Project Maternity: Interchangeable Blooms & Buttons Top Tutorial

Hi everybody!  How’s that for a long title? Here’s my latest and last (for a minute) Project Maternity Project.  I have a few other maternity projects on my list, but I’m tired of them for the moment.  I have some non-baby related projects to show you in the upcoming days.

This is probably my most favorite refashion EVER.  And I’ve done a few of them (that’s the understatement of the century!).

I came up with this project on a Friday around midnight.  I’ve decided that when my husband and I stay up late, my brain comes up with it’s best creations.  I have yet to show you something I made for my kitchen that was a late night discovery.

This project was inspired by my lack of options in my maternity wear.  I ended up with 3 black shirts and a gray shirt, among some others.  I wanted a flowered top, but I didn’t want to be stuck with one color scheme.  I realized that if I had buttons, and circles of knit, I could make as many color combos as I wanted.  And I have!  I also did this with a plain white shirt so I can wear it with black or brown skirts.  I can coordinate the flowers with the colors in the skirt, and it works like a charm!  When I want a simple look, I wear it without the flowers.  The buttons add some charm without being too much.  LOVE this project!

Ready to make your own?

What you’ll need:

Buttons

T-Shirt  (I used a V-neck Liz Lange for Target Maternity top, but  this can be done with any neckline and a non-maternity top too)

Thread, Needle

Knit to cut into flowers (think old t-shirts)

First, you’ll want to take your buttons and sew them to your shirt.  I did it by hand (I had just enough time to do the project and didn’t want to fiddle with my machine), but could do it by machine.  Ashley over at Make it and Love it has a great tutorial on how to do this.  I haven’t tried it, but you could if you wanted!

You can do as many or as few buttons as you want.  I got tired at 9.  I kept the buttons quite close, so the flowers would overlap quite a bit.  I also used different shades of black/white/gray buttons, and different sizes for variety.

Now comes the fun part.

(yes, I write on my scissors.  That’s so I remember which ones are fabric only. :)

Take your knit and your scissors.  I folded/arranged my knit so I had two layers stacked together.  This way I could cut out two flowers at once.

Cut out circles.  I just eyeballed it.  Knit can be trimmed and fixed as you go because it doesn’t fray, so I love just winging it.  If you want to use a pattern, just use something in your home like a jar lid to trace and cut out.

Keep cutting, using your different colors and different sizes until you get several circles.

Then take 2 circles and stack them how you’d like.  (We won’t be attaching the circles together for added versatility, so just grab a couple and go for it, you can change them as much as you want later!)

Now grab those stacked circles and fold them in half.  I figured out later that it worked best to have the smaller circle on the outside (so I should have folded it the opposite way as this picture, but it’s not rocket science so don’t stress).

Now take your scissors and make a TINY snip in the middle of your folded circles.  I tried to use the very tips of my scissors to prevent me from making to large of a cut.

Now unfold your circles, and stretch the hole to fit over your buttons.  You just created your first flower!  If you holes are too small, you can cut a bit more to get the right fit.  Some knits are more stretchy than others, and they do stretch out with use.

Repeat until all of your buttons have cute little flowers around them.  As you can see, some buttons had multiple color layers, while others only had one.  It’s up to you, have fun with it and make it yours!

Make the circles in several colors, and change them out to match your mood!

****Oh, and as far as washing, I would suggest removing the circles before washing. I like to turn my shirt inside out because my dryer has been known to eat buttons, but it’s broken so that’s probably why!****

If you do this project, I would absolutely LOVE to see a picture!  Also, if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

Thanks for reading, as always

~Lynette~

Project Maternity: Maternity Clothing Inspiration Round Up

Hi everybody.  I had other things planned to share today, but it’s not happening today.  We are having another major drain back up (the 2nd in 3 weeks) and we’re dealing with that this week.  We found the first part of the problems Valentine’s Day after dinner.  We were working all evening on that one, so needless to say our Valentine’s Day was lame this year!  I left my house and escaped to my mom’s house yesterday because I didn’t want to deal with it.  And today I’ll be over at my in-laws doing laundry.  Turns out that we’ll be installing a brand new set of sewage/drain pipes this weekend for our whole house (thank goodness we have a smallish house and only one bathroom to fix!).  Sounds like a fun weekend doesn’t it?  So if I’m hit and miss the next couple weeks, know that I’m dealing with messier situations (quite literally!) ha!

So today, I will show you some of my favorite DIY maternity projects. I have them all posted on my DIY Maternity pinboard, but I will directly link you to the blogs they come from.

Let’s start with the basics.  When you get pregnant, your pants stop fitting really fast!  I tried a couple belly band tutorials, and using regular knit just didn’t keep my pants up!  What a a problem!  I ended up learning about this method, and absolutely loved it.  I had to sacrifice a few old undershirts, but I’ll get new ones later.  Pants staying up, and new undershirts later!  If you can’t sew, I bet you can cut!  This tutorial is just for you.  I wore these over my unbuttoned/unzipped pants for a long while before breaking down and making maternity jeans.  Check out this lovely tutorial at DIY Maternity.

The rest of my round up is tops, but I do have some dresses pinned, so you can check that out.  And I covered what I did with pants in this post.

For some of my matenity clothing,  I simply bought tops a couple sizes too big.  I have very small shoulders, so my necklines were too big and gaping open most of the time.  This tutorial at Mad Mim shows you a quick and easy fix for cinching in necklines to make them less revealing, and super cute at the same time.  I will be doing this to non-maternity clothes that have huge necklines as well!  She also gives a fabulous tip on making any shirt a shirred maternity top.  Her secret is instead of using a zig zag stitch to attach the elastic, you use a straight stitch!  It makes the shirt bunch up less—hooray!  I haven’t tried this method, but it is on my list for sure!

Now isn’t that top just amazing!  I love the front.  I would add sleeves to it, because I’m not the sleeveless/tank top type (and it’s cold outside right now!), but I love it.  Head on over to Happy Together to see the tutorial.

Now this and the next top are going to get combined to make me a top like this.  I found a men’s dress shirt at a thrift store for $2.00, so I thought I would give these projects a try.  Head on over to DIY Maternity for the full tutorial.  (By the way, this website specializes in maternity and nursing DIY projects—it’s a gem!)

This one is adorable too, and it’s anthropologie inspired—even better right!?  This is another project brought to us by DIY Maternity.  I love the neckline/collar of this shirt (although it’s tricky to see in this picture---you’ll have to look at the tutorial for that).  For the tutorial, click here.

Well, I think that’s it for me today!  I am really hoping to get a couple little projects done to show you soon, but we will see what our plumbing projects bring us! :)  Hope you’re having a great day!

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Project Maternity: Purple Swirly Tee

When buying my maternity clothing, I ended up with two or three black tops, and a gray one.  I didn’t have much color.  So I found this white one for 6.98 on clearance at Target, and picked it up.  I decided to add some purple to it, because I love purple.  So I grabbed some freezer paper from my mother (thanks mom!), my silhouette, and I got to work.  I used the method of freezer paper stenciling.  And I LOVE this method.  So easy, and so fun!  I have been really into painting stuff lately, so I loved the instant gratification of this project.

I used I am Momma Hear Me Roar’s Tutorial on Freezer Paper Stenciling.  If you don’t have a silhouette, you can TOTALLY do stuff without one!  Her tutorial actually shows the whole process WITHOUT a cutting machine.  If you do have a silhouette, she has some tips on using it with freezer paper here.

Oh, a note about the type of paint I used:  I just used Acrylic paint with textile medium added in.  I like doing it this way so I can use my paint colors for all types of projects- not just wood, and not just fabric.  I get the best of both worlds.  And it washes fine.  This shirt had the paint cracking a tad, but I probably just didn’t put enough textile medium in it.  And I don’t mind the way it looks, so we’re good!

Hope you’re having a wonderful valentines day!

