April 11, 2007

Cah! Caaah!

That is to say, "car" in Lara's rendition. Here is a little top, just reconned for the spring weather. Originally, this was a knit onesie (marked 3-6 months); cut off right above where the snaps for the leg division were, it's now a tunic-length sweater vest.

Reconned pink sweater for Lara

The applique is felt, the buttons are random, and the bottom "binding" is made out of one of my old tshirts. It's not that strangely bunchy in real life... not quite sure what happened in this picture.

Don't you just love that giraffe and alligator? They are from a Melissa & Doug "chunky puzzle" just right for toddler fingers. I love their stuff - wooden toys that are so wonderful to the touch and so well designed and thought-out. We picked this up in the store, and Lara just intuitively knew what to do with it, which to me is the mark of great design.

April 5, 2007

Blue With Bows

This started life as a very pretty but extraordinarily unwearable skirt. Made of a super-soft linen (yay!), it was constantly riding down and falling off my hips (boo!). So in about 20 minutes, it's a fun summer dress.

Skirt to dress redo

I used a length of jersey like bias tape around the top, marked where my bra straps would be, and then sewed the same jersey to those places as straps.

April 4, 2007

More, more, more!

More alterations for Lara, that is. A shirt with added side panels to accommodate her tummy, and blue shorts made from overalls she had when she was a wee baby (they were a 6 month size, I think). Neither a very long reconstruction, but I love how they turned out!

Ballerina tee & blue shorts

April 3, 2007

Sun, sun, sun - here it comes!

Oh if only singing The Beatles would make it so. The weather's been a bit of a tease recently, I must say - 70 degrees one day, 40 the next. Nevertheless, I give you a summer skirt, made from a really really orange tshirt Misha's grandparents picked up in Spain and from bits and pieces of other jersey. All sewn together by hand (!) I feel I must add... Why, you ask? Well, let's just say 50% is "I'm crazy" and the other 50% is "the sewing machine was mean to me."

Orange & mod skirt (front)

I basically just cut the appropriate length from the bottom of the tshirt (it was a mens large or extra large, I think), and used the original hemline as a casing for elastic. Can you see the little pocket I sewed onto the front? It features one of the bulls on the original tshirt.

Here's another view:

Orange & mod skirt (back)

April 1, 2007

Alterations

Altered pants for Lara

I love altering Lara's clothes - fast, doesn't have to be perfect, and of course, she is forced to wear whatever I put on her! Here are some pants with a new insert for extended life. They are the perfect weight for this 60's weather, and the length still works, but they were just too tight in the hips.

All I did was seam rip the side seams, cut rectangular pieces of jersey, and zig-zag stitch them into place, bringing the top together at an angle. Then I just hemmed the bottom of the insert - and voila, perfect Lion-tossing pants.

Altered pants for Lara