Upcycle T-Shirts into Rosette Embellishments

I know my family always has a bag of t shirts that are too small just waiting for the next yearly garage sale.  But...you can use up some of those t shirts in a new way.  Just cut strips of various lengths and make rosettes.

This is a super easy way to use up old t shirts and give your baby a chic look.  It's also a great way to hide stains on solid color onesies or t shirts, too.  This same technique can be done on any other fabric or clothing item as well.

If you would like the downloadable version of this tutorial to save for later.  Please click the picture:

Materials

·         Onesie or t shirt

·         0.5 inch and 1 inch strips of old t shirts

·         Coordinating  thread

**These were onesies I had previously tiedyed.  You do not need to tiedye yours for this tutorial.  I just like tiedyed onesies.  A lot.  And I picked up used ones at thrift stores for super cheap and dye them all the time.

1.       Cut strips of t shirt roughly ½ inch to 1 inch in with by various lengths.  I do this from the leftover sleeves from making upcycled pillowcase style dresses out of old men’s t shirts.  

2.        To form the rosette, roll up a strip of t shirt in kind of a smashed way, like the picture.  Make sure to keep the ends tucked into the back of it.  The longer the strip, the larger and thicker the rosette will be. 

3.        Once you are happy with the size of the rosette, pin it on the onesie.

4.        There are two options to sew the rosette. 

a.        Beginning at the outer edge, sew around and around in a spiral until you finish off in the middle of the rosette – make sure you backstitch at the beginning and end.  Try to get as much of the fabric into your stitches so that nothing is loose. 

b.      Another option is sewing a big zigzag back and forth through the rosette, just make sure nothing is left loose.  With the red rosette, the zigzag design can easily be seen.

5.        Once you are satisfied with your rosettes, you’re done!  You can add some extra embellishments such as hotfix crystals as shown in the second picture below.

©2012 Stephanie Pass Sewing Chick Studio / The TipToe Fairy

Cupcakes and Ice Cream Appliques

I had to make some new baby gifts in the last few weeks and thought I'd share my appliques. I love to make applique onesies, and these just came out perfect!

Download the tutorial here.

Usually, when I make onesies for gifts, I tiedye them before the applique, but I thought these would be better in white -- to really make those colors pop. Plus, this ice cream cone and cupcake are sprinkled with hot fix Swarovski crystals.

These are adorable cupcakes and ice creams appliques. The ice cream on this onesie is a double dipper, which I think came out totally adorable.

You can easily make these.  The tutorial has lots of helpful hints to applique.  It can look daunting, but once you've learned, it's so much fun!

 I've updated my applique tutorial to include the pattern for both this ice cream and the cupcake.  You can find them at the end of the digital pattern.  Just click on any of these pictures and it will take you to the PDF to download. 

My next post will have the boy appliques...but my sewing room has been in a bit of a frenzy with my microboutique and pattern designing, so...they are currently missing in action.  As soon as I locate them, I'll create a boy version of my applique tutorial with those patterns.  My favorite is the octopus with crazy eyes. 

Enjoy these! I hope you have as much fun making them as I do.

I'll be disappearing for a few days as we're taking our first roadtrip vacation as a family next week.  Last year, we had the house fiasco with the queen of bankruptcy and all funds we had saved to go on an awesome vacation last year were diverted to the "let's pay 2 months of back mortgage and a month of rent all at the same time" fund.  This time, we're going to San Antonio and Corpus Christi.  Living in the upper part of Texas, we don't see the beach around here.  We are all very excited to get to the beach, especially hubby -- he grew up on the coast.

The kids have never seen the ocean up close and personal.  I can't wait to see what Molly is going to do.  We're stopping in San Antonio for Miss Em, as she has had to make two dioramas of the Alamo, and I felt that she probably needs to see the real thing.  Mr E is so excited to go on a real vacation, he can barely contain himself.  Plus, we have a surprise trip to Sea World planned.  I think my dear husband is going to scare them into believing we are going to volunteer to pick up trash on the side of the road that day.  I'm going to have to video their reactions. 

And I almost forgot!  Be on the lookout for a post in the next week or two, I'm almost to my 500th post on my blog.  I can't believe it's been 6 years since I first started!  Anyway, I'll be having a few giveaways to celebrate.

