No-sew T-Shirt Re-make Tutorial

Have a T-shirt that is just too big or boxy?  Freshen it up with a T-Shirt Alteration / Reconstruction.

Supplies:
1 T-shirt
Rotary Cutter, Ruler, and Mat
OR Scissors and Tape Measure
Two pieces of Ribbon 18" each in length.

Instructions:

Step One:
Put the oversized shirt on and decide on how much you want each side taken in.  I did 2" on each side.

Step Two:
Lay your T-shirt out flat making sure your side seams are nice and even.

Step Three:
Using your Rotary Cutter, Ruler and Mat, measure 1/2" from the arm pit seam and cut in 2". Now from that cut measure down 1" and cut in 2".  Continue this process, cutting 1" down from each cut until you have reached the bottom of the shirt.  Repeat this step for the other side seam.

Step Four:
Using your scissors, cut the seam on the fold to separate the two layers. Do this to all the slits you just cut.

Step Five:
With your ends separated, tie a double knot for each section cut all the way down the shirt on both sides.

Step Six:
You should now have something that looks something like this.

Step Seven:
If your sleeves are a bit too long, simply cut a tiny slit, just large enough to slide some ribbon through the hole, on the open side of the seam of the sleeve as shown.

Step Eight:
Slip the 18" ribbon through the slit you just cut and bring it back around to the neck of shirt.  Tie off the ribbon cinching the shirt sleeve up adding a bit of flare and shortening the sleeve just a bit.  Do this to both sleeves.

You are now done and have a new stylish T-Shirt you can wear with style.

Enjoy!

A new do!

{DISCLAIMER: Your eyes are not out of focus, it is the inadequate pictures of my iPhone.}

This is Paige. {notice the long hair on the right and the much shorter hair on the left.}

These are Paige's Scissors.

This is a wad of hair that Paige decided no longer needed to be attached.

This is result of me finally giving in and getting her hair cut so she does not butcher it herself.

I actually really love her new do.  It is pretty cute on her.

We had about 8"-9" cut from her hair and we are sending it to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program so they can make a beautiful wig for a special cancer patient to wear.

Quilts and More - Winter 2010

If you haven't got it already... go buy a Quilts and More Magazine - WINTER 2010 issue today! 

I have a Christmas project on page 86 that you will want to make for this years' Christmas decor. {Here is a little sneaky peek!} The step by step tutorial is included in the magazine.

I was so excited when I received my copy in the mail and to open it up and see that my project is featured in the magazine... IN PRINT!  So... go... buy... and make!

Be sure to post your pictures on my flickr group when you make one!

Matthew's Birthday Party

Sunday, we celebrated Matthew's 4th Birthday with some of our friends and family.  I had originally planned to have the party at our house and have a bounce house/slide combo as their entertainment.  W-e-l-l... that quickly changed to a Bowling Party when I checked the weather and they forcasted 60% chance of rain on Sunday {warning... you cannot trust a weather man.} It ended up being a beautiful Sunday afternoon outside and a BLAST of fun on the inside.  {Not to mention I did not have to stress about cleaning my house before and after the party :) I think that was the best part of it for me.}

The party was Awesome! We had a wonderful party host, lots of fun, pizza, cake and games! Oh.. .and did I mention... I did not have to do anything! Just show up bring some cupcakes, kids, and have FUN! 

 These bowling ramps are the best thing ever invented for little kids. 

 oh... and the bumpers too.

 Guaranteed score everytime!

 Matthew even received a souvenier bowling pin that everyone signed.

 It's not a party unless there is some dancing involved... Matthew got right up there with the host and they danced to Casper's Cha Cha Slide

 After all the bowling and dancing, we ate CAKE! I love this picture of my little man trying to blow out all his candles.  Look at those cheeks!

SUCCESS!  One happy child at his birthday party! 

1 Million Pillowcase Challenge

At Quilt Festival in Houston, American Patchwork and Quilting was there with several sewing machines having people come and make a pillowcase to donate.  It was fantastic!  It was amazing to see all the pillowcases that were made just in the short week of festival.

