How to turn regular pants into maternity pants

As you know, we're expecting. I'm 26 weeks, so regular clothes don't really fit anymore. I thought I'd try my hand and converting a pair of my work slacks into maternity pants. 

Here's what I did.

Turn the pants inside out. Find the center and fold. You want the middle of the back to be on one side and the front closure on the other. (See pic.) Pin the pants together at the top, so they won't separate or slide around. Then pin down at a curve to just below the zipper. 

When these pants are on, the zipper falls at the bottom of my maternity shirts. If your zipper is longer, you may want to sew the zipper section shut and then cut where you want the bottom of your maternity band to hit.

Cut along where you pinned. I actually cut a little above where I pinned, because I didn't want to cut to much. You can always cut more if you need to. 

Using a jersey fabric, or another stretchy fabric, lay your cut out section on the fold and pin. You want to make sure you fold your fabric in half and make sure the cut section is near the fold. I move it back about a 1/2" to allow for the seam. When you cut, make sure to give yourself a 1/4" to 1/2" seam allowance, all the way around.

Unfold your section and pin back into your pants. The pants should still be inside out. 

Make sure you leave an area at the top to fold over for a finished top seam. 

Sew around the pinned section and sew down your top seam. At this point I tried on the pants to make sure they fit. When thy did, I sewed a section seam around the new section to secure it. You could serge the seam to make it look more finished. Since no one was going to see this, other than you and me, I didn't feel the need to take that extra step. 

Turn your pants back right side out and admire your handy work. 

Here's a close up of the seam. 

Now that you can convert your pants, you should be able to convert shorts, skirts, etc... Happy sewing!

Zebra print chair and throw pillow

My daughter told me she wanted to redo her room recently. She wants to go with a Paris theme. We started looked on the web for ideas. She picked out zebra print and hot pink as her colors. Since we wanted to do the refab on the cheap, I decided to use an old chair we had and redo it. 

So, I turned this:

Into this:

The chair was a $4.00 find at a local thrift store. $4.00 people! The finished chair looks exactly like some I found online for HUNDREDs more!!!! It's been sitting in my office, just waiting for the right makeover....about 3 years! LOL!

I'm not even going to attempt to do a tutorial on how I recovered it, but basically I painted the arms and legs with Valspar satin black. Used a plush microfiber zebra print fabric, purchased at JoAnn's, to cover it. I basically draped, cut, glued and sewed until all the old orange fabric was covered. The cushions were in great condition, so I felt no need to remove them. 

The pillow on the other hand, I will explain how I made it. 

I have a bunch of pillows around the house. Not really sure how I accumulated so many, but I have a closet full of them. I took one...

Measured a section, to a size the daughter and I liked, and started cutting.

I never realized how dense the cotton stuffing is in a pillow until I had to cut through it. I actually had to cut across it a couple times before the 2 sections separated. I kept the other section for another project. (Post coming soon)

Using a whip stitch, I sewed the end of the pillow back together.

This hot pink satin fabric was also purchased at JoAnn's. I measured the pillow and cut the fabric large enough to fit around the pillow, plus a 1/2" for a seam allowance. Sewed 3 sides closed and put the "pillow" inside. Using a hidden stitch, I closed the 4th side.

I then cut 1 inch strips of the same hot pink fabric and created rosettes. For the larger rosette I used 2 strips of fabric. For the smaller ones, I only used one strip. 

You can find tutorials all over YouTube explaining how to make these rosettes. However, if you'd like me to post a tutorial, just let me know. 

I attached the rosettes by sewing them on. You could use hot glue, but since this was going in a 12 year old's bedroom, I figured they needed the extra strength.

And the finished pillow.

I'm actually a little jealous. I am in love with this chair! Think I may have to make something similar for my bedroom. Hmmmm????

Ruffled onesie

I've been searching for baby projects ever since I found out I was having another girl! I have quite a few saved on my camera, but I came across one today that I just had to make right then!

I found it on the Jessa Jill blog. This page specifically. She made a cute onesie for her niece. I took the idea and made my own version. This is not a tutorial. Jessa does a great tute on her page. This is just my version...

Using the fabric from this old shirt of my older daughter. She outgrew it a couple years ago, but I just loved the material. I cut 4 strips, about an inch wide from the bottom of the shirt.

$3.00 white onesie from Wal-mart... (I bought quite a few of these not to long after getting the positive on the preggo test. I knew I'd be making something for my sweetness!) 

Here's my trusty Distinctive ruffler foot. LUV it!!! I made the three ruffles in about 15 seconds, but if you don't have one you can always ruffle your fabric by hand. Jessa tells you how on her blog. Just click the link above!

