Hellobee

I enjoy my work, but since it’s in the digital world, I’ll be going about my typical schedule of work and momming and suddenly get the urge to make something tangible. Pre-kid, I used to subsequently end up crafting until four in the morning just listening to music and working it out to my heart’s content. Those days are gone but the urge remains. A year into motherhood, I still find it frustrating that my creative time comes in such short windows. But, until Jujube is big enough to enjoy crafting alongside me (and not on top of me), I’ve been trying to scale back my projects so I can still meet that desire in myself. Here is one of those such projects:

I took a women’s extra-small tank top and turned it into a little dress in a little over an hour.
As you can see, the smaller the neckline, the better this transformation will work, but I’m happy with the results since my current philosophy is better done than perfect. 

This takes some basic sewing skills and I wouldn’t attempt it by hand, but if you have a machine and an hour or two, you can follow these steps:

Lay an existing dress or shirt over the women’s one to decide where you’ll cut.

Cut straight across the shirt, about a half inch under where you want the line under the bust to be.

Next, turn the top inside out.
Use your child’s existing dress for reference.
Mark and then sew the sides in to create a fitted top.

Turn the bottom half inside out.
Flip the top down over itself about an inch and a half, leaving enough room to fit your elastic in with lots of wiggle room.
Sew all around.

Next, carefully cut a few threads in the seam you just made so you can fit your elastic in.
Cut elastic without stretching it to match the circumference of your child’s existing dress.
Use a safety pin to weave the elastic into the casing.

Pull both ends of the elastic together, lay them flat over one another and overlap them by 1 inch.
Sew them together and pull them into the casing.

Then resew the hole you made in your casing shut.

Bring your two pieces back together – the top should be inside out and upside down as you insert the bottom piece and align to edges where you will create your final seam. Stretch the elastic to match the width of the top piece and pin the two together all around, just above the elastic on the bottom layer. This will distribute the bunching around the entire dress. Sew the fabric together, stretching the elastic out to match as you go.

Flip the whole thing right side out again and you’re done!

I don’t know why making something gives me such pleasure but it’s something I really value and I’m glad I can find ways to fit my hobbies in here and there. What are personal projects and interests that you’re not willing to give up? How do you fit them in?