Flannel Shirt Refashion Tutorial #2

Here's another shirt I had from pregnancy that I loved but it just didn't fit right without the baby bump. I found a shirt that I really liked on pinterest but I couldn't find a tutorial for it, so this is what I came up with. I really like how the shirt turned out.

I started out by disassembling the shirt. I removed the pockets, the sleeves and the collar at the seams. Then I cut straight across at the armpits to separate the top from the bottom of the shirt. Since I had to remove pockets off the front, I couldn't use that part of the shirt because you could see where both the pockets sat on the shirt. Luckily, this shirt had enough fabric in the back to make up for the ruined front. I ended up with the pieces shown on the right.

I took my front piece and drew the neckline and the arm hole lines. This is what you end up with after you cut them out

Pin the front to the back and use it as a template to get the same lines as your front. Also cut the middle strip from the back of your shirt so you have 2 even long strips.

I wanted to add lace in the sides to give it a little peek-a-boo flair to it, so I cut 2 pieces that were 2" wide and a little bit longer than my top pieces.

Pin your long strips to the bottom of your top with the right sides together. Sew and zigzag the bottom seam. You should have 2 of the picture shown to the right.




Pin the hem around the neck on the back piece and pin around all the arm pits. Sew all your seams.

Take one of the sleeves and cut a long strip about 3" wide and as long as you want your ruffle. Zigzag the top and bottom and then hem only the bottom.

Start pinning the pleat in your ruffle. Try to get them as even as possible. When you have them all pinned, run a quick straight stitch over the top of your pleats to lock them into place.

Pin your ruffle to the neckline on the front of your top and pin the hem on the inside of the straps. (The part of the strap that isn't connected to the ruffle. It might get tricky to hem super close to the ruffle but tuck as best you can)

Don't forget to zigzag over the top of the ruffle so that your neckline doesn't come unraveled.

Stitch your lace into each side of your top. I zigzagged and hemmed the top to match the hemline on the rest of the shirt. When you have both sides stitched to the lace, trim the lace to be even with the bottom of the shirt.

Pin the longest piece to the bottom of your top. Be sure to add pleats as you pin so that you don't end up with a ton of extra fabric at the back of your shirt. After you've gotten it all pinned, sew and zigzag all around.

For the straps, mine weren't long enough for the shirt to sit right, so I cut 2 strips and hemmed them to the width of my straps.

Sew and zigzag to your top. (I pinned my straps before I sewed them and put the dress on so I could adjust the fit accordingly. After you finish stitching, Iron the seam flat and then stitch in place.

I found that my straps weren't even (as you can see in the picture above) so I made some bows to cover them. I cut out 2 big strips and 2 small strips and hemmed them the same way we did with the straps. I folded the bows and sewed them up the middle to get them to keep their shape. Then I took the small strips and sewed them around the bow, making sure to cover the stitch.

I attached them to the front of each strap to cover my mistake and give a little extra girly flair.

Ta-Da! Throw a tank underneath with a pair of skinnies and you're good to go!


I'd love to see your finished projects! Send them to me at BeeBeeandJack@gmail.com!

Happy Crafting!!

Flannel Shirt Refashion Tutorial #1

A friend of mine is having a garage sale and asked if I needed to get rid of anything, so I've been cleaning out my closet and dresser. I came across a few flannel shirts that I love but they just didn't fit me anymore (I wore them when I was pregnant) and one was super manly.

I came across quite a few tutorials on pinterest but nothing that I really felt fit this shirt, so I came up with my own. I needed to take in the shirt a little and make it a lot more girly.

The first thing I did was remove the sleeves. I used a seam ripper because the sleeves were sewn funky and it was easier and cleaner to rip out the threads than cut them off. It did take quite a bit longer than cutting it but I'm happy with the outcome.

Next you need to take your measurements. I measured how wide I wanted the shoulder straps, how low I wanted the neckline, my underbust and my hips and added 2" to allow for the seam. Then I marked them on the shirt with a fabric pencil and then connected the dots to get my cut lines. I only cut on the front and then pinned the front of the shirt to the back to get even cut lines. When you've got it all cut, pin just the sides underneath the armpit down to the bottom. Be sure the right sides are together so you don't end up with your seams on the outside of your shirt.

 Next, pin the seams around your sleeves and sew them. I found it helpful to iron the seams after I had pinned them.

 I had to add another button and button hole to the top of my shirt because the neckline got cut right in between buttons. If you don't need another button, skip this step.


















I decided that the straps were boring, so I added a little embellishment to it. It scrunches up the front of each strap and gives it a more girly shape. I took a needle and tread and weaved it into one of the straps with one end hanging out each side (be sure the thread ends are on the wrong side of the shirt so they don't show) then I pulled the tread tight and tied it in a double not to create the scrunched part.







