Mermaid Tail Blankets

I've been able to squeeze a little more sewing in lately, and here's what I've been up to:

Fleece Mermaid Tail Blankets!  They are so much fun to make.  I've been shopping sales since fleece can be pricey.  My favorite is when JoAnn's has extra-wide fleece on 50% off, you get a lot more bang for your buck that way.  Better yet if you have an additional coupon to top it all off.

The dark green mermaid tail blanket pictured above is an adult size, and the others are smaller.  I've been experimenting with patterned fleece too, which I think is a fun twist.

I've been crocheting a bit too, but will probably switch over to making jewelry again soon.  Need to stock up on necklaces to sell at our booth.

DIY burlap ruffled tree skirt

Slightly off season, but I was going through some old photos and remembered I never posted about our new tree skirt!  I have been wanting to make a ruffled burlap skirt for some time now... and my lovely dogs gave me a reason to go ahead and do so after they chewed a hole in our other tree skirt.

Bummer about the old skirt, but I may make some adjustments to it so it's good as new (they chewed the edges and last time I sewed it up it had a couple "scallops" to it)

Anyways, I started by cutting the largest circle I could with a base layer of white cotton fabric.

DIY tree skirt

Then I cut my burlap into long strips (I believe I had 2-2.5 yards of burlap)  I was SO excited about the burlap, because it had some metallic gold colored threads mixed in with it.

DIY tree skirt

Then I pinned the strips of burlap onto the cotton fabric and sewed each row on to form the ruffled look.  Of course the cat had to "help".  (he had to leave the room when I was using pins)

DIY tree skirt

I used the selvage edge of the burlap for the outer most layer of ruffles and thought it added a cute, slightly different border.

Burlap ruffled tree skirt

After repeating row, after row, after row of placing burlap and stitching it on, the tree skirt was complete!  I really like how it turned out (and the animals do too... they love to lay on it).  If I were to make another one, I would make it larger, by stitching panels of cotton together for the base layer rather than just using the size of the fabric from the bolt.

Also, due to the nature of burlap, it does fray a lot, and with 3 animals that love to roll around under the tree, I don't think this tree skirt will last very long...  I'll probably make a more durable skirt to rotate with this one in the future.

Last minute pirate Halloween costume!

Other Halloween costume ideas & tutorials: Thing 1 & Thing 2, Royal wedding style William & Kate, DIY petticoat, more pirate or witch costume pieces, (more mix & match pirate costume pieces), & Dorothy & the Lion

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This pirate costume is so simple to make and can be done very last minute!

 

I just made a basic skirt (with an elastic waistband), grabbed a tank top from my closet, and cut a sash from some scrap fabric and left the edges raw.  Then, I took a couple long strands of hemp and tied knots (maybe every 10 inches or so) and added beads & fake coins to it, and tied that over the other sash.

Simple & comfortable DIY pirate costume

 

That's all. You can easily pair this with an eye patch or bandana, or other accessories

 

 

Old towel = New heating pad

I got some cute scrub tops on sale this weekend, but have yet to sew the tops that I bought fabric for.  Today I cut a pattern (based on a top that fits me well) and fabric for one top.  Here's hoping it goes together nicely :)

 

The weekend went quick, but I did fit a little sewing in... making a rice heating pad for my Mom.  My Grandma has hers right now, and I just thought it'd be crazy to run to the store to buy another one... when they're really easy to make (and MUCH cheaper to DIY).

 

I folded an old hand towel in half lengthwise and stitched it into a tube.  I then added handles on each side, leaving a small opening on one end to add rice into the newly formed pouch.

 

 

 

After the rice was added, I stitched up the hole.  That was that!  I think it turned out kind of cute, especially for recycling old household items :)

 

Started another knitting project since I bought MORE yarn this weekend, lol.

 

Braided pet bed

Look what I found while sorting through boxes of junk from my childhood bedroom....

A big ball of braided fabric.  This was meant to be sewn into a rug a few years ago, but I was sewing it by hand which took forever, and other things came up.

So, I figured I might as well finish what I started... and threw the braided fabric on my sewing machine (much quicker) and used a zig-zag stitch to sew it together.

Instead of making a rug, I decided to make a cat bed or cat basket.  (since one of my dogs chewed a hole in the fleece cat bed I made for them before, it was time for another)

One of the cats is always occupying the new bed...

