Skort Capri Tutorial of a Pillowcase

I am not sure what to call these pants/shorts/capris/skorts, but I stumbled across this idea after making a pair of shorts for Abraham following the guide in Amanda Blake Soule's first book, The Creative Family, using an old t-shirt.

~Abraham's shorts~

Super easy to make. Then I knew that Sarah needed some more shorts and I had not been able to find any at the thrift stores of late (nor have I had much time to get to the thrift store). In addition, she has a tiny waist and we prefer longer shorts or skort style pants. I did have some thrifted pillowcases (25 cents each!) and realized I could basically do the same thing that I had done with a t-shirt.

Here is how ~

Holding the pillowcase the long way, take a pair of shorts the approximate size of the person you are sewing for, and with the shorts folded in half, line the sides up like in the picture below. The bottom edge of the shorts will be the already hemmed opening of the pillow case, so plan accordingly.

~I used chalk to draw the line. The pillow case is not turned inside out.~

Next, cut out on the purple line and then use what you just cut out, flip it over and line it up on the other edge, pin and cut out.

Next, open up both pieces and place right sides together and pin. Then sew from top down to crotch on both sides.

Now open piece up so seams are in middle of front and back and place pins down leg sides and then sew from crotch down to bottom of leg for both sides.

Roll down the top waistband 1/4" and press and then fold over another 1 1/2 inches, press. Sew around, leaving a 1 inch opening where you will insert the elastic.

Using a safety pin, pull the elastic around the waist opening. Be sure to measure your child's waist. Cut and sew two ends of elastic together. You can hand sew the opening closed.

That is it. I am not an experienced seamstress, but was happy to make these in only about 20 minutes or so.

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Notes....

Our two oldest are heading out tomorrow morning for ten days. They are attending a Christian Youth Conference in Kentucky. They are driving down with the leaders.

I am busy making them some muffins and chocolate chip cookies for their trip and gathering together their toiletry bag. They have only been away with their Poppa before for this length of time. I know they'll do fine, but I will certainly miss them.

Today I went into town to go to the Natural Foods Store, the Market, and the Thrift Shops. I try to only make the trip every two to three weeks even though it is just 25 minutes away. Shopping just takes up so much of a day, such precious time.

Had some great finds today - vintage pillowcases and children's books; shear curtains with calico blue stars appliqued on them (to brighten up our living room for the summer); jeans and a dress shirt for our sixteen year old son; shorts and shirt for our fourteen year old; sandals and two pairs of pants for Abraham; a skirt and top for me; and a throw rug for under the kitchen sink (to replace our terribly worn one which will now go out to the porch). All for $21.50!

I have been thinking lots about this post here. It is about stuff and how most of us simply have too much of it.

I have been smiling about ~

:: Sarah saying she is finger knitting yarn to sell in her own etsy shop

:: Day lilies blooming all around the pond

:: Frogs and chickens invading our home (I didn't snap a picture of any of the chickens - too busy trying to shoo them out.)

:: This cute curl growing longer

:: Finishing the day with my daughter, Abby, enjoying some cribbage and beginning the next book in the Little House Series, The Long Winter, while the rest of the family is off to Thomas' theater rehearsal. They are enjoying the nearby playground while Thomas is practicing and will be home later tonight.

Warm wishes, Tonya

Weekend Gardening and Finds

On my way home from work Saturday, (I work as the librarian at our rural library - it is open just six hours per week), Abby and I stopped at a yard sale and I found the following ~

~hand knit wool felted blanket, hand embroidered handkerchief for Sarah (we don't buy tissues), and small plates and bowls (a pastoral print from England)~

I bought some chamomile and parsley from our local organic farm. One of my goals this year is to dry all of our tea to use throughout the year. No more buying boxes of tea bags. Chamomile is our children's favorite.

~chamomile~

Transplanted our tomato plants out to the garden and the luminaria seedlings (money plants).

~transplanted tomato plants with simple supports of cut fencing and stakes~

Lots of weeding and watering. The weather was summer-like this weekend and is suppose to continue through the first half of the coming week.

~the garden is coming along... we even had some little radishes this weekend thanks to Abraham's enthusiastic pulling~

Also, this season we are spending very little money on garden supplies, so until we come across some more fencing (like at a yard sale), we won't be making anymore gardens, so I had one of my teenage sons bring over tires (which the previous owner graciously left us a generous supply of... ) and I put some chicken manure on the bottom of the tire stack...

~chicken manure with stacked tires in the back corner of our yard~

...then added these funny potatoes I found in the corner of our pantry and covered with the beautiful, rich compost that we get from free from a neighbor. My hope is that the tire walls will be high enough to keep the chickens out. This is all an experiment though.

~Sarah and Abraham running towards me with their eggs~

~Yes, she collected her eggs in her Boston Red Sox cap~

How was your weekend?

Warm wishes, Tonya