I'm trying to dye. And I'm doing it badly.

I saved basically all of Hero's baby clothes. And after going through them to pull out what I can for Pretty, I look at some of these stained beyond the "that's nasty" point and wonder why I kept it at all. There were some once white onsies I found in the stash that were a gross looking yellow (which doesn't say much for my laundry skills, but that's not the point here). 

I decided, since I was going to try to dye some lace fabric from white to black for my Mad Hatter hat, I would toss these yellowish and stained onsies in the batch and get some black onsies for undershirts for Pretty!

Now, I'm not sure where I went wrong, but they turned out dull and splotchy... Anyone know why that is? Because I don't.

These two are the worst in the bunch:

Do you think if I were to dye them again, it would fix the problem?

And to add to my failure in dyeing, my white lace turned into a very beautiful silver gray. I really like it and can't wait to use it, but it's not what I need for the hat project. So I had to go buy some black stuff.

Isn't is pretty, though?

And the hat is almost done! Just some finishing details and I post it soon!

Cotton Candy Costume Tutorial

When I was asking Hero what he wanted to be for Halloween, I also asked him what Pretty should be. He said, "Pink." I tried to get more out of him. . .

"A pink what?" I asked. 

But all he would say was, "Pink," and then get distracted.

So I called my sister and asked if she had any ideas and she did! Cotton Candy was Audrey's idea and I loved it! As soon as she said it, the image popped into my head of exactly how I was going to do it. I was so excited!!

Let's get started.

Supplies:

• Old white t-shirt (I used a men's medium)
• 3/4 yd. of thin vinyl (find it on the big rolls) 
• *Read my Costume Safety post in response to comments received*
• Pink Rit Dye (or spray paint)
• Stuffing
• Red fabric cut to 3" x 36"
• Spray adhesive

*I suggest scrolling down to the part about dying the stuffing and doing that first!*

I measured Pretty around her waist (while she was sitting, because it's bigger then) and her length from shoulder to knee.

Length shoulder to knee: 16"

Waist around: 18"

With these measurements I decided the t-shirt should be cut into 2 panels:  17" long and 14" wide.

Start by laying the t-shirt flat, then folding it in half down the center. Cut 17" long, and 7" wide (because it is folded). To cut shape the arm opening, measure and mark 4" down and 2" over from the raw edge corner and cut a curved line from one mark to the other.

The vinyl layer should be into cut 2 panels that are 19" long and 18" wide. Again, fold in half and measure only 9" wide. Shape the arm opening the same as the t-shirt.

With right sides together, sew the t-shirt side seams with a 1/2" seam. Then sew the vinyl side seams together. The shirt and vinyl should still be two separate pieces!

Sew a gather stitch along the bottom edge of the vinyl layer.

Place the vinyl inside the t-shirt and match the bottom edges, gathering the vinyl as needed, with the WRONG SIDE of the t-shirt and the RIGHT SIDE of the plastic facing each other. Trust me. Sew with a 1/2" seam

I used my walking foot because the vinyl kept sticking to the pressure foot. However, I bet if you flipped it and sewed with the vinyl side down it would work better. Just lift it so it doesn't stick to the machine.

Flip the t-shirt layer inside the vinyl layer. You should now be looking at both right sides, with the bottom seam tucked inside.

Run a gather stitch across the top of the vinyl on both front and back, pull to match the t-shirt, tie ends to secure.

Finish the arm openings by basting the two layers together with edge on the edge of the pressure foot.

Then fold over both layers toward the t-shirt side at the baste line and sew in place.

This is where I figured out how much batting I needed. I stuffed until it was level with the bottom of the arm openings. Make sure not to over do it. Remember than your baby has to fit inside! It ended up being one plastic shopping bag stuffed full.

Next step is to dye the stuffing. This can be done in advance, so as to not throw off your sewing groove!

I followed the directions on the box to prepare the dye bath, then submerged the stuffing. The box says to "stir constantly for 30 min". But I much prefer the method I learned here from Dana. Basically, just stop in every once and a while to stir it. I started at 11pm before knowing that it's better to leave it for many hours.

Over all, I left mine in for 10 hours! But mainly because I was sleeping and then taking care of my kids.

Also, when I pulled it out to look at it, it didn't look very pink. The dye was not taking!! So of course, I freaked out...

ran to the store, bought pink spray paint and did this to a second batch of stuffing, all at 5am... And it was too pink.

But when I later took the stuffing out of the dye bath to clean up, I realized that if I didn't rinse it, just ring it out, some color was still there. But it still didn't look very pink to me. I set it on some rags to dry for about an hour.

