Cupid Rhymes with Stupid

My younger sister-in-law is on her high school ASB or Student Body. They have to dress up for about every holiday and school function and when she came over to work on her Valentines to give to her friends, we decided to come up with something custom to wear for Valentine's Day.

This shirt was not our original plan however! We had planned on making the Rufflicious Top over at Polkadots on Parade. I made one the other day for my neighbor's daughter and it turned out beautifully.

We were joking around about Valentine's Day not being so much fun for her because her boyfriend had just broken up with her and so, the Cupid Valentine's Day Top was born:

Supplies needed:
1 t-shirt
freezer paper
iron
sponge brush or paint brush
cardboard or something to layer under the shirt
fabric paint (I used acrylic paint because that's all I had on hand)

To do this with the Silhouette: Tear off a piece of freezer paper the same size as the cutting mat and lay it shiny side down on the mat. I used the LD Hearts font and a cupid from the Silhouette store. Then cut the design with the "Print Paper" setting.

You can also trace a design on freezer paper by hand with an X-acto knife.

To get the stencil, peel the outside of the design off the mat. This is what you will be using. You will also need any of the small pieces such as the inside of the arrow and the hearts inside the letters. The design may curl some, but if you peel the mat away from the template rather than peeling the template off this should help it not curl so much.

Place this centered on the front of the shirt.

I always like to use a press cloth to avoid having things stick to the iron. You can also use a piece of muslin or cotton fabric if you don't have a press cloth.

Set the iron to the highest setting the fabric will allow without steam. Lay the cloth very carefully over your design and press the iron slowly over the whole design. Work carefully so you can adjust the small pieces if they happen to shift at all. I like to go over it several times to make sure that the freezer paper is adhered very well.

Your freezer paper should be stuck to the shirt like a sticker. Then place a piece of cardboard or something thick between the layers of the shirt to prevent the paint from bleeding through to the back.

Now you can use your fabric paint or acrylic paint (it might fade or be stiffer than fabric paint) and fill in your template.

Fill it in slowly to avoid big globs of paint. I did two thin layers and let them dry well in between.Then let it dry really well after the last layer of paint. I cheated and got out the heat gun since my sister-in-law was going to be taking it home soon.

When it is completely dry, peel off the stencil and you will have a totally custom Valentine's Day shirt!

I think I signed myself up to be the permanent shirt maker for all her school functions!

How to Resize a One-Shoulder Top

Have you ever ordered something online and when it arrived, it just didn't fit quite right? Well that's what just happened to my sis-in-law. It can be such a pain to return things too! This new shirt is so cute but it just needed a little help to make it fit. Sewing machine to the rescue!

The problem she was having with the shirt was that it was a little too wide on the sleeveless side, so it stuck out very awkwardly. The satiny material of the shirt can be kind of hard to work with but I found a way to help with that.

To make alterations some helpful tools to have are tailors chalk (or a washable fabric marker), sewing pins, a straight edge ruler (or other ruler), pinking shears and a cutting board. Oh and don't forget the sewing machine!

I had her try the shirt on inside out and then marked with the chalk where it should be taken in. Then laid the shirt out on the cutting board and traced that point down the entire seam. It ended up being about an inch that needed to be taken in.

After marking that point, I pinned along the chalk line. I left in the original seam for now. This is to help keep the pins from slipping and sliding around too much since the shirt is satiny.

Since I don't have a serger, I used a zig-zag stitch and sewed along the chalk line making sure to backstitch at both the top and bottom. Then followed this with a straight stitch along the same line for reinforcement.

Someday I will figure out all the stitch functions on my machine and can probably do something better than this but it works for now. From the outside it looks just as pretty as the original seam.

I finished it off by removing the old seam with pinking shears. This will help prevent fraying. They are a great thing to have if you don't have a pair! The last step I always do is pressing the new seam with my iron at the correct temperature setting for the fabric I'm working with. This gives it a more professional, less homemade look.

The shirt turned out better than new because now it fits! Are you ready to try it on yours now?

Some Things Just Don't Turn Out as Planned...

There are some things that I've made that I absolutely love. They go exactly as planned while making them and the end result is usually better than what I had pictured in my head.

And then there are others... Boy are there others!

