Doily Shirt

     One thing I would love to get more into is refashioning.  It's a great way to upcycle thrift store clothes or hand-me-downs, and some people make things incredibly creative and chic.  It takes a certain eye to see clothes' potential, and I'm not sure I have that, but I am capable of copying others' work! ;-)

This is one example of something I have been able to do -- here's theirs: 

Here's mine:

I used leftover doilies from my wedding, and I mostly got those on eBay, in case you were wondering.

Sweatshirt Bag

 Do you have a favorite sweatshirt that you can't wear anymore?  Wouldn't it be fun to turn it into a bag?  I do! I did!  I got the idea from this pinned link, and again elsewhere.  Mine turned out differently than these; I liked the original idea but I didn't think I would use it as a purse or messenger bag often, so I made mine an athletic-style drawstring bag. 

I sewed up the sides and bottom, and transplanted the drawstring from the hood to the top of the bag. I made the strap from one of the sleeves -- only one strap because I never use athletic bags like backpacks on both shoulders -- and securely attached it to the bag and itself (it was from 2 pieces).

This is my cat, Fritz, enjoying being out on our patio. :)

Monogram Door Hanger

This idea from Pinterest is on Etsy. There's another Etsy seller with similar items here, if you want to buy theirs.  I liked the idea, and used it as inspiration for my own version, coincidentally also a letter S.

I made mine with a wooden letter from Hobby Lobby (two actually, they were thinner than I wanted), wrapped in Sugar & Cream yarn and accented with felt flowers.  The tutorial for the flowers is here.

Christmas Stockings

      This pin links to a wonderful tutorial over at Sew Like My Mom, which I painstakingly followed to make Andrew and myself stockings for our first married Christmas. Her applique part would've been great if I had had the right materials.  Since I live in a small town where apparently no one sews, I was hard pressed to make it work.  Hers are a lot nicer than mine, but possibly because she's also quite a bit better at sewing than me!
     Here's how mine turned out:

Christmas Tree Skirt

 This pin links to Teal & Lime, which has a tutorial for how to make a Christmas tree skirt out of a round tablecloth.  This is great, because it's pretty simple but looks nice, and you could even upcycle an older or thrift store tablecloth.  I love mine, and really enjoyed having it under our tree this year!

Mine was $10 at Target (it could be cheaper if you caught them on clearance!) and a great fabric and color.  It looked lovely under our tree, nestling our gifts.

3D Paper Snowflake

       The above photo from this pin is a tutorial for these fun 3D paper snowflakes. They make fun winter or Christmas decorations, though I can't really use them since my cat will destroy anything like this. I made one with the idea of using it as a gift topper instead of a bow, but it ended up being larger than I expected. I used paper squares about 5 inches wide, and it turned out to be about 14 inches wide, point to point. Pretty straightforward, but it takes a bit of time. I used wrapping paper, but you could use construction paper or scrapbook paper if you want it to be sturdier.

Here's mine:

Homemade Fruit Snacks

These fruit snacks are from this pin and this website.
It's a fun recipe to try! We tried it with grape juice and put it in Andrew's dinosaur ice trays. They were fun, but I would try a different flavor if we did it again. The grape flavor is pretty strong, a bit too strong for my tastes. They also turned out chewier than your average fruit snacks, which could be
an upside or a downside based on your preferences.

Tutorial: Dress Shirt Aprons

Alright, so this post is a tutorial for those dress shirt aprons circulating on Pinterest, that I showed you in my previous post. Here we go.

1. Find a dress shirt that you want to use. I recommend going one size up from your regular size. It's okay if it has a blemish or two (thrift store finds are great for this!), especially if they're going to be covered, which you can determine from reading through this tutorial.

1. Check the size on a helpful friend or the person for whom you're making it.  Check how you want it to lay and how much extra you have in the back.

2. Mark with chalk & measure to check the evenness.

3. Cut back panel up to 1-2 inches from the collar or to the horizontal back panel. Plaid is great for this because you have lines to follow! Love it.

4. Check that the head opening fits so you know how many buttons to keep buttoned. (You will sew up the front, so you want to make sure they can slip it on and off their heads easily.)

5. Mark where you want the sides to be, measuring for evenness from the armhole and collar. Make sure you leave seam allowance. You can use something long and straight to mark it, but it's not necessary because the edge will curve along the body and isn't going to really show if it's not straight. 

6. Mark the back, angling down slightly and meeting in the middle.  You can also just use the seams, but I like letting it wrap around so the wearer can lean a hip against the counter and protect their clothes.

7. Cut where you've marked. On the front I cut just slightly in from the side and then cut the top layer (front panel) only. Cut the back panels.

8. Mark the collar, leaving seam allowance. Pinking shears would be helpful here to lessen how much you have to fold into the seam. 

9. Mark the bottom of the side panels if you want to trim them straight, leaving seam allowance.

10. Fold all your edges over, iron, and pin down. I do sides first, then side panels, then collar, making sure the collar lies flat and evenly (start in the center if you need help keeping it even).  Another option at this point is to use bias tape for all the edging. If you want to do that, check out this tutorial for bias tape. 

