Back to School Shopping

The time of year is here.

The time where displays of crayons, glue, markers, rulers, pencils, and paper meet you as soon as you walk in any store.

Clothing stores start teasing and tempting you with fabulous sales on the newest jeans, tees, hoodies, socks, and shoes.

Back to school shopping!

I have such fond memories of the end of every summer growing up. As summer came to a close, I could be found skipping through the store loading up with all the necessary school supplies...it paints quite the picture, huh?

Even when I got older and was an oh-so-mature college student, I LOVED buying school supplies.

College school supplies were made even more exciting by the need to purchase big ol' text books.

Yup, I even loved buying text books. Yup, I am weird.

For years after I was done with school, in a mild depression I would wonder the store at back to school time. I was a little blue that I had no reason to buy school supplies.

I was not so blue that I wanted to enroll in school again. Nah. I still have nightmares I am back in school. So I will pass.

However, I still missed buying school supplies.

Then a couple of years ago I got to rejoin the supply-buying masses. Oldest was in school. Yipee!

So I loaded up on all the regulars:

crayons
pencils
glue
markers
paper
kleenex
wipes

I now floated through the store in school supply bliss (my bliss may end every year when the total comes up on the register...but I try not to let it ruin my love affair with school shopping).

Fast forward some years and this year brings even more excitement.

I am now shopping for TWO students.

All the supplies you could dream of...plus it seems a little extra. Is it just me or does it seem like we are supplying enough items for 3 students? I am just saying, I don't think my Kindergartner is going to use FOUR 24 pks of crayons.

Now as much as I love school supply shopping, there is another back to school shopping I love more.

Back to school clothes shopping!

I heart it. I just love restocking the boys' closets. I love putting together a special first day of school outfit.

I love new jeans.

A pile of nicely folded new tees make my heart sing.

Then there are new shoes. Sigh. After a summer of wearing flip flops, it is lovely to bring out a sporty pair of lace-ups or a causal pair of slip-ons.

Shirts from Target 

Love it.

If I could, I would go back to school clothes shopping crazy. I love mixing and matching different items to make pretty much the most awesome boy outfit.

It takes some time. It take some skill (if I do say so myself). It takes some patience.

Shopping for boys is WAY harder than shopping for girls. The availability of to.die.for boys clothes is slim.
Oh you can find an awesome item here and there, but hardly ever can you find an entire outfit.

Especially if you are on a budget. I mean I love Target and all, but their selection for boy's clothes isn't even that great all the time.

I love to "window" shop for my boys online. You know when you peruse all your favorite sites, even the ones you can't afford, and put together what you would buy if you had a mountain of money. A Scrooge McDuck vault of money to swim in if you will.

Recently in a momentary hallucination that I was Scrooge McDuck, I kind of went crazy and put some outfits together for my boys. I even put them together story board style for my organization and viewing pleasure.

It was a little addicting to put together ultra awesome outfits. I had the giddy claps after several of the outfits.

I don't want to hog all the giddy blissness, so I am sharing my boy outfits with you.

Here are my favorite so far. I put the links to all of the clothing items underneath each outfit just in case you have a little man you need to dress for school and you have a vault of money that you occasionally swim in.

ENJOY!

This is my absolute favorite. Trying to figure out a way to 

justify buying this outfit.

Marvel Shirt: Zara

Stripped Shirt: GAP

Yellow Puff Vest: GAP

Skinny Jeans: Old Navy

Red Sneakers: Zara

This outfit is super cool and laid back. LOVE those shoes. All this

outfit needs is a knit beanie.

Gray V-neck Tee: GAP

Purple Plaid Button-up: Old Navy

Jeans: GAP

Black Hightops: Old Navy

This for sure is the most expensive and day-dreaming outfit.

I mean I did include TOMS after all.

Gray Stripped Shirt: GAP

Skull Sweater: GAP

Blue Puff Vest: GAP

Skinny Stretch Jeans: GAP

Black TOMS

For a little reminiscence of our good old Ohio, here is 

a Go Buckeyes outfit. Hubby will appreciate this one.

Ohio State Shirt: GAP

Red Plaid: GAP

Gray Pants: GAP

Gray Slip-Ons: GAP

Red Watch: GAP 

I already have some more outfits in the works. So excited. Almost enough to make up for the fact these will never see the boys' closet. Hahaha.

Happy back to school shopping friends!

A Pinteresting Saturday: Onesies and a Teeny Tiny Hat

I took a much needed break from house sewing and party planning to make a little something for our Little Something. Right away when I saw the project for this chervon onesie I knew I was going to make one for Bean. 