To make this, it's the same idea as making a braided rug (which if you google search it, there are several great tutorials).  Except, you braid a little tighter, and let it coil up while sewing.  (every now and then I'd do a slight overlap of the connecting braids)

Update:  Apparently my cats prefer the basket a little shorter on the sides than it was... they folded the edges over on the pet bed and use it that way now.

Refashioned t-shirt (REVERSIBLE & multi-look)

Hubby & I just went through our house and got rid of TONS of old clothes and other stuff.  Knowing my love for refashioning t-shirts, Hubby pulled a handful of old t's aside for me :)

I think this shirt turned out kind of fun, because it is REVERSIBLE and since it has a ribbon for straps, it can be tied several different ways, giving slightly different looks.

Here's the BEFORE:

The shirt was a bit roomy for me to say the least.  Oh, and I'm not sure I should admit this... but there were holes torn in the armpits of it (that probably explains my slightly creeped out face in this picture).

Anyways, here's how I refashioned this shirt:

1) Lay the shirt flat, and place a shirt that fits you well on top of it.  

2) Using the shirt that fits as a guide, cut the t-shirt (that's being refashioned) width to size. 

*Remember to add enough room for seam allowances*

*If the guide shirt has more or less stretch than the shirt you're refashioning, add/reduce your measurements as well*

3) Cut notches for armholes

4) On one side of the shirt (doesn't matter if it's the front or back piece, since it's reversible) cut a v neck (leaving 3-4 inches for each shoulder)

5) If you want to get rid of the logo  sew the pieces opposite of normal (making the previous "right side" of the fabric the new "wrong side"  the logo should be on the inside of the shirt in the end)

6) Turn the fabric at the armhole under and stitch a seam (remember, to make sure you're sewing on the proper side of the fabric if you're hiding a logo)

7) Repeat step 6 with the "v" shape cut out of one piece

8) Sew sides of shirt together, under the arm holes

9) Sew casings on the top edges of each piece (the straight top edge on the uncut side, and each of the 2 shoulder pieces on the side with the v cut)

10) Thread a long ribbon through the casings and tie it together.  There are tons of ways to thread and tie the straps, here are just a few examples:

Straight front with ribbon threaded twice

Straight front with ribbon threaded once

V-neck in front with bows tied on each shoulder

V-neck in front with ribbon threaded across and tied on one side

V cut out in back with simple bow

V cut out in back with ribbon threaded through and tied in front

Straight back with ribbon tied in front

There are lots of other ways to wear the shirt, or instead of ribbon it can have a more nautical look if you tie thin rope as the straps.

DIY pom pom luggage id

We're heading on a trip soon, and I have been procrastinating on packing, big time.  I haven't put much inside the bag, but I have been making pom poms to identify my luggage from the outside!   (the muted toned yarn I have on the suitcase handles needed an upgrade)

Here's a simple DIY tutorial for making luggage pom poms

Supplies:  scissors, thin ribbon, fabric (I used stretchy scraps from a swimsuit I made in the past)



1) Cut long strips of fabric (about 1/2" wide)

2)  Decide how long you want the pom pom strings to be on one side.  Double that width.  Find something of that width to wrap your long strips of fabric around, over and over (see below)

3) Tie a ribbon tightly into a knot around the center of your fabric bundle (in my pic above, the knot went between my ring and middle fingers.  *Leave a long tail of the ribbon so it can later be attached to your bag*

4) Cut the loops (see below)

5) For extra security that the strips of fabric won't loosen and fall out, take 1 strand from each side of the ribbon knot and tie them together.  *Repeat* with all strands, this secures the ball, and fluffs it out better.

Cases for glasses in 4 steps!

Things have been a bit crazy around here, but I finally got a project done that has been bugging me for awhile.  Making cases for our 3D glasses.

I love the basket they're in (it held tissues in handmade cases at our wedding) but storing them this way makes them more susceptible to scratches and fingerprints.

To protect these babies, I made glasses sleeves for each pair.  Super simple, and quick.

4 simple steps to make cases for glasses

1) Size up the glasses & cut 2 rectangles (leaving a seam allowance)

Make sure you cut enough fabric for each pair of glasses!

2) Fold the top (short edge) under and stitch, to form a nice finished edge.  Do this to both pieces before sewing the rectangles together.  * I used decorative stitches to do this, so the cases look a little different *

3) Sew the fabric together (right sides together) by sewing the 3 remaining edges (leaving the top part open)

4) Trim seams, flip right side out, and repeat for all additional glasses cases

I used snaps to keep the glasses from sliding out of their cases, which is optional.

