Toddler boy tie for $1.50!

It seems I have been on a bit of a hiatus.  I won't go in to too much detail but this is a time for celebrating, which is what got me back to "work" on making something.  Anyway, here is a tutorial on how to make a toddler boys tie.  It was super easy, super quick and super cheap!

Here is what you will need:

• 4 inches of whatever type of fabric you want.  Most bolts are at least 43"inches long but if you get a fat quarter this is not the case.  You will need approximately 3.75" X 38" to make the tie.  Even then it will be a little long but he will be able to grow and still use it for a while :-)
• an iron
• a sewing machine, or not.  There is minimal machine sewing.  

Cut the fabric, in this case I used a fat quarter so I had to cut 2- 3.75" wide pieces and sew them together to get my 38" length.  Mens ties are sewn in a diagonal this way.  Iron the seam to one side.

 Iron a quarter inch seam allowance on both sides

Notice the pen marks on the above picture?  Well this was to tell me where to iron next.  I wanted the tie to be 1 and 1/4 inches wide in the middle at the seam all the way down to the skinny side and 2 inches wide on the thicker side.  Start to iron out the tie not worrying about the points on each end yet.

Here is the ironing so far.  The lower part is the front and thicker part of the tie.  The ironing should just meet and not overlap.  Then when you get to the middle of the tie it will start overlapping all the way down to the end and thinner part of the tie.  Can you tell that it is overlapping quite a bit now?  In a mens tie, it would not overlap but be cut perfectly to just meet, but this is for a toddler now! :-)

Now for the corners.  I just folded them inwards and let them overlap by a quarter inch.  After you iron the lines in, flip in inside out and prepare to sew.  You will need the ironing lines to know where the point of the tie is.

Align the tie and start from the seam allowance and sew down to the point of the tie.  This will hold the point of the tie in place.  Do this for both sides.

Just like so and flip back to the right side and re iron it flat.

Here is the tie flipped back to the right side.

After you have re-ironed all your folds, neatly hand sew along the where the tie meets and overlaps and you will end up with this!  The hand sewing took less then the time of the episode I watched while doing it.  Better still... the WHOLE thing was accomplished in a single nap time! 

There has nothing in store or online that you will find for as cheap or stylish, so give it a go!

I might have enough navy blue gingham fabric to do a bow tie too, so win win win!

DIY Bugaboo Canopy and Seat liner for just over $2.00!!

After I made my first Bugaboo Cameleon Hood I decided I wanted to make another, along with a matching seat liner.  It seems like my son always manages to get snacks under the seat so I wanted to get something that would keep the snacks out, and be super cute. 

All fabrics used on this set are vintage that I purchased from a huge donation made to the thrift store I volunteer at.  Vintage denim and blue and white cotton make for this perfect "tshirt and jeans" Cameleon set. 

I need to do a bit more work on the 1 piece seat liner template in order to recreate a tailored fit.  My template didn't fit and I adjusted the liner without adjusting the template.  To make this, I combined the designs from the original Bugaboo seat fabric and footmuff.  What do you think? 

I have a great response out in public and I am really pleased with the result. 

The details
Demin - $0.99
Cottom - $0.99
Binding - Approx. $0.10
Total cost? Under $2.50 including tax and supplies!

Multi-use fabric box.

My latest sewing project was a fabric box.  I tried to document most of the construction for you so you can also attempt it yourself.  I've seen other tutorials online but decided to fashion my own because I knew I wanted to sew handles right into mine, instead of on to it.  Currently I am looking for creative ways to store my sons things, the first fabric box is for books, the next will be for those giant legos.  That one will have a lid so I will post that one when I am finished.

I got to planning....

My rough plan.  I have found that if you plan things out first and think a few steps ahead you will always have a neater finish.  It's definitely a good habit to have, I know as I have unfinished projects and projects I have had to re-work because I was too hasty.

1.  Cut 5 13''X13'' squares in 1 color for the outside, and the same in another color for the inside of the
box.  That's 10 squares total.
2.  Cut 5 12''X12" squares of interfacing.

• 2A. If you are going to embellish the sides, do so now.  I created a book and a sign that says "Books" for my box.  I toyed with the idea of sewing on contrasting circles to create polka dots.  Be creative.  This is where you will add your personal touch. 