My need to make this onesie was only solidified when I found some newborn leggings I liked AND when I found an old t-shirt that could be utilized to finish of an entire homecoming outfit. 

Of course, all of this was inspired by this amazing little chevron onesie tutorial.

pinned here

I gathered all of my materials and then also decided I needed to add a teeny tiny hat for Bean's head. When I found this, I pinned it right away adding it to my project list.

First, how cute is this baby????

Okay, pinned here

I happily got to work. I gathered my onesies.

Found the felt I wanted.

Before I made the chevron onesie from the tutorial, I got the idea to make one that would match these little pants.

I loved the gray and green. I LOVED the little green elephant.

So I had to make a larger replica to go on the front of the onesie.

Teeny elephants and larger elephant match wonderfully.

Next I moved on to the chevron onesie. I did do one thing differently. I knew our Bean was going to come when the weather was still a bit nippy outside. So I decided to take that old t-shirt I mentioned and to make it long sleeved.

I don't get giddy-clap-my-hands-and-giggle over tons of projects, but I tell you what...

The sleeves on this onesies once paired with the chevron and I was a clapping and giggling fool.

Then I used the rest of the t-shirt to make a double-knotted beanie from the above pinned tutorial.

To.Die.For.

So now Newest Little Man will have two cozy outfits.

This charming elephant number.

And my favorite, this chevron one in which he will be coming home in.

I am totally addicted to making these little outfits. Now I just need to go through my massive box of clothes to repurpose and see what other tees I can find.

Isn't Pinterest the best and most addicting thing ever? If you want to see some of my other potential projects, feel free to check out my Pinterest page. AND if you want to see my list grow feel free to follow my Pinterest page and watch the insanity.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Re-purposed Shirts for the 4th

So tonight in our neck of the woods is our BIG firework show. I mean BIG...metropolis big. Out of the five years we have lived here, this is only our 3rd time going. Me+my Little Men+large chaotic crowds=panic attack. However, it is such a fun tradition AND my LM love being there. So I put on a happy smiling face, several big breaths and we head on out for the festivities.

Since we are in the "pinching our pennies" phase of moving, I had to improvise the patriotic wardrobes this year. Every shirt I made came from either my stash or their closets.

I shared Oldest's on Wednesday.

The other two came from their closets and I literally just did one thing to each.

Middle's started as a simple polo which has seen many summers.

Little's started as this long sleeve Sunday dress shirt.

All I did to Little's was cut off the sleeves and then hem, to make shorter sleeves. Well then of course I added this homemade bow-tie (which he probably won't wear the night...can you just imagine the crowd wondering which crazy lady put her toddler in a bow tie).

For Middle's I used a small scrap of heat transfer vinyl...my new favorite thing...and put a simple "76"...ya know for 1776...at the top. SO simple, and patriotic enough for the 4th, but totally doable for everyday wear.

I know there are several pictures of Middle, it isn't because I love him more, it is just because he had a great evolution of photos...

forced smile..."mom take the picture already"

gut buster..."mom just said the word boogers"

4 going on 14..."mom don't cry at how handsome and grown up I look"

Just goes to show you, if you search in your closets enough and get creative you can really reuse what you have to make something new. Yeah for not having to spend money!

Amidst all this patriotic sewing, I also busted out a skirt for myself. I cant' wait to show you. I think it turned out quite lovely and I can't wait to wear it tonight to the fireworks. I am hoping my skirt is so cute no one will notice the panic all over my face...hahaha.

Independence Day Shirt

We are getting ready for the 4th over here. There is something special about this holiday. I love the pure Amereicana of it all. I love the small town celebrations and the fireworks. I love the picnic and bbq's. I love my Little Men's excitement. I love the unity of waving flags and dressing in red, white, and blue.

This year I either made, altered, or repurposed shirts for each one of my Little Men. 

This shirt is Oldest's. This is the shirt I "made". Obviously I didn't  sew it. I just took a plain tee and then embellished it. I love the red silhouette of the United States (sorry Hawaii and Alaska...I know you are part of the U.S...I just couldn't get those states to fit on right). I cut out the the number 1776 from scraps of a white t-shirt and then sewed them on. Perfect!

The two older boys kind of fought over who got it. In the end, Oldest won. He was pretty stoked about it.

The other two L.M. got repurposed shirts...They still like them, and they still looked quite handsome. I will share what I did with these two shirts on Friday.

We are ready for some 4th fun. Fireworks here we come!

