Extend the Life of Kid's Holiday Shirts

I love holiday clothes on Abby and I always buy them a year in advance on clearance. This past year that has not proven to be wise- Abby went from a shirt size 3 to a size 6 in one year. So, when I pulled out this 4T Gobble shirt purchased at Old Navy last year, I was sad. I had no turkey day outfit for her and I had wasted more money on clothing while trying to save money!

Then I had a plan.... instead of cutting out a turkey from fabric scraps to sew onto a white t-shirt in her comfortable size 6, I just cut out the Old Nacy turkey on the size 4T shirt and sewed it onto the white t-shirt like I would an applique. It was easy and I think she looked mighty cute!

So now, I can get 2 wears out of holiday shirts! Or, whenever I see holiday shirts I like on clearance, I don't have to worry about the size! Genius!

New Handmade Kitchen Towels

When I was at Home Goods a few weeks ago, I bought a 5 pack of black and white kitchen towels. These are light towels, much like a tea towel. I paid $7.99 for the set knowing that I wanted to play with Steam-a-Seam on them. Adding appliques to inexpensive towels make a fun addition to your kitchen or an easy gift with a home cooked meal or jar of homemade jam!

While at Hobby Lobby I grabbed 5 different fabrics I liked with the black and purchased 1/4 a yard of each. I have lots of fabric left over for future applique projects!

Applique is much simpler these days with my small craft iron (purchased at Michael's) and my small ironing pad made by my Mom. It allows me to iron something small without pulling out the big ironing board. She used this fabric on one side, batting in the middle and a cute polka dot on the other side. Here is a tutorial for an ironing mat from a fellow blogger.

Beyond the apple above, I made a Texas with a heart in my region of the grand ol' state! 

This Christmas towel was the simplest since the fabric was all gingerbread men. Super easy!

 I bought the yellow fabric because I loved the pop of color, but then couldn't think of anything fun for it. The rooster was perfect- good morning rise and shine!

 Finally, because I love birdies, I added some love birds. This would be cute as a hostess gift for a couple with a bottle of wine.

Since I can't sew, my Mom will finish these off with a zig zag stitch next time she is in town. You don't have to add the stitch, but I like the finished look it gives and it keeps the patterns on longer.

I don't know if I'll keep these towels or put them in my gift drawer. They are almost too cute to share!

New Steam A Seam Projects

I had a really long list of shirts to be tackled by my Mom a few weeks ago when I was out of town. I love buying a new bag of t-shirts and going through my scrap fabric to make Abby and our new friend, Baby Ella Dane, cute clothes. I will be devastated when Abby no longer wants applique shirts. Fingers crossed I have a few more years!

These sweet little onesies went inside the cupcakes for her shower!

As you would expect, the Minnie Mouse dress is her favorite!

Steam-a-Seam is super easy to use! You literally cut out your fabric in the shape you want. Stick it to the steam-a-seam and then cut if out. Iron it onto your shirt and you are done! To help it last longer and give it a little more detail, my Mom runs around the edge in a zig-zag seam for me!

These make a great gift and go perfectly inside the onesie cupcakes!

That "A" Girl

I love personalizing Abby's sweet little plain t-shirts and dresses with her initials. When my Mom was recently visiting, we made Abby a new shirt and a new dress.

We added a sweet heart on the back of the t-shirt so she knows her shirt was made with love. These are simple fabric scraps, cut out and ironed on with Steam-A-Seam from Hobby Lobby and then my Mom adds a zig zag stitch for extra security and charm. Super simple!

I am always on the lookout for solid clothing items which is often hard to find in kids sizing to make these items. This batch, the t-shirt and dress, are from Baby Gap. Both were less than $8 on clearance. Love when that happens.

We added a little ric rac to the dress. If there is anything I love more than a good monogram, it is ric rac.

We also added a heart to her bloomers. Here is hoping nobody sees it :)

I promised my Mom is I have another girl, I'll take her recommendations on the first letter of her name. The A isn't too bad from a turning the fabric on the sewing machine perspective. We decided an R might be the worst! No Riley or Rebecca for me!

Advanced Steam A Seam

This past weekend my Mom and I took my Steam-a-Seam addiction to a whole new level- mixing fabrics, using various threads, adding buttons and ric rac. My daughter Abby Lu has some cute new onesies for Spring and Summer!

This is Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba which Abby loves. She saw this shirt for the first time, smiled real big and gave Foofa a kiss. I saw this on etsy and decided to make my own. She ended up being our favorite! This flower is lots of fun and will match Abby's lime green leggings. Pair it with hot pink jellies and we have one CUTE girl on our hands!
I found this ric-rac at Jo Ann Fabrics. It is iron on and made with stitching around the edges to look sewn on. Since my Mom and her sewing machine were visiting, we added the middle stitch for good measure!

I love little birdies/chicks and this one will be great with her turquoise pettiskirt for Easter weekend. So stinkin' cute in Amy Butler's fabrics.


Our last onesie spelled her name! I love butter yellow fabrics!

And, last but not least, we cut off a onesie and made a dress for Abby. I love these little dresses and trying something new each time we make them. We added the little bib detail and lace trim. This will be sweet in photos!

If you search applique onesie on etsy, you'll find lots of inspiration to make your own onesies and dresses. Don't worry if you don't have a sewing machine, you can make these without that extra step!

More Steam A Seam

Do you think they have a Steam-A-Seam support group? I want to iron on everything I see!

