Five Minute Leggings & Turban Headband

When Small Fry posted about these adorable 5 Minute Leggings I had a *facepalm* moment. How come I didn't think of that?! I made mine just a little bit different (these will not be perfect since there is no pattern to use) so I know they will have the stretch they need for a moving baby. Here's what you need!

• A pair of leggings that fit
• Scissors
• A washable marker
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• A cheap body contouring skirt

Start by turning your skirt inside-out. Lay it flat on the floor. Fold your leggings in half at the waist. Line them up with the edge of the skirt and the top of the skirt. The skirt is made to fit the curve of a woman's hips, so do the best you can to line the leggings up straight.

Sorry for the blurry picture!

Trace about 1/4"-1/2" around the leggings (the side facing away from the edge only). Cut along the line you drew.

It should look this this.

Flip the fabric you just cut over and line it up with the other side. Make a cut the same size.

You should have two pieces that look like this.

Open both pieces and place them, right (patterned) sides facing, on top of each other.

Straight pin the edges together, like pictured.

Sew together and trim excess fabric. Open fabric so that the seam you just sewed is in the middle. Start straight pinning the open edges together.

As you're sewing just continue from one ankle to the other.

When you're done you should have something like this. Before trimming the extra fabric, make sure they fit you kiddo. Trust me, you want to check! If they don't fit right you're going to need a seam ripper to take out the thread you just sewed.

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With the extra fabric I decided to make a headband. I love the way turban headbands look and they're surprisingly easy to make! Here's the how-to.

You need:

• Fabric scraps
• scissors
• 1/2" elastic
• Straight pins
• A headband that fits
• A washable marker

First, determine the headband size you need. This chart helps! You could also measure the headband that fits your child, which is what I did. This headband is 16 inches. I wanted the knot in the turban to be off to the side, like the bow on this headband. I measured the distance between 1 and 2 (4") then doubled it and added 1/2". Then I measured the distance between 1 and 3 (8") then doubled it and added 1/2". If you wanted the knot in the middle you would use two 6" (12 1/2" doubled) pieces for a 16" headband. I needed about 5" of elastic.

Lay out you scrap fabric to see where you should make your cuts from. Mine has a zipper, so I can't use that part. I also don't like to use the hems for this because they add extra bulk. You see what I was left with. I used piece number 2 for the shorter side of the headband and the elastic, I used piece number 1 for the longer side of the headband. If you don't have a piece of fabric long enough, don't worry about it! Just cut your elastic a little longer.

To give you an idea, this is what my first piece of scrap fabric looked like while I cut it.

These will be sewn into tubes. I wanted each tube to be about an inch wide so I cut my strips about 2 inches wide. Always remember to include a 1/4" seam allowance! After pinning and sewing, I trimmed off the excess fabric and turned the tubes right-side-out.

(left to right) Fabric strips, folded and pinned, sewn and turned

Lay your tubes in a cross shape and fold one end over to meet the other, do this with both pieces. I used the same technique for the tube the elastic goes in.

It should look like this.

Thread the elastic through the tube you made for it. After doing this, take one of your headband tubes and line both edges up with one of the edges of the elastic. Wrap headband fabric around the elastic (if there is enough) and sew together.

Loop the other headband tube through and repeat with the other side of the elastic. Trim off any excess fabric/elastic.

Ta-da!! A cute new pair of leggings that you didn't have to hem or put elastic in and a matching headband! :) I know it was a lot of steps, but I promise you its actually a really quick process! And genius to turn a skirt into leggings. You could also do something similar with a pair of adult leggings. I'll have to try that one some time!

Now go make a pair of leggings and feel free to 'Pin' this! *wink wink*

Striped Beanie

 

I can never find a beanie that covers Aubrey's ears. I don't know if she just has a big head, big ears, or if they just don't make hats the right way. Or maybe a little bit of all three. I feel so bad when we're outside and her little ears aren't tucked away all cozy by her head. I figured I would just make a beanie for her, quick and easy! You could also make yourself a hat if you'd like.

I had bought some striped fabric from a discount fabric store in Phoenix called SAS. It wasn't much, but it was plenty to make the pants for Aubrey that I wanted {here}. I had some left over and decided to use it for her beanie!

What you need:

• Pinking Shears (optional)
• Scissors
• Fabric
• Hat (that fits)
• Pins
• Sewing Machine

I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures and some simple mistakes I made that caused me extra steps and could have been prevented.
Make sure that your fabric is stretchy, like a jersey knit. I traced 3/4" outside the hat that fits. Cut out two pieces with pinking shears (regular scissors will work if your fabric doesn't fray), make sure to align the stripes as best you can so that when you sew it together the stripes line up. If you're using a solid or patterned fabric, you could just fold the fabric in half and only have to make one trace and cut.

