We're heading to the hospital!

My water just broke so we're heading off to have a baby! Please pray for us that everything goes ok!

Simple project to pass the time: Making a t-shirt dress!

Ok, since i'm so hugely pregnant and don't feel much like getting out these days, my husband and I thought it might be nice for me to do one fun project a day until baby comes. Today I decided to make matching cute t-shirt dresses for my two youngest girls. They make great play or going out dresses and are so cheap to make.

I thought I would put a tutorial up for those who feel adventurous. I am usually pretty bad about putting pictures up, but I do realize that many people, myself included, are visual. They just need to see it.

All you need is basic sewing skills for this project.

Supplies needed:

• 1 t-shirt (I payed $2.00 each for the tshirts i'm using)
• 1/2 - 1 yd of material (For my 5 yo daughter I am using 1 yd, for the 2 yo I am using 1/2 yd. I bought the material for $1.00 yd.) *If making for a bigger girl you will need to add more fabric. Up to about 2 yds.*
• Matching thread

Step 1:
Put t-shirt on your little one. Mark or measure how many inches right to the belly button. After taking it off, cut it where you marked. You can cut it a little shorter than this if you want, I like the way it falls cut a little shorter so I usually go 1 inch above the belly button.

Step 2:

Fold fabric in half, lengthwise with the selvage edges together. Selvage edges are the edges that have not been cut. *If you are making a dress for a bigger girl, fold fabric in half with the cut edges together instead of the selvage edges. Sew down the long sides.*

Step 3:
Sew sides together to form the skirt. I usally like to make a french seam here, but that's just to keep it from fraying on the inside. If you want to learn how to do a french seam, go here.

Step 4:
Mark the center front and center back of the shirt and skirt with pins.

Step 5:

The skirt will have the right sides facing eachother now. Sew a basting or gathering stitch (which is basically a very wide stitch), at the top of the skirt.

Step 6:

Pull the gathering threads to make the gather of the skirt.

Step 7:

Turn the shirt inside out and put it upside down in skirt. Match center pins of skirt and shirt together and pin. Now adjust your gathers as needed.

Step 8:

Once gathers are adjusted to fit the width of the shirt. Sew the skirt to the t-shirt. I like to go around twice. Once in a zip zag stitch. It is stronger that way. My first few I had to restitch holes because my girls play so hard.

Step 9:

Turn dress right side up now. Try the dress on your little one to see where you want your hem. Pin it and then sew. I like to do a double fold on the bottom of the skirt because it makes the dress fall better at the bottom and it keeps it from fraying. Once I have it pinned around I just take it and fold it inside itself. Then I sew it. Of course, that is just optional.

The finished product!

Optional:

I have added eyelet lace at the bottom before to add a little something. You can also take the leftover t-shirt material and make a matching scrunchie or add ruffles on a sock. I like to crochet a matching ruffle on socks to wear with it. So cute! Maybe that'll be my project for tomorrow!

It really is simple to do and can add to your little girl's wardrobe for not much money. After reading Crystal's Frugal Friday post and Jennifer's comment on my blog, I decided to add that you can make this project even more frugal by using up older t-shirts that your little girl may be outgrowing. Reusing them extends their life and saves money. Have fun!

Summer family project time!

This week is a themed week for Works for me Wednesday. It is the "Mom, i'm bored" edition. This is something that we all dread hearing. After a long summer break i'm sure it's bound to happen at some time. I used to hear it all the time. Of course I always loved coming up with creative ways to make the children stop telling me every five minutes that they were bored. I could always help them not be so bored by scrubbing out the trashcans or by dusting the baseboards. You get the point. It still got to be tiring though, so we changed things up a bit for them.

First thing I want to say is that we homeschool. It is a bit different for us since we don't follow the typical schoolyear schedule. We take off one whole month in the summer (this year we are taking off the month of June), and we take off the whole month of December. I have found that just having a shorter summer break cuts down some on the "Mom, i'm bored" cries.

Now you know it would be too easy if that's all it took, but of course I still used to hear it pretty often. That's when we took it a step further and implemented a few summer changes around here. It has made a huge difference and it's actually quite fun.

First thing to go is the TV. We turn it off every summer, for the whole summer. There is nothing on but reruns anyway, but I find that the kids whine about being bored more if they sit in front of the TV everyday. So, off it goes.

Every year the children also attend one camp. The last three years it has been a music day camp at one of the local churches. It's fun for the kids and it takes care of one week. Plus it's free!

The big thing we do though that has made the most difference is complete a family project together every summer. Last year we built a chicken coop together. If you want to read more about our chickens, you can do so here. This year we have been working on checking off Mom's nesting list. Baby should come at any time now so it's got to get done. We have painted a few rooms in the house, built a loft bed, and we are about to start expanding the chicken run.

Including the children is something we love doing and we never hear, "I'm bored!" It also helps them build skills that will help them later on in life. Most importantly, it helps build our relationship with our kids and it makes great memories. If you don't have any big projects to do, do something small. Build a birdhouse, plant a flower garden. Lets the kids pick. It works for us!

To get more great ideas on how to keep the kids entertained this summer, visit Rocks in my Dryer.