Child size pajama pants from an adult pajama top

My daughter was given pajamas, her mother in law got them as a gift but didn't like them. My daughter liked just the pants to wear for lounging. Her daughter likes the pants too and asked for some just like them.

Since she has seen me  repair, alter  and hack so many other things, she brought me the shirt and a pair of the current size pajama pants for my granddaughter.  She asked if I could make a little pair of pants from them.

I turned the pants inside out to use the seam line for my cutting guide.

It wouldn't fit quite this way, so I turned it around and that way was fine. 

The outside of the leg along the middle of the shirt, the crotch at the sleeve seam and the waist along the top of the shirt.

   

It fit perfectly and saved me lots of sewing to just use the shirt hem as the pajama pants hem.

Close up of the reused hem line.

The fabric was a new type to me, it looks like satin on the front side and the wrong side is brushed, almost like flannel.,

The finished pants- the pocket is a little crooked but that is just where it ended up. I don't think a 3 year old will care one bit.

Close up of the fabric -this would be a good I spy quilt fabric except it is not cotton. 

In case you are wondering, the top was a ladies size large and the pants are a 5 T. 

It just took about 15-20 minutes to make these. I cut them out on the dining table while baby grandson ate his finger food lunch, then I put him in the bounce seat while I sewed. 

Have you altered or hacked anything like this lately?

 

 

2014 Quilt #3

I first heard of I Spy quilts maybe 10-12 years ago, way before I had any grandchildren.

Each block of an I spy quilt uses novelty fabric and the fabric gets fussy cut so the design is featured in each block. 

The template I used is a 3 3/8 inch plexiglass square, which is small. If I was starting another I Spy quilt from scratch, I would use a 4 or 5 inch square. Some of the fabrics I would of liked to use had designs that were just too big. 

Anyway, I've been collecting novelty fabrics all this time and I thought there were finally enough to finish cutting out squares and sew up a quilt.

Every square is something different.

This one is for granddaughter Andie who will be 2 very soon.

It is all machine sewn and quilted. The backing has fish and mermaids riding dolphins. 

Little Andie was born early at 5 pounds  and took a helicopter ride to a bigger hospital on her first day of life. She spent a few days in the children's hospital. 

beautiful Andie

Then once she got home, she has never stopped growing and thriving.

No one would ever guess our tall almost 2 year old Andie was a Premmie.

Some of my  next quilts will be more I Spy quilts for Andie's cousins, JJ and Braeden. 

 

 

linking to the party at CreativeJewishMom.Com - craft schooling Sunday

CrazyMomQuilts.BlogSpot.com

sewcanshe.com

Frugal February- homemade sandwich buns

Linking to Friday Finances at Renaissance
I like to make bread and am trying to make 100% of our bread in 2014 at home.  Except for a tiny free loaf of Sicilian bread we got last week from a new food truck business,  we have had only homebaked bread.

We like loaves of bread but they do get dry really fast so for sandwiches, we prefer homemade buns.  They seem to stay soft and less crumbley for a lot longer than sliced bread.

This is how I make them......
I mix and knead the dough in a bread machine.  It can also be mixed in a heavy mixer or by hand.
Then I take it out after the kneading is done and let it rise in a big oiled bowl.   In this picture, that is 2 batches of dough.  As soon as the first batch is ready, I put the dough in a big bowl and start a second batch. 

Let the dough rise until it is doubled or more in size. 

Then roll out the dough on a floured surface- maybe 1/2 -3/4 inches thick.  This just depends on how thick you like your sandwich buns.
I have 2 round cutters,  I think the bigger one is 4 inches and the other one  is a bit less than 3 inches. 

Cut out the buns and put them on baking sheets. 
I use well-seasoned stone ware. 
if you bake them on a plain metal cookie sheet,  you will need to grease the sheet or those buns will stick while baking. 

Let the buns rise for about 1/2 an hour and then bake.  No matter the recipe,  I bake mine at 375 degrees and check after 15 minutes.  Sometimes they take just a few more minutes to get golden brown.

Let the buns cool- you can put them on a cooling rack if your prefer.  I don't usually but sometimes I do. 

When cool, each bun gets sliced with a bread knife.  I slice almost all the way but leave about 1/2 inch unsliced.  That way,  you can still open them up but the tops and bottoms don't get separated.

 Bag up the buns and freeze the ones that won't be eaten in a day or two.

When you need bread,  just take out however many you need.  They thaw quickly. 

