Carter's look at a Wal-mart Price

My daughter went through a growth spurt this past week. Everything I tried on her didn't fit yesterday so we went to a quick shopping trip at our local Carters. I found some adorable stuff on the clearance rack, but I couldn't bring myself to spend $10 a set for jammies. Being a frugal shopper most of the time (I won't get into how much I spent in supplies for her Halloween costume), I decided that I could probably make her Carter's-esque jammies at a Wal-mart price.

I went to Wal-mart today and found white t-shirts on clearance for $2 each. You can't beat that price... you can't buy knit that cheap and knit is a challenging fabric to work with. I knew that I could embellish the t-shirt to match the pants so I stocked up on all they had in 18 months and 24 months. I used the Simplicity toddler pattern #5317 simply because it was the only elastic waistband pant that I had in a toddler size. I used the 1/2 size. I am really pleased with the fit. My daughter weighs approximately 23 pounds and is just under 30 inches tall. To help you fit your own child, she fits comfortably in a 18 months Carters and Target brands.

I love applique! It adds so much to an ordinary child's t-shirt and is super easy to do (and looks a lot harder than it is). Wonder under is a applique's best friend. Wonder Under is a basically iron- on double stick tape. It is available in most craft stores and is located with the interfacings. I usually buy out a bolt when I see that one is low. At Joann's, if you buy out a bolt you can get the last yard at 1/2 price. I can never have enough wonder under. I have learned certain tricks for it though. Draw your design on the paper side of the wonder under, allow the wonder under cool 100% before you start to peel, and make sure to move the iron over your applique for a good 20 seconds to 100% adhere your applique.

I cut the star out of matching pants fabric and adhered wonder under to the star and then to the shirt. I used a machine blanket stitch to seal the sides of the star to the shirt. Then I used my brother embroidery machine to embroider the stars on the shirt, but I bet you could find

iron-ons in stars to do the same thing.