Christmas Dresses (Thrifty & Recycled edition)

Reposting for Cardigan Empire!! Happy Thrifty sewing!

See the Bridesmaid dresses above? Watch what they came below. As far as dresses go, they weren't awful. But I no longer wore it.

Thrifty Recycled Christmas Dresses...which also happen to be stunning.

I have 3 daughters. This year, I did something I have yet to do - make Christmas dresses for all my girls. A few years back I made 2 flower girl dresses for my sister's wedding but this is the first time making 3 Christmas dresses. I adore each one of them. All simple and fit their personalities and they fit well too! Phew! Made headbands as well.

Now on these dresses. It is no secret that in the past year we both have become an even greater fan of thrifting and recycling clothes. In fact, it has been since August that I bought something brand new for myself to wear. Anyway, I made a decision a couple months ago that I would follow suit in making my girls Christmas dresses. Every component would be thrifted or something I already had in my stash of fabrics. For the girls, the red taffeta came from the skirt I wore for our other sister's wedding and the leftover fabric in my stash. The black fabric was in my stash of fabric too. I can't remember why I bought it. The white accents came from a goodwill $1 shirt that I bought knowing I would use it for the accents - it was the perfect fabric. (I have bought a few things like this on dollar day - a great way to buy buttons too.) It is the sash on L's dress and the fabric flower on her headband the tuxedo accent on C's dress. The black accent on K's is also from my stash. It was literally scraps. I then had all the interfacing, elastics, and buttons needed to complete the dresses. The only thing I purchased ($3) was the pattern for the black dress. The other two I either didn't use a pattern or modified one I already had. So not counting items from my supplies and stashes of fabric, I spent a grand total of $4 on 3 Christmas dresses for my girls. (And several hours of course...)

Now L knows how to pose - she is 8. All perfectly tied up from head to toe. We went thru 3 quick fittings to get this right and now she is in love! The first try on erupted in tears. The arms felt wrong. The neck was wrong. But I tweaked and altered the underarm seams and pinned, added a temporary sash, took her to the mirror and her face lit up like New Year's Eve. She loved it. The final verdict? "Mommy, I love it. It is so comfy!" Not something I expected from the first tears about weird armpits. I had a pattern Butterick B4910 which I made as a size 5 nightgown years ago. She is not a 5 anymore. I tweaked and altered to make a bigger version and cut the sleeves long, not knowing what she would want. We folded and pinned until we found the gathered puff sleeve you see here. It is elasticized around the bottom.

And C can pose too - she is 6. Once we found this tuxedo inspired dress, we knew it was the perfect dress for her and it fit right on the money - gotta love that. I made it with an fairly lightweight black taffeta I had in my fabric stash. If I could change anything it would be to a heavier weight fabric but I worked what I had. Sure, I could have gone and bought 1.5 yards of fabric but this worked. To make the white tuxedo bib, I cut the hem from the bottom of a white blouse and used the finished edge as the edge of the ruffle and gathered the cut edge. I had some lovely mother of pearl buttons that are just too sweet. I love this kid - her missing teeth might possibly be my favorite part of Christmas 2009.

Obviously K wasn't interested in modeling. K is 19 mo old. You can't see the matching 2" black band at the bottom. It looks like the sash. This was literally scraps that I had to back with another black cotton fabric to make the sash and hem substantial. This is basically a peasant top made longer and I made it without a pattern but it followed the basic instructions found in this tutorial. I had found one years back and wrote down notes but didn't have the website any longer. In this tutorial it suggests lightweight fabric but this taffeta is fairly heavy weight and I think it made a nice dress.

The Great Frame Up!

Even my husband is impressed.

For U Create's Create with Me project for July, Kari and readers chose the mirror frame tutorials features on Sausha's blog Show & Tell. The hall/kids/guest bathroom was my target for the month. My sister having her baby, school starting, sick kids and life all got in the way but I plugged away and got this little tiny bathroom 90% done. All that is left is a faucet, some accessories, and some trim detail. I had hoped to get it all done over one long weekend. Ha.

For those who know me well, they will not be surprised that the answer to the question "How's the kitchen coming?" is that it isn't done yet. I felt I needed to renovate a bathroom before I finished the kitchen. Cuz that's how I roll.

This bathroom has been bugging me for a while. It is pretty and tasteful and not really ugly or anything. I was so over the styling. The butter yellow and coral colors along with the honey oak was just something I was done with. Since this bathroom needs to be easy for my kids to use yet nice enough for guests, I have to work the decor to be kid friendly (there was a bug theme in here - bug hooks, bug fabric art, bugs in the plaid curtain) yet sophisticated for guests.