Pill-o-Bow Dress

I have a new pattern available. Only $5!! It's currently only available through Craftsy, but I will soon get it on my website. Just click on the picture and it will take you directly to the pattern. It's a PDF file complete with illustrations and full color pictures. Also included is a chart to easily make your little girl the right size -- from a 6 month old up to size 7/8. Recently, I finished the Hula Hello Kitty dress in the picture for my 2 year old. She LOVES it, especially the ties when they blow in the wind. She twirls and twirls trying to catch her "tail." These are easy to make, and we get so many "oohs" and "aahs" for the big bow hanging down her back.

Source: Pill-o-Bow Dress Sewing Pattern via stephanickety on Craftsy

Look for some adorable little appliques to embellish for your little ones that I'm going to share as printable tutorials later this week.

Rootin' Tootin Cowboy Pants - Make Your Own!

I found this fabric at Joann's forever ago in hopes of making these adorable little cowboy pants when Mr E was just a toddler.  It fell to the depths of my fabric stash until last night when I rediscovered it.  It's this super soft baby wale cord with these adorable appliqued felt stars.  The first time I saw it told me it was going to end up as cowboy pants with fringe, and sure enough, it did.  I had just enough for a pair of toddler boy shorts and a pair of baby pants. 

Apart from the wrinkles because they had been in my bag, they came out just as I envisioned, so I wanted to share.  So cute and colorful!  I wish I had bought more of that fabric....sigh.  Don't you hate that? You find a fabric you absolutely LOVE in your stash and it's just a yard or two and you bought it like a million years ago? 

I just took both pairs over to my booth at the Creative Collective in Fort Worth today.  They are finally having a grand opening next weekend on the 16th from 10 AM to 2 PM.  If you are local to the DFW area, there is going to be food and music and lots of giveaways.


These was made from my Boutique Cowboy Pants tutorial.  Check it out to make your little boy (or girl!) a pair. 

And another sneak peek of a new bag design

I was very excited at how the design of this bag has come out, that I wanted to share.  I'm not completely finished with the design, but this is the gist of it. 

I have a couple more hurtles to overcome -- mainly the strap design. But, I love these pleats with a different color popping out and the folded corners.  Years ago, I made a tote bag with folded corners and I always wanted to put that into a bag design.  


I'm not sure what I will call this one.  Something with pleats....Oh I know! If you would like to help me name it, post in the comments, and if I choose your suggestion, I'll send you a free copy of the pattern once it's complete.

Sneak Peak - SunKissed Sun Dress & Bloomers Sewing Pattern

I just finished up a new pattern. It's the SunKissed Dress & Bloomer Set. Here is the sneak peak. It will be available in 0-24 months sizes. I'll be digitizing it in the next week, and it should be available by June 1st.

The TipToe Fairy Micro Boutique is Open!

My mom and I have a "microboutique," as she calls it, which is called The TipToe Fairy.  It is at this really awesome "etsy-esque" place known as the Creative Collective in Fort Worth. They opened for business on May 1st.  I had heard that the official Grand Opening was scheduled for May 12th, but I'm not sure if that has been pushed back.  However, they are indeed open for business now Wed-Sun. 

We've created a Facebook page for The TipToe Fairy.  I think if you "like" it, you'll get our updates, which will be about once a week about the new stuff up at the microboutique. 

Also, I created a blog where we will show pic of the latest things going up for sale.  You can find it here, The TipToe Fairy Blog. We were in such a rush to get things to the store, we forgot to take pictures of it all.  So, this picture shows a bunch of our wares.  Quilts, lots of applique baby things such as upcycled clothing and tiedyed onesies, freshly made one of a kind boutique outfits, and lots of baby things like yummy organic bamboo wipes. 

If you're local and interested in being a vendor at the Creative Collective, I think there are still spots open.  Their Facebook page is Creative Collective Fort Worth .

I'm so excited!  I heard through my mom that I've had some sales in the last day or so.  Woohoo! 

I've just spent the last day cleaning my sewing pit.  Boxes were EVERYWHERE!  I'm getting back to the sewing and will have lots more stuff coming soon (i.e. before the grand opening this weekend)...diaper bags, tote bags, one of a kind clothing, and more!