3. It would be helpful to iron on the interfacing before you start sewing the squares together. (Which I did not: Hasty)

4.  Sew both outer and inner layer of  squares into "t" shapes.










5.  Line up the "t's" and start on the handles.

6.  With right sides together, so up all the side of the "t" so that both the inside and the outside layers are sewn into boxes.  (See my drawing: A to B, C to D, E to F and G to H)

7.  Match up all the seams of both inner and outer layers and top stitch over them starting on the bottom.  Then top stitch from the bottom of the box, up to the opening of the box.  This will help the box hold it's shape and stand even without anything inside of it.






8.  Fold the top of the the box and top stitch all the way around. 

After writing out the instructions, I realized I do not have enough pictures.  Not to worry!  I plan to make another box so I will add in the photos accordingly. 
Thanks for looking! I hope you know that you can easily make a fabric box for whatever your uses, just as easy.  Be sure you comment with your fabric box. 








The details:
The inner blue fabric was from freecycle and left over from this project.
The brown fabric was from my old floor cushions, which I cut apart and used the above project.  Recycling the recycling!  The lighter fabrics were from a pants I cut apart and left over canvas from this project.  The interfacing was from the thrift store I volunteer at for $0.99 and I did not use all of it.  Total spent: approximately $0.75! 

Until next time!

Finished custom shirt for under $3.00!!

Here is the where what and why.

Where (did I get my supplies)? Thrift stores of course!  The fabric was vintage and donated to the thrift store I volunteer at along with ALOT of other fabric so I scored it at the huge fabric sale that they arranged.  The piece was 1 and a quarter yard for $1.99.  The buttons were from an assorted bag of buttons I picked up at another thrift store for $3.99.  I used much less then half so I'm going to say I used about $0.75 of the buttons.  The pattern I worked from was from a book I rented from the library so that was free.  The time/learning was priceless :-P

What (is it)?  The pattern was originally for a shift dress.  I took all my measurements and based on the books suggestions of my body type, the shift dress would be most flattering to my (very oddly shaped :-P) figure.  I got to work knowing I was going to alter it into a shirt.  There was also some extra alterations suggested to make the American Pastoral dress.  I just added and subtracted from there.

Why (did I make this)? Like my previous post and above paragraph states, my oddly shaped figure.  Okay okay, maybe it isn't so oddly shaped as ready to wear clothing is cut to 1standard to get it out as fast and cheap as possible.  MANY of us have issues with ready to wear,  and most clothing can be remedied with a few alterations.  I have already started altering some of my clothes but decided I wanted to do something from scratch.  This adds another "why?"  When I was volunteering at the thrift store, getting the fabric ready for the big sale, I got to speak with some of the other volunteers.  Most, okay all, were from another time.  A time when making your own clothes was cheaper then buying off the rack.   In high school, they made all their own clothes.  I envied them, they grew up in a time when sewing skills were not only taught, but necessary.  It really inspired me so I got to work on my sons hoodie right away and knew I wanted to start on clothing from scratch.

Here is my first attempt at a shirt from scratch tailored for my body.  It took several hours of adjusting, trying and retrying on, sewing and resewing.  The muslin I used to check my pattern was free from freecycle.

My estimated costs? Under $3.00 with tax!

In some other news, the weather is amazing and this is just the ultimate feel good tune.  Until next time... :-)

P.S Interested in new show about a sewing competition?
Check out The Great British Sewing Bee, the full season is currently up on youtube.

Quick update...shirt making!

Just a quick update here.  I have been working on and off and learning my way around making myself a shirt.  I have an annoying shirt size and no shirt ever fits right off the rack.
It's taking me a pretty long time because A) I never made a shirt before B) My health and motherhood have been completely exhausting and C) I deviated from a basic pattern that did not include how to do a collar, or cuffs.  I didn't really think about that at the time, but now it seems very odd.

Anyway here is my progress.

 Mock sleeve with tailored placket cuff.  My first try at attempting this.  I gave myself a grade of "B" because I understand how to do it, but I could have paid attention to the details.  I looked at a sewing book from the library, as well as a current shirt that I  own.  The book did not include specific details about measurements so I took the measurements from my shirt.

Peter pan collar.  Was a little off center but since I only pinned it, I was able to unpin it and get it centered better.  I am not loving the point at which it will be joined with buttons but, the pattern was too basic and did not include any information on attaching a proper collar.

Since there wasn't any information on the pattern I was stuck for a long time trying to figure out how to attach a collar, today it just came to me out of no where, after having no luck finding any good tutorials online.  Even though there was a basic pattern it seemed to only cover 40% of what I needed to do.  The other 60% was anticipating what needed to be done and learning it on my own.  At least I am learning though, right? :-)

The fabric was purchased from the thrift store I volunteer at for $1.99 so I hope to have a, thrifty priced, wearable shirt when it's done.  I will post the final product when I am finished!