Tee Shirt Makeover

 

Isn't a white t-shirt just the most perfect Summer outfit addition?!?

White shirts are pretty much a necessity in my wardrobe. In the summer, they are even more important. The other day I went searching through my closet and discovered something horrifying...okay not really horrifying but it was a little upsetting. My white tees were a hot mess. I had two perfect short-sleeved tees but you know that shall-not-be-mentioned-staining that occurs under the sleeve area, well it seemed both shirts have reached their limit of cleaning.

I only had one more t-shirt. This unfortunate one-

Oh what a mess. This shirt has totally stretched out and lost it's shape since I bought it. Don't you hate it when that happens? Since I had my heart set on wearing a white t-shirt that day...don't laugh at me, it is true...I decided I would just fix my shirt.

So easy.

I turned the shirt inside out. Then I pinned up either side making a new seam to follow. I followed the edge of the shirt taking off about an 1 1/2 off either side.

While I was taking in the sides I decided to also turn the 3/4 sleeves into short sleeves. I measured how short I wanted them and then gave an extra 1/2" for the seam. Then cut off excess.

I sewed up the sides following my pin markers and then I trimmed off the excess.

 On the sleeves I folded in the edge and then hemmed the sleeve.

Then I put it on.

Then I gave a "holla".
Then I made my 7 year old take my picture.

Father Knows Best Tees

Does your dad have a few lines that he always says? You know his own little words of wisdom, or catch phrases, or yes even punch lines. Those sayings that if you said to a sibling, said sibling would be able to finish what you were saying.

My Dad has a TON of phrases that will always make me think just of him. He is a pretty laid back comical guy, so a lot of his sayings are the perfect mix of truth and humor. This year for a Father's Day gift I decided to put a couple of his famous phrases onto tees. Of course using my Silhouette...best toy ever.

Now, remember that I said my dad was a bit of a comedian when you see these shirts. They are highly hilarious and only sentimental in the fact that these phrases will always remind his children of him...in other words, these phrases aren't making a Hallmark card anytime soon.

First Dad Phrase: "Chili dogs only bark at night"

hehehe...pretty self explanatory

Second Dad Phrase: "I brought you into the world, I can take you out of it"

we heard this one whenever we sassed him...so basically we heard it A LOT rarely.

These shirts were super easy to make. They also were a lot of fun. 

Here is the breakdown of what I used just in case you guys were curious:

2 tees from Target

black and red heat transfer vinyl

fonts- hamburger heaven and BEBAS (both downloaded of the internet)

white knit scrap for hotdog shape

What does your father always say? Is he a funny guy? Is he more on the serious side? Use something he always says to make a personalized gift. 

My dad is going to LOVE this.

Baseball Tee How-to

I love a baseball tee. I have been wanting to figure out how to make my own for awhile now. There are A LOT of perks to using pre-made tees for this sewing project, especially if you are like me and don't have a serger (aka knit fabrics best friend).

In this tutorial I will provide a pattern for a 2T size, but that pattern can be manipulated to fit the size you need. Or you can feel free to make your own pattern using an existing baseball tee you have laying around (this is what I did to make my pattern).

Every once in awhile in an insecure anxiety ridden moment I decide to disclaim that I am no where near a skilled seamstress. I am very much a figure-it-out-go-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of sewer. I share the how-to that works for me, fully knowing that some of you out there might see it and go..."umm...I think there is an easier way to do it." I often use shortcuts to make my sewing projects easier or simply because I am missing some of the tools that would be necessary for a step (afore mentioned serger). Sometimes I might fuddle my way through the explanations in my non seamstress lingo, but I am always happy to explain myself if there are any questions. I enjoy creating and it has been a journey to get brave enough to share it with all of you my bloggin' peeps. Okay, so that is my sewing tutorial disclaimer, you guys still love me, right?

Whew. Novel done. I should be good on the disclaimer for quite awhile now.

On to the How-to!

Baseball Tee How-to

You will need:

2 craft tees in your desired colors and in a size at least one size big
pattern pieces 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
*or a shirt to make your own pattern
coordinating fabric

for actual kennel club tee you will also need:
coordinating fabric paint in two colors
scrap of tee used for the sleeves
freezer paper or scrap vinyl for stencil

If you make your own pattern, you will need to cut off the sleeves, the front, and the back of the shirt. Trace each piece and cut out.

If using the print out patterns, cut each pattern piece out. Attach pattern pieces together as indicated. Cut the front and back pattern from the white tee, you will need 2 2x12 inch strips for the sleeves, so make sure you account for that when you lay out your patterns.

