DIY 10 minute ribbon loop shorts

 

*DISCLAIMER*

The following tutorial pictures are very bad. They were taken indoors, at night, with my poopy camera. They don’t do these cutie pie shorts any justice. It is exactly 11:37 pm and I just finished making these shorts about 45 minutes ago.

“But you said in your title the shorts only take 10 minutes?”

  Yes, the shorts did only take 10 minutes. Yes I timed myself. I did however forget to start timing until after my ribbon was cut. (So I guess the 10 minutes was kinda a lie! Yikes sorry about that, but still they didn’t take too long.) What did I do with the rest of the 35 minutes you ask? Why I spent that time trying to edit the yucky-ness out of my pictures of course. Guess what? It was a waste of 35 minutes. For serious. Just see for yourself…..

 

Here are the shorts…

Cute right? (try to look past the yucky picture) I think so. If you don’t really care for them you probably won’t want to read on, but if you {heart} them like I do keep going I’ll tell you how I did them!

*another DISCLAIMER*

I am not the genius behind this idea. (darn it) I’m pretty sure these babies have been around a looooooong time. I have seen it done to shorts. I have seen it done to pants. I have seen it done to skirts. I’ve tried them all and all are equally cute! I did not follow any tutorial to make these, in fact I probably do them all wrong. But, the way I do it works for me and it only takes 10 minutes. (give or take a few) How can you beat that?

 

Here is what you need:

• Shorts, skirt, or pants old, new, or used it all works here!
• ribbon scraps various colors and widths
• sewing machine
• thread

Here is what you do:

Cut your ribbon into your desired loop length and determine about how many cuts you will need. Lighter your ends so they don’t fray. (shh! I forgot that step don’t tell.)

Remember I’m just wannabe sewer. I’m pretty sure I tend to leave out some of the steps that a “real” sewer might use. One of my deep dark secrets is that I despise using pins. GASP!!! I know yikes right? I think I just heard all the seasoned seamstresses' jaws hit the floor! So if you decide you want to pin all your pieces in place first, go ahead. I’ll wait for you…….

Ok, are you back? Sweet! Let’s get started!

Place one leg of your shorts around your machine under your needle. At this point it doesn’t really matter too much where on the shorts you start your sewing.

Fold one end of a ribbon scrap up to meet the other end to form a loop

Awwww c’mon don’t be jealous of my manicure ladies. I have a sweet manicurist.

She’s fabulous! She’s free! She’s four! *wink*

 

This is where my tutorial goes a little wonky. I didn’t actually decide to do a tutorial until I was half done.  I already have a few loops sewn on in the next picture but you get the idea.

Keeping your ribbon in “loop” form place in on your pants right where you want it to lay and start sewing. Go slow and steady so that you can stop about midway through your loop, add another loop and keep going until you have finished all the way around.

I know, I know! If I would have just added a couple more steps and pinned my loops in place I could have avoided all that starting and stopping. This works for me though, so why fix it if it’s not broken? Am I right? LOL!

Here is what your finished leg will now look like…

Ha! I’m so laughing at myself right now. Notice my stitches don’t even line up? I told you I was just a wannabe! No worries though, next we're gonna cover that part up!

Take another piece of your choice color/width ribbon. Your gonna want this piece long enough to go around your pant leg. Measure if you prefer, but I just kept mine on the spool. *wink*

This time start at the inseam of your pants and sew the long ribbon piece right over the top of your ribbon loops. Make sure your are lining the edge of your top ribbon piece flush with the edges of your ribbon loops. Keep sewing all the way around until you reach your starting point. You can finish a couple different ways. Usually I fold under the edges of the top ribbon where they meet at the inseam and sew right over the fold. This time I wanted to go quick so I just sewed to where they met cut off the extra and lightered the edges so they don’t fray.

Repeat all of the above steps and wala! Your done!

Pair em’ with a matching shirt, a bow, or a sweet little clip and you’ve got yourself a totally cute, fantastically fast, semi homemade, boutique-ee looking outfit!

I’d love to see pictures if anyone decides to give it a try!

 

 

Check out where I’m linking up….

 

 

Did I ever mention that my dog is a really good sport?

Well, if I haven’t. He is. And if I have, Just keep reading to see how awesome he really is…..

Because, well, seeing is believing.

Tug was sad when we told him he would have to stay home with Grandpa while we went on vacation. All in all I think he took it pretty well…..

But maybe, he thought, if I could just disguise myself well enough as a tourist to go unnoticed, then maybe just maybe I could still come?

 

Sorry Tug, but you still have to stay. Be a good boy!

Don’t worry, incase you were wondering all this humility did not come without reward.

