Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Because I'm so cheap...

I don't know if you could call this a tutorial, necessarily. My camera batteries were on the verge of death, and I only took the most crucial pictures.
I've seen these around the net, and I thought, "I might be able to make those." Key word: might. I found a bunch of girls' tops at Wal Mart a couple of weeks ago for $3.50. I snatched up a whole bunch of them, but obviously, they were a little plain.

What's a cheap girl to do with plain shirts for her 6-year old diva? Heat-n-bond, of course. I printed out a bunch of silhouette pictures from the internet, and I bought/already had a bunch of scrap fabric laying around the house. Hint--if you don't have spare fabric, just go through your kids' old clothes. I found a couple of shirts and an old pillow case that I used for some scrap fabric.

Like I said...not quite a tutorial. Follow the directions on the bag of Heat-n-bond, and you should be good to go. Some more advice, make sure you get the strongest one available, so you don't have to sew all around the edges.

As a matter of fact, the package recommends against sewing. It's simply not needed for the strength of the bond. I figure my daughter's not going to be wearing these clothes long enough anyway to actually spend hours (yes, hours for me) sewing all around the edges of these intricate branches and leaves.

She put a hole in a pair of her pants the other day. A week ago these would have been thrown away. There just would have been no hope for them.However, with mommy's new toy (Heat-n-bond, remember?), I'm the greatest mom on the face of the planet!!!!!! Bwaaa ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

Okay, well maybe she didn't say that. She did, however, say, "Mommy, I wish I was as creative as you." Look, she's got plenty of time to realize it's not creativity that drives me. For now, let's just let her keep believing it. K?

75 comments:

Michelle said...

That is such a great idea. I have to create costumes for 18 girls for a school play/dance and this would be a perfectly inexpensive alternative to jazz up some boring t-shirts.

Kaitlyn said...

What a cute way to save a few dollars :)

Heather said...

Those jeans are the cutest! I made a few baby onsies this way for a shower. They went over great!

Becca Watson said...

Very cute! Love the jeans!!

Elizabeth said...

Adorable! I love the jeans and that tree shirt is just way too cute!

Karen at Nittany Inspirations said...

Why this application could be used to cover up stains on garments. Hmmmm, I'm starting to get ideas. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Those look like designer clothes! Great job, I may have to try my hand at that. If yer sure I WON'T have to sew anything...

Thrifty Decor Chick said...

Adorable! I've seen these around too, and have been thinking about some for my son...hmmmm. Love it!!

pink and green mama MaryLea said...

Super cute! I love it. I'm planning to do this with some stained clothing in both of my daughter's wardrobes. Great job, they're adorable : )

Windy said...

I think even I can do that!
The shirts are cute, but the pants are my favorite:)

The Runyans said...

how funny. posted a pic today of one that i did. . .
first one for a bday gift.

Unknown said...

I actually did a tutorial on the same thing a couple of days ago. I did a cupcake dress for my daughter's birthday party!:)

Anonymous said...

Love those jeans they are my favorite out of all you shown. The shirts are very gorgeous as well.
Sarah

Jen said...

I love the jeans - so much better than plain old patches!

Madison Sanders said...

Neat idea! When I was that age, my mom let me pick out the patches I wanted to use for my jeans, and we iron them on.

I don't blame you, I wouldn't have sewn them either.

"Hello... It's Me Again..." said...

Fun clothes!!!

I used to add pockets and sleeve cuffs to jazz up boring shirts.

This is a great way to add your own flair to your daughter's clothes!

Have a reat week!

Lisa said...

I THINK YOUR ON TO SOMETHING!!!

HUGS FROM MAINE

http://sophie4me.blogspot.com/

Rachelle said...

How sweet, of course.

My mini diva would be lovin' those too :)

Tardevil said...

I 4 1 am impressed! ;O)

Mrs. E said...

Love it! And I'm with the idea of covering up stains.

Reese said...

