$4 Ruffled Shirt

So I only managed to take a cell phone pic of this, but it'll do.

A short little tutorial would go something like this...
I grabbed a $4 t-shirt from Wal-Mart and an old grey shirt from my closet that never gets worn. I cut the old shirt into 4 strips, the length of the shoulder to the hem. I needed 4 since there are two making the "U." A man's t-shirt would work much better.
Gather the strips using either the basting stitch way, or my cheater way, and then place the ruffles where you'd like, making sure to follow the seam line of the shirt.
I did take the Wal-Mart shirt in AFTER I sewed on the ruffles causing them to separate...mistake. So note to self, take in the shirt before if needed.

Button Bracelet

I needed some 4th of July color a couple weeks ago and threw together this bracelet before church, it is that simple.
All that is needed is a few buttons, and twine or thin ribbon. I have a huge stash of vintage buttons courtesy of my grandma and friend of the family.

Cut two lengths of twine and folded them in half and knotted them together. This loop acts as the clasp.
I picked out a few and threaded them onto the twine, making knots around each button so it stayed in place.
It is finished off with a little button on the very end that fits inside the knotted loop to secure the bracelet. I may need to make another in a different color scheme.

Dress Make-Over

I found this dress at Target a couple weeks ago on sale for $9.98, marked down from $40! I could not pass this deal up, even if it was a size too big and little too short. It was just so darn cute!

Before (w/ my doggie in the background)

I immediately knew I wanted a ruffle to lengthen the dress, but all I could picture in my head was a pleated hem, so I got to work.
I was really excited about trying to make a pleated hem, because I always wanted something like this around the bottom of my wedding dress, but never found one.

I took in both sides, and ripped out the existing hem. I then hemmed the blue fabric first before ironing and sewing in the pleats. And just an FYI that I am SO glad I thought of before sewing anything together. I washed my blue fabric because I had an inkling that it would bleed. Boy did it bleed, the sink looked like grape kool-aid!

Once the pleats were in place I attached them to the dress using the old hem as a reference point.
I was saving this dress for church this weekend because I thought it looked very patriotic, and I am so excited about the way it turned out. The pleats give it almost a 40's look, which works great since I love anything vintage.
For the patriotic touch, I threw together a button bracelet that I will post another time.

After