When he was done he got a few of these…

A couple of these…

And a whole lotta these…

To all of the “non dog people” reading this, who I know were just cringing at the big ,sloppy, nasty dog tongue, that just so happened to be slurping up that pretty little 4 year old girl, I am truly sorry you had to witness that. I am a total dog lover, and while I would own a million dogs if I could, I despise doggie kisses. For serious I do!……. The little sister on the other hand…. Well, I think she kinda loves em’! That is all.

Pretty Pretty Princess

The big sister was insistent that I do not make her any clothes for this trip to Disney World.

“Mom I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, but the clothes you make aren’t really my style.” *Sniff* bless her little heart!

In my defense I really haven’t made her that many things. Remember I’m a just wannabe sewer. I can count on 1 hand how many outfits I have actually completed.

Here are the outfits I made the sisters for our last trip to Disney in July..

Oh Gosh, let me tell you. I had the biggest plans for this trip! I was going to make the sisters outfits for everyday we were there. See the above pictures? Well guess what? That’s as far as I got!

I didn’t even bother making the big plans for this trip. I knew they would never get finished! However, the one thing I knew I wanted to make was the Cinderella dress that Ashley of Make it and Love it  posted a tutorial for around Halloween time. I tucked that tutorial away in a safe computer place and saved it for this very occasion.

This dress idea created quite a few firsts for me.

I had never made anything with sleeves before

I had never even dreamed of working with stretch fabric

Satin? for real?

Neckline? I think I can I think I can!

Ashley, you are awesome! I don’t think I ever would have attempted any of this if not for your generosity and your flawless tutorial. For serious, you even made this project easy for me!

And so without further ado, here is my Snow white version using almost all of Ashley’s instructions, and even a few tricks of my own! 

 

The big sister is a bit picky about her clothing so she decided that she would rather me not make that signature Snow White collar thingy or the cape.

All I did for the sweet little Snow White sleeves was add 3 strips of red satin ribbon by sewing it on top of my cut out sleeve before turning it to the actual sleeve. This took some trial and error but in the end I think I came up with a great concept! *wink*

Linking up to these great parties…

It’s not perfect, but I made it and she {hearts} it!

OMGoodnes! I don’t think the little sister has ever been more excited in her life! And I owe it all to Ashley over at Make it and Love it!

Ashley, you don’t know me, but you are my new BFF! (and my daughter’s too!) Your blog is AHHHHHmazing, and I have only begun to skim the surface!

Honestly I’m just a wannabe sewer. I long for the day that I can sew like a pro. All you seasoned sewers will most defiantly be able to tell this when you look at my pictures, but this just goes to show you how fabulous Ashley’s Cinderella dress tutorial really is! It is because of said tutorial that I, the wannabe sewer was able to make my little girls dream of looking just like Cinderella come true!!

*Warning* the following pictures were taken  indoors at night. Sorry for the poor quality!

She is beyond thrilled to be able to be just like her favorite princess while eating breakfast in her castle!

She is still patiently waiting for the matching accessories. For now all she got was a make shift headband. But hey, it kept her happy!

And don’t forget the signature Cinderella hair. I have to perfect this but there may be a tutorial in the works.

*Disclaimer*

Please seasoned sewers try not to cringe at my neckline. I decided to do this part last for some reason, but it was late, and I was tired, and remember I’m just a wannabe sewer!

After she was “good” and stayed still long enough for me to snap some pictures,  she went wild and never stopped twirling!

Upon conclusion the little sister has decided she must be Cinderella for Halloween this year. That’s my girl, always thinking ahead!

I followed Ashley’s tutorial almost to a “T”. The only thing I did differently was to x-nay the velcro closure in the back, and hem the bottom skirt before attaching it to the dress. Not for any reason in particular just that I was having a heck of a time with those to steps!

Remember I mentioned the big sisters dress in another post? It is done but for now all you get is the sneak peek again until she wakes up in the morning to try it on!

Can you guess her favorite princess yet?

*Confession*

This is actually the 2nd Cinderella dress attempt. I can’t tell you where I went wrong with the first one. The only thing I can tell you is that I was sick, I was tired, and when I started it was late. However, I was so excited after I returned home from the fabric store that I couldn’t wait. Bad idea!

  

Linking up to these great parties!

Still making my way out of the “pile” and a packing tip!

 

So when I last left you I was having computer woes, my house was a pile, and I was franticly trying to get ready to go here……

That’s right, in 8 days we are driving from here….

to here….. 

Yes you read that right, I said typed driving!

 

And guess what? I’m still not ready!

 

My computer woes look something like this…

OK. I’m. Guilty. I couldn’t handle the change. The husband’s most ahhhhmazing gesture of leaving work on his lunch break to buy me a new computer, instead of just a monitor was quickly demolished by me. Yup! Instead the new computer was returned, a new monitor was purchased for the old computer, and for good measure we threw in a laptop! Ahhhhh life is good! I {heart} my old computer!