But it was time for a change. I saw the Create with Me project was the mirror framing and before I knew it, I had planned a total bathroom makeover.

I decided to go for something more crisp and cool. I was inspired by Sausha of Show & Tell as well as several other bathrooms, specifically, The Framed Mirror at House of Smith's. I needed a big color change and cool crisp spa blue is the exact opposite of warm Belgian waffle yellow. But I also wanted to cottage it up a bit with some beadboard paneling. And anyone who knows me knows that I keep SAYING I am going to paint my cabinets but I keep FAILING to do it. So I decided to go full out and make over the whole bathroom top to bottom. (Without removing major fixtures, cabinetry, or flooring.)

The makeover list included:
Painted cabinets
Beadboard paneling with a 7" base and a 5" cap
replace light fixture
get rid of all traces of brass or cheap basic builder chrome - door lever, faucet, TP holder, towel bars, etc.
frame mirror
remove medicine cabinet and replace with a builit-in niche
pull-outs under the sink

First, on the cabinets, I sanded the crud out of them with my palm sander.

Then I removed the chintzy trim on the sides and beefed it up a little with 1/4" by 4" boards. Not a huge change but enough to add extra dimension.

And the paint. I have read every blog and article on the web that discusses painting cabinets and I tried something completely different from what I had read. Have you seen those commercials for Behr "He is painting while he primes. She is priming while she paints?" I went for the premium primer included stuff from Home Depot. The black color is Behr Beluga. I painted 3 coats, sanding lightly between each one. I didn't remove the doors but I easily could (and probably should) have. I decided to distress them. This my husband wasn't too thrilled about but I know how my kids and their stool had already distressed them over the years so I figured I would save myself the headache and heartache and have them start distressed. I hit it several places with the sander and then used a darker tinted glaze (some watered down acrylic craft paint) over the sanded spots to darken up the distressed areas.

On the Behr primer/paint - so far, so good.

Left is distressed but not glazed. Right is glazed. Just a subtle difference. I then used a hand rubbed poly in satin.

I added some brushed nickel knobs I had left over from a craft project from years ago. New faucet in a brushed nickel with a gooseneck is being ordered soon!! The toilet paper roll holder is from Home Goods, $10. It is currently receiving mixed reviews. It is the one-sided mount style. Everyone likes that it is easy to take on and off...especially my 2 year old.

My method for the paneling was as follows:

*Have Home Depot rip down a 4x8 1/2" MDF to use as my base (7") and cap (5") piece. I was also using these pieces in my kitchen so it made sense to buy a whole sheet.

*Have Home Depot cut the 4x8 beadboard sheet in half
*Adhere the 4X4 with liquid nails and the occasional nail with nail gun. Filling nail holes on beadboard is not super fun so do it sparingly.
*Caulk and wipe and caulk and wipe and sand and paint

My whole body would be shaking after using the sander so much!!

After wiping the caulk with my finger it left the little grooves of the beadboard full of caulking. I found a wooden skewer was a great tool to clean up the grooves. This is a bit tedious. I am a details girl.

Not right.

Next, I got to work on the blue-green walls. I started with Behr "Aqua Smoke" but it was too bright. I took it back and worked with the paint tech to tweak it. "dirty it up" she said. I got home and it still wasn't right. So I did what I usually do. I got out a bucket and started dumping and four re-mixes in my kitchen later, (adding a lot of white and some green) I was quite happy.


The old light was one of these jobbers. I cannot find a real life picture.

I replaced it with this one from Lowe's. $36 for the fixture and $6 for each seed glass shade. I broke one on the way home so I had to go back and buy another one. So my $54 fixture ended up costing $60. Had I realized 100 years ago when I first hated that light how easy it was to replace, I would have done it years ago. Replacing a light is so simple. A couple of screws, twist a couple of wire nuts and voila - a new beautiful light fixture.

Underneath my cabinet looks like this. I have 3 girls. We have NO drawers.

I used the plans for kitchen pull outs from This Old House found HERE Go look at Norm Abram's tutorial - I didn't take any pictures of that process.

Still need to work out the bin situation but I love these!

Yup - built these myself. The dead space above? I am still going to be adding a fixed shelf that will be right next to the water valve. And I have a great idea for hair accessory storage mounted to the cabinet door. Coming soon!

