Tie-Shirt

I have been busy lately, but what I am going to share with you today is actually a project I completed about 3 weeks ago.  I have referenced it, but haven't yet showed it to you.  Its my "tie shirt".  Here is a picture of my Little Man wearing his tie-shirt sitting by his big sister wearing her cutie-patootie-outfit that you can click here to learn all about.

 I have been making these for a little while for babies on onsies following the pattern that you can here at an AWESOME blog called crapivemade.  I have had WONDERFUL results with this, and wanted to make a few for my little guy and my nephew.  Only problem is that the pattern given is for a LITTLE baby.  Not so much for a strapping almost three year old, and an almost two year old.  So I had to make some modifications to my pattern.  You might say "oh no biggie, just draw it bigger", but that's not exactly right either.  You really don't want it too much wider just longer in proportion to the length of the shirt and size of the child.  Then the knot area has to be larger as well in proportion to the tie.(Okay now that I have absolutely bored you senseless with all that unnecessarily complicated explanation. Let me just tell you what I did to fix it.)

I printed off her small pattern, and put it up to my sons shirt.  Too small, as noted earlier.  So I placed some freezer paper in between the two layers of shirt (inside the shirt where his body goes) and basically traced with an unclicked pen (no ink to get on the shirt) the size and shape I wanted the tie to be.  Then I pulled out the wax paper and cut along the indentations that the tracing made.  Finally I cut that out and used that as my pattern which brings me to this picture:

In this picture I laid my final patterns for the tie and knot on top of my wonder-under traced, and then cut out.  I affixed my cut out wonder-under to the fabric, cut the fabric along the edges of the wonder-under, and then affixed the cutout fabric/wonder-under combo to the shirt following the directions included with the wonder-under.  If you have never tried this stuff let me tell you that you MUST try it!!!! I ADORE it!!  

After I had my fabric tie affixed I laid the knot portion of the tie on top of it as flush with the neckline of the shirt as I could get it, and affixed it as well.  The final step was to sew a tight zig-zag stitch all the way around the edges to give it that applique look, and to keep it very securely in place.  

On this black one I pulled my shirt tight as I sewed.  Which gave it the wavy look when it was completed.  I happen to really like the affect this gets when he is wearing it.  It almost looks as if he is wearing a tie, because it doesn't look perfect.  Its really a cool affect that is hard to explain, you just have to see it.  Anyway, if you don't want a wavy rumpled look don't pull the shirt snug as you sew it.  Simple as that!

This blue one has a funky plaid print that gives it the affect of hanging sideways, and I had to put the knot fabric a little different direction than the tie, just to be fun.  You will note that I did not make this one wavy.  I  am really happy with both of the ways that these tie shirts turned out.  My Sister In Laws loves the ones I made my nephew as well!

This was such a simple and fast project to make (once I made the pattern the proper size and dimensions)!!  And, oh my the results were fabulous!!  As you saw above, I had my Little Man and my Girlie Girls wear their outfits on the same night. Theirs took hours of measuring, cutting, creating, and TONS of sewing.  Then only a few commented on their new outfits.  Then the tie shirts that took maybe an hour tops to make (both the pattern and to do four shirts).  The reaction?? Everyone in church went crazy over them...kids went crazy, parents went crazy, grandparents went crazy...they were a HUGE hit.  I don't sew for my kids for others reactions or compliments, but because I love to do it and to put my own personal touch on their clothes.  It was just shocking the overwhelming interest in his tie-shirt, but I have to admit I completely understand.  Little Man's smile with that little man shirt melts my heart every time!  Now I have a TON of small fabric pieces to make tie shirts out of since he loves them as much as I do!

Hope you enjoyed my simple tutorial on how I created my version of the tie shirts.  If you have any ideas or suggestions fire away!  I love to hear from my readers!

Have a great day and God Bless!

It stinks, so clean it for cheap!

A while back I ventured into the realm of homemade products that I would normally just buy.  I made my own diaper wipes.  I was very sceptical at first, but have become a true believer after having tried them out.  For my first try I followed the tutorial found here:

Home-Made Baby Wipes

But there were several things I didn't like about it.  The wipes seemed to dry out too quick for me and they weren't as softening as I would have liked.  It seemed like the scent really just wasn't strong enough, and they weren't big enough to suit my taste.  So I made up my own recipe that I am going to share today.