Then I put it in this drawstring bag and tossed in the dryer. It took a long time drying, and I had to mix the bag several times to make sure the inside stuff was getting dry too.

It wasn't until I had the dyed stuff in the costume that I saw it was perfect. So now I have a bag full of hot pink, spray painted stuffing... meh. Because I didn't rinse the dye from the batting, I don't plan to wash this costume in the washing machine. If needed I'll just have to spot clean it.

Story time over. Back to the sewing!

I left a small amount of batting out for the hair accessory.

Now that's it's stuffed, match up the top edge and baste together.

Fold over  1" toward the t-shirt. Pin and sew close to raw edge.

Make the tie. I chose red because that's the color I think of for a twist tie. Cut a strip 3" wide x 36" long. Fold in half and press.

Fold in half again and sew.

To make the tie show, use a seam ripper to cut an opening for the tie in the vinyl layer on both ends of both sides.

Use a safety pin to thread the tie through both front and back.

Try to make the tie ends as close to even as you can. Measure 2 1/2" space of the tie between the front and back for the first shoulder. Sew in place across the tie.

Gather both front and back to six inches of tie and sew down other end. Tie a bow with the loose ends.

The last step is to make the labels. These are what I created using Picnic.com. If you want to use them, just click on the image and save it full sized. *please, personal use only*

  

I chose to print mine 5x7 through Walmart.com, and I was upset with the front label came out black and with the top and bottom of the circle cut off. But not wanting to deal with customer services to get a refund of pennies, I just decided to make it work. *mini grr-face*

Trim the white from the outside of the image. Lay the image face down on some of the extra vinyl. Cut the vinyl about 1/2" bigger than the image. Use spray adhesive to attach to the costume. It doesn't matter which side is front or back, just decide which side you want the bow from the tie on.

And you're done!!

I'll show you how to make the hair thing next... I promise.

Just add the baby and BAM! Cutest Cotton Candy ever!!

This is a happy face, I swear.

Happy Halloween!!

Elastic Organizer Binder Tutorial

I promised to show you how I used the dyed elastic and here you go! I turned a regular binder into...

a portable elastic organizer:

Want to make one for yourself, or for your kid? This one went to my bro-in-law who is headed for college in a week!

What you need:

1. 3 ring binder
2. Elastic. I used 1" wide and 1/2" wide. (dyed if you wish)
3. Ribbon
4. Hot glue
5. Binder clips (not needed, but can help.)

Here we go!

First, cut 1 piece of elastic. For mine, I cut the 1" elastic 6 in long and the 1/2" elastic 6 1/2 in long. But before you cut a bunch of them, take the binder clip to hold one end, then stretch it around the inside of the binder. This will leave one hand free to test the stretch of the elastic, you want it to be tight enough to hold things without letting them slide out. I tested with a pack of cards.

Once you figure out what length you need for your elastic, cut as many as you will use

Next step is to lay the elastic out so you know where you will want it. Don't bother trying to weave it yet. This is just to get a feel for where they will be. Make sure to leave space for the binder rings so they won't hit when you close the binder.

Now you hot glue. Do the vertical ones first. Glue the top of each elastic on the outside of the binder, allow to dry for a few minutes to make sure it holds. Then stretch it down and glue the other end, also to the outside.

For the horizontal ones, start on the inside, gluing the edge to the edge where the binder folds.

it looks weaved, but you don't need to worry about that when doing this step.

Now is the fun part of weaving the elastic. You can weave it however you want, just try to leave some larger stretches as well as small ones. I used pins to hold them down to see what it would look like. You could also use the binder clips again.

After you've weaved it to your satisfaction, hot glue the other end on the outside. Your binder should now look like this:

Now to cover the edges. For the inside, I chose this inspirational printed twill tape. Just lay it over and hot glue it down.

 

Choosing how to cover the outside took some time. I considered covering with awesome material, or scrapbook paper. But this was made for an 18 year old boy. I had to make sure it wasn't girly-crafty. So I had to ask my husband... He helped me decide that the satin ribbon was the least girly of the options. If you are making it for a girl, you could do such pretty and cute things with this part!!

But here's how you do the ribbon. First, measure it against the edge, leaving a bit extra on either end. Fold it over and secure with a dab of hot glue.

Then hot glue over the elastic ends.

Even though there are no elastic edges to cover, I decided to put ribbon on the folded edge too, so it was symmetrical. And now your done!

Outside:

Inside:

Stuff with your stuff and take it to school!

Actual stuff of the bro-in-law. He was pretty excited about it! And claimed it was not too girly.

Enjoy!