I was really almost done and then this wall was making me nuts. I could see how everything else was looking so clean and crisp and this wall was BUSY!
Outlets! Side splash! Beadboard! Medicine Cabinet! Hair accessories!!
So I ripped it all out and started fresh.

Pulled off the side splash. That was HARD. I busted out so many tools to hack at it! That thing was on their good.

I took out the medicine cabinet and started by cutting a piece of beadboard to fill the back. Used liquid nails and free weights worked very well to hold it tight so I didn't have to use the nail gun!

Then I framed it with MDF cut to 4.25" - the depth of the new niche.

Frame with 1.75" MDF, caulk, fill, sand, and paint. I got a local quote for 2 shelves cut from 1/4" glass for the niche - and if I do shelves for my other bathroom at the same time, it will cost $43. That is $10.75 per shelf. Clips to hold the shelves will be $10-15 a pair. Steve loves the idea for our master so I am taking out our medicine cabinet too.

And finally the mirror!!

I went with Shelley's mirror style from House of Smith's and bought my mouldings at Lowe's. I bought 2 pieces of 12 ft "Victorian" baseboard moulding, 5 1/2" wide or so. I am glad I had this much as I had to re-cut one piece. Perfect miter cuts, even with a laser miter saw, take some practice. Also, lucky me, the builder used the track at the bottom, mirror clips, AND mirror mastic to hold my mirror in place! Yea me! So I could remove the mirror clips but the track at the bottom was going nowhere since the mirror was super stuck to the wall so I had to figure out how to work around it.

I decided to use my jig saw and took a little notch out of the back of the vertical pieces where it met the track.

And I trimmed about 3/8" off the bottom of the bottom horizontal piece. Then when I added the shoe moulding (almost like quarter round but not quarter round.) as the perimeter detail it would sit proud of the mirror track and cover up the missing 3/8" of the bottom piece of moulding. Basically I boxed in the track.

Then I primed and painted the chrome mirror track the same color as my wall. That way if any showed, the illusion would be of wall showing. And by the way - re-doing a bathroom is messy work.

My little helper...washing my level. Mouldings all cut and getting glued directly to mirror. This didn't work for me.

In this post Sausha said she glued her moulding directly to the mirror. I tried that. It didn't work for me. It started to slide even as I was taping the first piece to hold it stable. And my 2 year old kept taking my level and washing it for me. And it kept sliding. So I did as Shelley and Cason at House of Smith's did and I glued the pieces together in the garage but I used wood glue and let it dry overnight. Next fill the joints and sand. Then I used wood glue to attach my shoe moulding as the finished edge of the frame. I gave it three coats of my black satin paint.

These weights sure are coming in handy. And this framed mirror makes the room.

I added a small trim moulding around where the beadboard meets the countertop. It isn't much - just enough to finish it off.

So here it is again. We have had the clock in there for a year or so and we love having it in there...with three girls getting their hair done, it is nice to keep an eye on the time.

And again. These hooks are from Ikea - $4.99/2pk.

And again - looking in from the doorway.

List still yet to do:
faucet
hand towel hook - I have bought two and have still not found "the one"
glass shelves for niche
art/decor
accessories (minimal)
Shower curtain (but I have a plan in the works!)
Frame the window above the shower - windows around here rarely have casings
shoe moulding where 7" baseboard meets the tile

What will this little makeover cost in the end?

Paint: $50 Home Depot
Beadboard: $40 Home Depot
1/2" MDF 4x8 sheet cut down into 5", 7", 4 2.5" and 1.75" strips: $35 Home Depot
Light fixture: $60 ($54 if I didn't break one shade) Lowe's
Pull-Outs - heavy duty glides and lumber: $30
Glass shelves & clips: $50 Local supplier, Gilbert Glass (clips online)
Brushed Nickel TP Holder: $10 Home Goods
Brushed Nickel Door handle: $30 Lowe's (Schlage)
Cabinet knobs: $4
Caulking and Liquid Nails - I went through a couple tubes of each - maybe $10?
Assorted random stuff like new switch plate covers, small trim moulding, etc: $15
Faucet (hopefully no more than) $75

Total: $349 + a few bucks for art/decor & shower curtain/hand towel hook

We LOVE how this bathroom turned out! I can't wait to do the master bath. But my husband has asked that I finish the kitchen before I move onto another room.

He has a point!

Thanks for stopping by Tuesdays with Molly - watch for more regular posts again!! Yippie! Molly just had a baby 2 weeks ago so we will do our best!

