Shorts for the little one

I brought home some t-shirts which my brother wanted to throw away for re-fashioning to toddler shorts. Did not document how I made shorts previously. This time I tried to take pictures as I went along for documentation purposes. :) First up! A picture of Colin in his shorts. Red & white are the colours of our Singapore flag. Kids would wear this colour combination outfit to school for Naitonal Day celebration.

Two reasons why I love this shorts:
1. Long enough to protect his knees when he falls and;
2. High enough to hold in the shirt.This young man's shirt hardly stays tucked in cause he monkeys around every other minute.

Shorts tutorial
I used an existing shorts as a guideline. Place the t-shirt flat, fold the shorts into half and position it on the bottom left of the t-shirt to reuse the very pretty finishing. Trace along the edges with 1cm seam allowance. You will have to extend the elastic bands fully to trace when you get to the waistband. Adjustments to the shorts has to be made now - add length upwards for higher waist, extend downwards for longer shorts, add width to sides to make it looser. Remember to add an inch (or height of elastic band) at the top for fold over waistband.

Time to cut along the 'dotted' lines, both front and back of the t-shirt to be cut together.

Flip the cut out piece and position it for another round of cutting.

Now we have 2 sets (4 blocks).

Place the fabrics right sides together, serge/zig zag as illustrated below, repeat for the other set.

Open up both sets, align it nicely, serge/zig zag the crouch portion together.

Still, with right sides together, serge/zig zag the sides.

Sneak peak! The shorts should look like this now. Not as tough as imagined. :)

With wrong side out, pin the elastic band, align it to the top of the fabric. I determined the where the halves of elastic band will be, pin front and back, then move on to 1/4, pin left and right, and finally to 1/8 of the band, pin middle left, middle right, back left and back right. This way will ensure even stretch for the elastic band. I sewed the start/end of the elastic bands together before proceeding to next step.

Serge/zig zag the top of the elastic band, stretch the elastic band to the length of fabric as you go.

How the shorts looked like after serging.

Fold down the elastic band to create the waistband. Set the pins at 1/8 point again.

Stretch and sew around.

Finished product. Yay! You can sew another line if you prefer. I settled with 1 line.

The original on the made.

And a happy mum and boy.

Baby Pillow Cases

During lunar new year visiting, my cousin request for a baby pillow case cause she couldn't find a suitable one in stores. I made her 2 cases! One in cotton with tiger prints since her little girl was born in the year of the Tiger, and the other in fleece with rainbow prints. I also used this cloth for her burp cloth given last year. :) Both fabrics we bought from fabrics.com last March.

I realised that pillow cases are really easy to make! Shall briefly jot down the steps for easy reference in future.
1. Measure the existing pillow case. For the case I'm using-->
Exterior: Front-15" by 6.5", Back-14" by 6.5", Interior flap: 3".

2. Add 0.5" allowance on each side, mark and cut the fabric
3. Fold in 0.25" on side of the fabric (where the case flaps are), fold again so that raw seams are hidden nicely, pin and sew. This is how it should look like after sewing, great to prevent fraying.
4. Mark your sewing guideline using tailor's chalk or erasable marker (shown in pink!)

4. Place fabrics on wrong side together. Decide how deep the flap should be. I left mine 3" deep. Pin fabrics to prevent movement while sewing.

5. Sew along the sewing guideline you marked.

6. Serge (or zig zag) the seams to prevent it from fraying.

7. Flip it over. You're done~ :) 

The back view looks like this.. 

Did you notice the different overlapping for the case opening?  

Bunny Banner (with simplified tutorial)

2 weeks to Chinese New Year! I made a bunny banner to welcome the year of the Rabbit! (read more about chinese zodiac here.)

Here's what I did. 

1. Draw the rabbit - I used a compass to draw 1 circle for the body, another smaller circle for the head, folded the paper into half, then freehand for the ears to get even ears. Next, still folded, round up the rabbit's neck (you can see m pencil mark on the right next), cut out the rabbit.

2. Cut the fabric - Pin the rabbit cut out onto your fabric (I used white felt), cut 2 pieces. 

3. Optional step - Applique or hand sew your design onto one fabric. 

4. Pin 2 fabrics together (wrong sides), sew along the perimeter. You can decide on the seam allowance. I used about 1/4 inch.

5. Trim the edges a little to make it look nicer and you are almost done. 

6. Find something circular, with a flat base, of suitable thickness. I used the back of my pen. :) Dip it into some fabric paint, dot the eyes and nose/mouth. So sorry, I got too excited and forgot to take a picture! =D

7. Repeat steps 2-6 until you have enough rabbits! I made 5 hearts to accompany my rabbits. You can make it too. Draw a heart shape, then follow steps 2-6.

8. Last step, I used a thick thread to connect the bunnies and hearts. In and out and in and out and in and out... note where the thread goes to get the right balance because the rabbit will keep looking at the floor if it is threaded too low.

There! My bunny banner!  ♥♥♥♥

Diaper Cake Tutorial

Cracking your head for baby gift ideas? Try making a diaper cake! It's pretty, practical and can double up as a great display for the party!

How to make a Diaper Cake
Things you need: Diapers (of course!), 8 to 12 inch cake base depending on your cake size, ribbons, scortch tape, scissors. If you're planning to do a 2 tier cake, you'll need something strong such as cardboard roll or milk bottle for support.

I used 40 sized M diapers for this project.

Stack the diapers together until it fits the cake base nicely. This step can be a little tricky cause the diapers keep slipping away. Get a helper to hold it for you, or try what I did - hug it with one arm, then use a ribbon to secure the diapers with the other. Spread the diapers evenly.

Tape the support to the cake base to prevent it from moving when you wrap the diapers around it. 

Place the diaper over the support. There! You're done with the lower tier. :)

Now, the second tier. Repeat the stacking diapers process.

Decorate it as you wish! I made 2 fabric ribbons and topped it up with a bow!  The diaper cake is good to go! :)

Wrapping is important for the temperamental weather in Singapore. I used pink polka dots disco paper.

Diaper cake beautified!

Enjoy your diaper cake!