These are some of my mishaps from recent projects:

At first glance this skirt may look perfectly fine, but it's not at all. I actually cried when I first tried it on. The trouble is that it's much wider than it is long. The dang thing is only 14 inches long! I have no idea what went wrong in making it but something sure did. My curvy butt hangs way out of this thing! There is NO WAY I was even going to try it on to show you all how horrible of a skirt it is!

Boot socks have been all over Pinterest and I have been in love with them since I first laid eyes on them. I got a great pair of boots right before Christmas and headed straight to Goodwill to gather up a bunch of sweaters to make some myself. They couldn't be too hard right? Wrong! I had no trouble making them at all but never once thought to actually try out the sleeves and see if they would fit my legs. Big mistake! Such cute socks and I'll never be able to wear them because they don't even fit my arms. How in the world did I ever think they would fit my legs?! Lesson learned there!

My sister has been asking me to help her out with a project for her dog. He has been marking the walls, furniture and well... just about everything in her house and she's been having trouble getting him to stop. I made him a belly band but since he is a dachshund, it had trouble staying put. My next idea was to make a harness but lengthen it so that he could wear it while in the house and not mark everywhere. Good thought but didn't go according to plan.

I am not sure if it was the pattern or user error but it just didn't go well. My old stuffed dog is my lovely model (Max, the dachshund wouldn't sit still for pics). The neck strap was supposed to be the same size as the dog's neck and attached to the body piece. That made for a HUGE head hole. Then the other problem was that I more than doubled the body length and it still barely came past the chest. This was the point I got to and finally threw in the towel. Yep, gave up!

My next idea was to make my own style belly band but use fleece and a bit of elastic to help it stay. It seemed brilliant to me. I took precise measurements and sewed very carefully. Then came time to try it on. Crap! I measured around his waist and cut the fabric to that length. I didn't account for the need for extra fabric to actually wrap it around to secure it. Back to the machine for try THREE!

I know there will probably be many more days like these. The goal is trying to learn to laugh a little more about it.

Easy Afternoon Project: Finger Knitting Tutorial

I have tried to learn how to crochet. Sometime I will post the picture of the sad little scarf I made when my sister made me sit down and learn. It is just not something I think I will ever grasp the concept of. In my many craft endeavors, I had amassed quite a collection of yarn, even without being crocheter/knitter. In her efforts to get me to do something fun with all the yarn, my sister decided that I would learn how to finger knit. Surprisingly, finger knitting is something that is totally easy and fun to do. I made all sorts of scarves for the women in my family this Christmas and they were a huge hit!

I found some great easy tutorials on how to make these scarves. They are so fast that you can make up a bunch in an afternoon or evening while watching your favorite show. Plus they are a great project for kids to do.

At Lines Across, they have an easy to follow Finger Knitting Tutorial and I love that they show you how to change yarn colors.

And over at Maggie Whitley, there is another great Finger Knitting Garland & Necklace Tutorial. My favorite part is that she gives really great instructions and photos on how to tie off when you are finished with your scarf.

For my scarves, I used 2 strands of yarn. One strand of regular yarn and one strand of Fun Fur. I found that this gave it a wonderful thickness and the Fun Fur gave it some extra flair.

Have fun "knitting!"

Favorite Flower Tutorials Round-up

If you've ever looked for help on making any sort of crafty flower, you may have noticed that there are a million tutorials out there. It may be overwhelming to try and sort through and find the exact type of flower that you are looking for. Well, worry no more! I've sorted through dozens of tutorials and have compiled some of the best right here for you.

Pop Garden Scrap Flower Tutorial

Hard Flower Barrettes 

Rolled Paper Flowers Tutorial

 Video Rolled Fabric Flower Tutorial

Rick Rack Roses

 

 How to Make Pretty Organza Flowers

Japanese Kusudama folded paper flower Part 1

Part 2

Book Page Flower Ornament

 

Fabric Flower Tutorial

Egg Carton Roses

Loopy Flowers

 

No-Sew Flower Tutorial

 

Flower Puffs

Rolled Rosettes

Felt Dahlia Flower Brooch

How to Make Felt Flowers 

  Easy Layered Felt Flowers

That should satisfy all your flower needs! If there is a flower tutorial you are looking for that I forgot to include, let me know so I can add it to the list. 