Some of the cases are in zebra print, that's to tell the 2D glasses from the 3D sets.  (the 2D glasses convert a 3D movie back into the regular style, so those who don't do 3D can still enjoy watching.  The 2D glasses were easy to make and way cheaper than buying pre-made)

I may need to make some more of these... my sunglasses sure taking a beating in my purse next to keys and spare change.

Halloween 2011 - Royal Wedding - bouquet

Another accessory I decided to make for our Royal Wedding Halloween costumes was a bridal bouquet.

Although I was hoping to find silk flowers of the actual types used in Kate Middleton's bouquet (sweet William, lily-of-the-valley, myrtle & hyacinth) I had no such luck. So, I just bought some silk leaves and little white flowers and went with it. I adore how much meaning went into every detail of William and Kate's actual wedding though *sigh*, how perfect.

Anyways, I ended up with 2 stems each of 2 different white flowers and one stem of leaves. I already had some floral wire and tape on hand (though I didn't end up using the wire).





I cut the flower stems apart and started bundling them (not knowing how large I'd be making this bouquet) and taping them together.



Then I added some leaves, then more flowers and went back and forth arranging the stems while taping more into the bouquet.


About 10 minutes later, this is what I ended up with, which for costume purposes works just fine:

Here's the side view:

I bent a couple of the long stems around to make a handle for the bouquet and wrapped them in floral tape.

To see more posts on the making of our William and Kate Halloween costumes, click on the "William and Kate" label on the side of my blog. There are quite a few instructions (especially for making the wedding gown) and they're fun DIY costumes.

For a link to other essential accessories for the wedding day "Princess Kate" costume, check out this post

Halloween 2011 - Royal Wedding - Sewing the dress together

Now that the satin part of the bodice and skirt are done for my Royal wedding Halloween costume, it's time to sew them together.

I lined the pieces up on my dress form to see how everything looked (with the help of my feline assistant). Then, tried it on to make sure the placement worked on me before getting started.





I ended up fixing the pleats on the back of the skirt since the photo above was taken. They just weren't laying right.

On the picture below, I've got the bodice pinned to the skirt. (remember, for this dress, the shiny side of the fabric is the "wrong side")

Here it is sewn together:

Then, I added an ivory, invisible zipper in the back and pinned the bottom of the dress where I thought the hem should go.

I tried everything on and made some adjustments and was ready to move on to the lace!

Halloween 2011 - Royal Wedding - skirt

You've now seen how I made the petticoat and satin layer of the bodice for my Kate Middleton Halloween costume.


Now, lets take a look at the skirt.




First off, I bought 8 yards of extra wide ivory satin, a whopping 118" wide (it was on a big sale). The fabric is SUPER SHINY, which I'm not in love with. So, I used the "wrong side" of the fabric as my "right side", problem solved.


Since my fabric was so wide, I just had a front and a back panel to my skirt. I made measurements a few inches above the waist to the floor (accounting for the petticoat filling out the dress) and left an extra 10-12" for a wide hem.

With the measured length at hand, I cut 2 rectangles. Then, I cut those so the waist wasn't as wide, but still had plenty of extra fabric for pleats (as shown below).

I measured what the new width of the fabric at the waist was, and my actual waist measurement plus a couple of inches for seam allowance.

Next, I decided how many pleats to make and figured out how far apart (and how deep) they needed to be to end up making the waistline fit my actual measurement plus the seam allowance.

*If you want to add pockets, do so before sewing the sides of the skirt together* (I forgot to, and will probably go back and add them in)

Using a fabric pencil, I marked my fabric where all the box pleats should go. Then I sewed the sides of the skirt together, and finally sewed in the pleats.

For ideas on how to accessorize the Royal wedding day look, click here.

Halloween 2011 - Royal Wedding - bodice (take 1)

As I said before, the process of making my Halloween costume was interesting. I knew right away that I wanted Hubby & I to be William and Kate on their wedding day. I somehow had this brilliant idea that I'd make my own pattern...

I did. And it was time consuming, but worked out alright... until I got rid of the wrong set of pattern pieces that I made for the bodice (that'll happen when you should be sleeping, not sewing) and somehow couldn't revive the muslin I made to make a new pattern.



Here's the bodice I made, before it met it's fate as a scrap piece of fabric:

I made a ton of measurements and cut some muslin for the bodice. Then, I sewed the bodice together & added a zipper.

