Toddler leggings to headband

If you have a late walker (or even if you don't!) you might have some really cute leggings with dirt stains all over the knees. I have a few of them. I hate throwing stuff out like this, so I was trying to figure out what I could do with this pile of leggings I have hanging around.

Then I saw Mila's hair flopping in front of her eyes yet again and the thought came to me: headbands! 

Here's what I did (and get this - I didn't even look on Pinterest once to do this!)

Cut the pants into pieces.

This particular pair of pants had little bows on the bottom so I had to remove those first with a seam ripper. Once that was done, I cut the pants in two down the middle and the cut the hems off. I also cut along the sides to even out the pieces to make it easier to sew.

Stitch them up.

Once that was done, I laid the pieces out flat and stitched them together end-to-end. Fold the new piece length-wise and stitch it together right sides facing together. Turn the whole thing right-side out, flatten and then fold it over again making sure the sewn seam is in the middle of the band (above far right). Stitch the end. 

We have a headband! 

Since I had those two little bows, I decided to use them to cover up the seams. I wrapped them around the seams and hand-sewed them together at the back. You can also do this with some extra fabric if you have it.

Voila!

Now the next test was to get it on Mila to model it long enough to take a picture. Success (for 10 seconds!)

I'm determined to get her to wear it for longer. We'll see about that. This kid seems to love having hair in her eyes I think.

PS- I'm not very good at following directions, thus I'm not too hot at giving them either. I apologize if you try this out and something doesn't make sense but if you sew it should be pretty straight forward. If not, ask any questions you have in the comments and I'll do my best to answer!

rolled hem jean shorts refashion

I'm not sure about you, but I'm one of those people that keeps clothes for a long time. If they fit well and are in good shape, why not? I get this from my grandmother.* It's not uncommon to comment on a shirt of hers only to find out that it's at least seven years old.

Enter these jeans.

They have been in my drawer, no joke, since at least 2002 (I think!? Come to think of it, I've had this black T-shirt for likely just as long). I remember wearing them when I worked in Aurora north of Toronto and I ripped the bottoms on one of those big black and neon metal lawn signs. I was so sad because I really liked these jeans at the time. Anyway, that's why in this picture they're capris, because I cut away the hole.

Cut back to 2013 and I'm in desperate need of shorts. Unfortunately (fortunately??), when one is breastfeeding, some people including me, tend to lose their bum. None of my regular shorts fit me properly and for some reason these jeans still fit pretty well in the tush area.

Today at nap time, I broke out my trusty fabric marker to mark off where I wanted to cut them... and yes I'm well aware it looks like a yellow tampon.

I decided to go right above the knee. I wasn't graced with model stick thighs, so these will be longer in length.

Not bad. I was going to leave them like this, but then I decided to do a little rolling.

I stitched the ends of the rolls and a few places in the middle so they'd stay put when I was chasing after my crazy kids.

There we go! Pretty comfy!
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*I couldn't mention my grandmother without saying that my family was shocked and saddened to find out that my grandmother has advanced ovarian cancer. My grandmother is one of the most fit 86-year-olds I know (and more fit than many people younger than her) which is one of the reasons why it's a shock. Apparently she's had it for years, but finally pushed it's limits on her body a few weeks ago. She's been in the hospital for a couple weeks and isn't expected to leave. I'm devastated that she's leaving us, but thankful I was able to spend some time with her while visiting home last week.