Pinspiraton: Sunburst Miniskirt

My Pinsiration:

Happy Summer Crafty Ladies and Gentlemen!

I have had my eye on this pin for at least a year now. I fell in love with it right away and knew that it would be so easy to do but couldn't quite bring myself to wear a mini-skirt until I had lost more of the baby weight (which is not something I'm happy about btw. I have to work on that. Miniskirts look great on big girls!) . And now this oh so easy, oh so cute refashion is mine!

I unfortunately don;t have a source for this as the pin clicks to through to a 404 but I pinned it to my very overdue Spring 2012/2013 board. 3 down, 16 to go.

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 #3 Cross Back Tank

Yay! I'm still on track with the Pinterest Challenge!

Confusion can be cured by clicking that link up there ^

Boring tank tops can be cured by doing this:

My Pinspiration:

I bought this tank at my favourite thrift store with the original intention of doing nothing to it. I get so excited about details and prints that I own very few basics. It turns out I can`t really handle basic.

Baby Trench - PR+P Men's Shirt Refashion

Hello everyone!

I'm so sorry that took so long, I didn't end up getting a new charger until this afternoon but I am finally back and with a lovely tutorial (if I do say so myself). I was having the hardest time thinking of something unique to for this week's Project Run and Play sew along. Men's shirt refashion is a pretty well-loved theme for refashioners the world over and though it is a very versatile piece it seemed that I had seen everything.

To make matters slightly more challeneing my only little model is a baby boy, adorable though he is, I'm not sure of he could rock a girlier (therefore easier) men's shirt refashion. Thankfully hubby came to the rescue with a brilliant idea: a baby trench. A classic for a reason. So, a little internet hopping and I discovered this adorable Burberry trench for 4 years old and upward for 350$:

Yes, that's right: 350$ for a children's coat. Seems a little unnecesary to me. Especially when this little peice of adorableness cost

2.50$

 

 

Want to see that again?

 

 

Simple Refashion: XL Men's T-shirt to Cinched Tunic

Man it feels good to be doing this again!

I loved this idea I found on Pinterest a while ago but hadn't come across the right shirt until my last thrift store visit. The Value Village near my house is a goldmine of large men's graphic T's, and I fortuitously have an obsession with graphic T's. When I found this one I knew I had to have it and immediately knew what to do with it.

I love a cheeky graphic.

DIY Jewelry Display

Hello to you other crafty foxes,

Not long ago I posted this article on my antique-cheese grater turned earring display. It was all well and good EXCEPT that my other lovely jewelry went undisplayed, unorganized, neglected and generally sad. I love my jewelry far too much to leave it in such a state! Luckily, though my husband's craftiness hides somewhere beneath his concious mind his eye in a thrift store is epic and he found a beauitful old wooden shoe shiner box, which, turned sideways and screwed to my wall, proved absolutely perfect.

Earrings on their own

(all sad)

 

 



 

Jewelry all together

(yay!)

 

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

Rocket Skirt/Top

Happy almost the end of June!

How is everyone liking my new blog?

I have another maternity tutorial for you today! At the thrift store a while back I found a wicked extra-large, extra-tall men's t-shirt that was covered in rocket ships. My non-pregnant self could have worn the thing as a dress it was so huge but prego me fills out the front a little to much. So, I made a new thing! It's a shirt/skirt for pregnant a ladies!

The finished product:

The tutorial:

Originally I wanted to make a dress using the rocket fabric a the skirt and and old black t-shirt as the top. These were my starting materials, I think the shirt was around 7$:

Men's XL to Women's Maternity

Hello!

I told you I would get a tutorial up here sometime soon and I meant it! I guess I'm over the first trimester fatige (at 4 freakin' months!). I whipped this little beauty up yesterday afternoon and now it's my favourite maternity shirt!!! Read on for the tutorial:

After

Before

Organizing my Earrings

Hey everyone!

So, I have a lot of earrings and not a lot of space. For a while now I have been keeping my eyes open at thrift stores for some brilliant earring holding re-purpose. And yesterday I found myself a wicked old cheese grater! Does have one downside though: it only really hold the earrings that have hooks. Need to figure something else out for the studs. Here it is, quite a beauty...

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!