Upcycled Ruffle Pants {With a Half-Baked Tutorial}

These were so simple.

Crazy. Easy.
(Don't believe me? Just you watch. No one ever believes me when I say things are easy....)

Unbelievably Un-hard!

I've been wanting to make some ruffled pants for awhile now. I mean, they are the cutest things on girls, right? Oy. I love ruffles.

And my cute friend, Sundi, has made loads of them. And she posted a fun tutorial for them a few months ago. It reminded me yet again, how I want to make some.

Then I was at the thrift store and I found this dress...

Ok. This isn't the actual dress. I can't find the before picture I took. But this is close to
what it looked like. 

Mmmm, not something I would normally pull of the rack. I would feel a bit too....exposed. BUT (through the magic of my blog) I turned it into these...

Yes! Perfect ruffled pants for my Zoe. I LOVE them. And she does, too. She wore them for three days straight.

And these are my kind of project.  Because, see, I like to make stuff (shocking, right?)

However, I'm trying to a be a writer (minus the tweed elbow patches) and it's hard to find time for sewing or crafting. But I get this itch (and pinterest is not helping). And I want to, no I need to make something. So, I love it when I can find things that don't take too long to whip up and also gives me that creative fix.

So, anyhoodles, are you ready for the half-baked tutorial. Let's roll...

Step #1: Figure out how long you want your ruffle pants. Capris? Or longer? Now get yourself a pattern. Trace your girl's pants. Google a pattern. Check out some tutorials.

Step #2: Cut your pattern out with the hem of it lined up with the ruffles of the dress.

Step #3: Sew up your pants like you would any pajama pants pattern. And Voila! You have yourself a pair of  cute ruffled boutique pants for your beautiful girl.

I told you it was easy. So. There.

Need some ruffled pants inspiration? Check these out....

Pink Ruffled Pants by A Joyful Vision

Denim Ruffled Pants by Sew In Fashion

Orange Polka Dot Ruffle Pants by The Trendy Baby

More cute denim ruffled pants by Pretty Me (I love that flower.)

Striped Ruffle Pants by Isadora Kids

Now if you're like me and you've been wanting to make these darling pants....race to the thrift store and hope they have some cute sundresses in stock!

I mean it.

Go now.

Or else I'm going to beat you to them....

Ack! There's a Monster Eating my Head! {A Carnivorous Hat}

Sorry to be a pain, but I've moved this post to my new crafty blog, Hazel and Company. I hope you'll come check it out! 

Fluffy Ruffly Pettiskirt

Pink and ruffly and twirly and So. Much. Fun. Yep, that describes this skirt perfectly.

I made this skirt for Zoe about a year and half ago.....

  

Oh! Look at her. She's so small! I found the tutorial for this fabulous fluffy skirt at Made by Bronwyn. And while it did take a fair amount of time ruffly all that wonderful chiffon fabric, it was pretty easy. And so worth it.

Wouldn't this make such a fun Christmas gift for a little girly girl?

It's so cute watching Zoe wear this skirt.

She can't help swishing around as she walks.

And, of course, it's great for twirling.

I had to include this last shot.

Do you think this pose will catch on with other models?

Easy Patchwork Top and T-shirt Leggings

Check out and follow my new craft blog, Hazel and Company where you'll find tutorials, kid's crafts and loads of good times! 

I sewed up this super easy patchwork top as a dress for my smallest monkey a few months ago.  I tried using really wide elastic in the top casing. I thought it was a good idea but....erm....it made it too bulky for her small body. In fact, it looked just a wee bit strange on her. And it was way too long, too.  I have such a problem with getting the length right with dresses for my babies!

So, it's become a top for my older girl. And she was thrilled! The wider elastic doesn't seem too big on her. And she looks pretty darn cute in it, right? I especially like her choice of pink boots to complete the ensemble.

Her super crazy simple leggings are made from an upcycled t-shirt. I cut them out so the bottom of the pattern is lined up with the hem of the t-shirt. And then I don't have to hem the leggings. So incredibly easy. And I didn't even have to buy a pattern since I made one from a pair of leggings she already had. She has a bunch of these in fun stripes. I'm always on the look out for fun tees to upcycle into leggings.

I need to make some more of these for her and I'm thinking of putting a tutorial together. If you're interested, let me know. I'm more likely to do it if there are actual readers who want me to!

I've also jumped on the cute ruffley pants train. I've got to finish a few up and I'll post pictures soon. They're so fun!

How-To {Tuesday} Give Your Children Superpowers

Sorry to be a pain, but this tutorial has been moved to my new crafty blog, Hazel and Company. I hope you'll come visit me there soon! 

Thrifty Thursday: Boring Jeans to Ruffley Capris (a $2 project!)

I've moved this post to my new crafty blog, Hazel and Company. I hope you'll visit me there soon!

Thrifty Thursday: Ruffled Bum Bloomers from a T-shirt {with a half-baked tutorial}

Ok.  A ruffled baby tushy is just about the cutest thing ever, right? Ack! They're so CUTE!

So, I've been wanting to make some ruffled ba-donk-a-donk bloomers for Molly.  This week I finally got around to it.  And I made them from a thrifted white t-shirt (you know those white t-shirts that have hardly been worn because they're a nifty promotional shirt that no one wants to wear) 

I used a pants pattern (folded up to shorts length) and sewed them up according to directions.

I cut out three strips of the t-shirt and ruffled them down the middle.

Next I pinned them to the fanny of the pants and sewed them on.  

 Then I added 1/4" elastic to the leg opening and 3/4" elastic to the waist.

Yep. The only thing cuter than that ruffley caboose is the baby herself.

Now go find yourself a rear end, booty, heiny, some hind quarters or gluteus maxiums to ruffle! 

Link up here...

The Friday Five: Molly

Happy First Birthday to our wee Molly Monkey!  We started out her day with some little presents....a new dress and shoes!  I started a fun tradition with our family a few years ago where the kids get new clothes as their first present of the day...a birthday outfit.  Her brothers and sister got a kick out of watching her play around with her presents instead of opening them.  In the end we had to help her out a bit.

I wanted Molly's dress to be colorful and bright and I have to say I love the whole Holly Hobbie look.  I made it out of vintage reproduction fabrics I've been hoarding.  Can you guess what pattern I used?  Yep.  The lovely Simplicity 5695.  I'm always making her dresses too long which makes crawling a real pickle.  So, this time I tried really hard to make it shorter.  But.  Well....I think I might add a small ruffle to the bottom.  I was also going to make her some ruffly pants to match. And I wanted to try topstitching the tiers...  Ya know what? There should be some rule.  Some law.  Some kind of legislation...

The more children a woman has the more time she should get, the more hours in a day...right? It only seems fair. 

Sam wanted to feed Molly her breakfast. Mmmmmm, banana chunks coated in rice krispies.  Our Molly really is a monkey.  She LOVE bananas with an insane and crazy passion.  She could easily pick the bananas up and feed herself which she did for a while but then they became slimy projectiles.  So, Sam helping her with her breakfast became a great idea.

So, in honor of our sweet little monkey, five pictures of her birthday morning!

Thrifty Thursday: The Mutant Sock Bunny Cat

This week I took a pair of knee high socks from Wal-mart... (about $2?)

And a pair of pink socks from The Dollar Tree...

And THIS tutorial on making a sock monkey (only instead of a tail I made some ears) and made....

Hmmmm, I have to say...I'm worried her face ended up a bit...cat-ish? Sad day. But this stripey creature will be hopping through the mail soon and into the arms of our niece who has been feeling pretty poorly.  Hopefully she loves her mutant sock bunny cat.

Linking up here...