Toddler Backpack

I made this backpack for my 1 year old son based on a pattern and tutorial at indietutes.



In my version, I created a front pocket and inside pocket from a thrifted Spiderman pillowcase. I also added a zipper as my son has zipper skills. At the top of the bag I added a loop as a handle and a small loop on the inside to hold his toy keys.

Resized t-shirt

I didn't take a before picture, but this shirt used to be larger. I used Jalie pattern 2918 to resize it to a toddler size 2. I have had to adjust the neck size from the pattern. As is, the shirts do not fit over my toddler's head. I have to make the opening 1/8" - 1/4" larger to fit over his head and have had to adjust the neck binding as well.

Resized Hawaiian shirt

I found a men's Hawaiian shirt at goodwill for $1. I liked the print and wanted to resize it to fit me and my shape. I cut apart the shirt and used Simplicity 9816. I like this shirt pattern as it has different patterns for different cup sizes (no calculating or altering that I would normally need to do) to ensure a good fit. I laid the pattern pieces on the shirt and cut around them. I lined up the bottom hemline on the pattern so I would not have to hem the shirt when I was finished. I also lined up center front with the center front of the pattern so I would not have to redo the buttons or button holes. Sometimes I feel like this is the cheater way to sew, but it saves a lot of time when it is already done.

Underwear out of t-shirts and knit scraps

I bought the children's underwear pattern from youcanmakethis.com. I am usually hesitant to buy .pdf patterns as I have had bad luck in the past with some. I have to say that I love this pattern. If you use knit scraps and recycled t-shirts, the underwear costs less than 50 cents a pair to make or free if you the supplies on hand. So far I have completed one boys' pair in size 2 and one girls' pair in size 2. The instructions were great and I love that the pattern does not use elastic for the binding (it uses a knit fabric with some lycra in it for extra stretchiness plus resilience). The only tricky part was that an exact measurement was not included for the opening on the boys' pattern and I was not sure how far to stretch the binding as I pinned it on. It turned out okay after pressing and it will likely go more smoothly as I make more.

Last minute Spiderman Costume

My son has recently taken an interest in spiderman. I decided to make him a last minute costume that could double as pajamas. I bought 3 thrifted t-shirts (2 red and 1 blue) from Goodwill for $3. I cut the t-shirts apart and adapted Jalie pattern 2918 for the top and __ pattern for the pants.

I had to piece the back togeter as I ran out of blue. I created the red bug shape on the back by drawing the shape on the center of blue back, pinning red fabric underneath, sewing on my drawing lines, and cutting out 1/8 inch inside the sewing lines to reveal the red bug shape underneath.


I drew on the black spider and web lines using a black fabric paint pen from JoAnns.