Vintage fabric hoodie.

Check out the hoodie made for my 15 month old.  I scored some vintage late 70's/early 80's fabric from the thrift store that I volunteer at for $1 a yard.  The toggles came from a sweater I found at the same thrift store.  The brown fabric for the fastening loops came from my old floor cushions that I took apart (and re-did at that link) and the pleather triangles were cut out from a purse I found at the dig and save thrift store. I originally bought the purse to use the buckles for the straight jacket I made a while back.  More uses for stuff, yay!  Anyway, I saw a picture of a hoodie that someone made for a little girl and I loved the asymmetrical design of the front and decided I wanted to make some adjustments.  I changed the hood to make it into 3 panels so I could add more of the accent color and I used 2 toggles to close it, instead of 3 buttons.  I am super pleased with the result and everyone who saw it today commented on how he was dressed so cool.  :-D

Check it out!

Tracing out is sweater/ Cutting the pieces / Basting 

After the necessary adjustments of the hood and collar. 

The best part?  It only cost about $1 to make!  I drafted my own pattern tracing around a sweater he already owns and I used way less then a yard. OH! and the fabric I drafted the pattern onto was a large mens shirt that a friend gave to me to use for any possible sewing projects I have.  I hope you are convinced you can do something with left overs too! 

Vintage shirt of the day.  He wore it under the hoodie :-)

P.S If you have anything that you want to pass onto me for sewing, let me know!  If I can't use anything I donate it but I mostly keep everything, because I never know when it will come in handy.

Antique first aid box upcycle to sewing cabinet

Here is a little something I did to get organized.  My sewing space is minuscule so it's tough keeping it neat yet functional.  Luckily I have a few things around the house that have helped with organizing.  A cigar box for one, and this antique first aid box.  Check it out.

Before

Before:  There was some cardboard glued to the inside that I already ripped out then I had to take off all the left over glue.  I left the outside in its original state and did a quick wipe down to the inside.

My husband found this guy at a garage sale this past summer for $2.00 and he loved it.  He wanted to come up with a purpose for it but it ended up just sitting up against a wall in our living area because it was just never decided on.  It wasn't until I was having a lot of difficulty locating bobbins and pins and anything else I needed that I had a light bulb moment looking at this old cabinet.  I immediately got to work.

The process

I picked up this screen printed sample at a local goodwill for $0.69 and am glad I was able to find a use for it.  The other beige fabric was from freecycle.

There was a bit of sewing involved, but I could have used iron on interfacing.  I was in a sewing mood I guess.  The screen printed fabric on the front and the beige fabric on the back.  I didn't want the glue I used to stick it onto the cabinet to come through so that is why I thought some backing was necessary.  Now I have a place to keep my spools of thread and notions so things are easier to find!  The best part?  This project was under $3!

The result

Vintage Sweater Upcycle to Baby Jumper

Welcome back!
I am really excited to share my latest project with you, because I thought it was a lost cause only to be revived and semi successfully executed! :-D
I had started it a month ago....okay maybe two months ago, I am not even sure.  I am a little ashamed of how long it took me to go back and give it a re-try.  The original fitting did not work at all and I had no idea how to fix it.  During every other project I under took, this one was always in the back of my mind.  Luckily, now that I came back to it I knew exactly what to do to remedy some of the issues.  I say some because, there were some issues I couldn't fix.  Being an upcycle, and a size small, I didn't have much fabric to work with.  My original cut didn't leave a lot of room for error :-/  Even still, I am glad with the outcome despite the bumps in the road.  If anything, it's a comfy garment for my little guy to wear around the house.  It still may work at the farmers market, but we'll see if he manages to grow out of by then. 

Here it is!

Before, Sort of plan, finished!

The original sweather was my husbands.  He found it at vintage shop in SoCal I think.  I ditched the collar but kept the original buttons.  I've worn it a few times but I think I like it for our little guy much better.  What do you think?

How to resize a tie

One of my favorite activity as a family is thrifting.  We all go and look around for as long as our little guy lets us.  He usually gets pretty restless after a few minutes so we only manage to look at the essentials, one of which is ties and belts.  The ties are always hit or miss because the designs are outdated (not in a good way) or it's a nice design but its always super wide.  What's crazy is that after all of this time, I never once thought to resize the nice ties.  Why not right? They are only a buck and change most times.  So I did and I (and my lovely) are quite happy with the results.

I put together a sort of tutorial for you if you are interested in also trying this out. 



