My DH had a black T-Shirt (see below) with a very disagreeable message on it so he did not wear it. My DD wanted a black Kiki the Teenage Delivery Witch dress. I studied vegbee's tute http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=165161.0 (I think vegbee would agree about the T-shirt, yes?) I couldn't face trying sleeves nor could my gal wait for her dress so it is a sleeveless A-Line for now. We added a red hair band, hot pink pumps (I think Kiki's were red but we do our own thing around here.) Check it out. Took about 1/2 hour even with 2 kids running about and including IM-ing my husband to confirm that I might re-commission the T.

Here is the finished dress in several poses followed by the t-shirt withits original miserable message -- three notes. A 5T dress will take the whole of an XL men's t, you do not need to hem the bottom if you cut it right and we turned the message inside whic might be too scratchy for some kids.

Kiki with her broom:


Kiki flies through a pile of books, fabric and other household debris ....


Kiki prepares to do a cartwheel:


I used the same A-Line pattern that I used for http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=262027.0 her first day of school dress


The original:


If you haven't seen Kiki's Delivery Service you have a big treat ahead of you. It is Japanese but easy to get (and in English) because Disney has the US distribution rights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2NVl9n4qWY

I am pretty very excited by this one ... I fell in love the fabric and the very sweetness of the design but kept hesitating to make it. Now that I have I am quite pleased.

EDITED TO ADD: ACTION SHOTS!!! Just showing one side for now ....
She has given it the cartwheel test; it has passed.


Begin Cartwheel

Finish Cartwheel



It really is reversible! My brain got a little bent trying to figure out how that works, but it does. The plan is for my nearly 5YO to wear this for the start of Kindergarten, though how can we wait. The puckers and such are just from the way it is laying and I suppose I could iron it! The hemline looks wonky but instead it has a nice subtle curve to it, slightly longer in the middle front and back. Bet it shows up nicer on.





For me the big deal is that is looks so much more finished and less funky than most things I make and because I made buttonholes for the first time. Not to mention reversible ... I promise action shots tomorrow, if I can interest the model. How can I not mention that the fabric is all from the deep discount rack at Jo-Ann's. I hesitate to claim that anything I make is inexpensive since my stash is embarrassingly large, especially for such a new sewer with so little time! But with a narrow view one could say this dress was about 5 dollars to make.

I followed one of the tutorial like patterns from "you can make this dot com" -- carly's aline is the name I think (happy to look that up) The instructions are detailed and quite good, though I had a hard time with them because of my inexperience and cuz I really like to have a "big picture" about how it is all supposed to work before jumping into details and options ... I have the idea now so it should go much faster next time. It's a good tutorial and worth the money. I will make more.

I finally got a chance to make the kimono from the tute list here in Kids Clothing. What fun! I want to make a Kimono Dress next for my dd. I wanted to use snaps but didn't have anything but snap tape, which I then realized wouldn't sew well without a special foot? And I added a few embellishments. I also want to try making reversible kimono jammies ...

Let me know what you think. These are fun, for me it was not fast, but now that I think I know what I am doing ... we'll see. Been so long since I could make anything but blankets and pillows ... fun to be back. and I LOVE THESE NEW SERVERS. WOOOOOOOO - HOOOOOOT!






 

i caught the fever ... since i blundered on vegbee's i must offer another type for your consideration ... i blundered too on this as it is too wide and perhaps too short too, but i am going to try both vegbee's and this version once again. meanwhile, my little miss was kind enough to wear it today (and has paint marks from school to back it up!) she has finally embraced pink and purple so i got her some lovely pink and lavender ... i think the patterns are hard to see but they are both color on color florals.

Raglan sleeves, shirring all the way across the front and collar and on the 3/4 length sleeves, should be a breeze. I tried a lettuce edge but miffed that too ... better luck next time and thank goodness for big hearted little girls!





you can call me happily ham handed in mtn view, ca! thing is, for all my mistakes, it looks so lovely on her ... gonna try again! meanwhile, she is she!

[she]

I had to try a tutu when I saw some on here http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=246357.msg2726751#msg2726751 and http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=247306.0 and noticed tulle on sale at Joann's 2yds for $1 -- but would she wear a tutu?

She'd wear a racing tutu! I started out with 6 yards of tulle but ended up using closer to 15 yards. Gulp. (or shall I say burp?) I went overboard, but then it IS a tutu ... colors look a bit washed out on my screen I am sorry to say ...



I LOVED tutu's as a young girl -- when I had trouble sleeping for fear of something I would "think of tutu's" I was both excited and intimidated when I thought of making one. Worse yet, we had a bolt of tulle that we didn't use at my wedding but I gave it away just before I learned to sew. (I couldn't sew on a button until a year or so ago ... things are less mysterious thanks to you all.)





Turns out there is an easy way ... i looked online and saw instructions but wasn't clever enough or confident enough to try -- i could have been too sleepy but I didn't see the most important thing I later learned -- the word "Slip Knot."  In the end I leaned on instructions that I bought here -- but didn't quite follow them: http://www.angelbabestutus.com/ Links to the free tutorials include: http://flickr.com/photos/63337168@N00/1072109403/ & http://kiddley.com/2007/02/06/no-sew-tutu/ &

Knowledgeable tutu-ers will note that there is some elastic showing, I think I need more practice knotting so the elastic gets covered better. or perhaps I should use matching elastic? Tips anyone? These seem like they would be great gifts and you could do them sitting in front of a movie.

