Saturday 28 April 2012

Oversized Envelope Clutch

Hello!

It has been a while since I've posted something new up here. I was having brain-melting computer troubles but my brain has been unmelted, my computer replaced and my harddrive restored so...I'm back!

While all of that nonsense was happening was, of course, busy making cool things to share with you. So, without further ado the

Oversized Envelope Clutch Tutorial


I started out with this very cute Juniors dress (yep, that's a dress) that I found at a thrift store for about 11$. It was a size 3 so there was no way I could wear it but I couldn't pass up that gorgeous print!


I tried pinning it in billion different ways (8) and while there were all fine none of them were really . doing anything for me. I think it was the quality of the fabric. That sheen was keeping it from being the funky, casual top I had envisioned. So, I changed the plan.


As I often do, apparently, I forgot to take pictures of the first part so put get ready to use that imagination. First thing to do is decide how big you want your clutch to be. You need something to stiffen the fabric. I used cereal boxes, without thinking that that means I can't take it out in the rain (in Vancouver)...yep...

You'll need two rectangles, one a little thinner than the other and a triangle for the top flap. Then wrap your fabric around your base.

It also needs a liner so that you can't see that base evertime you open the thing.


Now sew it all together (make sure you left yourself a seam allowance).

Need a strap as well (I also added a button just at the point of the flap).


And VOILA!


Pretty cool eh?

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday 9 April 2012

New Hooded Infiniti Scarf

Hello crafty people!

Anybody else have a great long weekend? I got nothing done! It was awesome, almost all my time was spent with my Sweet Talking hubby :)

Anyway, on to the tutorial:

This project is a re-do of a scarf that I made for myself which you can read about here. When my sister saw my scarf she decide she needed one too, but she's not really a hot pink kind of a girl so...beige it is!

My scarf was made with double crochet stitch, and the yarn was a little thicker so even such an open stitch was pretty warm. The beige yarn I used for my sister's scard (Super Saver) was really think so I found a lovely, thick stitch that had never worked with before: Moss Stitch. Moss stitch is really easy, just sc1, dc1 over and over again. It creates a great, thick textured look. Though it was so thick I made this scarf with only a double wrap (mine was triple) as I really didn't want my sister to feel like she was wearing a neck brace.

Step One:

Crochet 2 square for the hood and one long rectangle for the scarf. I'm not going to give you exact measurements as I have found that the best method is to measure it against your head as you work. When I made mine I used measurements that I found online and it came out all wrong. Measure the first chain of the hood from the back of your skull until it's as wide as you want it. Then crochet until it reaches as far forward as you would like (don't want to lose too much periferal vision. Then as you crochet measure from the top of your head down until the piece rests comfortably on your shoulder.

These are the pieces you need:


Step Two:

Using either single crochet or slip stitch (I use sc because I like the way it looks) crochet one short and long side of your hood pieces together so that you can place the hood over your head.



Step Three:

Twist the scarf. That twist gives a little extra bulk, making this and infiniti scarf (like a mobius strip).



Step Four:

Crochet it all together. Make sure that you crochet the scarf to the hood so that your seams are facing inward and are invisible when you are wearing the scarf, and don't forget to maintain that twist!



The final product:
My sister's not one for putting her face online so I have to model this number, but she was thrilled with it!

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Hell yes! Silver Pants!

I'm kind of excited about my super cool, super comfy, perfectly fitting new silver pants. I've been wanting crazy pants for a while not but have been having a hard time finding ones that won't hurt (FMS) and will fit my body right (curvy + petite = trouble). So, no problem. I just made them! I found this stretchy silverness at Fabricana in Richmond for about 20$ for two yards. The pattern I used was the Kwik Sew Misses 3807. I'll be honest though, I was not happy with the pattern. The waist was too high, the sizing WAY too big and generally weird. It took a bunch of alterations to get them to fit right, I acutally almost gave up. But, it all came together in the end.

Silver Stretchy Pants:

Materials:
"Metallica" Pewter fabric 1.5 yards (for med-small)
Kwik Sew 3807

Step One:
Cut out your pattern. (Use regular scissors for this part)



Step Two:
That thing's been folded up for a while so you'll want to iron it flat so that the shape is perfect.




Step Three:
Fold your fabric in half, right sides in and pin the pattern piece over top. Make sure the fabric is flat and smooth so that the shape isn't warped.