I tried it on, and using grey thread, basted the muslin in areas that needed to be taken in so I could quickly make adjustments. (I also wrote all over my paper pattern & muslin making notes for additional length, etc.)

Then, I cut the pattern in the lining material & added boning. (not sure if I did it right, never used it before)



I'm not sure exactly what happened, but somehow the above bodice didn't make the cut. Since I couldn't find my pattern again, I pulled out my trusty real pattern stash and found one that could be modified to work.

See how the next bodice was made soon!

For a quick link to the first post on making the dress click here.

For ideas on how to accessorize the Royal wedding day look, click here.

Halloween 2011 - William & Kate, Royal wedding style

I've loved Prince William for as long as I can remember. When he and Kate Middleton announced their engagement last year, I was extremely excited (only slightly jealous), for the Royal wedding. They're such a cute couple.

Another thing I love besides the Royal couple is Halloween. So, it only seemed natural to try to replicate William and Kate's wedding attire for the festivities. Luckily, I have a Hubby who (slightly resembles the prince... coincidence?) puts up with me and agreed to go as Prince William for Halloween if I made his costume.

My version of Kate Middleton's wedding dress has been an interesting process. I'll start from the beginning and will have multiple blog posts to show it (posts on the process of the Prince William costume will be in the future too).

First off I made a Bridal petticoat (with tutorial) for super cheap. This was important to have ready when determining how many yards of satin to buy.

Then, I bought 10 yards of muslin to make my pattern for the dress. (I ended up using less)

Armed with my favorite magazines featuring the Royal wedding, and my sewing scissors that I hide from Hubby, I got to work.

Here's where the dress is now (it still needs trim and other touches):

Kate Middleton's wedding dress for Halloween costume

More posts to come on how the dress was made, in case you want to be Kate Middleton for Halloween too!

Here are some key accessories to consider when dressing as the Duchess of Cambridge

Look into the future... here is how I made the satin part of the bodice, the skirt, and how it was sewn together

Velcro cord ties in 4 simple steps!

If there is one thing that bothers me in my house... it is all of the tangled electronic cords laying around! Hubby and I have been working hard to put an end to the cord mess.

For all of the cords that can be tucked behind a TV stand, color coated (and labeled) zip ties are nice to keep things straight. (yes, we're a little nerdy)

But, that doesn't work as great for cords that are used more often, like video game controllers. I used to use rubber bands or twist ties but now have switched to Velcro ties.



Here's how to make cord ties out of Velcro in about 10 seconds and for ridiculously cheap:

1) Wrap Velcro once around the cord bundle to determine the length needed and cut it (fastener & hook sides) to this size.

2) Peel the Velcro apart and lay the pieces side by side with the short sides together.

(the pictures below show 2 cord ties being made)

3) Place the Velcro so that the fastener side is up and the hook side is down (or vice-versa) and overlap the short ends slightly.

4) Zig-zag stitch the Velcro pieces together on the short sides.


That's it! Now you just have to bundle your cords and wrap them with your Velcro ties.

Refashioned t-shirt (worn out shirt with hole)

**Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY to have a chance to win some printable postcards!! (enter by Sept 9, 2011 at 11:59PM central time)**


I found this old black shirt Hubby gave me to refashion and made it into a quick v-necked tank.

But, I noticed there was a hole in the front of the shirt... I'm not sure that I like the way I covered it up (a more subtle color or different shape maybe nicer?) but here's how it went:


1) As with all shirts I get from Hubby to refashion... there was a big old logo on the front of this shirt. So, I flipped it inside out to have a nice solid shirt to work with.




2) Trace a shirt that fits well and add a seam allowance before cutting the fabric. (remember to take into account how stretchy the fabric from the shirt that fits is compared to the shirt you're cutting... you may want to leave a little extra room)
3) Sew the sides of the shirt back together so that the logo is now on the inside of the shirt
4) Cut the neckline into a v-neck (make sure to remove the tag from the shirt too)



5) If the shirt is worn out like this one... locate all of the holes and determine how to fix them
(I chose to sew a brightly colored ribbon in a random pattern over the hole. A large bow or textured patch of fabric may also be options. Or, you could simply sew the hole shut, depending on the size and such)

I kept the neckline edges raw, but they could easily be turned under and sewn.


Here's a close up of the ribbon sewn on to cover the hole in the shirt: