Reversible Wrap Shirt

I've been itching to make some more clothes for K, but I needed something that wouldn't take me ages to finish. I found a great (almost) instant gratification project in this free pattern on the Birch Fabrics blog by CINO.



It's a quick, easy sew with just enough cute factor in those ruffled sleeves to give it some personality. I made the 4/5 size and it fits nicely over a long sleeve shirt. I probably should have made it a smidge longer than the pattern. I always seem to forget I've got a long-waisted girl.



Who doesn't love a reversible shirt that can work double time? This fabric is more left over tradeshow table covers from work using vintage* Gypsy Caravan by Amy Butler. I used this fabric for the first dress I ever made for K. Oh, do I miss her being that little!



She's growing up to be a pretty awesome kid though.



And the photo shoot is over!




*Vintage = as in the first release back in the early 2000s, not from the re-release a year or two ago. I had Amy Butler in my Stash before it was cool. Ok fine, she was always cool.

Experimenting with Bleach

I've seen a few fun uses of bleach on t-shirts lately and just had to try them out for myself. The first technique I read about on MADE. When I saw it I immediately thought of this shirt.



Its one of K's shirts that I accidentally bleached after she had only worn it a couple times. She came home from daycare with a mystery stain on the shirt. When this happens I spray it with OxiClean and wash it whenever I get around to it. Well this time leaving the OxiClean on it for a couple days left bleach spots. I was bummed! So it's been sitting in her drawer for a few months because I've been mad at myself for having ruined an almost-new shirt.



I think I got a little heavy-handed with the spray bottle. I wish it had turned out a little more mottled. I like the results on the back better.



And shirring strikes again! Since I didn't think she would fit in this shirt when long-sleeve weather comes back, I decided to give the sleeves a trim. Rather than try to hem the sleeves, I stitched two lines of elastic thread to give the shirt a cute puffed sleeve.



Bleach experiment #2 came from this post via craftgawker. Although I couldn't read it (it's in Danish), the photos were self-explanatory. I wanted to use something with simple lines and what's better for a 6 year old boy than Transformers?

I traced the design onto contact paper and cut it out with an exacto knife- definitely the most time-consuming part of the process. I peeled off the backing and stuck the contact paper to the shirt.



I put a cookie sheet inside the shirt to keep the bleach from reaching the back of the shirt. I'm glad that it's summer and I can do all this bleaching outside! This time I mixed the bleach with a little bit of water. Here's a photo after I sprayed the bleach- you can see the color just starting to change.



I sprayed it off with the hose after a few minutes and here it is drying on the bench. Shirts dry FAST in these 100 degree temps!



I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out! And so is the kid.

Father's Day Cards & Free Pattern!

Father's Day is coming soon and I've made a couple of paper pieced designs in honor of all the dads out there. And I'm sharing the patterns with you!



I made the shirt & tie version first. I think it's super cute, but none of the dads in my life wear a tie (unless there's a wedding or a funeral involved), so I decided to make a more casual version.



I embroidered a little pocket on the t-shirt because it reminds me of my dad. For the thirty years I've known him (OK, thirty-one years), my dad has worn a solid colored t-shirt with a pocket just about everyday. If it's chilly a flannel shirt is added, but that's pretty much his entire wardrobe. I machine stitched the shirt & tie block to the card, but I thought the t-shirt block would look fun with big hand stitches around it.

My obsession with paper piecing continues. It's a great way to use up little fabric odds and ends from your stash, which is great for me because most of fabric is what others would consider "scraps." I have very little yardage. However, working with small pieces of fabric can sometimes backfire on me. This is all the "shirt" fabric I had left after making the shirt & tie block. I was sweating it there at the end, hoping I'd have enough to finish off the little block!



You can download the patterns for these shirts here. Each block finishes at 3.5" (3" if you trim off the seam allowance around the outside), which works well for a 4"x6" card. This is the first time I've tried using this Google Docs thing, so if it doesn't work let me know!