This and That

I found another jean skirt make over at Craftaholics Anonymous here. Go check it out. She does it differently and obviously knows how to explain herself much better then me. Go check it out especially if you were having trouble following my direction.

Also I found some great flower and hair clip tutorials. I made this real quick before we went to Walmart the other day



I wait to make some more. I think every time I make one it will come out better. Then I told you I was making Kayla a hair clip from the bow tie tutorial. I just forgot about it. So here it is before I finished it.



And here it is finished with a ribbon as the center



I don't have any pictures of it in her hair yet but when I get one I will post it. I also did another refashion on Monday but I think I will wait to post it with a couple of others I am working right now. I have been so happy fixing clothes I haven't been wearing. And who wouldn't be happy fixing things to make them wearable again! I hate wasting money.

Jean skirt makeover

I did love this skirt once upon a time!



I had the timer on my camera set and Kayla came running over so I went ahead and picked her up for the picture. Any ways. The slit just went too high so about 5 years ago I had my mom fix it for me. That was pre-sewing days for me. The slit was coming undone again and I just wanted it to be different. SO I FIXED IT! This only took me a little over an hour from start to finish. This isn't really a tutorial but I am basically just showing you what I did in case you want to try it out.

First things first is you have to figure out where you want to skirt to be. I knew I wanted to use the part I cut off as a ruffle so I made sure that I had enough fabric to do so before I cut off the length. Then I sewed the slit closed.



The I took the left over fabric and hemmed the part I cut off. That way there was a hem on both long ends. Then I folded it in half length wise and cut it down the middle. Now you should have two long strips that are hemmed on one side.





Hopefully that made sense NOW I took the skirt and the extra fabric and pinned it on right sides facing each other. Before I started, I lined up the middle of the ruffle to the middle of the skirt. Also, I knew the ruffle that I hemmed myself didn't look as good so I made sure to put that one in the back of the skirt. Line the middle up on both the skirt and the ruffle you are going to sew on.



The start pinning the ruffles. I was lazy and didn't measure. This actually made more work for me probably because a couple of times I ended up with not enough fabric at the end. After I did the first side of one ruffle I got smart and on the second ruffle I pinned the sides down BEFORE I did the ruffles. In other words, the middle was pinned and the sides were pinned, but the ruffles were not done yet. This way I knew how much fabric I had left at all times.

Also I made sure the ruffles were going in different directions on either side so it laid better.



Now you have to make a decision about your sides. I decided it would be easier ( and cuter ) if the sides were open. So mine looked liked this where the seems met



Once the whole thing is pinned it should look like this



Since jeans fray pretty easily the first thing I did was do a zigzag stitch around the whole bottom of the ruffle. Then I did a straight stitch on top of ( but not over lapping ) the zig zag. This was just to keep it from fraying more then necessary. Then you can try it on and admire how much sexier you look in a shorter, sassier skirt!





I love how shorter, sexier and sassier meant my ankles were showing! HAHA



After re-reading this I am not good at explaining myself. If there is a specific part you don't understand ask me and I will be sure to answers any questions you have! The hardest part about this was just pinning the dumb ruffles. That took the longest of all so don't be afraid and if you aren't wearing your skirt any ways ( like me ) then what do you have to lose?!

Re-purposing

I have always been a re-purposer. We grew up in thrift stores. When I say grew up in them I mean we would plan on going to thrift stores on our weekends and LOVE to do so. We enjoyed finding treasures, cool 60's stuff and OWLS of course. The owls came a little later though. Any ways. Sometimes I see an item and think, I want to make something out of this material. Other times I have a specific project in mind. Recently I was going through Kayla's old baby clothes which mainly consisted of hand-me-downs from her cousin or my friend Sarah who just started a blog called SUGAR BANANAS. Check it out for yummy recipes and creating goodness. One of the outfits she had handed down was really cute. I picked it up and noticed it had Tylenol spilled on it and it had been there unwashed, just soaking in for months! BOOOOOOOOOOOOO I was gonna throw it away when it occured to me, "Hey I could use everything ON this to create something else." And that is what I did.

First things first, here is a picture of the outfit before I destroyed it.



I ripped the ruffles off, the pocket, the bows and cut the patches off to get this.



Those ruffles were too cute to pass up! I took a white sheet I had bought at Walmart on sale for 4 bucks and made a tub. Then I used the ruffles as sleeves. I had extra sleeve left over so I made an extra pocket and attached the patches. I still have a little extra ruffle I am still trying to decide what to do with. I was thinking some hair clips to go with the outfit. What do you think?





She wore it the other day when Daddy came home and took us shopping. She wore pink leggings underneath it and everyone kept telling me how cute she was. I love when you hear strangers talking about your kids and how cute they are. "I over heard one woman telling her friend,"Oh my gosh, look at her little outfit!" haha Any ways. I didn't get a picture of it on her so here's hoping the mac and cheese she spilled on it at lunch comes out and I can take some pictures of her actually wearing.