~Lynette~

Project Maternity: Maternity Pants from Regular Jeans

 

(Picture with extra layers so you don’t have to see what you don’t want to! :)

Hi there!  Let’s just pretend that today is tomorrow instead of a week later, okay?  Last week was a busy one for me.  I can’t even remember why, but just trust me on that one! :)

Today I’m going to show you how I made maternity jeans from regular jeans.  I purchased 3 pairs of jeans from Old Navy’s clearance rack.  I spent about $11 on each pair.  So for LESS than 1 pair of good maternity jeans, I got three pairs.  2 I love, and 1 I wear around the house because I hemmed them a bit too short (and I tried to wear them today and they were a bit too snug and just too frumpy—live and learn).  (whoops!)

I used a combinations of this tutorial from DIY Maternity and this tutorial from Running with Scissors.  They were both very helpful, but I combined some of the points from each. 

What I used from DIY Maternity Tutorial:

I liked that she sewed the elastic straight to the pants.  This way, when the pants are washed, the elastic does not get twisted in the casing.  I also liked that she cut out the zipper completely, and that she sewed the casing and jeans right sides together to get a finished look.

What I used from Running With Scissors Tutorial:

I loved that she kept the back of the pants and only cut the front.  This makes the back higher, which helps prevent showing too much.  It also imitates the mid-rise jeans I’m used to wearing, so I don’t feel uncomfortable. 

For the knit casing, I used an old undershirt instead of regular knit.  I’ve found that using the undershirt knit for belly bands like this one from DIY Maternity is great too.  So I used that idea for the waistband of the pants as well.  And one undershirt worked well to make 2 pairs of pants.  I will show you how I cut it in the pictures below.

Here’s my undershirt unharmed.

I knew I would only be making one pair with this undershirt, so I gave myself a little more seam allowance room.  I was using about 3 inch wide elastic, so if you’re using narrower, you definitely can use one undershirt for two pairs of pants.  I used the navy blue undershirt (pictured on jeans above) for two pairs and it worked well.    I simply took the bottom part of the undershirt, folded it wrong sides together, and used it like the casing.

With these tutorials, I’ve ended up with some pants I really love wearing.  Because of the tutorials, I don’t really feel like I have your typical ‘frumpy,’ maternity jeans.  It’s a great feeling to still feel cute, even with an expanding belly.

Thanks for reading!

~Lynette~

Project Maternity: Cloudy Maternity Top Refashion

 

Hi everybody! Welcome to Project Maternity week. Most of my ideas are just pictures of projects I’ve done, but I will be sharing a tutorial Wednesday that is probably my favorite refashion I’ve EVER done.  AND it’s not just for maternity wear.  Sweet! :)

This is my first maternity project I did.  I bought a Target long sleeved T two sizes up from what I normally wear.  I ruched the sides using this tutorial as a guide.  I also added this cloud applique in gray.  I got the cloud template here, and then added some bumps to the bottom of the cloud.  Then I added two layers of white knit, and sewed around the outline a few times.  Then I cut between the lines, and it gave it some great texture.  If you need more info on this, check out this tutorial for a different shirt by I Am Momma Hear Me Roar.  It’s originally where I learned the technique that I love using every now and then!

Here’s a shot of the whole shirt.  I’m sorry it’s so blurry, I didn’t notice that when taking the pictures!  Please excuse the spot on my 27 week belly.  I’m always spilling stuff on the babe.  And yesterday, I forgot he was there and opened the door a little too close to my body and whacked my child!  He was sitting right where the door hit too!  Ouch for both of us.  I laughed it off, and am giving myself a little more room to get through doorways! :)

Tomorrow I will show you how I made maternity pants on the cheap!

Thanks for reading,

~Lynette

Saying Goodbye is Hard to Do

 

Hi there everybody!  Today is kind of a sad one for me.  Now before you worry about some crisis happening in my life, let me stop you.  A few months ago, my husband found a fabulous deal on a Toyota Camry that was stupid to pass up.  But, that meant I would have to sell my precious Corolla.  We have been friends for a long time now, and I became very attached to this particular car.  So this week, I have to say goodbye to my favorite. car. ever.