I found my way over to their booth and made a pillowcase myself to donate.

This is such a wonderful challenge that American Patchwork and Quilting is doing.  To participate, find a shop hosting One Million Pillowcase Challenge events in your area. Once your pillowcases are complete and donated locally, log on below to enter how many pillowcases you made. Help them reach their goal of ONE MILLION Pillowcases.

Please visit their website for more information on how you can help out in their challenge. http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases/

Quilt Festival Wrap-up

So I am finally going through all my pictures from Quilt Festival and thought I would share of few of them with you all.  We had a booth at Festival in Houston for the Moda Bake Shop.  We called in a few of the projects that have been posted on the website and used them as our booth decoration. 

Debbie {aka: Ducki} was our Magic Maker.  She made the booth come alive with all her wonderful touches she added to the booth.  She told us where and what to do and we did it. 

Thanks Ducki for making the Moda Bake Shop booth look FABULOUS!

Thank you, Lissa for everything! Lissa is our Marketing Director at Moda and she is a wonderful person to work for and with!

I enjoyed every minute working with you two ladies... it was AWESOME!

We were stationed right next to the food court which ended up being perfect because they made Cinnamon Roasted Almonds and Pecans everyday which made it smell like we were baking cupcakes in our booth all week long.  Y-U-M!  The downside was it made us all hungry all day long.

Thanks to all the Chef's who graciously sent in your projects to be displayed in the booth!

We were able to meet a few of the MBS Chef's that had their projects beautifully displayed in the booth.

Mary Lane Brown (Didn't get a picture with her. :(  She was a sweetheart and was glad I got to meet her in person.  You can view her Recipes here.

Jamie Elfert came by to see her quilt in the booth and was able to get a picture with her and her quilt. It was a pleasure to have met you, Jamie!  Check out Jamie's Recipes here.

Jamie Mueller of Sunflower Seeds was such as sweetie! She had several fans come and take pictures of themselves next to her quilt on display.  Jamie offered her help after the show and was a great help as we had only 1.5 hours to break down, get everything on the crates and catch a cab to the airport for our flight back to Dallas. With her help we were able to get everything packed up and on the crates/palettes in 55 minutes! Thanks Jamie for all your help! You can see all her Recipes here.

Also, Thank you to my mom and her crew for taking all our luggage back to Dallas on her trailer so we did not have to check any bags... one less thing we had to worry about so we could catch our plane on time.

We had lots of fun telling the shoppers all about the Moda Bake Shop and promoting the retail shops that sell the Moda precut fabrics.


I was thrilled to have met Sheree of Sheree's Alchemy. She is such a sweetheart and a joy to talk to.

So... go check out the Moda Bake Shop website if you have not been!  Lots of fun and quick projects that you can make with your Layer Cake, Jelly Roll, Charm Pack and MORE!

Quilt Market Fall 2010 Guide

When you go to the International Quilt Market there are hundreds of people checking out all the new fabrics and products, taking lots of pictures of just about anything they can snap a picture of.  So... you really forget who, what and when pictures are taken when working in a booth at Market.

The other night I got a text message from my mom and it read: "Did you know... you made the cover of the Houston Quilt magazine?"

What? What is she talking about... Who? Me? I am on the cover?  What picture? When?

So, I immediately called her up and had her explain. Yesterday, I was finally able to see the cover of the Quilt Market Buyers Guide to see exactly what she was talking about.

How cool is that!  They just happen to pick a picture to put on the cover that has me in the Moda Bake Shop booth showing Mr. Gervais (Sandy Gervais' husband) what the Moda Bake Shop website is all about.

Who would have ever guessed in a million years that they would select a picture that I was in to put on their cover?  NOT ME {I'll tell you that much}!  I am absolutely thrilled!  Thanks Quilts, Inc!

Matthew turned 4!

Today Matthew turned FOUR!

I cannot believe how big he has grown in such a short time. 

He loves all things Robots, Transformers, and Buzz Lightyear.

He can spend hours building robots and cars from Legos.

He is my ultimate cuddle bug!

I love you, Matthew!

Mom.