I love Walmart tees!!
I'll have to try your idea, so very cute

Carmen @ Life with Sprinkles on Top said...

Oh wow! I love all of them! The birdie on the jeans is adorable.

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

This is one of my secret weapons and I'm always so surprised more people don't do it!

Inspired Kara said...

The jeans are so cute!!!!!! They are my fav.

Amy Bennett said...

so cute!!!

~Mommy+Me~ said...

Way cute! I'm not too good with an iron, but I might be able to pull it off. ;)

Kristen said...

SO cute!! Love the jeans. Do you think Graham would be upset if I put a birdie on his? I just went and bought Jean Pair #14 (NOT kidding) since school started in August. Holes in the knee on every single pair! We've tried every brand, you name it - he wears through all of them.

Once again you are the crafty queen. Now stop being so cool and go clean a toilet like the rest of us. :)

Unknown said...

Great idea! I especially love the jeans. I need to remember that when my favorite pair sprouts its first hole.

Valerie said...

Loved how you mended the jeans. They are so cute. I wanted to tell you about my Spring fling giveaway hop over and enter. It's open til 2:00 p.m. (CST) tomorrow!

christy said...

Love it! I have seen the cute girl tees, but never thought about ot for jeans! I have a 5 yo boy & I swear kindergarten has been so rough on his clothes! Two pairs of jeans with holes, now I have a plan!

Jenny said...

I didn't know they made a new sew adhesive! I think I need to run to the craft store tomorrow!

Suzanne said...

"I wish I was as creative as you?" Ok, so that pretty much means that you're the best mom ever! I love those cute ideas. I want to try them with patterned ties for my little man.

Carrie @carrieloves said...

I LOVE the jeans... too adorable & very creative.

Shell in your Pocket said...

So cute and fun!
sandy toe

Jennifer Juniper said...

Hmmmm...off to find a boy shape to heat and bond onto my kids' knees!

Unknown said...

I love this...I think my dd and I will be at the fabric store this weekend!!

Anonymous said...

How cute! Im all about saving a dollar but looking like I broke the bank {not that that ever happens}That lil bird on her pants is just adorable too. I saw once where you can use freezer paper to make a pattern and paint your picture on. I will have to check into that and let you know.
Great job!

Lisa said...

Too cute! I think you win the frugality award this week:o) Maybe this month!

Shannon said...

Those turned out so cute! Especially those jeans!

Julie said...

Chris what a cute idea I may have to try this out.
Have a great week
julie

Alicia {Murry Mayhem} said...

I love it! I try do re-use my daughters clothes all the time! Each Year I get all her dresses, pants & skirts out, and add stuff to the bottom, fabric, lace, ribbon...whatever I can find, to make them last another season! Don't ya just love being able to salvage some things?

SoBella Creations said...

I have all the materials except the t-shirts. I forsee a trip to target in my future.

Things That Inspire said...

These are exactly the kind of clothes my 11 year old would want to wear. I am going to try it out!

I love the name of your blog. It reminds me of the movie Notting Hill when Julia Roberts begs the guy to love her because she is just a girl, looking for a boy to love her.

Wendy said...

I love heat n bond! I have become addicted to it lately! It's a fun way to personalize!!

Gigi said...

Creative, inexpensive, cute...you've got my brain spinning with ideas. Hope you don't mind...I've shared this post on my blog. Love your blog!

The Cherry Family said...

Those are so great! I am heading to walmart right now!!!

Sarah said...

Darling ideas! Now, what do you do with jeans for boys who are preteens and no longer think stars, trains and dogs are cool "logowear"? :)

LWLH said...

What a great idea...cute and simple! :)

Becky @ Our Sweet Peas said...

You are awesome. I needed this tutorial. I wanted to make the boys b-day t-shirts for next month and had NO idea how to go about it. Here's to creativity and the adoration of your daughter. That is HUGE!

