Lady Bug Costume

I wanted to share my first homemade Halloween costume for my little girl! It came together nicely so I'd love to share how I made it. 

Sorry for the lack of a cute background, but we had to get in pictures before she ripped off any of the attire!

The hat is crocheted, with added crocheted black circles. The antennas are made using black pipe cleaners and are secured on the hat by threading them through the crocheted holes already there. 

I bought a plain red shirt and added black circles of felt that I cut out. I cheated and hot-glued them on instead of sewing since I was out of black thread!

The wings I found at a local thrift store for $1.00! But I can easily see them being made with hangers, red nylons (if there is such a thing), and some paint. The arm bands are elastic, covered with red fabric which stay on quite nicely.

The skirt is a piece of elastic measured to my daughters waist size, with black tulle and red fabric tied in knots around it. VERY easy and I'm sure you've seen the technique before. Then of course she has on black tights. 

This costume is custom made for the cold Utah weather! But as you can see it wouldn't be hard to make some changes if needed. In the meantime,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Tutorial: 5 Step Baby Car Seat Strap Covers

Car seat strap covers are so quick and easy to make! Plus you can make these a custom design by choosing your own fabric. It takes less than an hour to make, so get started! If you use two different fabrics, you've got yourself reversible strap covers. I have used this size of strap covers with my daughter's infant car seat and now with her convertible car seat. 

Steps

1. Cut out two 6"x6" squares of each fabric and two pieces of batting the same size. 

2. Put your fabrics right sides together with the batting on top or bottom (it doesn't matter). Sew these together with a 1/4" seam. Leave a 2" opening to turn inside out. 

3. Cut your corners & turn the square inside out.

4. Pin your opening and sew around the outside of the square still with a 1/4" seam. I started sewing at the beginning of the opening and then went over it again at the end as a form of double stitching/reinforcement. 

5. Cut 2 strips of velcro approximately 5" long. Sew those on one side to each side of the square by sewing around the perimeter of the strips. Here are my two strap covers showing a velcro strip on each side. Excuse the fact that my velcro strips aren't the same color, I ran out of the white velcro with my first strap cover! Who will really see it, right?? As a side tip, I put transparent thread on the top stitch so it wouldn't show on the velcro. White thread would work as well. 

You're all done! Enjoy your cute strap covers!

Leg Warmers or Tights or Arm Bands! Tutorial

Knee High Socks = Leg Warmers or Tights or Arm Bands!

This project comes about because of some knee high socks that got holes in them but were just too cute to throw out! These end up being perfect tights for toddlers, leg warmers for younger girls, and arm bands for any age youth! If I were in high school I think I'd be a believer in arm bands :)

Supplies: 1 pair of knee high socks

 Steps:

1. Cut the sock at the heel right as the sock starts to turn into the foot part.

2. Fold in the sock about a half inch where you just cut. 

3. Sew down your fold so your project has no raw edges that would fray.

You're done! 

Here's a close-up of the tights/leg warmers:

Dish Towel Bib

This bib is quick, easy, and affordable. You can use older dish towels, or buy them brand new (but I would only pay $1 for each one). It's best for kids 6 months or older. I personally like these because they cover the shoulders, are long in the front, and even cover the backside!

1. Take a normal kitchen dish towel, then measure and mark eight inches from the top as well as halfway across. (simply fold it in half to get the halfway mark)

2. Fold the top of the cloth down at the 8" mark.

3. Fold in half (hot dog style)

4. Cut at a 3" angle along the inside fold (where your 8" and halfway marks are will be directly under where my 3" mark is on my measuring tape shown below)

Here is what your towel will look like after cutting:

5. Cut your ribbing. I made mine 14" long. One way to test if it's big enough is to pin the end and where you're thinking of cutting, then see if it fits over your head. Once cut, fold it in half length-wise.

6. Take the two ends of your ribbing - on one side fold it inward so there's no raw edge, then tuck the other end inside of it.

7. Insert four pins total on the top, bottom and sides of your circle.

 8. Pin in ribbing at the four points on the front side of your towel. It stretches so it won't fit on exactly and that's okay!

9. Start on one pin and sew. I have a hemstitch on my sewing machine so that's what I used. If you only have a basic machine do a zig-zag stitch so it will hold better. The best option is to use a serger. 

**You will have to stretch the ribbing to make it fit. Sart at one pin, put your needle in the down position, and stretch your fabric to fit to the next pin. 

You're done! Here's a view of the back:

And the front: