Bubble wrap print t-shirt

Enjoying a day at the lake in a hand dyed and custom printed t-shirt! We were inspired by a class we took, making prints with bubble wrap. So we tried it with fabric paint on dyed t-shirts and it worked great! Little f had a blast making them and it's fun to share that he made his own shirt!

Old jeans to market apron

Our farmer, Sandee Ware, from Ware Farm asked me to make some aprons to use at the farmer's market and for planting. The old one had these nice big strong pockets, so I used that as my inspiration.
Here she is selling organic seedlings at the market. Thanks to her, I'll have tomatoes, basil, zucchini and pumpkins in my garden this year.

Neckline revamp on a women's shirt

Found this shirt in my thriftng adventures and loved the fabric. But alas, it was too big and didn't look right. I tried taking it in and then it was left to languish in my ever growing to do stack.
And then I discovered the smock. This technique of cutting off the collar and converting it to a channel for elastic is brilliant! It was exactly the treatment this shirt needed. I used bias tape instead of trying to fold the curved edges under and loved how it worked out. The vintage rick rack in red was just enough to give it the look I wanted, truly a modern mix of old and new.

Biking in a blue star shirt!

On the beach

Mermaid shirt

Instead of making shirts with groovy new fabric, I have found that I love adding new elements to found shirts. This one has mermaids and pearl snaps, which prompted a look of sweet joy as little f pulled them apart at bath time!

All the logs are remnants from our big winter storm, cut up with a chain saw. They make a nice little natural obstacle course!

Mother's Day 2012 in Arcadia

revamped vest rescue

It's so sweet when your handiwork returns to you. This vest was sold locally at an art show a few years ago. This also happened to be the show where I met my very dear sewing sister, Amylynn over at Farm Girl Studio.

Then, a few months ago, another sewing friend handed it to me after we reconnected at another thrift shop (note the theme). Her name is Deb and her recycling enterprise is called Pretty Stinkin' Green. She had found it at a thrift shop in the their boutique section, recognized it as my work and bought it to give back to me. Thank you Deb, you are so thoughtful!

Best part of the story? It fits my little guy right now for a cool Michigan spring, just as he was outgrowing his little orange vest. So we passed that one on to another buddy, paying it forward!

jeans to flirty skirt tutorial

So here it is, at long last, inspired by my birthday buddy, Kristin.
These photos were taken at the sewing studio at a class. Thanks to Erin Truog as my hand model for a few of these- nicely done, and two cute skirts to boot!

Starting with a pair of jeans, cut off the legs just above the inseam. Using the legs, cut out several curved pieces for the flounce. The curvier you cut them, the flouncier they will be and the more fabric you will need.

With the right sides together, stitch the flounce pieces together to make one long flounce.

The top edge of this flounce piece should be roughly the same size as the bottom of the jeans.

Here you can see that we cut four flounce pieces (two from each leg of the jeans) and the stretch pants that were used for the little leopard velour skirt.

At this point, you can sew the ends of the flounce together, pin and stitch to jean top. Or, if you are feeling more advance, you can start a few inches from the end of the flouce, sew all the way around until you are a few inches from the end on the other side and stop. Then you can stitch the flounce together (once you determine you have the right amount of fabric on both sides - if you don't, now is the time to add a bit to your flounce but cutting and sewing another piece). Return to stitching and finish attaching the flounce.

Now you can leave the bottom edge unfinished, use bias tape to finish hem, or if you are using jeans, topstitch around about 1/2" from the bottom for a nice frayed finish (that won't fray too much).

Please send me your feedback and skirt photos!

Adding length to pants

As my sweet little boy grows taller, all his clothes need a little extra length. For this pair, we chose some wood grain fabric and stitched a few inches onto the bottom. He chose his favorite mushroom cap too, made from cashmere sweaters.

Need more details on adding length? Check out my etsy shop for a tutorial.
www.victoriavelting.etsy.com

Mobile test!

Oh this is exciting! If this works, there will be more new posts soon!