Nancy's Couture

Chocolate Milk

2012-01-27T07:15:00.000-05:00

Dakota LOVES chocolate milk. That's all he would drink if I would let him.

So he was given a shirt when he was 3 years old that was white and on the middle front was this:

What 3 year old wouldn't love a shirt about chocolate milk?! Seriously!

He was so upset when he outgrew this shirt so I knew I had to come up with a way to salvage it for him. I mean it was his FAVORITE shirt. So I cut out the circle and put it in my pile. I just couldn't seem to find the right shirt for it. The original shirt was white and you know that white and little boys are not a good mix!

So white was out of the question, but Dakota likes bright colors so I thought I would do a yellow shirt. I could not find the right shade of yellow anywhere! Finally I found this brown shirt that matches perfectly.

So here we are 2 and a half years later and Dakota has his "new" chocolate milk shirt. He still loves it as much as he did when he was 3. We he came home from school and saw it setting on my sewing desk he immediately put it on! Then I had to wash it so he could wear it to school the next day :o)

Don't you love it when your kids love something you've made that much?!!!

I didn't take pictures of the process but it is so simple.

I just cut out the design I wanted to save.

Pinned it to the new shirt.

Then zigzag stitched around the edge of the cut out design.

I would suggest using fusible webbing on the back of the cut out design and Ironing it in place to the shirt.
It would keep the cut out from moving around and possibly puckering when you sew it.

It All Started With A Heart

2012-01-26T13:00:00.003-05:00

Now that Aiyanna's a little older and can wear things for more than one season I like to make her holiday clothing that she can wear year round. I knew I wanted to do some sort of heart applique on a shirt for her, but I had no idea how to not make it scream Valentines' Day. I was sitting at my sewing desk admiring a pile of lace setting there that I bought at a church rummage sale last year for super cheap. Do you ever admire your lace or fabric or am I just crazy? Then I thought I'd make a patchwork heart with the lace and embellish it. Perfect for a Valentines' Day shirt without being to holiday looking. Perfect.

After choosing the laces to use I was inspired by their colors to tea dye the shirt to give it a vintage feel.

And that's how the Patchwork Heart Shirt was born.

It was love at first sight!

After making the shirt I decided to do a Victorian style skirt to go with the shirt.

I tea dyed the fabrics and the laces until I liked the colors. I choose 2 different cotton fabrics and a lace fabric. I love the different color variations!

Now she has a Valentines' outfit she can wear year round.

I am so glad she will get a lot of wear out of this outfit. It's one of my most favorite outfits I have ever made her. The only one I like more is an outfit I smocked for her to come come from the hospital in. It is gorgeous if I do say so myself :o)

She loves tea parties.

This outfit will be the perfect attire for a fancy tea.

We had so much fun with this mini photo shoot.

I had a hard time choosing which photos to post.

As I sure you can tell by the number of photos here.

So much ruffle-y goodness.

Aiyanna loves having her picture taken and today she was extra cooperative.

Oh, and she informed me she wants to be a Project Runway model.

I love my little girlie girl!!!!

She is such a blessing to me!

Knee Socks

2012-01-26T07:30:00.007-05:00

I love little girls in knee socks!

I don't know what it is about them, but I just think they are adorable. I would wear them myself if I thought I can really pull them off without looking like I was 12. I don't see that happening though. So I'll have to live out my love of knee socks through Aiyanna. Good thing she loves them just as much as her Momma.

These are so fast and easy to make! I made 3 pairs in 10 minutes!

The secret is to use outgrown tights. You know, the ones that seem like they fit when you put them on and when you get to church the crotch is hanging at her knees. Not pretty.

You also need some elastic and any embellishments you want to add to them. Lace, bows, buttons.flowers, etc.

Gather up your supplies and let's get started.

Cut tights off at knee length.

Cut a piece of elastic to fit the tights when they are not stretched. Sew the elastic to the tights

3) Sew lace on top of the elastic. Stretching the elastic as you sew.

That's it! So simple!!!

I'll add pictures of the other knee socks I made after they are washed. Aiyanna has been wearing her "new" knee socks every day. I would say this project was a success in my house.

A New Batch

2012-01-23T11:28:00.004-05:00

My son loves his T-shirt Trunks!!!
They remind me of Underoos I wore as a child.
Dakota loves wearing his T-Shirt Trunks as much as I loved wearing my Underoos!

A couple months ago I noticed they were getting smaller and lower. I knew it was time to whip up a new batch for him. I pulled out his pile of outgrown t-shirts and let him choose which ones he wanted to use. The best thing for me is that now when Dakota outgrows his "favorite" shirt he doesn't get upset. He just asks me to make him some underpants. Gladly I do it knowing that there is no more drama when it's time to let go of a favorite shirt. It was fun watching him go through his old shirts and picking which ones he wanted to use. He would of chose all of them if I would let him, He chose 12 and the rest we are saving for next time.