And my amazing Brother sewing machine, it's the 6000i...LUV it too! Bday present from the hubby last year! Probably the best bday present ever! (Of course, I actually ordered it...he just gave me the okay!) 

I made 3 strips of ruffled fabric. 

Then sewed 3 of the strips to the bum.

The last strip I used to make a rolled flower and sewed to the neckline. You can Google a rolled fabric flower and find all kinds of tutorials. I basically figured it out on my own. It's super easy!

I love how it turned out! I am excited to see our sweet Scarlett wearing it!

Of course I had to make the older daughter something too. I used the very bottom edge of the old shirt to make a ruffle around her new skirt. (Do you have a pair of jeans that still fit in the waist, but too short in length? Cut them off and make a skirt!)  It turned out super cute as well. 

I think I may have to put my two girls in their matching outfits and take a pic....hmmmm?

I still have some of the old shirt left. I think I'll make a matching hair bow for Scarlett...not sure what else.

Just 13 weeks +/- till we meet our little sweetness! 

A little time off

Hello bloggy friends!

I know I have been bad not updating on here, but a little surprise is kicking my booty! We found out in January that after over 10 years of wishing, hoping, and praying we finally are expecting a second child!

I am 25 weeks along. Our sweet baby GIRL is due September 2, but my doctor plans to take her around 39 weeks. So sometime around the end of August, I'll be making another announcement. :)

The first four months of this pregnancy was horrible because of morning sickness. The last 2 months have been better, but I'm still exhausted. Even with all that, I have been working on quite a few projects. Now that I'm getting my energy back, I'll be posting again. Be looking for handmade crib and bassinet bedding. Lamp makeovers, room decor, etc... Lots of fun posts and tutorials coming your way.

Thanks for hanging around!

A. Rose

A new house?

After all the chaos this year has brought, we have been anxious to start 2011 on the right foot. We decided to sell our current home and purchase a brand new house! We put an offer in on a house we fell in love with and the builder accepted it (after quite a bit of negotiating)! The only issue is...our current house has to sell! It's been on the market for 3 weeks with absolutely no showings! We're blaming the holidays and my real estate agent thinks we'll start getting buyers after the first. So, here's hoping we're in the new house before the end of January!

I want to show you the pic of the new house, but since it's not technically ours, I'll do the pencil sketch thing that some of my bloggy friends have been doing.

Current house:

New house:

Keep your fingers crossed for me! It's such a beautiful house, not my "forever" house, but definitely one that I will be happy to live in for the next 5 or so years! What makes it even better, is the fact that my daughter loves it! She already has slumber parties planned! LOL!

Unlike most of blogland, I didn't want another fixer-upper. After breaking my leg, I'm not as mobile as I have been in the past. We've been remodling our current home for 3 years. A new house gives me the opportunity to relax for a while, only doing the projects I "want" to do, not projects I "have" to do. Now we just pray that our current house sells and we can move into the new one.

I hope everyone has a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hugs!

Annette

It's been a while...

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! (or Hanakuh, or Kwanza, or Winter Solstice, or whatever holiday you celebrate) Ours was pretty good, but I just wish it would have lasted longer! I love the anticipation of Christmas more than the actual day.  How about you?

I have come to the conclusion that my "life" has gotten in the way of this blog! I am constantly amazed at how all my bloggy friends have the ability to deal with their daily lives and still post every day! I have nothing but love for you!

Tomorrow will be my 2 year anniversary of blogging! I should do something extra special for it, but I'm having surgery on my foot...again! So, I don't know if I'll get to post or not. (Depends on how groggy I am...lol!)

I did post a link to my new Etsy shop on "my pages" at the top of this blog. I will open it on January 1, 2011. I have been working really hard to get things ready for it. I'm really excited.  You can check it out here! I also linked to my Pampered Chef page! Go check it out!

Have a great day!
XOXO
A.Rose

Hello Bloggy peeps

Just wanted to say I'm still alive. LOL! I've been so busy with my daughter's cheerleading squad, soccer team, and other miscellaneous family stuff, I haven't had a chance to get on here and blog. I have a craft fair coming up next week, but after that I have all kinds of excited news to share.

I do still tweet often, you can find me at http://www.twitter.com/designsbyarose I'd love to have you follow me on there as well!

