Update on Vintage Laura Ashley Dress

Since I am going to get another procedure on Thursday, I am going to take a break from this link party this week. I am not sure how I will be after the procedure, and I don't wanna keep you waiting too long for the link love post.

Today I am going to share the update on my vintage Laura Ashley dress... (you can read about the dress here.


Let me refresh your memory...

Even though I still love the flower print, I didn't care for the really puffy sleeves. It is so outdated, so I took the sleeves off and cut some of it off and put them back on...



The problem with the sleeves wasn't only the shoulders. I didn't like how it was really slim around the wrist. So, I cut it shorter and put in elastic. Now the sleeves are elbow length.


I also didn't care for the neck line. I changed it slightly lower and also made that into a v neck instead of a rounded neck.



Then, I hit a wall. Part of me really wanted to see this dress transformed drastically by cutting the skirt short and making it into a tunic (and, I wanted to make a skirt for Rachel with the extra fabric). Although another part of me still wanted the skirt to be long. It's so hard to make up my mind!




Since then I wore the dress a couple times and I am loving it. I guess I am going to keep it like this for a while... who knows all of a sudden I might decide to cut the skirt short in a couple weeks.

If that happens, I will let you know. :)

Guest Post at I am Momma Hear Me Roar!

Cheri over at I am Momma Hear Me Roar asked me to be her guest blogger for her Refashionista week a while ago. I am posting a fun refashion project, head over to check out her amazing blog!

A little sneak picture...


Tempted?

Link Party No.10 /My Little Project " Bleached!"

Welcome back to the "Wednesday at Tea Rose Home link party"! This week, I am going to close the link on Thursday night, and post the link love on Saturday. Since I usually post every other day, if I Post "Link Love" on Monday, and the "Link Party" on Wednesday, it's like most of the week's posts become one big link party post.

I love doing the link party, but my intention for my blog is not to be identified as a link blog. I wanted a little more space between the link posts. I am still trying to see what the best way is to do this, and I might change something in the future too. Sorry for the inconvenience!

I will share a project that I did... I named this project "Bleached!".

One day, I got a call that unexpected guests were coming... I had to go through my house and did some spot cleaning (who told you that my house is always clean? That is just an illusion...). The bathroom was one of the areas that I had to take care of.

The next day, as I was folding the laundry, I noticed that my shirt that I wore the day before had gotten some bleach on it! Noooo! Don't you hate it when that happens? I was being careful but obviously I wasn't careful enough. When I found the bleached area my face was like this:


I loved the shirt, but good-bye...I decided to make this into something Rachel could wear.


Here is what I did:

1. I cut the bottom area (that is the bleached area).


2. Cut the sleeves off too.


3. Open up the sleeves to make bias tape.

4. Cut 1" off from the top to make the neckline shorter.

5. Pin the bias tapes around the sleeve area and sew. Turn, pin and stitch.


6. I made a pocket to give a more kids clothes feel to it.


Done!

Rachel enjoyed watching the process of "Mommy's clothes become her clothes."

I enjoyed watching her wearing it and being happy. I guess my clothes getting bleached wasn't such a bad thing. ;)



Ok, it is your turn. Please show me (and the other readers), what you have been working on and enjoy the party!

Here are the rules:

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.


<br /><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462799092490427250" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r-hfhq1dCxo/S8_C1Ns323I/AAAAAAAACXo/Z2Bk7IVy69I/s200/GrabButtonLinkParty.jpg" /></a><br />

Tutorial ~Little Girl's Tunic with Tank Top~

A couple of weeks ago, I scored these for $1 each at a thrift store. Two of them were brand new and still had the original tags, and the lime green one was used, but in nearly mint condition!


I thought that to make a tunic top using a tank top would be so easy and fast; not to mention FUN too! I will show you how I did it.

{How To}

1. Cut the tank top (I cut mine about 1 1/2" below the arm pit area). I also cut two 1 1/2" strips.


2. Cut off the seams and connect the two 1 1/2" strips together to make a long strip for the ruffle around the neck.


3. Cut two different fabrics to make the main skirt and bottom ruffles. The shirt is for 4 or 5 year olds, and I cut out 2 - 9" X 21" for the main skirt, 2 - 3" X 36" for the bottom ruffles.

Sew the sides and use a serger or zig-zag to finish the edges.


4. Put fusible interfacing on the edge of the tank top. (This will help from getting too wavy, when you sew).



5. Pin the ruffles and the skirt together. Sew all around it, then pull out the bottom thread (the bottom thread is there to stablize the gather better, so the results of the gather will be much prettier).


6. Repeat the same thing to attach the skirt to the top. For hemming, I used a narrow hem.

Attached, turned, and stitched...


7. To make the ruffles for the neck line, sew slightly off to the side from the middle. Pull one thread to gather the fabric.



8. Pin the ruffle all around the neck line. Sew it on.


9. I used the leftover fabric to make a corsarge. I think it gives a more boutique look to the tunic.


I love how it turned out!


So, I wanted to do the same with the other two and experiment with colors and patterns...

Hot pink...


Then, lime green...


I love them all, but I think I am going to keep the green one for my little girl, and put the other two in my etsy store. She loves the new top, she even strikes a pose or two for the camera.



After taking some pictures, she was off to play at the park with her new found favorite top.

Wednesday at Tea Rose Home Link Party No. 5!

Hi, it has already been a week and I am having another link party!

Before we start, I want to share one of the projects I did last week.
Sometime last week, while the boys were in school, I was cleaning the house, I realized; where's Rachel? She was being all independent, got the paint out (the kind that you paint ceramics with) and started painting...

You know what happens when little kids play with paint unattended, right? When I came down stairs, the table was a mess! She looked fine though, so I just cleaned the table and didn't think much of it.

Then, that night, I realized there were paint splashed all over the right side of her dress and splashed and smeared on both of her sleeves (they were in the back of the sleeves, so I didn't see it first).


I tried many different methods, but the paints didn't come off. Not only that, the color of the fabric around the paint started to fade! I was soo sad, because it was one of my...I mean Rachel's favorite dresses.

Then, an idea hit me...

Just cut off the sleeves!


I did some stitching to give it character and added a corsage. I made a corsage out of the sleeves where the paint hadn't splashed.


For the side, I did some stitching to make vine designs. Then added some leaves and flowers to hide the paint splash.



Sorry folks, she was not in the mood to have her picture taken...


I am pretty happy how it turned out. I didn't think about taking a before picture, but basiclly, the dress had long sleeves and no flowers on the side. I feel like she gave me a lemon and I made lemonade with it. The dress is one size too big for Rachel. If she doesn't put paint on it again (knock on wood) she should be able to wear it for a while.

What have you been working on? Are there recipes that are sooo good you need to share with us? Link up and visit each other and have fun!

Here are the rules:

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it!

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.


<br /><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372981636144556450" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r-hfhq1dCxo/SpCqVK8X6aI/AAAAAAAABJ8/PbPkwNoJ2zQ/s200/GrabButton1.jpg"/></a><br />

4. One more thing, please DO NOT link anything inappropriate or any kind of advertisement.

I can't wait to see all your creations! Thank you for participating everyone!