Made By Lex » children

Heart Felt Headbands- A Valentines Gift

Alexis — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:56:40 +0000

This year for Valentines Day I wanted to do something for Isabel’s classmates that they could actually use, but that wouldn’t take much time or money. There are only 12 kids in her class, 3 girls and 9 boys! So I decided to do “heart-felt” (get it?) headbands for the girls. They are easy enough to do for a big class, too.

Start out by cutting some heart shaped felt.

Here are some of the colors I chose.

Get a strip of felt, about 1.5×3.

Begin glueing your hearts on the strip of felt.

You can layer them however you like.

Here’s how mine came out.

I did these three color palettes.

Now, hot glue the strip in to the headband. (Got a 5 pack at the dollar tree!)

And you’re pretty much all done!

Aren’t they lovely?!

They even look cute on a little baldy!

I just added a little tag with the girls’ initial and you’re all set!

Easy, cheap, fast and fun! And it doesn’t include a sugar rush!!

Stay tuned for the boys felt Valentine’s tutorial coming soon!!

Ways to Cover Stained Shirts

Alexis — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:26:00 +0000

I went through the girls shirts the other day so frustrated by all the stains! So here are some ideas of ways to cover them up!

I did a draping collar and added these silk rosettes on a removable pin.

While getting this one to photograph, Giselle dumped chocolate milk all over it. So here it is, stains and all!

It’s a big flower in a silvery/white fabric. It’s sort of like my Marjorie top!

A simple silk bow.

Brown on brown jersey ruffles.

And, finally, a dusty pink draping neckline with a little jersey bow.
Now they’re good as new!!

How to Make a Bubble Skirt

Alexis — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:13:00 +0000

There was a lot o interest on the bubble skirt so I’d love to share my way of doing one with you. You can use any fabric you have, but I used a men’s shirt for this one. You can also use a pillowcase!

Cut off the ends of the shirt so you have it in a nice sized square. At this point, if you don’t want the pocket there, you can remove it with a seam ripper.

Next, I took the front piece of the shirt and stitch the flap down on one side so it wouldn’t open.

Now take the front and back of your shirt and sew, right sides together.

After you sew that, take the end that you will be tucking under the skirt and gather the edges. You can do this by doing a basting stitch and hand pulling it, bu doing a running stitch by hand or my favorite way: set your tension to the tightest(the highest) number and the length to the longest.

Here’s how it will look now.

Now you’re going to get the lining piece. I’ve been using flannel for the winter, but I had this soft brown jersey so I’m using this. You want to cut it so it’s about 50% shorter than your main fabric and about 25% more narrow. It will look something like this.

Pin the gathered edge to the lining piece inside out, and sew together. Here’s how it will look now.

Now bring the two side ends together.

Pin them together.

Sew them together. It will now look like this.

Now pull the lining piece under the skirt. And pin it to the main fabric. The main fabric is bigger than the lining piece.

So make small little folds to meet the lining piece and pin in place.

Do a basting stitch to keep it in place before attaching the waistband.

Now for the waistband. I had some leftovers on the shirt so I used that, but you could use any other fabric if you don’t have any extra. Get one long piece, your desired length, and about 3- inches wide, depending on your elastic.

Sew the end together so you have one circle. Then fold the band over in half.

Attach it to your skirt and pin in place.

Sew it together leaving an opening for the elastic.

String your elastic through. The do a zig-zag stitch to attach the elastic, and close the open spot of the wasitband.

Voila!

I L-O-V-E how you can see the button strip at the bottom! I think it’s so neat!

I also did this one out of a garnet crinkled pillowcase.

It’s so textured and voluminous!

Perfect for the holidays!

Hope you enjoy the tutorial! And enjoy this beautiful day!

My European Girl

Alexis — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:39:00 +0000

I made this for my little Ava today. The skirt was made one of my dad’s old shirts. I love how it looks like a tweed, but it’s a flannel. I wanted big pop-out pockets.

The are really in for adults right now, but I thought it would be so cute for kids, too. I lined them with an old shirt of Zach’s.

I had gotten this fabric from Harts and I fell in love with the polka dots. This fabric reminds me a lot of the European lines, like Catamini. I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, but I finally figured it out.

I did the detail with the same old shirt of Zach’s.

I gathered the sleeves at top and added the alternating bias trim.
I also did a pleated detail at the 3/4 sleeve and added the trim there, too.

This is my favorite part. I love the detail of the fold over flap and these awesome snap buttons that I found.
And here she is in it!

With a lemon- zucchini cookie. (It was my bribe to get her to pose.)

Ava LOVES pockets. She has to have pockets in everything. So that’s what inspired me to do these for her.

Doesn’t she loo sweet in it?

I’m so happy with the way this came out. It’s so fun working on something ad then seeing where it takes you. I might work on a pattern for this one. I also think I”m going to do these pockets on a grown up version.

I also have the BEST women’s dress refashion coming up. So easy, interchangeable and you’ll LOVE it!

Isabel’s Polka Dot Party Dress

Alexis — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:35:00 +0000

This was the dress I made for Isabel’s 5th birthday party.
I smocked the top and then added puffy sleeves.

I loved the color of these polka dots.

Then I made a petticoat under it so it would be poofy. I made it as a skirt so I could use it under other dresses.

Aren’t party dresses fun?