Eek ... how could I have missed checking craft magazine ... here is their tutorial: http://flickr.com/photos/madebytess/2194513961/

 

My poor old pj's are threadbare and my daughter needs nighties ... so I put on my craftster sleeping cap and came up with this. Pretty sloppy job, consider this my muslin ... the second pair is my favorite and now that i have a method, i will make them more carefully. used almost every scrap of my XL jammies, quite stretched and huge from carrying me through two pregnancies!

It took almost no time and even if I hemmed the bottom and was a but more careful, it would be a cinch. It cost exactly what the thread and electricity would have cost.

Whatcha think?

Here is a drawing of where each part comes from since the pictures are not so clear -- you cut the inseam and then cut the trouser legs off equidistant between the hem and the crotch. then you cut triangles from that fabric -- to fill the skirt and make the sleeves. the only other cut is a small slit to shorten the elastic (save the elastic for the sleeves)

Last summer as part of my "job" at our co-op I designed made a bakers dozen or more princess dresses for my kid's preschool craft sale (I posted the dresses here http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=183879.0). Wanting to try something unusual and always intrigued by Marie Antoinette's petit hameau http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petit_hameau, I came up with a sort of milk maid outfit. My own daughter was not yet interested in dress up and still at 4.5 is barely into the princess thing so she didn't want one. Then ... OZ fever struck and she wants to play "princess Dorothy."  She had to have a version of the dress too. Here she is modeling it with her OZMA headdress. http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=232980.0

ACTION SHOT!!! of skirt




Careful readers will not have missed my 4YO's fascination with the Land of OZ, the Magical Countries Surrounding OZ ... and everything OZ-ian, as she would put it. On Saturday whilst she (aka Dorothy) was off on adventure with her brother (aka Billina) and father aka Cap'n Bill Ozma and Polly Chrome "delivered" this Ozma type headdress and a new fairyskirt for Dorothy. I made a terrific mess of the fairy skirt. She don't mind! Somewhere on my husband's computer are more action shots ... will post an update  as soon as I can get ahold of those shots!

Here is dear Ozma as drawn by O'Neil ...

Oh, dear. For a 5 YO's Birthday present -- I asked the kid what his favorite colors were and what his favorite animal was -- he said orange, red, blue, green and (I think) yellow. And scorpion for animal. I had fun making an applique for my DD so I presumed I could do a scorpion too -- WHAT WAS I THINKING? These dudes are complex ... to make matters worse, the adorable turning 5 YO in question looks super duper in stripes. Naturally I had to try making a multi colored scorpion on a multi colored striped shirt. Who knows if he even likes scorpions afterall ... it could be the viral answer of the day on the play ground!

Here goes, wear your sunglasses!




I looked for a fairly simple drawing of a scorpion; drew one inspired by that one but much bigger; cut it out ... got perplexed, used the cut out one to make a stencil and then used wonder under to fuse them to the background, then to the shirt, then machine stitched around all the edges ... might be too stiff after all that ... we'll see!

[Craftster.org Promotes Instant Family Happiness,]

Craftster.org Promotes Instant Family Happiness, in so many ways ... This morning we were able to solve a simmering dispute with a two pair of tights, a pair of pinking shears and one seam. 20 Minutes including the photo shoot. Kiddo is not taking these off for awhile -- she is currently singing in front the mirror, with harmony by her brother.

Oh my, this was fun.

The story!
My 4YO is taking gymnastics, like many, many girls. And like many, many girls, she wanted to dress like an Olympic Star while doing it. For some reason, among them cheapness, but something else I cannot name yet (or perhaps I do not wish to?), I did not want her to wear a schmancy shimmery costume. I don't mind that other kids do. I just don't want her to. Her Dad doesn't either. We cannot explain. Perhaps we do not want to know ourselves? Nevermind!



Recently she has become a persistent campaigner and I was becoming annoyed. Family harmony was fraying! Also recently she has frowned on wearing any of the tights I have been collecting for her. More fraying in the family harmony (I refrain from begging but I want to beg, it makes me tense and nervous. O Me O my!) Then, bingo, I recalled that in one of my many boring lectures on the subject of "Why our 4YO does not wear shiny costumes for gymnastics class" I told her to watch the teenagers and see what they were wearing -- bike shorts and legwarmers and shrugs and plain leotards or just t-shirts. Aha! Out came the shears, the tights and Voila!







THANK YOU CRAFTSTER! There is such freedom to be gained by pursuing mastery over the things around us ...

Edited to add:
A bit of "How To"

For the legwarmers and armwarmers -- I cut the toe and heel from the feet of the tights, plus a thumb hole and then cut the legs off the tights leaving the panty portion. It didn't fray, surprising and delighting me. Probably any shears would do.

The top is the two panty portions sewn together (with a zig zag, perhaps I will have to reinforce it -- this is my first time sewing on stretchy tights!) with the crotches cut out and arm holes cut about halfway down on the upper portion. (Tell me if this makes no sense)

The shorts are just plain old bike shorts.