Budget Mummy!

So if you're anything like me then money isn't something you can just throw around. And my bub is now growing at a rapid rate - gone are the days of spending months and months in the same size! Which means she needs more clothes and she has lots of clothes that she probably won't get to wear. So I've been buying up big on the winter clearance clothes - you can get perfectly good things for as little as $1!!!! I tend to stick to t-shirts and onsies cos stretch fabric is fairly easy to work with - u dont even need to hem it if you don't want to! Sleeves can be neatly shortened with a rotary cutter (Ive got one that leaves a lovely bumpy edge and looks very cute for sleeves) or just given a nice edge like a lettuce edge : http://lynniepinnie.com/onesie_dress_tutorial/onesie_dress_tut.htm

So gather your pile of discounted tees and onesies (or raid ur wardrobe or the older kids wardrobe and gather your supplies from unwanted (or even damaged depending where the stains, holes are) items) and check out these tutorials to give them new, unique life :)






TShirt Revamps:

Pillowcase dresses

I LOVE making Piper pillowcase dresses out of kids tees. I have bought a number of boys tshirts in bigger sizes - 2, 3, 4, 5 (- Pipers in a 00 at present) And turned them into dresses! Pillowcase dresses are easy and SUPER cute! Here is a really straight forward tutorial for making a pillowcase dress that I learnt from :

http://www.aestheticnest.com/2010/06/sewing-patriotic-pillowcase-dresses.html

: I use bias binding on the arm holes of the dress because a) its neat, b) its easy and c) I think the contrast trim looks cute - I used some red checked bias binding to make piper this dress from a boys printed tee and used some vintage lace I had for the straps to girly it up

The best thing about getting them big is she can wear them as dresses then tunics (over tights or just over a cute MCN) than as a tee - definately getting my money worth there :)
Pipers got lots of pretty little dresses that are lovely and unique and cost $2.50 (or less!) and u dont have to use boys tees, u can use anything u like (Ive got some of my old tees put aside to revive for Pie clothes too!)

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/07/re-purposing-tshirt-into-a-dress-with-braided-collar.html
I LOVE this dress - I tried to make one for Piper but made the braided neck way too long so added straps instead but this is so adorable and again its the type of dress u can make wide so it goes from a dress to a tunic and can be worn for longer!

A dress like this can easily be made from a tee too http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2008/05/16/adorable-3-in-1-t-shirt-dress-tunic-top-skirt/ In fact while my little Pie is sleeping I might make one after this blogs all done and dusted :)



Onesie revamps:

When bubs outgrow a onesie its genereally because of the body length - most of them have enough width in them to be worn for longer so you can cut them in half, add a cute skirt and get another months wear out of them like these easy tuts:

http://www.dana-made-it.com/2009/07/red-white-and-refashioned.html

http://lynniepinnie.com/onesie_dress_tutorial/onesie_dress_tut.htm


http://barefootinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/06/onesie-dress-tutorial.htm

http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/11/onesie-dress.html

Because the top is created from the chopped up onesie (a tee thats fits could be used like this as well) ur essentially just sewing straight panels to make the skirts of the dress - easy and fast!!!

And if u want to reuse the bottom of the chopped up onesie try making some cute pants like these - http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/11/onesie-dress.html -

or making them with ruffles like this -

http://2giggleboxes.blogspot.com/search/label/girls?updated-max=2010-03-29T12%3A19%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=20

I got 2 onesies from best and less for $5 on sale and made piper a cute dress and a ruffled nappy cover out of 1 to wear this summer - will post a pic when shes wearing it :) Plus if you follow that last tut you can easily just add ruffles to a onesie to make it a little extra special :)

Anyway, enjoy reusing last seasons wear xo