I hope its pretty easy to follow.  I would recommend trying a practice tie at first.  Especially if you know you will be working with silk.   You want to make sure that your machine will be kind and not pull single threads out of place on the silk design.  If you find that it does you will probably need to get a needle for silk, or just hand sew when you need to sew.  It's actually not a lot.

I didn't take very good pictures of the first tie, so the tutorial switches to the second tie for pictures.  If you are trying this, please feel free to send me a message if something is not clear.  I will happy to provide additional instruction. 

The first tie took, I am not sure how long because I added extra steps for myself while resizing.  I don't know how but on the second tie I was able to get it done in a little over an hour with a more streamlined method. 





This is where the sewing comes into play.  It's actually not much and since you don't sew exactly on the crease the stitches are not visible.  If you have to hand sew, it's no biggie. 
The picture on the left is the me sewing the lining to the tie.
The picture on the right is to show what my sewing looked like.  The sewing did not intersect.  Notice the brown stitches.





Also, make sure not to forget to sew the little tag back in to the lining and tie.  You will just nestle that right back in before sewing the lining back to the tie.  I double checked my placement because I didn't want to have to open it up again once I just finished it.  I wanted to sew the silk as little as possible so make sure that there was no option for the threads being pulled out of place, which would ruin the whole design.

This last part is the easiest and most tedious part, in my opinion.  You just have to catch the inner layer of fabric while making sure the tie is taught around the inner structural piece.  You know that one you traced on in the first picture.  If the tie is not pulled taught around that structural piece the tie will not be creased properly.  I learned this on my first attempt.

That is all!  Now you have a nice thin non 90's tie! 

Also, if you couldn't really be bother to go through this or don't have an hour per tie.  Send them to me! I can even do a thinner tie! I can do $5 per tie or a multiple item discount.  Please email me at n.andujarfrancis@gmail.com for questions and details.  Make sure to write "Tie Resizing" in the subject and mark as important. 
Cheers!

Meet Vintage, the 4th member of our family

Just a few of my favorite vintage pieces

I remember being about 9 or 10 wishing my mom had saved all of her clothes from when she was young so that I could wear them.  I was too young to realize it at the time, but I had fell in love with vintage.  There just seemed to be something special about having something from another time that resonated with me.  I think that is why I loved thrift shopping so much as a child.  I would find things that my mom would say "I had pants like that when I was a kid" that I had to have.  I have a specific memory of a wide leg printed pants and a wrap dress that I absolutely loved.  The best part about them is that they were made for adults but they fit me as an adolescent.  All of the current sizing was always too big on me, the vintage fit of clothing suited my body much better. 

Fast forward to now, and I still love vintage.  Best of all, my better half can appreciate and wear quality vintage too.  We even passed it on to our son.  Needless to say, the trends can come and go, but vintage will always be apart of our family. <3

How to vintage.  What to buy and what to leave on the rack:
Here are some things to consider when trying vintage.

I LOVE baby vintage.  Check out some of our
little guys collection.

1. Is it made of a natural fiber? This may be tricky because some items do not
have tags.  However, polyester is a pretty obvious because it is also plentiful.  I usually steer clear of synthetic fibers because I am more interested in quality vintage and not so much costume-y.

2. If there is a tag present, check to see where it was made.  You can tell something is most likely vintage if it was made in America.  All of our vintage with tags state that they were made in the U.S.A.  This is definitely a sign of the age,

Some vintage JCPennys and Saks Fifth Avenue

indicating it was before the time when everything was contracted out over seas. 

3.  Is there a smell.  I stay away from anything that has a funky odor because it
might not come out.  You want to have interesting pieces you can modernize and smelling like an old trunk will not help there.  

4.  Is it timeless?  I used to buy a lot of vintage but found that I would only wear them when I was in a vintage wearing mood.  I have since learned that there are classic pieces that can be worn regardless of trends and can be mixed and matched with all of my current clothing.  No need to be in a "vintage" mood.

5.  Have fun with it.  If you have a hunch on something, get it.  Even if you can't envision it right away.  Those great one of a kind pieces are hard to find and even if you can't find a match for a few months, it doesn't matter because it's already decades before the trends!



Check out the recent find my better half came across.  Turns out is is the same kind of coat James Dean (click) wore in the film "Giant".  He is always hesitant when buying items but I urged him to get it.  Yay me! ;-P

Anyway, I hope you are inspired to go out and hunt for some quality vintage.  Be sure to show me any that you have found.  :-)

Hand made books!

