Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial

Michaela — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial

Hey Grant Life readers. It’s Michaela again from Covered in Mod Podge. Today I want to share with you a simple way to dress up a boring old hoodie. This stamping method is a quick, super easy nap time project. If you have older kiddos, they could even help out!

I love the look of toddlers in dresses styled with leggings, cardigans, and adorable headbands. However, I haven’t found this to be terribly practical. My little miss thinks that things on her head are pure evil. She is also always on the move. So, its much more likely that my little miss is running around in leggings, a t-shirt, and a hoodie.

But, there’s no reason that hoodie can’t be absolutely adorable. On a recent trip to Target I snagged a plain grey hoodie on clearance. While it fit the bill for what we needed, it was just so blah. So I decided to jazz it up using only paint and a pencil.

You read that right. All you need is fabric paint or regular old acrylic and a fabric medium {I got mine at Joann’s} and a pencil with a brand spanking new eraser. Ok, you also need an iron, a work space, and some wax paper/cardboard, too.

Start out by putting down wax paper or craft paper to protect your work space. Then, mix your paint up according to the bottle’s directions.

Make sure that you either have wax paper or cardboard between the fabric anywhere it overlaps. You don’t want your paint seeping through! I used waxed paper because it was easier to manipulate and shove into the random corners of places like the pockets.

Now, go to town with your dots.

A couple of tips. Make sure you don’t have too much paint on your eraser. It will bleed everywhere and make a funky shaped dot. Press down firmly when making your dot. You can always add a bit more paint and go over the dot a second time if you need to. This doesn’t have to be perfect. There’s a lot of character in the less than perfect dots!

I used a blow dryer on low heat to help the drying process along. This let me finish doing all the dots in one sitting.

After you finish up, you’ll want to heat set your paint. This makes it so they won’t fade in the wash. Follow the directions on your bottle. For me, I had to wait 24 hours before ironing the hoodie. The bottle also says to wash inside out.

Given that this hoodie is for my dirt loving little miss, it’s already been through the wash three times. The paint still looks good as new. I’m sure it will fade a bit with the excessive washing that a toddler demands. I think that adds character and will give the hoodie a nice vintage vibe.

This quick and easy technique can be used on a variety of items. You can also get super creative and carve different shapes into the eraser.

What’s you favorite toddler look?

The post Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial appeared first on mom makes dinner.

Simple Valentine’s Day Toddler Shirt

Michaela — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:00:46 +0000

Hey Grant Life friends! I’m back again from Covered in Mod Podge. I’m here to share a 30 minute Valentine’s Day shirt that can be worn all year long.

Want to make your own? You’ll need:
A plain t-shirt
1/8 yard of fabric {for toddlers…you’ll need more for a bigger kiddo}
Rotary cutter/mat
Disappearing ink pen
Iron/ironing board
Heart template

This project requires some ironing. Ick. But you don’t have to pin, so be sure to take the time to iron.

Start out by ironing the shirt to and fabric to have good materials to work with.

For a toddler, cut your fabric into two strips measuring 2 inches by 22ish inches {half of whatever your length of fabric happens to be}. You’ll need to do three strips for a bigger kiddo.

Fold a strip in half, right sides together, hot dog style. Sew up the long side using your presser foot as your seam allowance.

Turn your tube and press well, hiding the seam. Repeat for the second tube.

Now, its time to ruffle. There’s all sorts of ruffling methods out there. If you have a favorite, use that. If not, use mine!

Set your stitch length to the longest you can and your tension to the tightest {for me this is a 0}. This will help your fabric ruffle up all on its own. While you sew, hold the thread right next to the spool with a bit of pressure. This will make the fabric ruffle like crazy without having to pull infuriating strings!

So, for this project, you’ll want to sew a ruffling stitch right down the middle of both your fabric strips. Make sure you tuck in all of the ends so you don’t end up with a fraying mess after the wash.

If you’re the free handing type, draw a heart onto your shirt using your disappearing ink pen. If you’re like me and that idea scares you, make a template and trace it.

Starting at the bottom of the heart, sew the ruffle to the shirt. Back stitch to start. Follow the pen marking. Go slow and turn often. Leave your needle down and lift your presser foot adjusting as needed.

At the top of the heart, back stitch. Then, add the second ruffle. Be sure that you overlap the two ruffles so there’s no gap. When you get to the bottom of the heart, overlap and back stitch.

Ta-da! You’re set.

Want to make a matching hair clip? Come on over to Covered in Mod Podge and I’ll show you how!

Have a blast dressing up your little ones for Valentine’s Day. I just melt over toddlers all dressed up in pink and ruffles!

The post Simple Valentine’s Day Toddler Shirt appeared first on mom makes dinner.

30 minute Archives - mom makes dinner

Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial

Stenciled Toddler Hoodie Tutorial

Simple Valentine’s Day Toddler Shirt