11. Sew up the front, avoiding the buttons. (Seriously, my needle caught the edge of a button and snapped it in half on one of the previous aprons!)

12. Sew around the sides; I started at the bottom left (looking at the wrong side).

Pockets

     In general, I use the sleeves for the ties and use the cuffs as pockets, though if you use bias tape it takes care of the ties.  On my first apron, the cuffs were the style you have to use cufflinks with, so they were stiff and large, perfect to use as pockets.  For the second apron I made, the sleeves had those pulls that let you shorten the sleeves, so I used those and the buttons on them as decorative accents on my pockets. This third apron had pockets with pleats and two buttoning options.  The pocket style you choose really depends on the existing style of the shirt sleeves, because each is different and lends itself to a different look for your pockets.

13. Iron pockets once you cut to size; lay them out to match size and position, marking with chalk.  Since I used the cuffs, I'll sew up the "fly" on my pockets so they don't gap.

Sewing pockets: I usually attach mine by sewing the bottoms, hanging down, right sides together, and then fold up and sew the sides, wrong sides together.

Ties

14. Using a long segment from the back panel, cut two long pieces. Mine are about 26 inches finished.  (If you keep side panels, it doesn't matter so much that they're long.)  Fold the strips into itself like bias tape, each side in, then together, iron and pin.  Sew down but leave about 4 inches at one end to connect to the body of the apron. Fold one end over and sew down. I kept the finished edge (from the bottom of the back of the shirt) to connect to the apron. 

15. Connect the ties to the aprons by slipping the apron corner inside the fold of the tie. I sewed the ties around in a square to hold it well.

Enjoy your new upcycled apron!

Dress Shirt Aprons

Today's post is about these aprons pictured on Pinterest, tutorial to follow:
 

The website this pin links to has several styles of these aprons, (all credit for the idea goes to her) and I liked this one best, so I used that idea on the first apron I made, for my husband. I used a mens' large shirt that he wasn't wearing anymore, turning the use-with-cufflinks-style cuffs into the pockets.
I think they make a great apron style for men; the cut accentuates their wider shoulder and narrower waists.

I also made two for my friend (mens' large) and his 8-year-old daughter (women's medium):

They're really not difficult, and I find them fun to make. I think they take around an hour or two to complete. I made a tutorial for them in another post here.

Repost: Fall Crafting

        

        This was a post on my other blog, Snares & Cares, back in October.
        Today I'm going to take a break from my usual kinds of posts to tell you about the pumpkins I made for some fall decor.  I was inspired by these two posts, found through Pinterest, but I did a little bit of my own take on it as I combined the two methods.  I thought I'd share what I learned.

1. http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/2012/09/easy-sweater-pumpkins.html
2. http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2011/10/how-to-make-sweater-pumpkins-no-sewing.html

     These two blog posts are great tutorials of two different ways to make adorable sweater pumpkins.  I loved the idea, but I didn’t want to sew at all and I don’t have access to a decent craft store, so getting cotton fluff was out too.  I decided to try a blend of both, and my unique tips are bolded.

     I looked for a cute cable knit sweater or two such as is shown in both posts, but I couldn’t find one I liked.  I did find a nice green sleeveless top (acrylic/nylon blend) and an orange gingham button-up blouse.  I got a mini pumpkin at Dollar Tree, and cut its stem out as directed, and for my second, I used the classic plastic pumpkin Halloween candy pail, removing its handle.

       Both the shirts I got were larges, and neither had sleeves (like the first poster used).  I could have cut a section out, like the second poster instructs, but I am always worried about cutting it too small and ruining it.  To avoid that, I kept the orange shirt intact, and only cut the green shirt, which I used it on my smaller pumpkin, so I just used the front panel (still plenty).  I wrapped these loosely around each pumpkin form, then turned it inside out before tying off one end.  On each pumpkin I was then able to tuck the extra fabric into its opening (the tops became the bottoms).

 

 

     On the green pumpkin, I did a bit of hot glue to close the sides, but it wasn’t even really necessary.  On the orange pumpkin, I just folded the fabric.  I tied the other end with jute to make the pumpkin stem, tying it at the base and at the tip.  On the green pumpkin, the fabric lent itself to be left cut, rather than folded over, because it looked more like a real cut pumpkin stem. 

  
     On the orange pumpkin, the cotton didn’t look as nice, so I folded it over before finishing off the stem.  I wrapped the stem in jute, and I left some extra when I tied the ends to make the tendrils.  I don’t recommend you twist them into tendrils when already attached, it was more work that way than how the first poster did it.  They turned out pretty cute, though!  They were fun, not too hard to make, and best of all cost me something like $5-8 to put together.

     Sorry for the lack of high quality pictures; I am clearly not a photographer nor do I have a nice camera.  You still get the idea.

Welcome!

     Welcome to my new blog for showcasing my attempts at creativity!  I will be posting proof that I actually use what I find on Pinterest, to show the world that my 3000+ repins are not in vain! :)  I am an amateur crafter, cook, ...well, amateur everything.  I am dabbling in scrapbooking, sewing, trying new recipes, and other miscellaneous craft projects.  Please enjoy, feel free to ask questions in the comments, and learn from my mistakes.