flower belt

Amy's comment about making accessories out of chiffon reminded me of this belt I made a while back.



I got a piece of trim I liked at Jo-Ann's and then cut a bunch of this flower shape out of scraps I had and some white tulle:


When I was done, I stacked all the flowers and stitched them together right in the center.
Then I hot glued some little pearl beads to the center and hot glued the flower onto my piece of trim.

I've just been tying it in a knot every time I wear it, but I'm thinking little snaps or a hook and eye would be a good idea.

Super Simple Shower Gift

Myself along with 85% of my friends are pregnant right now, so I've been sewing like crazy. I made all my baby's crib bedding (post to come) and just finished these 2 gifts for some friends. I have seen these before and think they look useful. I love the idea of covering up baby and still being able to carry your baby carrier. This is perfect for when they fall asleep, and better yet when touchy strangers think it's ok to touch your new baby. I found and used THIS TUTORIAL to create some simple gifts. Since these look a lot like receiving blankets, I made these tags and attached them to the covers to clear up any confusion. I used picnik.com to design them and then just had one 4x6 printed for 9 cents using Walmart's 1 hour photo.

sunflower cupcakes

I got the idea for these out of the book Hello, Cupcake.

what they should look like

Having had bad experiences in the past with all things involving frosting and fancy tips, I dumbed down the directions quite a bit.

Basically I just frosted the cupcakes with green frosting and stuck an oreo in the middle. Then I put yellow and orange frosting into a ziploc bag, wrapped scotch tape around the corner and cut a little upside down V shape into the corner (If you have fancy frosting tools, use them instead!). Then I squeezed the little petals all around the oreo, starting with the bottom layer. You can also add a red m&m with black frosting for the lady bugs.

Here are my sad wannabes.


So I may not be a very good cupcake decorator but I am pretty good at making up cheesy object lessons, which I did so I could give these to our Sunday School class. It was on faith, so I held up a sunflower seed and said "what is this?"

kids: it's a sunflower seed, stupid.

me: yes. And what do you believe will grow from it?

kids: a sunflower...

me: yes, BUT is having faith that a sunflower will grow enough? Will it grow just because you believe it will?

kids: no.. you have to plant it and water it and crap

me: Exactly! Faith without works is DEAD!
Faith with works=sunflowers!

went down something like that. At least they thought the cupcakes were pretty cool.

Ruffle Sleeve T-shirt Refashion

 Before:

After:



First, I took in the sides a bit so it wouldn't be so frumpy.

To make some ruffles, I cut two long strips of chiffon (bought at SAS in the remnant bin for like 25cents).

Fold each strip in half and sew raw edges together.

Turn right side out.

Get the seam to the center of the tube, and sew a gathering stitch (largest stitch possible) right down the center.

Pull one thread to gather.

Pin ruffle around each sleave.  I like to pin and sew on the inside of the sleave, so I can see that nothing is catching under the material.

Sew all the way around the sleave, turning under raw edge of ruffle when you get to the end.

Lay out remaining ruffles on one shoulder, and pin into place.

Sew everything down, and it's done!



Dress a Girl

I've noticed a few craft bloggers making dresses for something called Dress a Girl Around the World. So I checked out the website, and I think it's the coolest thing! Basically they have a really simple pattern of a dress you can make from a pillowcase or any other fabric, and they send the them to girls around the world who can't afford dresses.
I think all the sisters should make some this summer!

I love this one

And these ones

knockoff tutorial

I had this boring ol' tee with a neckline I don't like on me and a little too snug for my taste. So rather than throwing it out, I decided to try and jazz it up a bit.

My inspiration came from this Anthropologie top. I thought it was really cute and would be easy enough to copy (and save myself $70 or so in the process).

First, I used a pencil to draw a line directly down the center of the front.

Then cut right down that line.

Next, I cut a strip of scrap fabric to use for the center. I ended up making this piece a lot narrower and then making it thinner at the top than the bottom.

Then I made 3 tiny pleats (turns out the original has pintucks but close enough), pinned them into place,

and sewed them.
I took one side of the tee and sewed it, right sides together, to the middle piece, then did the same for the other side.

I hacked off the top part of the neck...

And sewed on 3 little lace bows.

And ended up with this. It's quite different from the Anthro version, but I like it.

taking photos of myself is real awkward, obviously.