Be warned! Don't ignore pin or needle self pokings. They can lead to inadvertant bleeding and fabric-ruining!



Step Four:
Use FABRIC SHEARS to cut out the fabric. For this pattern the seam allowance is included so cut flush to the paper.

Step Five...

Okay, there are no more pictures. At this point I kinda lost it with this pattern. I followed the pinning directions (which were a little weird) and included turning the pants inside out again and sewing them inside each other. At one point I sewed the ridiculousy high waist shut and had to seam rip it out. Then out of mere curiosity I tried the pants on.

Holy Crap! They were awful. Too big and tent looking (even though my measurements had matched perfectly) Erkel-high and generally terrible. I threw them in a box and gave up for about ten minutes, at which point I was reminded how much I loved that fabric by all the scraps laying around. So, I decided to save the day!

I took the waist down, added a drawstring (I don't love elastic) and took the seams in about an inch and a half. I also doubled, and in some places tripled the seams, just in case. I shortened them for my 25 in inseam (yep) and finally, without daring to hope, tried them on again. And...

Step Six: Flaunting the awesome



Holy Crap!!!
I'm pretty sure I own the coolest pants in the world.

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Pop can tab necklace

Hello!

I made some silver pants the other day (which I'll post a tutorial for soon) and then realized that I didn't have a lot of silver jewelry to go with it as I rarely wear metal (too heavy). Fortunately that is a problem easily solved with a little craftiness.

Pop Can Tab Necklace

Materials:
Cardboard or card
brown fabric
10 pop can tabs
Needle
Thread
Black ribbon

Step One:
Cut out your triangle of cardboard (I used an old cereal box) and wrap it in brown fabric.


Step Two:
I used electrical tape to tape the fabric down. Fast and easy!




Step Three:
Sew the pop can tabs into place. I started at the bottom and worked my way up. A word of caution: I cut my triangle too big for the tabs and ended up having to make it smaller on one side. But don't cut the fabric! The beauty of electrical tape is that you can just peel the fabric back, clip the cardboard and retape.


Step Four:
Tape black ribbon to the back at your desired length and you're done. The whole thing takes about 20-60 minutes, depending on how fast you work.

The finished product:


Make. Make. Make.

Sunday 1 April 2012

RAWR! is dinosaur for I love you

Hello lovely crafters!

This wicked cool dinosaur shirt was one of my first ever major refashions and still one of my favourite. Unfortunately the majority of the "during" pictures were lost in my old computer. So, I have a few from the beginning and a few from the end. I'm going to have to describe the middle part.

First thing I did:

Originally I had planned to do this with a dyed t-shirt and a giant hunk of felt. Unfortunately I don't really have the energy still to correctly dye things. I attempted it though, and thus, the unfortunate result:



Not the dye's fault.



Not sure if you can see it but there's red and black spots in there that confuse the heck out of me.

So I pitched that idea and moved on (the shirt is going to become the base for my next form waste not!) Why make more work for myself right? I found a men's grey polo at Value Village that was a much thicker material. I realised something heavier will hold the weight of the felt much better.]

The shirt, being a polo, had a really low collar that I had to get rid of so I ended up having to cut it really low. It definitely needs to be warn with a shirt underneath, otherwise it doesn't keep the ladies under control. To make the racerback I just layed my favourite raceback tank top (from Joe Fresh) over top and cut out the same shapes. I did have to do some alterations as the fabric was making the cut hang all weird but it all worked out in the end.

I bought a big chunk of black felt at Michaels for around 7$. Here is the part that I really wish I had those pictures for. The dinosaur! I found an outline of a t-rex that I really like online. Then I just held a piece of paper up to the screen and traced it lightly. I wanted to make it huge without going anywhere, I like my house :) and my artistic talent does not stretch so far as drawing. So, I drew a grid over the little dinosaur, then increased the scale of the grid until it was shirt sized and copied what was in the little boxes and...bam! I had a shirt-sized dinosaur (onomatopoeias make everything better).

I cut out the super huge dinosaur and had a pattern piece. I pinned it to the felt and cut out my giant dinosaur for the shirt. Sew one to the other and...pow! (seriously, its fun, you should try it) I had a super cool dinosaur shirt.

A word of caution however: If I ever make a similar shirt (I'm considering a robot) I'm not planning to do it with felt. It's finnicky to wash and seems to collect my white cat's hair intentionally.

The rawring shirt:



The pretty kitty:



Make. Make. Make.