New Old Outfit

Early Wednesday morning we had major thunderstorms in the area so the husband and I woke up around 1:30 (though my waking probably had to do more with peeing every 30 minutes right now) and about an hour later he decided that there was just no going back to sleep. So he got up and got ready to go to work. I could have gone back to sleep, but I decided that since I was already wide awake that I would just get up and go to my sewing room. Four t-shirts for the kid later I emerged.

To go with the upcycled shorts I made a plain white t-shirt out of, what else, a plain white adult t-shirt that I had. I then took the scraps from the shorts and made two rough looking stripes, inspired by this shirt on Make It and Love It. And yes, I really did intend on them looking this rough :)

And just because the kid is so cute, here are a few more pictures from yesterday afternoon :)

Like I said, the shorts are a little on the skinny side. But I still think they work and the husband liked the outfit too. And I think the kid liked it as well!

10 minute upcycled shorts

This is my first contribution to the Kids Clothes Week Challenge. So I obviously did not spend an hour making them, but I say organizing and sorting my fabric counts towards that hour. And I definitely spent at least an hour doing that!

These shorts take no time to make and can be made with few cuts or seams. I used an old pair of women's shorts to make these but if you are making them for a child older than a toddler, I would say that a pair of men's shorts would be best since they are longer. 

For this project you will need a pair of  knit athletic shorts with an elastic waistband and a pair of shorts that currently fit your child. 

Fold each pair of shorts in half and lay the children's shorts on top of the adult shorts, making sure to line up the front seams.

Cut the adult shorts to the size of the children's shorts leaving a small seam allowance. Only make two straight cuts - do not cut in the curve. You could also cut these to the length you want at this point but I decided to leave them the current length.

Now you have two pieces that look like one dimensional shorts.

Pin the right sides of the adult shorts together (Yes, you are correct - I pinned these the wrong way. I only noticed after sewing one side together.) and sew both sides. Nothing complicated. We are talking straight seams here. 

Now pin the crotch together, making sure to line the hems and the center of the crotch up. Sew this together.

 Clip strings then turn right side out. Hem at this point if needed. Then admire your work!

Kids Week Clothes Challenge

I am joining this a little late but "better late than never" right? As I was reading through my Google Reader last night I saw a post with adorable little boy pants and a mention of Elsie Marley's Kids Clothes Week Challenge (KCWC). Since I mentioned last week that the kid is in desperate need of new clothes, I figured this was a great challenge to get in on! The basic premise is that you work on kids clothing for an hour everyday for a week. This hour can include pattern making, seam ripping, fabric cutting, knitting, crocheting, etc. 

Although I am not technically "announcing" my joining the challenge until today, I really did start yesterday. I will be back later with the first fruits of my labor!