I wanted the hat to be slouchy and be able to fit Aubrey for a while, so I wanted to have an edge I could fold up, which didn't work out like planned. So, I would just add the extra length to where I traced instead of making extra cuts. If you can see above, I was working with a scrap of fabric and didn't have that option.

I sewed one of the top pieces to the bottom piece using a zig-zag stitch. Repeat for the other side. If you cut two pieces, instead of four like I did, skip this step.

I forgot to take a picture of this step, but fold the bottom edge of the hat up about 1/2 an inch, pin it, and sew along it. This will give your hat a finished edge.
Place the sides of your hat with the right sides (printed side) facing each other and sew around the edge. I made sure to line up the stripes here as best I could.

Then simply trim off the excess fabric and turn right side out.

There you have it! A quick hat for you or your babe! Sorry for the lack of pictures and extra steps. It really is quite simple, I promise! Now I have a hat that keeps my babe's ears tucked up nice and cozy against her head. I will definitely be making more, that should only take about 5 minutes instead of 10. Hey, it's a learning process!

DIY Baby Leggings

I was browsing Pinterest the other evening while my daughter was sleeping and came across this tutorial for baby leggings. I've been inspired lately by some fellow blogging mommies to get super cute baby pants; check them out!

Hanes from Cara Loren!

And this little guy from Small Fry

I just fell in love with the stripes and bold Aztec print! They're so out of the ordinary and precious. I would never wear them, but on a cute little one? Ohhh yes!

I found some discounted fabric at a store called SAS here in Phoenix and knew it was perfect! It cost me a whole 99 cents! Granted, it has a rip in it and isn't very much fabric, but I have a ton left over for other small projects!

So, to make these adorable legging you need:

• 3/4" Thick Elastic
• Fabric
• Scissors
• Fabric Marker
• Marker
• Pins
• Paper
• Ruler
• Lace (optional)
• Pants that are the size you want to make

 Take your pants, fold them in half, and lay them on the paper(s). Trace around them, leaving a seam allowance. Don't add a seam allowance along the straight edge because this will be where the fabric is folded. I'll get to that in a moment. I also used a very thick elastic, so I added an inch to the top just to make sure I had enough room. If you're using the 3/4" elastic like the tutorial says, your top seam allowance should be 1 1/4 inches. This paper will be your pattern.

Now, fold your fabric and lay the straight edge of the pattern along the fold. Pin in place and mark an outline with the fabric marker onto the fabric. Make sure not to cut along the fold when cutting the fabric!

Cut another piece of fabric the same way. When you unfold the fabric it should look like this. The narrower side is the bottom. When cutting the second piece, make sure that you line up the stripe (or other pattern) to the first piece otherwise the stripes on the pants will end up crooked at the seam.

Turn the pieces over and fold the bottom up 3/4" and pin it in place. I wanted to spice them up a little bit, so I bought this lace for 25 cents per yard at SAS too. Score! Once I had pinned the fabric I flipped it back over to the front, arranged the lace where I wanted it, and re-pinned the fabric with the lace.

This is when I noticed that my fabric wasn't the same on both sides. I had to choose which side was going to be the outside (right side) and inside (wrong side). As you can see, one side has very small stripes outside of the larger stripes and one side does not. I chose the side that didn't have the extra stripes as my "right side."

Next, sew along the bottom edge. I used a zig-zag stitch so that the fabric has more room to stretch. You could also use a double-needle, but I don't have one. My fabric was quite stretchy, so instead of gently pulling the fabric as I sew, I just let it run through without any pulling so the fabric didn't wrinkle and crease. Also, I sewed on the "right side" of my fabric instead of the "wrong side" like you typically do because I wanted to make sure the lace got sewn on properly.

 I was lazy and didn't want to change my thread color. It was black so I thought it wouldn't matter since the pants are striped. Nope! I was so wrong! I had to change my thread to white so it blended with the lace better. The black thread took away from the beautiful lace!

After doing that to both pieces of fabric, place them on top of each other, "right sides" facing each other, and pin. Sew along the upper side slopes. Trim the excess fabric. See the lace? Ahh, so much better!

Fold the fabric the other way, matching up the legs, and pin. Sew along the pinned edge and trim off the excess.

Fold the top edge of the pants down 1 1/4" (or in my case, 2 1/4") and pin in place. Sew along the raw edge (not folded) and leave a 1-2" opening. This is the tube you will thread the elastic through. Thread the elastic through using a safety pin, make sure to leave enough to grab sticking out of both sides.

Sew the two ends of the elastic together using a zig-zag stitch. Make sure the ends overlap. Then pin the hole closed and sew it shut! Try not to sew the elastic to the fabric so it will have room to stretch as much as it needs.

Ta-da! You're done! Just turn them "right side" out. How cute are these? I just love that little bit of lace around the ankles! I can't wait to make more!

How did yours turn out? I'd love to see! Comment with a link to the picture below! :)