 I cut 2 strips a little longer and wider than I wanted the bands and then hemmed them. Then I attached one end of the strip to the side of strap and wrapped it over the top of the strap, covering the scrunched seam and hand-sewed the back.

 The shape of the shirt wasn't quite what I was looking for, so I covered a strip of elastic and added it to the lower of the back of the shirt so it would pull it a little tighter around my waist to give it a more girly shape.











I hope you enjoy this tutorial and find it helpful. :) I've got a couple more shirts that I'm going to cut apart and make something fabulous out of, so stay tuned!

The Best Natural Mosquito Bite Remedies

It's the camping and outdoor activity season, which also means it's mosquito and bug bite season. I'm not a fan of the store-bought bug spray because it's chocked-full of chemicals and it smells horrible.  On top of that, they're not really that effective.

I've been researching some natural remedies to keep the bugs away and to help with the itch if you do end up getting bitten. I've found one recipe that I really like and it is all-natural so you don't have to worry about spraying yourself or your kid down with horrible chemicals. You can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/pcfranq She also has a little blurb with some great info on DEET, which is one of the main ingredients in most bug sprays. I also came across this article full of info on natural insect repellents: http://tinyurl.com/qx8x7na 

Garlic is another great repellent, and you don't have to eat it to get it to work. I take a clove, cut in half and rub on the top of my hand, just underneath the thumb knuckle and rub it on the soles of my feet. The skin absorbs the garlic and it travels through your bloodstream. The only downside is that you will smell like garlic for a long while.

My mother-in-law is an Avon customer and uses their Skin-So-Soft for a lot of different things. It's great to help with sunburns, but it also contains a natural insect repellant. (Who knew??) It's kinda greasy at first, but your skin will soak up that goodness and keep those pests away.

If you do end up getting bitten, here's a few remedies that I have found effective to killing the itch:

• Deodorant stick (technically not natural but SUPER effective) - The aluminum in the deodorant acts as an astringent and draws the irritant out of the skin, leaving you itch-free
• Rubbing alcohol - When the rubbing alcohol evaporates off your skin it creates a cooling sensation which stops the itching
• Ketchup - I'm not 100% sure why, but I think the acidic nature of ketchup neutralizes the itch
• Hot metal spoon - You run a teaspoon or tablespoon under hot (not scalding) water and hold the spoon on the bug bite until it's mostly cooled. The heat is supposed to break down the poisons that cause the itching. This one is kinda painful but it works.

I know there are so many more remedies out there, but these are my favorites. I hope they help you have an awesome time outside without any pests around :)

Giving Your Heels a Little Sass

I'm trying something new with this post. Instead of doing my own tutorial, I'm trying out a tutorial I saw on pinterest. It looked easy, fun and gives your shoes a new twist to them.





The original tutorial can be found here:
http://www.fashionlush.com/diy-colored-soles/







What you need:

• Shoes with plain black soles
• Nail Polish (you're going to use a lot of it, so make sure you don't use your favorite. I went to the dollar store and picked up a couple of bottles for this.
• White paint or white nail polish (I didn't have white polish, so I used white acrylic paint)
• Clear top coat nail polish
• Paint brushes you don't care about (you will end up throwing them away after this)
• Something to pour the nail polish onto (I used a lid to an oatmeal container)
• Nail polish remover in a cup to rinse your brushes between colors
• Paper towel to wipe the gunk off your brush after rinsing

Since I wasn't sure how well the white acrylic paint was going to adhere to the sole, so I applied a good layer of the clear top coat to the bottom of the shoe between the heel and the ball of the foot and let it dry completely before painting a layer with the white.

Let the white layer dry completely and then apply 2 thick layers of nail polish letting it dry completely between each layer ( I used 2 colors of glitter polish so apply 2 coats of your first color and then 1 coat of your second color, letting each coat dry completely before adding another)

Add 1 last layer of the clear top coat and let dry overnight. Voila! Kick-ass soles on your heels!

I'm thinking about doing another pair in a single color but I'm not sure what color yet.  I'd love to see your finished projects!

Fun with My Niece

My sister's little girl just turned 1 and she gave me the honor of photographing her cake smash. Not only did I get some awesome shots of her adorable face and chubby little hands full of cake, I had a blast at the same time. Prepare yourself for a whole boatload of adorable because I just have to share my favorites.

Before cake

It is SO rough being a birthday princess

CAKE!!:

YEAH CAKE!!!

This one cracks me up! She's so sassy!

We're supposed to do a tea party photo shoot for Down with Plumes, so stay tuned for that :)