Color Me Blue...

Project Run & Play Week 4: Sew Along! This weeks theme was color...so I took it literally and created this Blue Crayon Dress. Just a fun little t-shirt dress with whimsical appliques.

I choose blue for my theme because of these baby blues...

My middle daughter is the only one in my family that has blue eyes, we have brown. And they are real blue... my sister has told me the odds of 2 brown eyed people with a dominant gene having a child with light blue eyes is but she's a doctor so her language sometimes is over my head or in one ear and out the other =)

I started with my favorite maternity t-shirt. I loved it because it was a great blue color, really thick jersey knit material, and it was always the closest thing I had to wear that was like my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. Anyways I kept it, but I thought it was time to give it a new life as something else.

Using my daughter's t-shirt I cut out the t-shirt dress as just an A-line dress.

The hardest part of this outfit was finding the right colors. I went through all my fabric stashes and grabbed all the blues- old clothes, curtains, new fabric, felt, anything that was blue.

Then I paired them up to make the crayon tips and the wrappers.

Drew out my big crayon.

Then I traced out everything- 4 tips, 4 wrappers, 8 black wavy patterns, and 4 Crayola logos.

Iron all he pieces together.

For the logo I cut the outer black out of fabric but for the word, Crayola, I just painted in with fabric paint.

Then I zig-zaged around all the black fabric pieces, leaving the edges of the crayon raw for now.

Until all 4 looked like this. 

Next you have to iron the crayons on to the dress. Then zig-zag around the whole crayons in blue.

An after thought was to add the "scribbles." I just used the same fabrics I did for the crayons and sewed them directly onto the dress in different patterns. 

And there you have it- A dress fit for a fun day at school.

Jaden would like to make it known that she thinks that Project Run & Play is too long. She is tired of all the photo shoots and all the smiling. She likes the clothes but she says no more... So I guess the beautiful dress I have planned for next week's Movie Theme week will just go to her little sister....

Hope you all are having a better day than Jaden....

Handpainted Upcycled Earth Day Dress...

On to week 3 of Project Run and Play Sew Along, this week's theme is Earth Day. The challenge was to upcycle an old piece of clothing into something new. Here is my interpretation:

I started with an old cargo skirt that was in my goodwill box.

 It was the perfect color for an earth day dress and it had a lot of fabric so I was able to use a new pattern I had been itching to try, Simplicity 1949.

    

I made the sleeveless dress version. Then revised the pattern to add a ruffle onto the sleeves. I wanted the ruffle to go longer than the arm sleeve hole so this was my solution:

I drew with chalk the outline of the tree before going in and painting it with fabric paint.

I did the same thing with the little girl silhouette on the back of the dress.

I am in love with this pattern and dress! It came out so cute and has a flattering fit.

I think the free hand painting adds real interest to the dress.

 Hope y'all are having a good week!

Soccer Star Sportswear!

So it is time for the second week of Project Run & Play. I didn't budget my time very well for this project and had to spend too many late nights working hard to make the deadline. But here it is: my take on sportswear!

When brainstorming for this project I figured I would make something for my youngest who was too little to enroll in soccer this season but still she is dragged to every practice and game for both her older sister and brother- she needed something special to cheer them on. So this is what I came up with...

The asymmetrical sleeveless hoodie is made from a spandex fabric that is very lightweight and quick drying (perfect for the Texas summer heat). It is lined in the same spandex but I lined the hood in a gray jersey knit (it is really thick and I was afraid it would make the top too hot if I lined the jacket also).

The appliques on the top are cut out instead of ironed on. This is the first time I tried this technique and I love it! Here is how I did it:

After drafting the pattern from one of my daughters shirts I drew out the soccer ball and put the paper on the top, the spandex pattern piece in the middle and a circle of gray fabric in the back.

I sewed directly on to the paper on all the lines.

When done you tear off the paper and cut out the pieces you want to be gray (leaving the blue pieces in place)

I did the same with the stars on the hood- gray with blue stars on the inside....

And the other side was where I cut out the stars.

I also did this same technique with the writing on the left side. 

For the pleated skirt I cut out 10 pieces of each color of 3 inch by 7 inch strips.

Sewed them all together.

Top stitched over all the seams and then ironed the pleats flat.

I also attached some shorts to the skirt because my little soccer supporter usually spends time during the games doing somersaults down the side line.

I am really happy with the way it turned out she is wearing it today and it is the perfect play outfit, comfortable, cute and the spandex is really easy to wipe off and doesn't wrinkle.

Hope you all are having a good week, I am glad to be finished with my outfit and plan on going to bed right after my son's soccer practice tonight!