I have lost enough inches on Cambiati that literally my pants were falling off me. I purchased a couple new pairs, but could not afford to replace all my pants. I found this video on YouTube and altered my own chino gap pants! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8si0c4Oogk I watched the video and thought to myself “I could do that!” The only change I made was to turn the pants inside out, put them on and mark on the back seam where to sew. It did take about an hour. This was my first attempt so I think it would get quicker with more practice. But besides my time it was FREE! Thanks MOM for teaching me to sew. Altering your own pants – a simply, savvy idea!
Make your own Thomas the Tank Engine Dress for Girls
July 30, 2010 at 3:19 pm (Kids, Sewing)
Thomas the Tank Engine is a very popular character with both boys and girls. We are going to “Day Out with Thomas” and I wanted my girls to wear Thomas clothes. I could not find any Thomas clothes designed for girls so I made my own. The small on is size 2 and the larger one size 6. I am delighted with how they turned out! Below you will find instructions. Please ask questions in the comment section if you need help.
I adapted the skirts from using purchased skirts that my girls already owned. The “overall” part of the dresses were purchased at Goodwill for only a couple of dollars each. The Thomas skirt material is from Wal-Mart, the red ticking I had on hand but you should be able to find it at JoAnn’s.
Materials: Thomas fabric, lining fabric, red ticking fabric, bib from pruchased overalls
Here are the overalls before…..
Step one: Prep your fabric. You will need front and back pieces. The size 2 dress is 20″ across by 10″ down for the skirt and lining. The ruffle is 3″ down by24″ across. The size 6 dress is 24″ across by 10″ for the skirt and lining, the top panel is 6″ dpwn by 16″ across, and the ruffle is 6″ by40″. Prep your overalls. Cut off skirts. For the size 2 dress, I used the seam as a guide. On the size 6 I used the bottom of the zipper which hit near the waist as my cutting guide.
Step two: Sew side seams on all pieces. Iron seams open.
Step three: Make 1/4 hem on skirt and ruffle.
Step four: Gather ruffle, attach to lining.
Step five: Gather lining and skirt pieces at same time. ****If adding flat panel to size 6 dress, do this now. By adding the panel to the dress it reduced the bulk around waist.**** Pin into the bib overall.
Step six: Sew skirt to overall bib. It will be very thick. After breaking a needle I switched to a denim needle and was able to carefully go through all the layers.
Step seven: Add details- I added the red ticking pocket to the size 6 dress by tracing around the pocket on the overalls and making it larger. I topstiched it on. Thomas circles and red ticking on size 2 pocket was added using wonder-under. The red ribbon was topstitched on the size 6 to add a waist detail.
I hope you are inspired to make your own “girl” Thomas dresses! If you have comments or questions please add them in the comment section. Happy sewing!