This works for small households like we are now.  When we have company and when our children were younger,  fresh homebaked bread was eaten way too fast to even think about freezing it.

I think most any  bread recipe that is good as a loaf can also be rolled out and baked as good sandwich buns.

Here is how I make them with fresh ground whole wheat.

My Grandparents Bread recipe when I first blogged about it

they used this recipe to make loaves of bread as well as lots of buns for sandwiches

Grandpa's Bread2 cups warm water
1 package yeast
1 t salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil - they used Wesson or Crisco oil - I used melted butter
about 6 cups of flour - they used all-purpose flour, I used 2 cups of whole wheat and 4 cups of unbleached
dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Then stir in the salt, oil and most of the flour. Mix well, then knead until you have a smooth dough. They kneaded it all by hand, I let my Kitchenaid mixer do most of the work or I would make a 1/2 recipe at a time let the bread machine do the kneading.
Let dough rise in an oiled bowl, covered with a clean kitchen towel, until at least double in size.
Punch down. Divide in 2. Shape into loaves and place in greased bread pans.
Let rise again, until at least double.
Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes. 

Our current favorite bun recipe

1 C water

1 egg well beaten

2 T butter

2 T sugar

3 T dry milk

1 t salt

3 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 t yeast

add all to the breadmaker bowl in this order and set on knead cycle- check midway through mixing as you may need  to add 2-3 T more flour. 

This Honey Oatmeal Bread at AllRecipes.com also makes delicious buns but I have not been baking it for a few months as our youngest grandchild really likes homemade bread but he can't have honey until after his first birthday. 

Where we live,  flour is cheapest at Aldi.  Yeast is cheapest at Sams.  It comes in a twin pack of vacuum packed 1 pound bags.  I keep the yeast in the freezer, the opened one gets pour in a jar with a tight lid.  It keeps in freezer for a long time too and will still be active way past that date they put on the packages. 

So,  go bake some buns when you have time.  They are delicious and easy and your family will be so happy.  And you will spend much less on homemade buns than what store buns would cost. 

Frugal February - day 17

Good Monday morning to you all

My house is in need of some cleaning this morning and I am working on that. 

It is warming up so I planted cherry tomato and flower seeds in the egg shells I've been saving.

The pigs and elephants are from Dollar Tree. They have tiny solar panels on their backs and when they are in sunshine, the pigs flap their wings and the elephants flap their ears. Dollar Tree makes them for some holidays. Last sping, their were dancing daisies and in the fall, their were scarecrows.

They are silly and make everyone smile when they see them wiggling.

The egg shells are just in old egg cartons on a thrift store tray to catch the water that spills. 

Part of my housework today is laundry. For 2 reasons, I am hanging some of the laundry to dry, either on a drying rack or in hangers in doorways.

It is cheaper (very little electricity used)

Our air is so dry right now, I hope as the clothes dry that it will moisturize the air.

We have an outdoor clothesline  but the wind is gusting to 40 mph today- so indoor drying is best right now.  

Before I air dry, I add liquid fabric softener to the final wash rinse and then the clothes get fluffed in the electric clothes dryer for 10 minutes. Even air dried, our laundry is soft and wrinkle free this way. 

Frugal February and thrift store Saturday

One thrift store visit this morning---

The Valentine stickers were 90% off so just 5 cents for both sheets.

My husband liked the $2 crystal frame.

The wood plaque was $1 and was something I was looking for so I can make a version of a Pinterest pin.

Remember last week I bought all that Farberware for a song? 

I thought this big covered skillet was Farberware, but when I washed it and saw the marks, it is really that waterless cookware that used to be so popular. It is also very expensive. When I looked last week on EBay, there were a numbers of listings for waterless cookware but only one cover 12.5 inch skillet. And it was $299!  I have shopped at thrift stores and yard sales for a long time but this is the best deal I have ever come across. 

I am cooking in it for the first time tonight and it cooks so nicely too.

My husband is having eye surgery soon and he had a prescription for Vigamox eye drops. With his insurance, at CVS, his cost $20.

A relative just came down with a corneal ulcer, from wearing contact lenses too long. That relative also got a prescription for the same Vigamox and filled it at a locally owned drug store. That relative has a different employer but the same medical insurance.  Unfortunately, that prescription cost $110. 

The prescriptions were filled 9 days apart. 

Needless to say, that relative will be going to CVS is future prescriptions are needed. 

Frugal tip- pharmacies are not all the same. Ask others, call about prices, asked for generics- hopefully you won't pay $90 more the same tiny bottle of eye drops.