The purpose for this post is, before throwing or giving any clothes away study them for a second and think, "Can I reuse this in a way that will be useful?" This was stained and I was gonna throw it away because no one would have wanted it. Therefore, anything I did to this would have been a plus. Just keep that in mind when looking at thrift stores or getting ready to get rid of your kids ( or your clothes ) I have some shirts of mine I was gonna cut up to use for material that I recently fixed and I am so happy I didn't cut them up yet! I will share those soon too. So happy re-purposing!!



Check out the other "green" projects from others at Sew Much Ado

FINALLY

I have been so bad the last 3 weeks or so on this blog. I didn't stop crafting but I was running out of time to blog about it. That and I have a nasty habit of starting projects but not finishing them. I also have been really bad the last 6 months or so about putting my pictures on the lap top. I get on here to write a blog and realize the pictures are still on the camera.

Any ways. My mother in law has a birthday this week. I wanted to make her a cute purse so I raided my material stash and I found some good matches. I then looked up some purses on line and went to town. I LOVE how it turned out. I had some problems though. I went through three needles before I got the whole thing done. Two regular ones and one heavy duty one finally did the trick. The problem was I was using corduroy and on some parts of the purse I was sewing through 6 to 8 layers and my machine did NOT like that. So I had a couple of mistakes but nothing too serious. The one thing I was saddest about was that I forgot to put any pockets in it. But I love the flower I put on it. I made it on a pin so she could take it off if she wanted or she could move it around to a different spot on the purse. I liked it off to the side but I had an "OPPS" spot right in the front so I put it there.






Then I have been wanting to try out making some silk flowers. I am sure if you are into the craft blogs you have been seeing them all over. They are so pretty and SO easy! YOu just take some silk and cut it into circles. The you burn all the way around the edges making them curl up and sealing them off. Then you layer and put whatever you want in the middle. Mine turned out so cute. I love them. My house is SO dark and I was trying to get a picture without my flash but they were all blurry so here is a couple with the flash washing them out





I can't wait to put one on a hair clip for Kayla! Then I wanted to show you my old skirt



Old and boring. It just started fighting me again after I lost this last little bit of weight. When I put it on though the slit would go to high and I was just wanting a shorter one so cut off the bottom and did this




It only took me a little over an hour and I LOVE how it turned out! The picture doesn't do it justice but it really does look cute in person. I went a head and took pictures along the process so I am going to do a tutorial this week on how I did it.

And lastly a little teaser. Here is something I started, am loving but haven't finished yet. Hopefully this week I will get around to it



Bet you can't guess what I am going to do with these puppies!

Seriously Cute

So I follow the blog MAKEITANDLOVEIT and it's awesome. I love it. It has so many things on it and she shows you hot to make ALMOST everything she does which I love. I get so annoyed sometimes when people post things and then say, "If you want to buy the pattern, go to my shop!" I understand people have to make money but come on. Any ways...SO check out here newest little tutorial that I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO gonna be doing.

HERE

How cute are those!?!?! I will totally be going to Old Navy soon to get me some flip flops to re-do. Yipee

Bestest Purse EVER!

So I found this tutorial HERE and thought, "Hmmmmmm, that could be really cute." Then, my friend Stacey told me, "You know if you make me a bag I will make you something back right?" I mean, whats not to like about that right? I love making purses and I am addicting to making them for people and if I am going to get something in return its a win win! So I had all of these bags in mind for her. Finally I asked her what color she wanted and she said BLACK! I was slightly disappointed until I remembered this bag tutorial I had found and new I could make it cute. I have always had a love for cheetah print. Stacey used to tease me about it and buy me stuff. When she was in college ( she is a year a head of me ) she kept sending me pictures of her in Cheetah print stuff. So I thought I would add a little cheetah print with the black.


It ended up being the cutest bag ever. I would have kept it except I made it especially for her and I wanted a bag that was a little smaller then this. I have to tell you though, the pictures just don't do it justice. That sounds conceded or something but it seriously doesn't look as cool as it does in person. Also note how much skinnier I look in this picture then from a month ago. I have lost 10 pounds and hopefully I will keep on losing! Fingers Crossed

Bow Tie Tutorial

I made my little guy a bow tie and it is SO easy! Here is what it looks like when it is done



There are so many variations to this as well which is really nice. I hate how everyone puts the SAME exact tutorials on there blogs ( you know what I mean right... ) but I looked around and the one bow ties I found were for sale. I didn't find any that were fake bow ties. I found a couple of real bow ties that are way cute but I would hear "Mommy, can you tie this?" every five minutes because he would pull on it over and over again until I would rip it off of him and tell him he couldn't wear it any more! haha SO, this is a bow tie sew onto elastic ( or you could do fabric to match the bow tie ) and then either Velcro or a snap. Your choose. I am just going to show you how to make it and you can decide the rest. So let's get started!!

