Pinterest Challenge #6 Pog Mobile

Hello Crafty Foxes!

The (almost) complete mobile:

Pinterest Challenge #6

Today is the deadline for the Pinterest Challenge and I am mostly done...yes, just mostly. But not for lack of trying. This was my pinspiration for Wildeman's much belated mobile.

Originally Wildeman's mobile was going to be made up of 1001 white paper cranes, each containing a message from either mom or dad. As poetic as the theory was we got to about 30 before the guilt of all the dead trees these cranes represented got to me. We decided to include the cranes we had already made in his nursery decor but find some way to use recycled products for his mobile.

When I saw the image below I loved how clever, simple and eco-friendly it was but if you've been following me for a while you'll know that floral cutouts aren't really my thing. So, what is? Pogs!

I love the pop art feel of my in-progress mobile. I ran out of pogs before I ran out of lantern space but I'll contine scouring thrift stores for this 90s fad that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

  

I started with this:

 

 

Working on it:  

 

My Pinspiration:

 

Pinterest Challenge Accepted!

Hi!

You know what? I love Pinterest, and I'm willing to admit that it is possible that I spend a little too much time there, but only a little. And I'm standing by that statement, which isn't to say that I don't spend much time there, rather that I actually do many of the things I pin. And for still more I have bought materials that are just waiting to be stitched back to life. Which is cool, except that I have this somewhat-irrational-and-somewhat-totally-understandable fear: scheduled projects. So, the point? The point is that Merrick over at Merrick`s Art, who you should follow if you're not already, is challenging me (and, you know, some other peopl...maybe you) to complete 6 pins in 6 weeks. Alright Merrick, challenge accepted. I'm going stare scheduled sewing in the face and laugh at it's puny attempts to scare the crap out of me for me...or be super anxious until everything is done. Either is good.

 

My list:

 

 

Yes, it is ambitious, but Wildeman sleeps a lot so I'm taking a shot!

 

1. Rompers from adult T-shirts
          > My version.

2. Criss cross crochet back T-shirt
          > My version

3. Funky Baby Sweat Pants
          > My version.

4. Baby play gym - Not a tutorial. it's a 162$ play gym that I'm using as inspiration. My goal is to make my own for under 30$
         > My version

5. Wildeman's much belated mobile.

6. Ellis Shirt Dress from Burdastyle - No tutorial that I can find but I love a challenge!

 

Check back for the tutorials.

I need luck. Wish it!

 

Crocheting for my baby boy!

Hello foxy crafters!

The world seems rife with boring overly cutesy baby clothes and I'm just not cool with it. Luckily I have some craftiness up my sleeve. Here's what I've made so far. Click the pics to be taken to the patterns:

Cloth Necklace

Hello crafty people
{crafty like a fox}

No refashioning today. Just an oldschool DIY. I made this cloth necklace with some fabric I bought at a thrift store (took me forever to figure out what to do with it but I loved it so much!) but this DIY in particular is usually done with an old t-shirt. Probably works best with jersey, I did it with a shiny, non-stretchy fabric. No freakin' idea what it might be made of (I'm not quite that good).

This is a simple project. I just whipped it up in about 45 minutes. You just cut the fabric into strips to make your braid (I doubled them for a bulkier braid), sew off the ends and attatch a whole bunch of strips for the rest of the necklace. Super easy and super cute! Perfect for summer. Enjoy! (+ my amateur artsy photos :P )

See you soon!

Lace Shorts!

New tutorial for today!

I know that lace shorts have been a thing for a while now but I didn't know about them until I saw a woman wearing them at the doctors office and I was in love! But is there any chance that a maternity option is available for these beauties? Not a shot in hell. But that's okay because I have a sewing machine and a giant box of lace my aunt wanted to get rid of. Score!

You can use this tutorial to make non-maternity shorts really easily as when I make maternity bottoms I just keep the waist below the belly so that I can still wear my creations after the baby is born.

The Shorts

Slippers!

Not too long ago I got these weird red bumps on my toes. They kinda freaked me out so I went to see a dermatologist about them. Apparently my toes are very sensitive to cold. A few pairs of warm socks and I would be all fixed up. Well, thanks doc, and that was all well and good until I attempted to wear those fleecy mountain man socks for more than an hour. And you know what? OW! So I asked the dermatologist about it but he turned out to be one of those asshats who don't believe FMS is a thing. I calmly informed him that it can be viewed on catscans and walked out.

Crocheting time!

These things are shockingly easy to make. I didn't follow a pattern so this tutorial will work for any yarn weight or hook size. Enjoy!

Ch enough to be as wide as three toes.
Crochet in the round (and stitch, I did dc), inc as you need to fit over your toes.
Measure against your foot as you go so they fit you perfectly.
Once you've reached the wide spot at the base of your toes stop increasing and crochet in roud as high as you want to go.
Then start crochet in rows so that you are creating the sole of the slipper and moving back toward the heel.
When you reach the heel decrease 3-5 with each stitch so that you create little half circle.
Tie off the heel and create two chains long enough to tie around your ankle. Single crochet them to the top of the heel in the cenre.

And VOILA! Slippers!

Wrap around earrings

Hey,

This is a super simple project and unfortunatley I forgot to take pictures (again) so you're going to have to image the majority of the tutorial but I'm sure you'll have no problem.

Here's the finished Wrap Around Earrings

Materials:

Hoop earrings

Yarn

Crochet hook

Hair spray

Step One

Crochet all round the outside of your hoop (actually took this picture).