Thumbs Up!

Who doesn't love a good handmade Valentine? But what I really love even more is knocking off a fantastic creative idea and making it work for me! None of the guts, all of the glory, I always say! This year, while cruising a favorite craft blog, U Create, (who has been so kind as to feature us before) I found these.

After school we had our photoshoot. This angle takes a bit of practice.


Then I got to work selecting the best photos, adding text, and printing them at Costco for $.13 each:

How can I NOT prominently feature kindergarten's toothless wonder?

As always, sweet.

Now here is the part where I am multi-tasking and making dinner (Meatless Thursday - whole wheat waffles with a 4 berry sauce) and slicing the photos to make slits for the blow pops and I didn't have a 3rd hand to take a picture. I used a rotary cutter because I couldn't find my X-Acto knife quickly. I just made about a 1/2 slit at the top and bottom of the fist and honestly, I think the rotary cutter was easier than the X-Acto would have been. I just pressed the blade to the picture (on a cutting mat) and it made the perfect slit.

While I was gone last night I left my kiddos and husband assembling the Valentines. I came home to these piles on the sofa and chair:



I think these are a total riot! They were super fun to make and oh so unique. Even my husband, who is pretty jaded by the crafting around here, was impressed.

A Simple Apron & Birthday Gift!

Do you like this version? Hemmed sides, less seam binding?

Or this version? Finishing all edges with seam binding & added pocket.

Today I needed a birthday gift for a 6 year old girl's party tonight (totally forgot about it - do you ever do that or is it just me?) and didn't have to run to Target for my usual $10-$15 kiddo gift. Plus, Mommy had just treated herself to a couple new things at Anthroplogie and Ann Taylor (I am worth it, I keep telling myself...) so I needed to save a couple bucks somewhere!

So, I decided to make an apron as a birthday gift. I remembered these aprons we made last fall for our other sister in Denver. (There are 3 of us sisters.) She was planning a Ratatouille themed birthday party for her daughter and wanted simple aprons as the kid's party favors. She asked her sisters in Arizona to help her out. We had to make a bunch and they had to cost hardly anything.

Required:
22"x22" fabric - twill, print cotton, scrap from stash, whatever you wish (more if you want to add a pocket)
1-2 Pkg. Seam Binding (1 pkg. is 3 yards)
(2 1/4 yd required for hemmed version , 4 1/4 yd for the finished on all edges with seam binding version")

I made this "pattern" (probably, no, for sure, not to scale at all) quickly after making several aprons. Really we free-handed it, using another kiddo apron as a guide. Does this guide make sense? It is really finished measurements. If you plan to do the hemmed version, using less seam binding, cut overall width and length 1.5 inches larger. My daughter, the model, is 5 1/2 years old. Adjust your size up or down if needed but I think there is plenty of room to grow with it. My 7 year old has an apron the same size. We made them this size for the birthday party and that was for 3 year olds. it is really a versatile size.

We were making several for the birthday party and used the rotary cutter and mat to cut lots at a time.

If hemming (and we were for these - we couldn't use so much seam binding - it wasn't in the budget) turn under a double 1/4" hem on top, bottom and sides. Press and straight stitch.

Use the seam binding as the neck; the neck opening measures about 15" from point to point where it is attached, covering the curve and then as the ties. Pin in place and straight stitch. The seam binding will bend around the curve easily. Just make sure you catch both sides of the binding in your stitch!

We made 10, 12, I don't remember. I do know we ran out of red and had to finish with some purple I had in my stash.

And the version I made for the birthday girl. She is not a girly girl so I thought this funky graphic flower print from my stash I picked up on clearance at IKEA would be perfect.

What I did differently for this one:
*I cut to the finished size & used multiple scraps of seam binding from my stash to finish all edges
*I cut the bottom edge to curve
* I added a pocket to the bottom 6" or so and stitched down 3 straight seams to make 4 pockets. (Ok, I actually didn't measure this. I just cut it the same width as the apron and I think it is about 6". The gift is wrapped or I would measure it!

And really, Presentation is Everything. Recently at Ross, I had picked up a 5 pk of glittery body splash spray ($5 for 5 sprays) to use as an easy add-on to birthday gifts. I rolled up the apron, tucked the orange splash in the pocket, and tied it with a ribbon.

So, I am going to say this gift cost me $1.00 because I really don't count using stuff from my stash! But seriously, isn't it better than another set of Polly Pockets?