Upcycled Sweater Dress, By Me!

I finished my dinner and I had to get my project started, I knew I would be restless until I finished it. Now I just need to find my E-Book and I will be ready to sleep tonight so I can work tomorrow, oh and clean my living room. My kids are soooooo messy!

Back to my project I started by cutting off the remaining sleeve and neck from the green turtleneck sweater from my Christmas stocking project back in December.  Then I flipped the sweater inside out and laid a dress that currently fits my preschooler on top of it so I could pin the sides in.  I also pinned around the arm holes.

I sewed around each arm and then down the sides.

Next I pinned and sewed the neckline.

Then I put the dress on my daughter and put some pleats in the neckline both front and back and sewed them in. And I ripped out the seams at the bottom of the armholes far enough to stitch in a ribbon as an empire waist.

I plan on sewing a button or finding a brooch of some kind to add to the front of the dress on the ribbon.

I also made matching leg warmers from the sleeves. I measured my daughters legs from the knee down and cut the sleeves the same length measuring from the cuff.  I hemmed them and took some of the width out of them.

I am debating sewing some elastic into them to stay up, but the with I took out seems to make them fit better and/or adding some embellishments. They are worn with the cuff at her knee.  I wanted to make them fancier, but I wasn't sure how. I am open to suggestions!

She had such a great time posing for me in her new dress!

Pretty swell for completed sewing project number 2! (I mean all by myself, my mom has helped me with a few projects in the past, but not much on my own!) What do you think?

The Stockings were Hung by the Chimney with Care!

So I finished number two of my Christmas stocking project, and this time I remembered to take some pictures.

I cut my pattern out of a paper bag and I bought 5 sweaters at Goodwill along with three pairs of clip-on earrings to use as embellishments. I also used ribbon scraps that I have laying around (from my scrapbook!) I spent an hour and a half on this one, even though I already know the process; and I didn't even stitch on any pretties yet! These things are complicated for a beginning sewer like myself apparently. And if anyone has any tips to make my life simpler with this project TELL ME!

Here are the steps I used
Step 1: Cut out pattern pieces

Step 2: Pin pattern pieces to sweater and cut out

Step 3: Sew pieces of each side (front and back) together

Step 4: Pin and sew wrong sides of front and back together
(because I am a beginner I flip the stocking right-side-out afterward to check my seems, I had a big hole by the "toe" OOPS!)

Step 5: Sew in ribbon for loop

Step 6: Embellish
(which I have not done yet, so sad!)

Step 7: Hang and Enjoy!

*and I just realized that I take crooked pictures apparently, and I am too lazy to edit them!!