However, my house is still a pile!

My dining room table currently looks like the above picture, just add 2 lunch boxes (which have not been emptied since Wednesday), a sewing machine, thread, ribbon, a camera, 1 blue mitten, 2 tubes of chap stick, and an empty juice box.

My kitchen currently looks like this,

The true mess is actually hiding behind the Valentine décor, which might I add will most likely not be put away before we leave. My poor father in law will just have to look past it. (I’m really sad too cause I had big plans for St. Patrick’s Day.)

Our dinner of choice lately looks like this..

But, in the midst of all these piles, I did manage to start this..

Enter my trip packing tip….. (Has anyone ever noticed I use a lot of “dot,dot,dots?”)

This really isn’t a brilliant revelation or anything, some of you probably already do it, but it has helped me make packing for my kids a breeze.

I’m a tiny bit anal about what my kids will wear on each day of our vacations. The big sister really is getting too old for this, you know having her Mom pick out her clothes each day? In her defense she did help with the final decisions and though the sister do have a lot of the same outfits they will be wearing them on different days.

Want to make packing for your next vacation a breeze? Read on.

Not sure if this really is tutorial worthy as it’s pretty self explanatory, but since I’m totally avoiding doing any house work right now I thought I’d turn it into one. Just cause I can of course!

First I set up our folding 8 foot table smack dab in the middle of my living room. Then I went downstairs and dug up all of our summer clothes boxes and got to work.

All you need are plastic zipper type bags (I used 1 gallon size) and a permanent marker.

Decide which clothes you will for sure be paking. Label your bags accordingly. I always label ours with each child’s name, the date of which they will wear the outfit, and sometimes the place we will be on that day.  Add each outfit to the corresponding bag. (Don’t forget to add a pair of underwear and a pair of socks!)

So while it really doesn’t make deciding what to bring any easier it does help to see what you have and what you need. Be sure to add some bags with PJs, bathing suits, sweatshirts, and extra outfits. If you add socks and underwear to your extra outfit bags that will also give you extra socks and undies!

This also helps cut down on the mess of unpacking. If your kids are anything like the sisters as soon as you reach your destination and it’s time to put on some jammies the whole bag or suitcase gets unpacked. Clothes flying every where. When they are in the see through labeled bags there is no confusion on what needs to come out of the bag. Yay! Problem solved!

Now back to my regularly scheduled housework!

 

 

Where Oh, Where has Jeana gone? Oh, where oh, where could she be?

Why I’m right here sillies! Oy vey! What a whirlwind the last couple of weeks have been! Let’s see where shall I start….. Oh yes this horrible, terrible, no good, very bad cold that has turned our house upside down and inside out!

 

Meet a few of my new bff’s from this past 2 weeks……

 

 

 

This cold has seriously kicked my butt! The sisters and the husband got it first, and after a couple of days of them feeling better I thought for sure I was going to dodge this one. No such luck! In fact I think the germs from their 3 colds combined with each other and decided to have one heck of a cold bash right here in my body! Ugh! I’m on the mend now but still can’t seem to get with it! On top of the mother of all colds my computer monitor decided it could no longer carry on! Boo!  So instead of just getting a new monitor the husband decided to try to lift my spirits with a new computer! Yay! Right? Nope another boo! Don’t get me wrong, it was a fantastic thought and I am quite excited to have a new computer, but you see the thing is, I HATE change! I have been super busy trying to grab my files off the old computer and transfer them to here. Not fun at all!  So with being sick and dealing with computer issues I have neglected all that was happening around me. There piles of stuff everywhere. And when I say piles of stuff I really mean…… piles of laundry (Clean thanks to the husband. Bless his heart he will do the laundry till is blue in the face. It’s putting it away that he can’t seem to figure out! Oh well I can’t complain at least it’s clean piles of laundry instead of dirty ones!) Piles of dishes (dirty) piles of mail, piles of toys, piles of books. I’m telling you my house is one big PILE! Normally all these piles wouldn’t bother me too much. I would just take them in stride and try to catch up when I could! But this time I can’t! I am soooooooo busy I don’t know what to do! I have so many odds and ends to tie up and this time I’m on a time crunch, because in just two short weeks we get to go here……..

 

 

We are so excited!

 

Something I have been trying to work on while being slightly out of commission is making the girls surprise dresses of their favorite princesses so that they can dress up when eat breakfast at Cinderella’s castle! A while ago I stumbled across this tutorial over at make it and love it.  Even though I’m only a “wannabe” sewer I decided I would tuck this one a way for this very occasion. This tutorial is FANTASTIC!  I was even able to alter it to make the big sister’s favorite Princess!  I will have a whole post dedicated to our princess dresses when I get my life back in order. Until then here is a little sneeky peeky of the big sister’s dress…..  Can you guess her favorite princess??