The *Easy* Empire Waist Dress

This started out to be something completely different.

I had this cute t-shirt that I wanted to make into a dress and I found a pattern that I thought would be simple enough. Well, I was totally wrong. I was so horrified by the outcome of the dress that I couldn't even take a picture of the ugly mess I had created. It was just hideous! I put the whole thing into a drawer with my other fabric to deal with later. So a few days later I tried to salvage the mess of a dress by adding a ruffle to the bottom. It just made it worse. I really should have taken pictures of this mess but it was so embarrassing. Not wanting to waste this cute shirt, I got out my rotary cutter and sliced it off the top of the mess of a dress and threw the rest away. I never wanted to look at it again. I still loved the shirt though so I was on the hunt for something to do with it. Browsing my favorite place Pinterest, I came across this darling dress from Smashed Peas and Carrots.

I LOVE this dress! The pattern is simple enough and she shows all the steps for making it. It really was an easy dress to make. In her pictures, she shows it as a maternity dress, but she comments that it would work as a regular dress as well and she even makes a child size one following the same pattern. My thoughts on making a maternity dress - I would definitely use a jersey or stretch fabric because it would allow for so much more comfort and room to grow with you. The only difficulty I had came when attaching the shirt to the skirt. I think my shirt wasn't quite as fitted at the tank top she used. If I were to do it again, I would run a gathering stitch around the bottom of the shirt and pull it until it matched the size of the skirt, then pin them together. I think it would make it much easier to attach them doing that. I used a knit t-shirt as the top, 1 & 1/2 inch elastic for the waistband because the store was out of the 2 inch and then a patterned cotton for the skirt. Following her measurements worked really well for me to make my dress.

I was worried after all the trouble I had with the first dress that something would be wrong with this one but I have washed and worn it and it has held up. It is a great dress and super comfortable too! I imagine that it would make a great maternity dress for all the mamas out there. It sews up really quickly and truly is an *easy* dress!

Learning to Make a Shirt

I love Anthropologie! Like seriously L-O-V-E! I always find the most amazing things there but I always run into a few problems. #1 My budget doesn't have room for me to buy all the great things I see. #2 About half the time, the things I find and fall in love with are out of stock. Which leads us to the story of my new shirt(s). I found this shirt, which Anthropologie no longer carries, but I have been in love with.

It looked like it would be simple enough to make - just a front, a back and a sash. Boy was I wrong! I really wish I had taken a picture of the mess of a shirt I made the first go-round. It was hideous! That's when I realized that while I can sew, I really do need some sort of direction... maybe... just a little.

Lucky for me I found Sweet Verbena on Pinterest. She has a tutorial that looks almost identical to my dream shirt! I love her!!! So the first item on my agenda was to make a shirt following this tutorial.

I used a white jersey with faint yellow apples for the body of the shirt and then a yellow cotton for the sash. I had not sewn much on jersey before and making this shirt was a breeze. I had my doubts when she said it would be easy, but it was! It really turned out like a dream!

Now I was ready to tackle my mess of a shirt from my first project. I had sewn it on 100% cotton (the pink on the left). I basically ended up ripping apart the first project and sewing it back together following her tutorial. I was actually able to save what I thought was destined for the scrap pile. 

I now have 2 new shirts. They sewed up super fast too, which was one of my favorite parts. I always love a quick and easy project!

So if you are just starting out or dusting off your machine after it's been sitting for awhile, I highly recommend this project. It's fun, easy and you'll end up with a really cute and flattering top!

Little Girls and Tutus

I don't have any of my own kids, but when a couple of my best friends had a baby girl, I knew I needed to make her something wonderful. One of my very favorite bloggers, Jessica at Happy Together, makes the most amazing things. Absolutely fantastic things! On her site I found the most darling tutu onesie she made. With the addition of the tutu, it made the perfect princess outfit. I was in love! Happy Together has wonderful tutorials, so I knew I would be able to handle this even though it was my first attempt with anything related to kids clothes.

Here is my version:

I lucked out and found a great sale at Babies R Us on the onesie. I got all the tulle and ribbon at Joann's with their delightful mailer coupons. The tutorial is really easy to follow, even for my first tutu attempt. It turned out great and they even sent me a video of the happy baby dancing in her new outfit!