Tee Shirt to Dress

Child's tee shirt to dress.  I think we have all seen the tee shirt conversion going around and I've been trying my hand at many of them.  It has been alot more fun to try one of these for my daughter, kids clothes are just more fun.

The dilemma was to take a slightly over-sized child's tee and convert it into a dress for my daughter. The challenge was to not purchase any additional material and to accomplish this quickly.

The starting point was a child's L tee for my daughters annual school dance performance.

Phase one involved using another dress as a template for size.

I turned the shirt inside out, folded it in half and chalked the outline with an extra inch for seam allowance.

 

The finished cutout looked like this and just needed to be sewn up each side.  I also removed the collar at this point as well as the sleeves.

We tried it on for fit and it was too short but the shape was snug without being too tight.

To lengthen the dress I opted to take the bottom 4 inches from an adult XL shirt in my "to be used for scraps and projects pile".  I choose a lime green to accent the same color around the shell.  I was a little concerned how these colors might work together.

I pinned the bottom inside the inside out dress.  To get it even I folded the lime green band in half and pinned this to each side of the dress.  I then pinned the half way point of each side of the green band before folding over into a slightly pleated bottom skirt.  For a fully pleated skirt you could take 2 strips 4in wide and sew them together and do the same thing.

The finished bottom skirt.  Because the tee shirt material rolls slightly and creates what looks like a hem line I opted not to hem, although if I wanted to spend more time using a serger on the edge would be a nice effect.

We tried on this incarnation of dress for fit and length.  I was initially going to sew the arms holes with a small seam as well as the neckline but after a few minutes I decided that the color balance didnt look very finished.

I removed a 2in bit of fabric from the green shirt to edge the collar and pinned it in place before sewing it down as well as sewing the arms in.  It did require two darts as the added fabric in the collar stuck out in a way my daughter didnt like.

The finished product!  One happy 8 year old and the best part?  The whole project took me 45 minutes, not counting the 30 minutes I spent adjusting the tension on my sewing machine after the 4year old discovered that it had nifty buttons and "helpful" adjusted it. 

I have a rather large pile of old tee shirts which are being recycled into new things.  I've decided this was easy enough that I might make a few others maybe trying different necklines and skirt pleating styles.

Joss is Boss

How can anything live up to years of hype?

Back when the first Iron Man movie came out I went with mid-level expectations and a true love for action and comic book movies.  Robert Downey blew me away and the movie was a wonderful execution with a delightful little teaser at the end.  The next three Marvel movies hit at a similar pace, Iron Man 2 didnt suffer from sequel typical quality loss, Captain America was so fantastic that I saw it twice in the theaters, and Thor  was full of norse demi-god goodness.  They found actors that were not just Hollywood A-list but really bit into the parts and owned them.

I had fear for the Avengers movie with each teaser I wanted it to be good. I needed it to be good but I had a very small amount of faith it could be.  Then I discovered the Joss Wheadon, who I can fan girl about all day, was writing and directing.  I stopped hoping I closed my eyes and just hoped that TPB of the corporate studios didnt muck it all up.

With fear, excitement and trepidation I sat down at 8:30am to see the movie.  I laughed, I cried, I didnt want it to end.  It was epic, grand, and everything I didnt know I wanted.  Who knew I would love the Hulk a character who was previously too emo and uninspiring as a hero.  Although all the actors gave a good job I lay the credit for what is likely going to have me fangirling for the rest of the summer at Wheadon's feet.

Joss is Boss.  When can I get my copy on DVD??

Little Orphan D.

Although it is cold hard fact that most of our medical research is based on selling drugs to patients its the under represented and under funded so-called Orphan Diseases that get my hackles up.

An orphan disease is any disease in the United States with less than 100,000 people who are affected by it.  Unfortunately societal scourges like cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's,  and diabetes have victims in the millions to tens of millions.  This doesn't make the financial or emotional impact of children another disease any less just because they are a small class.

The fact we continue to monetize the importance of someone's disease is something I wish we could rise above.  Most research done in these areas becomes self funded by the families afflicted.  I have high hopes that breakthroughs in basic biology research and genetics will bring down the costs of research and fill in the puzzles making these disease no longer orphans but lower hanging fruit.

Pom Pom Angry Birds

I think Pinterest has eaten my brain.  I saw a pic but no directions of someone who made Angry Birds out of pompoms and had to try it out.  These were easy enough for my 4 year old to help with the gluing.  I'm somewhat amazed by how many hours he has devoted to building complex towers and then knocking them over.

Project Cost:
1 bag pompom's from Michaels -
Fabric Glue -
Googly Eyes -
Felt - $.40/sheet
I box of mini cups from Target - $2

Special Snowflakes

In honor of winter my own personal definition


special snowflake - 


noun 1. a sub group who has assumed that they are the most unique and wonderful entity that has ever and will ever appear, they often require special treatment 2. those upon whom the sun rises and sets.

adjective 1. acting in such a way

It often feels like the world and my life in particular involves catering to and being at the whim of the protected class of special snowflakes.  I often wonder when it will be my time to break down and get the opportunity to require everyone to drop their plans and move on my whimsy.  Until those days I keep on keeping on.