An Artsmock from a collared men's shirt

On Friday my daughter arrived home from school with her list of stationery requirements.  One of the items required was an art smock.  We discussed and she said she'd take one of the plastic art smocks I'd bought a few years back.  Great that she doesn't expect me to buy everything new, but uh no!  Plastic is incredibly sticky on hot days and the art smocks are really sized for kids 4 years younger than her.  So, we took a trip to the local Vinnies (2nd hand store) before church on Sunday and had a quick look through the men's collared shirts before settling on a stripey blue one (Calvin Klein brand - only $6.00 and a decent quality cotton finish). 

Later in the day she tried on the shirt and I was able to measure and pin - she needed a smock with long sleeves.  I cut off approximately 20cm.  Next I used my tape measure and measured a radius of 3 inches from the lower edge of the collar.  Once pinned, I cut from pin to pin and removed the collar. 

Snip, snip, snip...collar comes off.

 

Next I zig-zagged along each of the cut seams - 2 sleeve ends and neckline.  Next I folded over approx. 1.5cm and sewed each of the seams, leave a small opening for elastic.  Then I threaded through the elastic with a safety pin into each of the seams.  Before tying these off I got my model to try on the garment and tightened and loosened the elastic accordingly.  

 

And this is the finished product.  A gypsy style art smock with long sleeves and approx. to knee length.  I bet it won't look like this for long!  Go, my little Picasso.

 

 

Ballerina Girl

In the last few days of school holidays, I pulled out my stash of felt and using a template from
http://dailyfix.co.za/crafts/gift-idea-ballet-doll/, I sewed two little ballerina dolls for my girls.  Here are photos of one of them. 

 

Isn't she a cutie?  I decided against gluing on googly eyes and beads for her face and used a black fineliner instead.  Partly because I wanted to finish her off quickly and partly because friends with babies or toddlers come to play and I don't want them swallowing something they could choke on.

 

 

Another improvement I made to the basic template was adding a hair bun.   My older daughter loves wearing her hair in a bun, so I personalised hers. To make the bun, draw a circle around a slender tumbler (tall drinking glass).  Cut out the circle and gather it up, stuffing before tightening up and sewing onto the back of the ballerina's head.

 

 

The template doesn't have a pattern for panties, so I created my own using some matching ribbon and the skirt was a rectangle of tulle approx. 50cm x 16cm folded along the length and gathered by hand using shearing elastic (the one you buy on a cotton reel).

 

Hope you are inspired to try one for yourself.  These would be great for a school fete, gifts for nieces and granddaughters and even a morale booster for a sick little girl.  Approx time to complete - 90 mins.