First you need two pieces of fabric cut into 9 X 7 inch squares ( you can make them smaller if you are making them for a younger boy. ) Then you need one 2 1/2 by 5 inch piece. This will be the center so if you want it to be a different color remember to do that. Then measure your little guys neck. My boy has a 10 to 11 inch neck ( fatty, I know ) so I did a 13 inch piece of elastic and two pieces of Velcro. Let's make a list

2 pieces of 9X7 inch fabric
1 piece of 2 1/2 by 5 inch fabric
2 piece of Velcro
and some elastic



Take one of the two 9X7 inch pieces and press the short sides in and iron down. Just a 1/4 of an inch or so on both short sides. Then sew this down



Then take one of the pieces you just sewed and fold it in half with right sides together so that the sides you sewed already are on the ends.



Follow these steps with the other piece of fabric and then turn both of them right side out. You should have two identical piece of fabric. Now press them open with the seam in the center in the back. Also, do the same thing with the middle piece of fabric. This is should be much smaller. Now you have all three piece sewn and ready to go.



Now the next steps are difficult to show with the two pieces of fabric so I am goign to show you with one of the bands we just made but just know you are going to do it with both of them stacked on top of each other. Just look at the pictures first and then try it out. It will seem confusing looking at the pictures but as soon as you try it, you'll get it right away and it will be fine.

Step One

Turn the fabric over to the back and fold both long ends into the center

Step Two

Fold in half the opposite way

Step Three

Now comes the difficult part to take pictures of and explain. Take the end and fold it in half towards the back. Then repeat with the other side and in your hands you should be able to turn it around and see this


If you do not see this, then try the steps over again. Now you could do this and be done. I wanted my boys bow tie to be double layered. If you do not want it double layered then you could skip the other piece of fabric all together and move on to the center piece. If you want two layers ( which just makes it more full ) then keep reading

Now that you know how you are going to fold it and if you are doing the double layer, do step ONE with both piece of fabric separated. Then stack the layers like so



You may notice in the picture that I made the bottom one slightly longer then the second. That is so once the bow ties are done, you can see it underneath the other one. If you are doing both layers, you will want to do this. Now, take these stacked pieces and find the center of your elastic. Line up the center of the fabric with the center of the elastic and hand sew them together. You only need a couple of stitches. Leave the stitching in and long for just a minute. We are going to use it in a second. This just keeps the bow tie in place while your little one wears it.



Now, go ahead and make the fold I showed you earlier only do it with the two pieces of fabric together. ( steps one through 3 ) Now take that thread you have lose and wrap it around once and either tie it off ( or stitch it once more through the bow tie and tie off. Now we are ready for the center piece.

NOw take your center piece and find the middle. Line the middle up with the front of your bow tie and wrap it around so the ends are in the back.



If your ends are too long just tuck them under. NOW here is another thing that is up to you. When I sewed this shut I DIDN'T sew it to the elastic. That way I can adjust the bow tie any time I want too. I thought this would be better, but if you want to, you can sew this straight onto the elastic. I made sure to not catch the elastic and just sew the two ends closed.



Now all you need to do is sew some elastic to the ends, or snaps if you prefer. I did the velcro. I have a pretty active kid and the bow tie stayed on for ALL 3 hours of church plus an hour or so before church. That's pretty impressive for my kid. If you have any questions just please ask. I swear it is pretty straight forward and it took me 20 minutes TOPS! Another option would be to add lightweight interfacing if you want it to be thicker or hold its shape better. I was too lazy! haha I am going to do another tutorial next week with a Bible ( or Book of Mormon ) cover to match the bow tie! I thought that would be cute. Enjoy your bow tie and let me know if you make one.

On a side note, you can do this with ribbon for girls hair bows ( or make a fabric one too! ) I made a black fabric one for Kayla with a ribbon tie for the center and it's WAY cute!! And totally girly. I'll post a picture as soon as I can get one. ENJOY



My little chip-n-dale! My brother asked me if he was Chris Farley or Patrick Swazi ( yeah I can't spell ) HAHA If you have any idea what I am talking about you are awesome. It's one of my FAVORITE SNL skits. I am adding this to a "link party" so check out what everyone else posted by clicking on the button below!

Framed Pictures

I made the CUTEST pictures of my kids today with my new printer. I was SO happy with how they came out. I have noticed that on etsy.com people sale pictures on canvas with words printed on them to make them more personal. Then because they are putting words or graphics on the picture, they charge a TON! Do you guys have any idea how cheap canvas is? I got a roll of canvas for 100 dollars. Most of the canvas I see on etsy.com with words on them are at LEAST 100 dollars for a 14 X 16! Um..hello!!! BUT after printing out these pictures of my kids, I can understand why people do it and even feel good about the money they spent. I loved them THAT much.

So I too the words to the song "I AM A Child of God" ( it's a Mormon song that kids learn really young and has special meaning to it's member's ) I put the first verse of the song on Tyler's picture



Then I took the chorus of the song and put it on Kayla's picture



I LOVE IT! This is what it looks like on the wall.



NOW, if any one thinks they might want something like this I have canvas and I won't charge you 100 dollars like most places on line. Seriously, let me know if you are interested cause very soon I will be opening up an etsy.com site and I am going to start selling them. But if you can't wait, then I will sell it to you sooner. :) My printer prints up to 24X 5 feet. AWESOME!