For the sleeves here is one of my cheats...

Line up the pattern of your sleeve with the bottom of the pre-made tee. This way the hem of your sleeve is already finished. You will cut out one sleeve from the front of the shirt and one sleeve from the back.

One more cheat while we are at it...

Cut off the existing neck band from the sleeve color tee. Cut it off just below the exiting seam, cutting just a bit of the tee shirt off with it. Set this aside to sew onto finished tee at the end. I measured my length according to the neck piece from my existing baseball tee, however, I recommend not cutting it until your tee is sewn together and you see how much you need.

Let's start sewing.

THE SLEEVES-

Cut 2 2x12 inch strips from the leftovers of the white tee shirt.

Iron them in half and then sew up one side of each strip.

Don't worry about turning out (that might be a nightmare). Simply iron it flat so that the seam is in the back, like this...

Line up your strips with the seam facing the right side of each sleeve. Pin in place 3-4 inches from the bottom.

Sew in place with coordinating thread. Stitch along both edges. Repeat on other sleeve.

ATTACH SLEEVES-

There is a back and a front side of each sleeve. Make sure you pin, with right sides facing, the back of the sleeve with the back panel of your tee or the front of the sleeve with the front panel. It doesn't matter if you do front or back first as long as they match up correctly.

I am going to start with the front here. Pin right sides facing.

Sew with 1/4 in seam allowance. I tried both a zig zag stitch and a regular, for me there was no difference. I know many people find using a zig zag stitch better on knits (again when there is no serger). I leaned slightly towards the regular stitch.

For a nice finishing touch I sewed stitches on the tee along either side of the outside seam line.

Repeat on the process with the back of the sleeves and the back tee panel.

Once the sleeves are attached, match up the sleeves and the side seams. Pin in place. Sew with a 1/4" seam allowance all the way up from the bottom, under the armpit and along the bottom of the sleeve.Repeat on other side.

ATTACH NECK PIECE-

Turn your almost finished shirt right side out. Grab your neck band reserved from the pre-made tee. Measure how much you need. Cut the band and then sew together to make a circle.

There is a right side to the band. Lay the band with the right side facing the right side of your tee. This will take a little stretching and manipulating the band. Patience is your friend. Make sure the place where you attached the band to itself is in the back. Sew with about a 1/4" seam allowance. Basically you will want to sew as close as possible to where the original neck band met the original tee.

Turn band up, pushing the raw edge inside the tee. Iron.

HEM-

Almost done with construction. Whew.

Turn shirt inside out. Fold up 1/2" and iron. Then fold it up another 1/2" and iron. Make sure to carefully fold to ensure you still have the curve at the bottom of your shirt.

Turn the tee back right side out. Sew along the bottom of the tee following your ironed hem. Stitch again 1/4' below what you just stitched, creating a double row of stitches.

If the baseball tee is all you care about, YOU ARE DONE.

BUT, if you would like to know what I did to get the graphic on my tee, keep reading.

EMBELLISHMENTS

I found a silhouette of a dog shape I wanted and I actually cut it out with my Silhouette on some scrap vinyl. HOWEVER, I have also done the same stenciling process with freezer paper. Here is a tutorial where I used freezer paper.

Once you have your stencil, apply it where you would like it on your shirt.

Make sure you have put a piece of cardboard, or even a cereal box front, in between the layers of your shirt.
Apply the paint, evenly and carefully at the edges. Reapply more coats for a more even coverage.

Let the paint dry, remove stencil.

Pictures seem to be missing for the rest of the steps but I think a simple typed out step by step will still work.

1. Using a font you like as a template, cut out the letter for kennel from the scrap of sleeve tee fabric. Without poking your eyes out (yes it is a labor of love) sew on each letter individually.

2. Cut out another stencil (either vinyl or freezer paper) in a different font with the word club. Place that stencil below and slightly over the word you sewed on. Repeat same painting process used with the puppy stencil.

OKAY NOW you are done!

You have a great tee shirt that your little man will love. You will love. Everyone else will love it AND they will be amazed you made it.

My Little Man has already worn it 3 times, he calls it his "ruff, ruff" shirt. So cute.

Thanks for reading!

little reminder...as with all of my tutorials, they are ALWAYS for personal use

Linking:

Show and Tell Wednesdays: Blue Cricket Design

We Did It Wednesdays: Sew Much Ado

Get Your Craft On: Today's Creative Blog

Whatever Goes Wednesday: Someday Crafts

Upcycle Awesome: Tshirt Diaries