You will need:
1.) boiled water (I skipped this step the first time and just used plain ole tap water...ummm take the five min to boil a pot of water It makes a difference!)
2.) your favorite baby soap (tear free)
3.) baby oil
4.) strong cloth-like paper towels like Viva or Bounty that wont shred or disintegrate when wet
5.) air tight leak proof container on the largish side
6.) zip-lock baggie, quart sized (if doing the purse pack)
7.)serrated knife
8.) measuring cups and spoons

Okay once you have all of your materials assembled lets get going.

(yes I am using an old cookie dough plastic container...hey I like to re-purpose and at home I am the only one who will see it.  Plus my kids think its cool that wipes come from the cookie jug lol)

First you will cut your paper towel roll with the serrated knife.  The first time I made these I cut it exactly in half as the other tutorial suggested, but I found that to be too small when wiping mess from my two year old's hiney.  So I cut this one at two thirds.

Once its cut you will need to remove the cardboard from the center.  If you decide to make a small purse pack like I did then take it from both sides.  If not then just the side you are going to use. Then set aside.

Now its time to make the solution. 

You will add 4-4 1/2 cups boiling water to you air tight container if doing the purse pack and the larger side too, or just add 3 if only doing the larger side .  You can wait for it to cool if you like (I didn't let mine cool enough and I regretted it in a couple of steps).

Then you add 3 1/2Tbsp baby soap to the water if doing the whole roll (purse pack too).  If only doing the bigger side just add 2 1/2Tbsp. Swish it around good, but don't let it froth and bubble up.

Then add 4Tbsp of baby oil for the whole roll (purse pack too), and 3Tbsp for just the larger side, and swish around again.

That's all there is to the solution.  Yes, really!!  Wasn't that easy?!?!?!

Okay now for the more hands on difficult part (not really I just like to keep it thrilling and interesting)

***Skip this step if you are not doing the whole roll/purse pack****

Take the small one third roll and drop it in the mixture, and pretty quickly lift it out.  Then squeeze the excess solution from that small roll back into the large tub of solution, and put it in the empty water pan or empty dish to set. Make sure the entire roll is wet all the way through though. (this is where the too hot water gave me problems.  I may or may not have scalded my hands a little squeezing VERY hot water from this)

Next set the big roll in the container and leave it.

***Don't read if you aren't doing the purse pack...that's right, it's NOT ALLOWED, and privileged info for purse pack users ONLY***

If you did the purse pack then during this soaking time period, if by some chance your water was say too hot for you to get much water out of the smaller roll after soaking it, you would want to re-squeeze that roll so the water will run over the now soaking big roll.  Go ahead and see if any water has seeped out even if your water wasn't too hot, because it may need to be squeezed again anyway.

Okay after about a min or two look, as best you can without lifting the roll from the container, to see if most if not all of the Solution mixture has been soaked up(it should be). If so, then put the lit on the container and flip it upside down for 10 min.  This is where the air tight and spill proof part comes in (just in case you were wondering if that was for a purpose other than in case they mysteriously fell off a table after a two year old had been playing suspiciously nearby).

****Don't read if you are only doing the big roll****

While this is setting, take your smallerr roll and put it in a nice zip lock baggie.  If you have something different you think would work better than a baggie, then by all means feel free to use it. Oh let me know what it is too please ;) I love hearing about your ideas!!  This is just what I came up with and it is working wonderfully for me.

Finally, when the 10 min are up, flip the container right side up.  Start your wipe roll from the center like those cleaning wipes you buy in canisters from the store, and you will be done.  DONE just that quick!!

And ENJOY a clean happy soft tush on your baby. 

****Purse Pack readers ONLY****

Three days later, I am absolutely loving my purse pack!!  It is the cold and allergy season here in N.Alabama and my runny nosed little boy has been wiped with these all day!  They are working so much better than tissues!  Because I squeezed a lot of the water out, and they aren't wringing wet, they aren't too wet to wipe away snot.  The baby oil is soft and gentle keeping his much wiped nose from chapping and turning red, while the soap cleans easily.  They also easily removed stickiness from his fingers after Sunday School treats too because thay aren't completely dry either.  So this is totally a WIN /WIN!!   

As always, I hope you enjoyed my ideas and creative twist on things.  Please let me know what you think in the comments section.  I love to hear from you!

If you have any ideas about how I could improve or change up this project or how it would work better for you by all means tell me all about it!  I look forward to reading your ideas and comments!

Have a great day and God Bless!