Don’t Make Me Sew It | Mommy Upgrade

How to — and how not to — Glitter a Shirt

October 3, 2011 By Trista Leave a Comment

Okay, so I MIGHT be getting a wee bit excited about my trip this week to The Martha Stewart Show. I made:

Yes, dork = me. Those are matching shirts for me and Bianca to wear since we’re travelling together to New York.

“Oooooo, pretty….. Which one is mine?” Princess Cupcake had found the glittery mess. After I told her one was for Miss Bianca and one for me, she said, “I want oneeeee…..” Not that she can read. Or she has any clue who Martha is. Or that it has even a splash of pink on it. She just wants in on the sparkly fun.

But really, it didn’t start out about Martha. It started out innocently enough with a crazy apparel idea for the baseball games this weekend. I am a Tampa Bay Rays fan. My long-time buddy is the strength and conditioning coordinator for the team (Hi KB!) and they made it into the playoffs – again – because they rock. And while KB is super incredibly awesome at what he does, he’s not so great at remembering to throw in an extra Rays T-shirt for the Texas contingent – no matter how many times I hint beg and offer to pay him. So I figured I’d just make some for me and the Princess Cupcake. (The hubs wisely declined on the offer for a matching glitter shirt.)

I refreshed myself with my own instructions on the 12 Simple Steps to a Super Easy Glitter Shirt, and set to finding logos online. While I was at it, I threw in a Martha logo – just in case I had the time.

Welllllll, I tried to get all fancy this go-around. And that was my mistake. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Brush with Fame, Don't Make Me Sew It, Road to Martha, Slider, Strokes of Genius Tagged With: Cute toddler clothes, glitter shirt, tampa bay rays, trista perot

Fair Child Dresses

July 13, 2011 By Trista Leave a Comment

Cake balls a plenty were promised, but I didn’t expect the bumblebees.

The Princess and I went to the Vera Bradley fall launch at our favorite store. And Nan showered us with goodies and hugs as usual.

But she always has something up her sleeve. I should know this.

On this particular morning, she had a porch rack full of gorgeous smocked little girl dresses for $10 – $25 dollars. Each.

Princess loved the yellow flowers with tiny bees around the smocked front, and the pink floral pattern with tiny roses so we were in for $50 before we even set foot inside!

But when I learned that ALL the proceeds from the sale of the dresses went to the ladies in Cambodia that handmade them, I didn’t think twice about loading up. Turns out, Nan’s friend is a missionary to Cambodia and taught the women there how to sew these pretty frocks.

And you know I am envious of anyone who can sew. Especially with smocking. Sheesh.

And I have to admit, there’s an element of intrigue as I envision the ladies in Cambodia gathered together, laughing and sharing sisterhood, to make these twirly dresses that have quickly become favorites in our house.

So if you’re sewing challenged as myself, and like the thought of supporting Fair Trade, give Nan a ring. She’ll have them at Pink House until the 18^th and she’ll ship anywhere. (Sizes 2 – 6)

The Vintage House, 1101 Beltline Rd, Carrollton, TX 75006, Phone: 972.242.5616

Filed Under: Don't Make Me Sew It Tagged With: fair child dresses, Fair Trade Dresses, pink house, vera bradley launch, vintage house

Super Easy Glitter T-Shirt in 12 Simple Steps

January 18, 2011 By Trista 6 Comments

I know you’ve been snookered by those words, “super easy” before so you don’t believe me yet. But it’s true. With just 12 simple steps, YOU can make a custom glitter shirt for your Princess in one evening. I say “Princess” for fear of excluding any boys that may have a fondness for all things sparkly – but if you didn’t want to use glitter, you can modify this with fabric paint and get the same, albeit unfantabulously shiny, results.

So I’ll admit that I initially bought all the fixin’s for this project for my munchkin and did not execute.

THEN the Cotton Bowl came around and guess what. College football gamewear is really tough to find for:

a) a girl if you still want to look like a girl, and

b) when your team isn’t even in the same state as you and

c) you didn’t have time to focus on acquiring said rally wear until the week of the match-up. And no thank you, I’m not interested in paying for overnight delivery.

So sorry Princess Cupcake, I am borrowing your glitter because this one is for the Mommies. You’re in bed anyway, and I promise if it turns out, we’ll glitterize whatever your little heart desires…

Here’s what you need:

T-shirt – mine was a cute girl shirt washed and dried withOUT fabric softener
Computer with printer – unless you are brave enough to free-hand. I. AM. NOT.
Fabric glitter – I got mine at Michaels – they have a rainbow of colors sure to satify the most discriminating princess
Fabric glitter glue and sponge – Again, Michaels (although it’s not on their website)
Freezer paper – any grocery store or Wal-Mart
Pen or pencil
Xacto knife – art supply store
Cutting mat – craft store
Tape
Iron
Magazine