids tagging along). I got home and was excited to try it on but was sad when I found out it was extremely tight on my chest.
You see, I do not have a small chest---quite the opposite, actually, so sometimes it's hard for me to find clothes that fit right.
That's where sewing comes in.
I altered my dress and it fits a lot better now! Curious as to how?

Here is the dress. Isnt it cute and sunshiney?
I started by cutting the chest part at the seams so I had 2 pieces. Make sure to keep them attached to the straps so you dont have to worry about sewing that again when you're done.

I found a piece of brown fabric and pinned the edges, with right sides facing each other. I sewed along the line, removing the pins as I went.

Next, I needed to round out the triangles so that the part attaching to the sides of the dress was smaller (because adding the brown meant extra fabric attaching to the side of the dress).

Then, I just pinned the chest parts to the brown fabric, right sides together, and sewed in a straight line and I was done!

I think it looks pretty cute! Still a bit snug but tons better than it was before.

And that's how Suze sews it!