Apple Green Ruffle Refashion

Here’s my latest refashion.  This only took me about 20 minutes from choosing the t-shirt to mutilate, to cutting the threads at the end.  I took an old undershirt, cut the bottom 3 inches off, and cut one of the side seams to make a big strip.  Then I folded the strip to make it 1.5 inches wide, sewed a gathering stitch, and pinned and sewed the ruffle onto the long sleeved shirt I already had.  I only added the ruffle to the front (from shoulder seam, to shoulder seam).  I think this is my new favorite refashion!  I have another idea to use this technique that’ll be showing up in the next couple of weeks!

Bag for Purse Week!

This week is purse week over at Lemon Squeezy Home!  I’ve been working on this purse since August off and on, and I finally put the finishing touches on yesterday.  I’m glad this contest came up so I could get my purse done!  I did the same style as I usually do, but the front pocket is nearly as big as the bag.  I also designed the strap so that it’s adjustable, and left an extra loop at an end for a key holder.  Embellished with ribbon strip sewed on and a bow to finish off the look!  Hope you like it as much as I do!

Inside, you can see the key loop, my purse organizer, just regular pocket (brown one), and the zippered pocket.

Guess what?!  It’s Friday!  Enjoy your weekend, I definitely will!

A new beginning...or another one!

Hi friends!

Lately I have felt like blogging, but doing more writing than showing projects.  I've been in a thinking and writing mood, rather than in a creating mood.  I'm still sewing, and making things to post about, but I feel like I need another place to record my thoughts.  My thoughts about the things I appreciate in life.  So it may not be very crafty, but I'd like to introduce my brand new blog:

My Thankful Thoughts

Hope you come on over and visit real soon!

(And no worries, I've got a fun project to show as soon as I snap a picture!)

Lynette

Makeup Organizer!

Hi there!  I absolutely LOVE my purse organizer I made a while back.  I just put it in my backpack when I’m ready for school, and then I switch it to my purse when I’m shopping or doing non-school related things.  I love it SOOO much…that I decided I’d make another one for my makeup!  You see, with my very mobile life, I’m always traveling (if I’m not moving). :)  I’ve needed a new makeup bag for over two years.  I wanted one with pockets so I could see everything at once, and I actually made one this summer but it was a definite fail.  So I gave up for a couple months.  And this last week I realized I could make another purse organizer and make the pockets perfect for makeup.

Here it is!

I love the fabric, that it’s not my usual brown and pink! :)  Now I can set it out on the counter and grab as I need and instantly put away!  I’m thinking of making a little bag for me to put this in for travelling.  We’ll see when I have time for that! ha! :)  The only thing that I don’t like about this is that I somehow got a lighter weight interfacing than I used on the last organizer, and it’s a little flimsy, but it’ll be okay for makeup stuff.  Want to make your own, here’s the link for the tutorial I used.

I wonder what the next thing one of these babies will be useful for!

Anthropologie T-Shirt

Hi there friends!  The other day, I was mindlessly looking through Anthropologie’s website for inspiration, and found this beauty.

Picture Source

I absolutely love it!  I decided that I could make my own.  This is the first shirt that I saw and decided to make without a tutorial/guide…and it turned out cute!  (Sorry, no tutorial this time…I’m a little too busy for that business right now, but I do explain what I did at the bottom of the post!)

(Please excuse the white thread and the total obvious white undershirt in the picture.  I promise that I won’t wear it like that in public!:)

Here’s a close up.  I used black knit, a sweat-stained thin white knit shirt, and a scrap of white and black print I got from DI.  The print had crazy fish in white, but cut up you’d never know!  I just cut out leaves, layered them and pinned them the way I wanted, and sewed them on.  For the printed leaves, they were cotton and I didn’t want fraying edges.  I cut out two leaves the same size, and sewed them right sides together, leaving a hole for turning.  Then I turned them, and made sure I got the holes when sewing the leaves to the shirt.  No appliqué, although it probably would have been smart, but I was lazy!  Then I took a strip of black knit, laid it on the shirt, sewed a triangle, and then tied a knot.

I think it turned out pretty cute!  Beats paying $78 for the above shirt…I just used what I had!  Hooray!

Flying Lessons!

