House Coat Dress

House coats aren't just for lounging at home anymore...a few tweaks and they're ready to wear in public!  Take for instance this house coat...

  

When I spotted it at the thrift store, I loved the soft color and especially the pocket detail.  Moo-moo style house coats aren't really my style, but I knew I wanted to do something with it, even if it was turning it into an apron.  Then I spotted these pajama pants on the same rack...

They matched perfectly!

One more score from the thrift shop...a pattern that had the exact waist detail that

I had envisioned for the dress.

So I put it all together and came up with a feminine frock that's soft and sweet.

I removed the front zipper and replaced it with an invisible zipper on the side.

The bottom skirt front has a pleat made from the pajama pants.

The back softly gathers into the waist detail.

 The sleeves were shortened with an added elastic casing.

I guess the only down side with this refashion is that I have no excuse for lounging around anymore!

I like to link to these great parties!

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Sew Can Do!

Pretty in Pink...Jumpsuit to Dress

Okay, I'm not suggesting that I'm pretty in pink (or anything else for that matter), but the dress is pink, and in the movie, Molly Ringwald's character actually does some refashioning herself.  So, the title seems appropriate!  So what do you think this latest refashion began it's life as?

Would you believe a pajama jumpsuit...do they really make such things?  When I first spotted this in the thrift store, I thought it was a jumpsuit from the eighties.  It wasn't until I got home that I realized it was actually pajamas, hence the word "intimate" on the label.  Seriously, who would ever want that many buttons on something you sleep in?  It also sported lots of gathering onto a dropped waist.  I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of adding extra bulk around the hips and belly area!

So with some creative sewing, I turned some unused pajamas into a cute and comfy dress.  In keeping with the pajama theme, I even used a strip of bed sheet for the sash!  (Actually, I needed a strip of white fabric and sheet seemed to do the trick!)

The sleeves were cut from the bottom of the pant legs with elastic threaded through the original hem.

My youngest jumped in on the photo shoot!

Click here for a full tutorial of how it was done.

I like to link to these great parties.

A Pajama Party and Bokeh!

How much does it cost to make four pairs of pajamas and two nightgowns?

$30?  $40?  $50?

Well, let me tell you...

big chunk of flannel from the thrift store...3.99

flannel sheet from the thrift store....2.99

bias trim from the thrift store...50 cents

elastic....1.49

four clearance-priced t-shirts....4.00

TOTAL= $12.97

(That's about $2.16 per child!)

Not too bad!  I used an old pair of pajama pants to make the pattern for the boys.  The girls' nightgowns were made using this pattern from Sew, Mama, Sew!  I did add a ruffle to the sleeves and bottom of the nightgown for added detail.  The nightgowns seemed a little wide in the chest, so in the future I might cut them down a little.  All in all, it was a pretty easy pattern.

Christmas Break was like one long pajama party!

And what's a pajama party without making a few goofy faces?

I also thought I would try my hand at Bokeh before the Christmas lights came down....and not just regular bokeh, but shaped bokeh.  I learned the technique by following this tutorial at The Hobby Room.  It's a pretty fun technique with amazing results.

"Regular"

"Stars"

"Snowflakes"

I'm excited about this technique and can't wait to experiment more with it!