Brass Door Knobs

Since our house was built in the 90s, we have shiny, brass door knobs.  Or should I say, HAD.  My husband has been taking them off for me a few at a time and I have been spray painting them.



I set up my station out back.  I sprayed with a primer first, then used metallic spray paint in nickel for the finish.

Before:

After:

Freezer Paper Stenciling

I've done a few freezer paper stenciling projects before, and I really enjoy seeing the outcome.  I thought I'd share my most recent one.  I wanted to make a Rainbow Brite shirt for my daughter, so I googled Rainbow Brite and found and printed the image below.



I traced the image with a sharpie onto freezer paper (find it in a big roll near the tin foil), simplifying the design to make cutting easier.



The most tedious part is cutting out all the black parts with an exacto knife.  If you have a machine that cuts for you, that makes this project really simple, or just go with a less-detailed design.



Save all the white parts that might get removed in the process, then carefully place them all on your shirt, and iron them in place.

Paint with fabric paint.  I did about 3 coats, letting them dry in between.



And the funnest part in peeling off the freezer paper when it dries!



I love how she turned out!

Sweatshirt Dresses

From this:


To this:


I got some Hanes sweatshirts from the thrift store in new condition, and repurposed them into dresses for the girls.  I made my own pattern using clothes the girls fit into currently.  Chess is bigger, so she didn't get as full a skirt as Lera, which she didn't like.  But both girls enjoy wearing their comfy sweatshirt dresses!

christmas advent calendar

(project as seen on the Tombow USA blog  www.blog.tombowusa.com)
i have been far too absent from this blog... but a new year's goal for me will be to update my blogs more often. so, to start the year off right i'm showing off my banner advent calendar.
on each flag is an activity that the family can do during the christmas season. some are generic, just in case we have to work around it. for example, there are two service nights and two christmas parties. some are more specific, with a movie to watch or something special to eat.
i made a tab that folds down over each one, to which i attached a piece of fastener adhesive made by tombow (a kind of velcro). then i made 25 numbers, also with fasteners on the back. at the start of the season i went through my calendar to figure out what nights already had something planned, and when we could fit in the other activities.
each day we pulled off a number to see what the activity for that night would be.
i loved that it was part of my decor for the season and served a purpose as well.

Another Knit Dress

I love sewing with knit (stretchy) fabric. It is very forgiving when worn, so mistakes don't show up as easily. I recently saw this tutorial and had to try making my own playdate dress.



I love the way it turned out.



I have pretend not to like the clothes I make too much, or my daughter will refuse to wear them.



Am I the only one with this problem?

Comfy Dress

I made this soft dress from two old shirts. I used a shirt that fits my daughter for the pattern. She loves playing in dresses like this.



I used some of the extra fabric to make flowers to sew on by hand. My favorite thing about using old clothes to make "new" clothes is using the existing hems. I am horrible at sewing hems with knit. Also, it is a lot cheaper than buying new fabric. This dress cost less than a dollar to make!

Appliques and Freezer Paper Stenciling

I love finding a good deal on a plain shirt. I keep my eyes open at Wal-Mart and Target, especially, for those plain long or short-sleeved tees at the end of the season. I'll grab a bunch of them up for $1-$2 each. Then, let the fun begin!



I made this shirt for my three-year-old's birthday. We had a little bit of a strawberry theme going on. I just used old knit scraps from T-shirts in my scrap pile for the applique. I love using knit because it doesn't fray.



I found these swim trunks for my nephew and knew I had to make him a whale shirt to match. I used scrap fabrics here, too, and found a basic whale template online using google images.



I did a variety pack for a good friend's baby shower gift. I decided to try freezer paper stenciling for the first time. It was not as hard as I thought it would be. I used Dana's tutorial and it was actually pretty fun to do. In case you're wondering, my friend loves George Washington, fall, and has a pet great Dane. I'm all about personalizing these things.

If you're thinking about applique or stenciling, you should go for it! It is easy, takes a relatively short time, and it makes clothing unique and fun. It is also great for covering up stains on shirts you already have - no need to throw those away!

Good luck on prettying up all your T-shirts.