I decided after the first week of school that I really needed to figure out a way to organize my life so I can keep my house clean, laundry done, and my husband happy.  That’s when I discovered Flylady.net.  LOVE IT!  It’s quite a quirky and cheesy website, but it makes it fun---and when cleaning your house is fun it’s all worth it!

I am currently taking flying lessons, in which FLY stands for: Finally Loving Yourself.  This system not only helps you keep your house clean, but it helps you remember that you need to take care of and value YOU!  And it all start with simply shining your sink!

I found the link for fly lady from a blog, and it’s changing my life!  So I wanted to share the link on my blog in hopes that somebody else will be able to benefit from it!

Hope you’re all doing well!  I’ve got another shirt refashion and purse in the works…I just need to find a little “me,” time to get it wrapped up!

Easy Headband Tutorial and Pattern!

I love the look of headbands!  I just can’t stand the hard plastic ones biting into my head like they do.  I’ve been looking for a good pattern for a cloth one, and haven’t found one that I liked.  Then I saw one my sister was given for her birthday one year, and decided I wanted to make one too.  I used that as a pattern to create my own.  Here’s the inspiration piece.

It’s just the right thickness, and narrows on the sides.  I tried making one with the ribbon like in the picture, but it came untied about five thousand times.  I had to ask my husband to either hold my hair out of the way, or to tie it…and let’s just say that it was too much of a hassle! :)  I decided to use elastic, but then I realized it wouldn’t match.  And THEN I had an epiphany!  I would cut up the elastic headbands that you can buy in the store, and I could get colors to slightly match the headbands (and be more comfy too!)

There’s my finished product. 

(I would show you my whole face, but I promised my husband that if I had a blog I wouldn’t show pictures of us and our faces…so just imagine a smiling girl with naturally curly hair. :)

Want to make your own?  Well today’s your luck day!  I’ve made a tutorial, and even a printable pattern for you!  I haven’t figured out how to make the pattern downloadable for you though, so if you want it, leave your email in the comments and I’ll get it sent to you!  (If you’d like your comment deleted so your email isn’t up on cyberspace, just let me know and I can do that for you!:)

You’ll need:

Headband Pattern (leave your email in the comments and I’ll get it to you!:)

A scrap of fabric (I’ve estimated that 1/4 yard makes about 2 headbands)

Elastic Headband  pictured later in the post

Iron

Sewing Machine/thread…blah blah….

First, cut out your material with the pattern.  (I cut bigger than the blue pattern for seam allowances, but I adapted the printable pattern for this…if I email you with one I’ll explain more thoroughly! :)

Fold right sides together and pin.

Plug in your iron.

Sew the long side with about a 1/4 inch seam allowance to make a long tube.

 

Turn the tube so the right side is out!

Iron the tube so the seam is in the middle and facing you.  We’re doing this so the seam will be against your head and won’t show when you’re wearing it!  If you have a pattern on the headband that you want shown, you can adjust the seam to be more to one side if needed.

Close up of seam being in the middle.

You have 2 raw edges.

Fold them under so they look like this on each end.

 

Now we’re ready to put the elastic in!  Here’s one of the sets of headbands I used.  I used the “Creamsicle Cupcake,” colors and the “Starry Night,” colors.  “Starry Night,” is a mix of browns, golds, and black which I really like.  They were three dollars for 6 headbands at walmart. There are really thin headbands, really thick ones, and middle ones.  I chose the middle thickness.  One head band is big enough to make 2 headbands and have a bit left over for another project.

Cut about a 7 inch piece of elastic headband.

Stick the elastic inside the end of your headband on one side. (Once you’ve sewn one side, you’ll do this exact thing with the other side).

Sew at about 1/4 inch seam allowance.  I changed my needle position all the way right or left depending on which side of the headband I was sewing on to make it easier.  If your machine has a hard time getting over the “bump,” to your elastic, find something flat and narrow to put under your foot near the back of your machine.  You could use a small ruler, piece of cardboard, plastic knife, etc.  (I have a tool that came with my machine for that).  It will just tilt your presser foot so it doesn’t have to “climb.” If that made no sense, let me know and I can take a pic for you!

Once you’ve sewn one side, put the other end of elastic in the other end of the headband (make sure your elastic doesn’t get twisted!), and sew it as well.

You’re done!  Now you can make 20 to give to friends for fun! :)

Linking to these parties.

As always, comment if you have questions!