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Genius idea! My 9 year old daughter has holes in almost every pair of her jeans. I love that little bird - so cute! I am going to do that!

Thanks for the inspiration!!

Jen

Misty said...

So cute! This will work so much better for my daughter than embroidered(or stitching around the edges of the designs) b/c she can't stand the "itchy" of the back side of embroidered things(or the material they put over it).
Thanks for the inspiration!

janie said...

that is so beyond cute, i love it!

KR said...

These are so sweet. :) You've done a marvelous job with them! And now she has clothes that look boutique. :)

Hugs!

kristin
http://reclaimingthehome.typepad.com

Jodi said...

Those are sooooo cute; I love the little birdy on the jeans.

AJ said...

Girl, you are constantly amazing me! Apparently I spend too much time on Facebook and not enough time creatin'! Love what you did. Ya know, my husband just pointed out that he could see my undies through a little hole by the pocket of my 100 year old jeans. Maybe I can find a bird the size of my ass and bond it right on there;)

Jennifer said...

Love, love, love it! The jeans are adorable!

Linda said...

How Smart!! I visit your blog all the time but I hardly ever comment.. Can't say why, but I love just about everything you post about. By the way, do your wood floors hold up well with the dog? Mine seems to have scratches from our dog?
Blessings,
Linda

Shannon Strong said...

I think I'm like one of those "lurkers" or something. I have followed your blog for a few weeks, wait-maybe months-it's adorable though-thought I should probably finally leave a comment ;-) Love the decor-clothes-heck even the dog :-) So...Im officially not a lurker anymore-whew! Love this post-have a happy :-)-Shannon

the said...

Thats an awesome idea and so cute too! Thanks :)

The Charm House said...

This is so cute!!! I love it! Great Tutorial!
Yvette:)

Mandi Shandi said...

I love all of your daughter's new duds, lucky her! I love heat n bond and if it can stand up to my 2 boys, then it would survive a nuclear war. Kind of like a cockroach! Love it!

BPM37093 said...

a sweet idea!
I love it!

Debra from Bungalow said...

Hi, I'm new to yout blog and have found lots of fun and inspirational ideas here! Love the jeans. DebraK

M.L. @ The House of Whimsy said...

Chris...these are absolutely adorable. What a smart idea to get silhouette pix off the Internet. I'm sure I will try some of these this summer. Thanks for sharing!

Danielle (Life with the Hewitt Family) said...

What a great idea! I think I might try this project! It looks like so much fun!

Knit Purl Gurl said...

GREAT IDEA!! {Digging through fabric scraps}

DairyQueen said...

those are SO cute!!

Bradpetehoops said...

So beautiful.

Barb said...

Holy Crap!!!! what a perfect money saver and it looks so cute. The bird on the jean is my fav. Wonder if they had that bond stuff when you were young? If yes I sure missed out. Isn't Olivia adorable with her sweet comments to mom. She is a very lucky little girl to have such a great mom.

Love you
Mom

Anonymous said...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I just bought some of those same shirts last week, thinking I could do something with them too! Thanks for the fun ideas! Do you need to do anything special to prevent the edges from fraying?

Housewife Savant said...

I came over from SITS for your Big Day.
Congrats on being "Featured"! Your style is fabulous, and I left the recommended posts to Read More.
Love it!
I am SO doing this on clothes this spring!

kimert said...

Thank you for this idea!! My 5 yr old came home 2 days ago with the knee of her jeans ripped up. Now I need to find something pretty and Heat Bond (?) so she can wear them longer.

windi said...

So cute and what a great idea. My daughters pants are all like that as well so hey, I know what I'm doing hee hee!! Thanks for sharing!

UPrinting said...

Cool! Those are very creative.
But will the designs last for a long time? Well, because there are t-shirt designs that seem to chip off from the shirt in time. I hate that kind of design... :(

Cece Lively said...

so cute! but, how do you keep the edges of the fabric from fraying??

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