You see I started out driving a ‘84 Blue-paint-coming-off-so-it-was-partly-black GMC Jimmy.  (I looked left and right for a picture of this beauty.  No luck.  Maybe it’s because it’s so old!) Let’s remember that I’m 5’ 1’’ to begin with.  I had to literally JUMP into that car each time I drove.  And if I was wearing a skirt, which happened from time to time,  it was a LOT worse.  Then I grew up, and so did my brother.  He decided that when he got a license to drive that it was HIS car. 

(Picture Source)

So I ended up with a ‘92 Chevy Lumina.  Not much better, but at least I didn’t have to JUMP to get into my car.  He was gold and I named him Simba.  We became fast friends, even though he was still large for a little 18 year old to be driving herself around town.  Well, something happened and that car was no longer drivable.

 

(Picture Source)

My dad bought a white ‘95 Pontiac Bonneville.  And I felt like I was driving a whale.  In fact, his name was Jonah (yes, it doesn’t make sense ON PURPOSE!).  Well, I grew up, fell in love with a Toyota mechanic, and got married.  And when I was dating him and found out he liked Toyotas, I knew we could work out. (I’m only partly serious…kind of! :)

A few months after we got married, my husband came home from work with my precious Corolla.  I had no idea.  It was a fabulous surprise!  The previous owners had ran the engine out of oil, so my husband put in a new engine and it was as good as new.  When he brought it home, it was licensed and insured so I could drive it right away.  That car and I became great friends.  I put over 50,000 miles on it in the first two years of owning it.  We lived 400 miles away from our families for quite awhile, and made a trip home about once a month.  And we moved cross state about 8 times.  And as small as she was, she made a great moving companion.  We had her loaded down like you wouldn’t believe several times.  She handled snowy roads with ease, and maneuvered great.  And she did pretty good passing other cars on the freeway too!  She was small enough that it fit my smaller frame, and I could always see out.  Oh, how I will miss her friendship!  She was very low maintenance compared to the other vehicles I drove as well.  And her name is Crayola.  I will miss you!

(Picture Source)

And now, I start a new journey with a new car.  Her name is TBA.  When I find one for her, I will let you know.  She is a black 2001 Camry, and very cute.  She has power locks and windows, which is something I longed to have in the Crayola.  She is a bit bigger, which will be really nice once we have a carseat in the back all the time.  This car seems very grown up to me, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to grow up yet.  I will say this:  I told my husband before we ever TALKED about getting married that a Camry was my dream car.  And I liked the 99-2001 body styles the best.  Well how is that for great luck?  That’s what I got!  I will miss my little Crayola like crazy, but I’m sure I will enjoy the Camry as well.

And if you’re still reading this random post about all the cars I’ve driven in my lifetime, thanks!  I just had to write a little tribute to my cute car.  And it was fun to document the rest of the cars I’ve driven over the years.  Hope you are having a great week!  Tomorrow’s Friday, isn’t that fantastic?! :)

Thanks for reading,

~Lynette~

Valentines Mail Box Makeover

Hi there everybody!  Here’s a really quick and easy project for you.  I found these mailboxes at Target in their $1 section, and decided that with a bit of vinyl, it would be super cute Valentines Day Décor.  So I cut some letters and hearts out using my silhouette, and in about 15 minutes I had a very cute mailbox to display in February. 

I just had to add a heart to that flag.

And a super cute heart with arrow for the back.  Although, I wish I would have put it on another side of the mailbox so it’s actually seen.  Oh well, it’s done and I’m happy with it!

I have been beefing up my maternity wardrobe lately, and will be having a mini series starting next week.  I’ve decided to call the series, “Project Maternity.”  I’m not exactly sure why.  Maybe it’s because it sounds like Project Runway?  And who doesn’t deserve to look cute and stylish while pregnant?  And for those of you that aren’t with child, no worries!  Many of the things I’ve done are simple t-shirt refashions that anybody can do!

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it!

~Lynette~