A Mountain Of Receipts

2012-01-18T20:04:00.001-05:00

I was cleaning out my purse one day last week and couldn't believe the big pile of receipts I found floating around all over my purse. It's amazing I could find anything besides receipts in there (but I did). You'd think I would have taken a picture of the mountain of receipts but it didn't even cross my mind.. I would probably be to embarrassed to post it any way. I don't like showing off my messes!

Anyway, a couple of days later I was at the grocery store and I pulled out my Card Wallet to hand the cashier my loyalty card and suddenly the light bulb went off! I got home put away the groceries and got busy making a Receipt Wallet. It is the perfect solution to keep my receipts from floating around in my purse :o)

Y'all know you need one of these! I know I'm not the only one with a mountain of receipts in my purse.

Grab your supplies and lets get started!!!

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

1/4 yard of fabric #1

Scrap piece for fabric #2

square of iron on interfacing

Velcro

Button (optional)

First thing you need to do is cut the following pieces:

1 8" square of fabric #1

2 pieces 7"x8" of fabric #1

1 8" square of fabric #2

1 piece 2.5" x 6" from either fabric (it's for the tab)

Interfacing for all pieces

Next you are going to iron on the interfacing to the wrong side of all the pieces of fabric.

Make sure to follow the manufacturers directions :o)

No picture for that I assume everyone knows how to do that already.

Now take the 2 pieces that are 7"x 8" (pockets) and fold them in half so they are 3.5" x 8". Press.

Then top stitch 1/8" from the folded edge.

Now for the tab...... Grab the 2.5" x 6" piece of fabric. Fold it in half and pin the Velcro (loop) 1/2" from the fold. Sew Velcro.

Fold the tab in half right sides together. Sew down each long edge leaving the 1 short end open.

Top stitch 1/8" from the edge.

Sew the hook side of the velcro to the right side 3/4" from the edge.

See above photo for placement. This is you outer fabric.

Next you are going to place the 2 pocket pieces on top of fabric #2. See photo.

Place the tab half way down on the left side. Baste along the outside edges

Place the fabric with the pockets on top of the outer fabric with right sides together.

Stitch 5/8" from edge leaving a 3" opening to turn it.

Turn right side out and top stitch 1/8" from edge.

OPTIONAL: Sew a button on the tab for a little something extra :o)

Admire your work!

You are ready to start filling it with receipts and keeping your purse a little cleaner and more organized.

A Call To Anguish

2012-01-08T11:22:00.000-05:00

Today I thought I would share this link my husband shared with me this week.
It is very powerful and talked straight to my heart!

It made me stop and realize my heart doesn't cry out to God. I want to have a heart like God!!!

It time for me to spend more time in God's word and less time watching TV!

It's time to have a devotional daily with my children.

It's time to spend more time doing things with my kids and less time doing things on my laptop.

I could go on and on, but I won't bore you with my long list of things I need to do.

I am praying that God would help me to change the things I need to change, do the things I need to do, seek Him with my WHOLE heart.

Did this speak to you?

Linen & Lace Fingerless Gloves

2012-01-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

I am not a fan of cold weather and I definitely don't like snow.

Luckily one of the perks to living in the south is we very seldom see any snow.

I also don't like to wear sweaters because I get too hot and they make me itchy.

I own mostly short sleeve shirts so in the winter I get a little chilly sometimes.

To keep warm I wear cardigans because I can take them on and off throughout the day as needed.Sometimes though I just don't want to mess with them all day long.

I thought fingerless gloves would be a good solution.

And I was right!

Oh how I love these!

They are my new favorite project. They are so pretty and feminie.

I love everything about them......the colors, the crochet trim, and especially the flowers.

I made these last week and have already worn them three times.

Both times I received tons of compliments. Both women and men have commented on how pretty they are.

That's when I knew they were really great!

It all started when this shirt got little holes in the bottom close to the hem.

I knew right away what I was going to do with part of this shirt!

I cut off the sleeves and went right to work on these.

I laid the sleeve out so the bottom of the sleeve would be past my elbow and the shoulder part of the sleeve was at my fingers. Then I drew lines between each finger and both sides of my thumb.

Then I sewed around each black line in a skinny U shape. On the outside of the thumb I sewed down the line and then tapered out to the seam.

Next I cut on the black lines between each finger. On the outside of the thumb I cut 1/8" away from the stitching.

Here's what it will look like this far. Repeat with the other sleeve.

Turn them right side out and let the fun begin. Embellish them!

I chose to sew on two layers of crochet trim to the top.

Then I made flowers with some thinner crochet trim.and added a "pearl" button to the middle of the flower.

I put them on and didn't take them off for the rest of the day :o)

The above 4 photos are courtesy of Dakota (my 5 year old son).

Do you know how hard it is to photograph your own hands and arms???

Not easy! I tried, but it just wasn't working.

i think Dakota may have a future in photography :o)