The Aviator Onesie

The little boys I babysit came in shirts similar to this one, from 

Children's Place. I just love them! So I decided to whip up one

of my own...and see a few to customers :-)

You know where to contact me if you want one! 

$8...giarosedesigns@gmail!

Quilted Owl Vest

One of the fabrics I fell in love with at Joann's was this corduroy owl print.

So adorable and sweet...yet too busy for a top (for my style atleast!). Of course,

I still had to buy a half yard.  

While we were out shopping the other day I noticed the poofy vests were still

in style and I knew I needed to make one for G! I decided the owl print

would be perfect, with some warm fleece lining. 

I didn't use a pattern or tutorial but I did stumble upon a great one by Me Sew Crazy. 

She has a quilted vest tutorial that is great! 

Here's my version. I really love it. You could also add button or a zipper 

but I hate sewing on either so I did without :-)

And she knows how to take it off..dangit!
But here's a great shot of the fleece lining!
And unfinished seams....

Fleece Fall Sweatshirt

I got started on G's fall wardrobe! Tuesday night we went to Joann's and Hobby

Lobby to pick out a few cute prints to start with. I didn't want to go too crazy

because I know the new fall fabrics are still coming in! 

Anywho, where was I? 

I picked up a cute damaskish printed fleece from Joann's. 

Last spring I had purchased the McCall's sweatshirt/sweatpant pattern

and planned to use that to make this top. Once I started cutting  out my pieces

I realized even the size 1 was way too big.  So I grabbed a sweatshirt that fit G well

and sized down the pattern quite a bit (maybe a bit too much). 

There are so many fun things you can do with a simple sweatshirt pattern.

Add ruffles, pockets, buttons, multiple coordinating fabric, etc. I have a few

more fabrics to use to whip up more of these sweatshirts! 

Oh wait...maybe you'd like to see a pic of this top that I keep bragging about?

(please diregard the terrible pictures! It's way too hot out to make G model

her new fleece sweatshirt for me!)

Fall Wardrobe Line up!

I know what you're thinking...Fall?! It's only August! This maybe true but G has way too many summer clothes and not enough cutsie fall clothes. Plus, I've been drooling over all the fall fabric that's been coming out! I need a reason to buy some! So low and behold- here is my list of 'must-do' fall clothes for G's wardrobe. (To be honest, I'll be lucky if I get half of these done ;-) )

By Shwin&Shwin:

Military Lace Top- how adorable would this be as a tunic with leggings?!

Asymmetrical Cropped Jacket - because you can never have too many jackets in the fall!

Inspired by Boy Sweatshirt (only with long sleeves)

Inauguration Cardi

Cropped Fleece Jacket

Craftiness is not Optional: Flora & Fauna Tee

HoneyBear Lane: Sweater Updo I need to thrift a sweater to upcycle!

RefugeeCrafter: Rae Shirt This would be adorable in one of the new fall fabrics!

SewTogether: Tab Tunic Shirt I purchased G about 7 long sleeved tees when they went on clearance, 

here's one of the ways I plan to use them!

KiKiCreates: Dress into a Jacket

MyOwnRoad: Rockin Necklace Tee

SewingforScarlett: Dancer Tee
The Quilted Vest-I'm on the fence about this one...
Made: Lined Pants 
HappyTogether: Mini Me Cardigan
LeafyTreetop: Toddler Slippers - perfect for our wood floors! if she keeps them on....
Madeline's Tunic

From Ruffles & Stuff- Ruffle Necklace Waffle Tee
Made By Rae: Square Neck Top
Adventures in Dressmaking: Knit Bow Top

Make it & Love it

Long Sleeve Tee into a Ruffled Dress: Using up those long sleeve tees again!

Ruffled Front & Ruffled Cuff Tee- In G's size!

Initial Pants

And I may even buy a pattern or two from Heidi & Finn

Yoga Suit This looks so comfy, I want one for me!

Urban Hoodie

Girly Cardigan 

All Day Tunic 

(can you tell I LOVE Heidi & Finn patterns?)

And lastly...a few easy projects for ME!
Behind the Seams: Wrap (no sewing needed!)
At Second Street: Drape Cardigan

Phew-that is a TON of clothes I plan on making...who wants to start taking bets
on how many I'll actually get done?

Please share your favorite fall patterns/tutorials and share the outfits you make!!!

Every seamstresses dream...

is to come across boxes full of sewing goods that you get for dirt cheap. 

Well, that's been my dream at least. And this weekend, it happened! A girl my hubby went

to school with talked to me on Facebook because her mother-in-law was wanting to get

rid of some sewing/crocheting items. I told her I'd stop by and take a look. Never did I dream

of what I'd come across! A dresser full of vintage buttons, trimmings, ric rac, thread and 

items I didn't even know how to use! She also had a box full of vintage pillowcases

and crocheted items. She said I could take it all for $40. Heck YES! I was oh.so.excited. 

I packed up 1 box and 3 large paper shopping bags full of my goodies. Once we got home I began

to sort them.....

Just a few of the vintage items. The top left box is a roll of elastic,
which is still good!

Ric Rac and bias tape...again there's another box of this too!

That's a 11 quart tub of thread; and I still had another small box of more!
Plus millions of vintage buttons-LOVE!

That is just some of the stuff I got. I don't know for sure the dates but alot of the thread 

and rick rack was priced at 10cents! 

Stay tuned for posts on what I made with my finds!!! 

T-shirt Upcyle

A friend of mine from our playgroup gave me a box full of plain colored knit tees 

to upcycle into something amazing. I was so excited! 

There were a few plain white tees in there that looked a little 'dingy'

(we all know we have them...the white tee that turned off-white

from spit up stains or has arm pit stains from chasing around

our kids in the backyard...ya I'm sure you have them too!)

I almost threw them out when I realized I could make a scarf out of them,

and then dye it an amazing color!

 
I took two old white tees that were about the same size. I cut off the bottom portion

(from the arm pit down). I cut along one side seam on each shirt and then sewed

the to shirts together-length wise to make one long piece of fabric.

Next I filled a pot with teal Rit Dye and placed the whole scarf in the pot.

After about 5 minutes I took out one end the scarf and continued taking more the scarf

out every 5 minutes until the whole scarf was out of the water. This caused a gradual difference in

color from dark teal to light teal! I like how it turned out, a cheap and easy way to dress up an outfit!

(You can't really tell the difference in color in this pic. The more it dried, the lighter the colors got...)

I also cut and knotted the ends to add some flare :-)

You could easily make an infenity scarf by just cutting off the bottom of a tee and 

dying it. No sewing needed!! I'm going to try that next....

Upcycled Sweater to a Cardigan Mini

A friend of mine gave me a great bag of old clothes to upcycle! I am so excited...free knits and sweaters! Heck yes! 

I used a cardigan that fit G for the template/pattern to make her new sweater. The redish (it's actually

hot pink) sweater was the one I upcycled.

Here's the done product! It was SO quick and easy. I'm not in love with it, but 

I think it will be cute this winter with some skinny jeans. 

I'm thinking about shortening it a few inches. A friend of mine says to keep it long, 

your thoughts?

Sorry, no tutorial. But I may try another one soon and I'll attempt

a tutorial then!