I am so excited to share the books that my Husband worked on, under the instruction of a seasoned bookbinder.  You can find the bindery here in Madison on Atwood Ave. called Mendota Fine Binding and Restoration.  Here is the facebook page if your interested in checking that out. 
Anyway, my lovely had a part in assembling these beauties, even if it was a small part, I am really proud of him!

Mine isn't quite paid for yet, as some alterations work will be in exchange for mine.  Call it a friend discount, even as I write this I am eating some AMAZING hummus made by the bookbinders wife.  :-P

Since we are on the subject of books. I wanted to show you this little gem we found in the free "take a book leave a book" library box here in our neighborhood. 

The back says "Simple hints to help you get more satisfaction out of life" and that is what I am all about!  It's filled with too many amazing things to name, but both my husband and I read little bits out loud that we found we HAD to share.  I highly recommend picking this up. :-)

$1.45 Custom Bugaboo Cameleon Hood! Tutorial....kinda!

UPDATED TUTORIAL ** Better pictures, better explanation! Click click :-)

In my last post I was trying to explain how I created the straight jacket so I was kind of inspired to make a loose tutorial for this project.  A custom made Bugaboo Cameleon hood or sun canopy.  Its not super detailed but maybe it will get you started.  I also looked at my current canopy and formulated some instructions to make the process a little more seamless.  It helped, but I still made mistakes.


Here are my mistakes.  I didn't measure the inner piping properly so I ended up having to add a little extra.


I didn't check my sizing along the way because I was overly confident in my template :-/  Turns it seems that the front most piece wasn't traced out properly or something because it was pretty loose on both sides.  I pinched it and chalked where it needed to be brought it.  Unfortunately, it was completely finished so I had to use the seam ripper A LOT to undo the areas I needed to repair.  Oh well, we live and we learn :-P







Here are my crude instructions I wrote out. 

ALSO! Like the title of this post states.  $1.45 including tax is what this custom canopy cost me!  I paid for 2 bundles of fabric at goodwill and viola!  Considering these things cost over $70.00 on the low end, I think learning how to sew is worth the savings.  Give it a shot!  If you are unwilling to, maybe we can work something out where you send me the fabric and I can make it for you for a reasonable cost.  I would be happy to share my experience with you while you have a 1 of a kind custom canopy for your baby.  :-D

Here is the finished product.  I can't wait to make another one!

**check out my new hood and seat liner! I plan to do another picture posting on how to make the whole set.  :-)
http://sewthriftymom.blogspot.com/2013/05/diy-bugaboo-canopy-and-seat-liner-for.html?m=1 ***

Custom made straight jacket...with upcycled materials!! :-D

 SO, it took a couple of weeks using all of the spare time I had but I did it.  The canvas was a freecycle find and the buckles were from a couple of thrift stores.  I had fun working on this because I got to get out and hunt for the buckles. 
The straight jacket was a request made months ago that I was finally able to get around to do. It needed to be finished by Thursday March 28 and I am so happy to say that I finished early! 

Anyway, check it out and tell me what you think!

Here is the back view >> 

The Process:
I knew that I was the approximate size that the jacket needed to fit so I was lucky there.  I just used a shirt that was a little loose on me and started tracing out the shape onto the canvas so I could get started. 
I then took apart a dress shirt that I got at the dig and save thrift store so I could use it as a pattern for the sleeve.  The dig and save thrift store charges by the pound so it can be a cheap way to get materials for projects.
I measured the length of my arms and added several inches so I knew the sleeves would reach wrapped around. 

I was about to be lazy and not make it into a turtle neck, but then I changed my mind because I NEEDED to prove to myself that I COULD do a turtle neck with a buckle on it.  I am glad it worked. 

After I got all those pieces cut out and assembled with pins I measured and cut the bottom piece that is sewn all along the bottom.  I originally was going to just roll it up and hem it but I figured that adding a piece would match better with the turtle neck.

After I got all these main pieces together I started on all of the straps.  The straps were pretty easy once I figured out exactly how I would do them.  I just measured the space in between the buckle and multiplied it by 2 so it could be folded over, making for a nice thick strap. 

My machine really had a huge hand to play in this because without the extra features I wouldn't have been able to complete it.  Specifically monogramming and the button hole features.  To make the holes on the straps I monogrammed an "O" so that the holes would be secure and not stretch out.  On the sleeves I used the buttonhole attachment and set it the size of the largest possible button hole.  I pretty much got lucky that it was the perfect size for the strap. 

Anyway I am going into to too much detail and this isn't meant to be a proper tutorial.  :-) 


**UPDATE**
Many many many thanks to my husband for trying this on multiple times so I could place everything!  He was completely integral for getting it right!  :-D