Is this not the cutest turkey!?! I bought him on etsy all cut out and ready to go. I purchased a striped 3/4 sleeve scoopneck tee at Target and added my turkey. I'll be all set for a casual turkey day.I also have a girlfriend pregnant with twin girls, so I made them some twin-attire with Steam-A-Seam. How fun to take little baby pictures as A and B or
Twin 1 and Twin 2. I can't wait to meet these special little girls!
Etsy has so many iron on options! And, they are typically less than $5. A time saver that doesn't cost too much.... I love it!

Here is my turkey' shop

Or, how about holly for Christmas

This one cracks me up!

If my girlfriend was having boys, they would definetely sport a tie

ETSYetera- Banners and Garland

I am loving shopping etsy for everyone! I hope you are enjoying my finds! Sometimes I'll share a store with you and other times (like this one) I am sharing a product from a variety of store.

Remember back when I decided to make a birthday garland and I disclosed it cost me more to make it then the etsy price.... today I'm sharing banners from etsy that you might like in case you haven't made one yet.

How cute would a Thanksgiving banner be in your kitchen or dining room? You can hang these across your kitchen cabinets that you don't need to access on Thanksgiving Day or hang it in your dining room across a wall or windows? You can find it here.

Oh how I love a bold zebra print! This would be such a cute theme for a young child or a teenager! It has so much detail with the scallops, party hats and the ribbons. Find this one at her etsy shop.

I've never thought about making a garland from anything other than scrapbook paper. This one is made from Christmas carols in a hymnal. I happen to have an old hymnal (I honestly don't know how I got a FBC hymnal!) and think I might make this one since I have the main supply already. To purchase your hymnals, go here.


Finally, for a banner that will last longer, consider using fabric and steam a seam. I love this collection of fabric and think this would make a great Spring and Summer birthday banner. The fabric will definitely store better year after year. Simple Whimsey has a great collection for sale.

Happy Hanging!

New Steam A Seam Projects

My mother can sew and she is making my daughter 3 long sleeve onesie dresses. I purchased one on etsy and decided she could make them much cheaper and I could pick out the fabric to match shoes, hairbows or leggings she already owns.

I bought the fabric this week at a quilting store- such amazing fabric in quilt stores. They have so many matching fabrics that are part of a collection. It made narrowing it down to 3 so difficult!
These are the 3 I selected. This weekend, I washed and ironed the fabric. Then, I cut out the fabric to be able to include a little iron on with Steam A Seam for the white onesie top.

My Mom will make the dresses in the next few weeks and I'll be sure to share the finished product.

Baby Shower Decor: Baskets

Somebody I know is welcoming a little "monkey" in a few months and my friend Natalie and I have the privilege of filling gift baskets for her baby shower.There are such cute things out right now for monkey fans, like his Momma.

You know God cares about the little things when Carter's does a line that matches your favorite animal and thus your nursery at the same time that you are pregnant.

I got this idea from my friend Alison who decorated for one of my baby showers with buckets of baby goodies. She used lots of cute ribbons on my buckets too.
The cute little round monkeys on the shirts were purchased on Etsy. There are people out there selling fabric already cut and ready with Steam A Seam backing. I got 12 of these circles for under $2. If time is money, I got a big deal!The baby shower this weekend is the third this month! I have October off and then it is time for a monster/alien themed shower in November. It know it sounds crazy, but we've got some cute ideas to share!

Playing with Steam A Seam

My daughter's fashion godmother Johnna introduced me to Steam a Seam shortly after I had my daughter and it is lots of fun to play with. I had a couple of requests recently to learn how to use it. I played tonight making gifts for 5 kids and took pictures along the way.

Decide what shapes you want to iron onto your t-shirt, onesie, bag, apron, etc. If you want to do a letter- play with fun fonts. I found 400 point font to be a good size for a young child. If you want an animal-like shape, you can google it. I googled "giraffe outline" and "giraffe coloring book". You can also visit this teacher resource site for basic shapes. Once you have the shape you want, cut it out.

Here are examples of my cutouts- a tie (drawn from hand), a letter from Microsoft Word, a flower from Preschool Express (site above) and a giraffe from my Google search.
Once they are cut out you want to trace the shape on your Steam a Seam sheet. S-a-S can be bought at Hobby Lobby and is about $1 per 8.5 x 11 sheet. It is essentially 2 pieces of special paper with a webbed sticky sheet in the middle. Before tracing your shape, pull apart a small corner of the S-a-S sheet. You want to trace on the paper that the webbed surface sticks to. If your image is a letter or non-mirrored image, you want to trace the reverse so that when it is completed it will be the front side. Notice my K below is backward. For the mitten, it doesn't matter.

Once your S-a-S is cut out, remove the one side of paper backing (that you didn't trace on) and attach the remaining sheet ( sticky side and paper) onto the backside of the fabric. It should stick pretty easily. I always iron my fabric first- it'll ensure there are no wrinkles when you are tracing and heating up the fabric will help it stick.

Now you are ready to cut your fabric into your S-a-S shape. Once that is done, peel off that last piece of paper. You are left with your fabric (picture below is the backside) in your chosen shape that has the sticky webbed surface attached.

Last step, turn the fabric over and iron the fabric onto your item. The sticky webbed surface will attach the fabric to the item.

Along with the onesie above for a friend that just found out she is having a boy, I cut out all of these items. I'll attach them to shirts or give them as is and let their Mothers finish the last step.

A couple of tips- wash and dry the fabric and item first. It'll make the product last longer. If you own one, you can sew the edges in a fun zig zag stitch with a contrasting color. If you don't own one ( I do not) no worries. My daughter's shirts lasted until she outgrew them. Some got a little ratty on the edges, but they still looked good. Finally, when buying fabric, a little goes a long way. I buy 1/8 to 1/4 yard each time and just keep a bin of scraps along with shapes already cut out.

Have fun creating!