See you soon!
XOXO
A.Rose

Pencil Holder

 

I went in my daughter’s room the other day. She had pens and pencils laying everywhere! In my craft room I use old soup cans to wrangle my scissors, pencils, markers, etc… I figured it was time to make her something to wrangle hers…

I had some fabric and ribbon left over from this project:

So I gathered my supplies (soup can – washed and dried, fabric, scissors or rotary tool and mat, glue gun, glue sticks, lighter and ribbon) then got to work:

Basically, I just hot glued and wrapped the fabric around the can. Then hot glued and wrapped the ribbon around the top and bottom, covering the edges of the fabric. When I cut the fabric, I made sure I had a little extra to fold over the top. This covers any sharp edges that were left when you opened the can.

I had to add a cute bow to finish it off.

Quick tip: you can heat seal the edges of the fabric just like you would heat seal the edges of the ribbon. Using a lighter or candle, run the edge next to the flame. Make sure you don’t hold it to close or for too long…fabric can catch fire a lot easier than ribbon.

My daughter LOVED it. I think the best part was seeing her smiling face when she realized it was for her!

 

 

Rustoleum vs. Krylon - ORB

 

I’m sure you’ve seen ORB (Oil Rubbed Bronze) all over the web-o-sphere by now. I love looking at it’s shiny brownish black shade and how it turns the mundane into the magnificent. After searching for months for the Rustoleum version, I gave up and bought the Krylon brand. (HUGE mistake) Luckily, I found a can of Rustoleum before I had a chance to use the Krylon. (I’m going to say *R* and *K* from here on)

In a recent bathroom remodel, (this will be a post when the bathroom is finished) I chose to spray paint the fixtures instead of buying new.

Not that chrome is bad, (you may be into that sort of thing) I just don’t care for it anymore. Here are my victims:

And here is the glorious *R* in all her beauty: ( You can just hear the angels singing…ahhhhhh) 

Here are the marvelous afters:

 

  

No, I don’t generally fold my toilet paper like that…you’re just special.

 

I forgot to take before pictures of these, but you can just imagine a brushed chrome light switch cover and a funky blue register cover.

And so I can show you why I like *R* better than *K*:

I sprayed this gold basket with the *K*. The can is actually sitting to the left of the basket.

It came out looking like this:

A glossy black! Now, if I were going for “black” this would have been fine. The paint went on easy, good coverage, no problems there. I just DON’T like the color!!! Why did I use the *K* instead of the *R* to finish my bathroom project? Because, I ran out of the *R* and can’t find anymore!!! (Rustoleum if you’re reading this, we seriously need more of the ORB in my area!!!)

This should give you a better idea of the two colors. The toilet paper roller is in *R* ORB and the basket is in *K* ORB. Do you SEE the difference?!?! Insane isn’t it? Both are ORB and yet they are two TOTALLY different colors!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze and would use it again and again. In fact, if I find some more, I’m going to repaint the basket. Would I use the Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze again, yes…if I want something to look black. If I want it to look brown…It’s Rustoleum all the way!

**For the legal stuff: I was NOT compensated in any way for this review…however, I’d be more than happy for Rustoleum or Krylon to provide me with some paint for a future project!!!

Hope everyone is having a great Monday! Time for me to get back to sewing!

Baby Shower

A friend of mine recently had a baby shower. She has a 10 year old boy and was surprised with a second pregnancy…a girl! Being me, I had to make all kinds of things.

Wanna see?

Baby diapers turned into burping cloths. Embroidered with sweet Caroline Julia’s initials, then trimmed out in the sweetest ruffles.

Embroidered onesie with matching brown and pink bows.

Another sweet embroidered onesie, to match her new…

Tutu!!! I loved making this. Think I’ll do a tutorial on this. Just have to buy more tulle. I think I may even start selling these.

 

 

Doesn’t the sweet onesie look adorable with the tutu? I can’t wait to see Julia wearing it!

I was giddy after making it…giddy for another baby. Still praying that God will bless us with one.

 

 

 

I just think this is the sweetest look! I wish I had made a matching headband for it. Think I will work on that. NEW PROJECT! Suh-weet!!!

Then there was the diaper cake! I couldn’t do a baby shower without one!

I used my Cricut to cut out her name. I think it added the perfect touch!

I made sure the gift wrapping matched as well. If you look at the diaper cake, it’s sitting on a box. I used the Cricut to cut out “polka dots” since she was using the brown and pink polka dot theme in the nursery.

I had a blast making these items for her. This was one of those moments when you think…I should be doing this for a living. Hopefully….I will soon. Have to explain in another post!

My apologies for the dark pictures. By the time I finished the diaper cake it was almost midnight. I was trying not to disturb my sleeping family…bad lighting!

Have a GREAT day!

A.Rose