Step Two

Wrap. Wrap horizontally until the yarn is as dense as you want it then wrap vertically. When you wrap vertically make sure you pull the yarn through the top of the hoop so you get that dip look (and a spot for you ear lobe to go). Then tie the yarn off and weave it in.

Step Three

Spray. The yarn's not super stable yet. I just hair-sprayed the earrings, pressed a tissue over them to get rid of the bubbles and let them dry. They're pretty firm now!

Have fun!



Origami Heart Necklace

Hey everyone,

It origami time!

I have always been fascinated by paper folding but had little to do with a bunch of folded paper. Add to that my near-convulsive reaction to wasting things and I, unsurprisingly, never really got into folding paper for fun. Fortunately, I am into fabric and it turns out the two go together beautifully.

Without further ado The Origami Heart Necklace

ps, that's a baby not a beer belly :D

Step One:
You'll need three squares of paper (about an 1.5") for the small hearts and one big one for the big heart. I used paper but it does mean the necklace can't get wet. There are other fabric stiffening materials that are probably ideal. I didn't think about that till later as I'm a bit of a spaz.

Step Two:

Choose your fabric, cut a square with a little bit of a seam allowance (just enough for the stitching) and pin.

Step Three:

Sew the fabric square to the paper square. I chose cotton from an old tshirt as it won't fray too badly (this fabric is actually left over from my Dinosaur T-shirt refashion).

Front

And back.

Step Four:
Fold those suckers into four origami hearts.
Here's a great tutorial.

Step Five:

Sew your first heart to your choice of necklace. I used a braided thin, white yarn. Metal would look great but it irritates my skin.

 Step Six:

Get everyone else one there and...

Voila!

Origami Heart Necklace

Half and Half T-shirt

Hello Lovely Crafters!

So, I haven't been crafting as much as I would like lately. Or rather, the projects I'm working on are more long term. You will see them eventually but I can still only work in relativey small spurts. But whatever, at least I'm working :D

When I woke up this morning I was feeling a little grustrated by how long it had been since I had actually completely something. So, I decided to start a 5 minutes project. This is something I had been meaning to do for a long time but had been putting off because it was such a tiny project (how's that for self-sabotage?)

Anyway, it all started with this super cool shirt I have had since I was a kid and haven't been able to let go of. Takes me back to teenage motorcycle roadtrips!

While nostalgic it was certainly not stylish but it's all good. I have scissors!

I have been wanting to try this tshirt reconstruction I had found on Pinterest forever and had never gotten to it. This is my inspiration from www.oaknyc.com :

Easiest way to make a new pattern is to CHEAT CHEAT CHEAT and copy something else you own that looks about right.

Okay, here is a good chance to learn from my (perpetual) mistakes. Don't trace on the right (out) side of your shirt with the chalk. You want to turn the shirt inside out and trace on the other size...I'm such a space cadet...



I brought the collar up so the logo wasn't cut out.

Back too (ps you'll want the back collar as well)...

Pop it on the form (floor works too if you're formless)

Snip. Snip.

Snippity snip.

 And the finished product. After about 3 minutes of very hard work. Voila:

The Half and Half T-shirt

Pretty freakin' awesome I think :)
See you soon!

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!

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.

Crochet Hooded Infiniti Scarf Tutorial

Hello everyone and happy Saturday!

I'm going to start of my weekend by sharing a new project with you. I made one of these a few months back and loved it! I wear it every chance I get. Then, my sister saw it and loved it too. I figured since I was working on a new one I should put a little tutorial up here for you lovely people. This design is not from a pattern at all. I'm just kind of winging it but it's super simple.

I got the idea when I went into a Lululemon. I had never been in one before as I don't like to spend exorbitant amounts of money on stuff that's going to get uber sweaty (unless it's getting sweaty from another kind of work out). They had these beautiful, chunky knit hooded infinity scarves and they were charging nearly 100$ and, well, that's ridiculous.

Project #2 Hooded Infiniti Scarf in Pink

Inspired by: Lululemon

Yarn: Patons in pink (sorry, Sweet Talker, aka my hubby, threw out the label)

Hook size: L

Cost: All in, about 20$

What is it?

It's a pretty basic pattern, Just a hood, and a long scarf that's attached at the front. The scarf wraps around my neck three times to keep me toasty warm. I attatched it with one twist (the thing that makes it "infiniti" so that it's a mobius strip (#nerd)

This is what it looks like when all is said and done:

How to make your own:

The hood:

The hood is just two rectangles crocheted together at the top and back.

Stitch: double crochet

Mesurements: 10" x 15" (but it's way too big

I made the hood first and it turned out way too big but haven't bothered to fix it as I can just pull it back a bit but it has proven a little unnerving when it slumps forward and kills my peripheral vision when I'm crossing the street. I would suggest making it to fit your head specifically. I'm working on a second one now (see my next post for details) and I've been measuring it from the back of my skull to where I want the hood to end. Then just holding it up to my head as I go until it's long enough. Like, I said there's no real pattern here.

The scarf:

Stitch:double crochet

Measurements: 66"x 4"

The scarf is very thin, this is so that it doesn't feel too bulky when I triple wrap it over the hood. It's a little more comfortable that way plus I like that bunched up fabric look. You can't really see it here but I put one twist in the scarf before connecting it to the hood. I quite liked the look of it. A triple wrapped length worked for this project because the double crochet is quiet an open weave but check out my next post to see a hooded infiniti scar with in moss stitch (super thick) that only wraps twice.

Stitch used for this pattern: double crochet