Tutorial: Ruffle Polo Shirts!

A couple years ago, I bought two polo shirts for $5.00 from a sale online.  They were a tad big.  I’ve gained enough weight to finally fit in them! (Yes, I am one of those sick people who celebrate when they gain weight!)  The look was a little boxy and plain for me, so I decided to spice them up with some ruffly-ness.

Here are two different varieties:

I will show you how I made the blue shirt with the Cream ruffle, and then at the very end I will tell you what I did different for the white shirt with the Lime green and Caribbean blue ruffles .

You’ll need:

A polo (the one you’ll wear)

Knit scraps (I used left over material from this shirt)

Sewing supplies (sewing machine, scissors, and all that jazz)

First:  Cut your knit into 1’’ strips.  I cut several, because if I didn’t use it in this project I’d use it in a future one.

Second:  Sew the strips together at the ends to make one long strip.  My length was close to 50’’.  This was plenty long for me. (The pic just shows the ends sewn together…I trimmed the edges to the seam as well.)

Third:  Using a ball point needle on your machine, and your longest stitch length (and NO backstitching), you’re going to make ruffles.  If you haven’t done this before, I’ve used this tutorial before as a guide.  I set my needle to the right to get the seam as close to the edge of the strip as I could. 

Fourth:  Pin your ruffle to the shirt.  If you have a little bit left on the ends, leave it for now!  We’ll take care of the extra at the very end! :) 

Fifth:  Try the shirt on, being careful not to get poked!  Trying the shirt on always helps me make any adjustments I need to before it’s stuck there for good! 

Sixth:  Sew the ruffles on!  If you ended up having a lit of extra at the ends (I did, see my picture), make sure you backstitch really good where you want the end of your ruffles to be.  Then cut the excess off.  Because the collar is on top of this part, you don’t have to stress about it looking perfect (yay!).

We’re all done!  Try your shirt on, twirl around in the mirror, and rejoice in another made-over shirt!

Alright…here’s the other variation.

 

For this shirt, I did three rows in alternating colors.  I also changed the buttons to green to tie the shirt together.  Instead of sewing my ruffles on the edge of my strips, I sewed these right down the middle.  I think that’s all I did different.  If something is missing, comment and I’ll be sure to fix it!

Linking away to these parties!

Hoo are you Tuesday #4

Hi friends!  I'm happy to be sharing my answers to another hoo are you tuesday!

1. Do you have any siblings? 

Yes.  I have one brother and one sister, both younger.

 2. Do you have any children? 

Not yet.

3. Are you a morning or night person?

By default, I'm a morning person.  I'm up at 6 to send my husband to work, so by 7 I'm either doing homework or laundry or something somewhat important (unless I'm having a "grumpy nap").

                       4.Are you organized or spontaneous?  I think I'm somewhere in between.  I am a planner, and love to plan how and when I'm going to get done...but I know that it doesn't usually happen as planned.  Sometimes I get a great idea, especially for crafting and I just have to do it RIGHT NOW.  (Did that even answer the question?)

 5. What is your typical 4th of July like? Laid back at home? Community celebrations? etc...?  4th of July is pretty laid back for us.  We will go out to watch the firesides, but we enjoy bbq's with immediate family and sometimes grandparents.  The day is usually used for projects, four wheeling, or something we normally wouldn't be doing if we were working!

I've got a really fun tutorial ready to be posted early tomorrow morning, so be sure to check back!  I can't wait to show it to you!!!

Tutorial: Washcloth Camera Clutch

I was wandering around Family Dollar a few days ago, and came across a wash cloth for 96 cents.  I have a simple point and shoot camera (my husband calls it the brick), so finding a case for it is tricky.  Not to mention I can't have one of those adorable neck straps for my camera!  This clutch can hold my camera, extra batteries, and an extra memory card.  It took me longer to choose which color of washcloth to buy than it did to make the silly thing!  Here’s a quick (less than 30 minutes) tutorial for you! 


You’ll need:
A washcloth
A tiny hair band (or the elastic rope looking stuff..how’s that for a proper name?)
A button (I did a cute one because I didn’t want to embellish too much)

First: Fold your washcloth in half.  I chose to keep the design from showing, so I folded it so it would be on the inside of the bag.  The corners had a funny curve to them, so I hid the funny curves inside.  I pinned it because of the curves.
Second:  Pin the elastic between the two pieces on the side you want to be the flap of the bag. 

Third:  Sew the flap side and the long side of the bag.  If you leave one side open (don’t sew it), you’ll have a little pocket in your bag.

Fourth:  Fold your bag to the right side for your camera.  You’ll be folding the washcloth in (about) thirds.  Pin the sides and sew. (Be sure to backstitch!)

Fifth:  We’re almost finished!  Now we just need to sew the button on.  Mark with a pin where your button needs to go, using the elastic as a guide.  Make sure you sew the button on just the outer fabric.  If you sew through both pieces of fabric, you’ll sew your pocket shut! :( 
Embellish as desired.  I can see fabric flowers, ruffles, all sorts of prettiness!  This is just the basic idea.  I have a couple other ideas using washcloths.  We’ll see if I end up trying them! :)
Linking to these parties.

Lynette’s Laughable Life: A True Story!

Hi there!  This post has a story to go with it.  I get to tell you something funny that happened.  Once upon a time, there was a girl named Lynette (that’s me!).  She had a great idea to make a ruffle shirt.  She gathered her ruffles together, and started to sew them vertically down her shirt.  Just as she was sewing the last ruffle on, she sewed her shirt together.  In several places.  She unpicked the seams, but she learned quickly that unpicking knits usually ends up in holes.  So now she had a holy ruffly shirt!  That shirt sat for months in a box where it couldn’t be seen.  Lynette’s sister, K, saw it and liked it.  She cut out the ruffles, sewed the parts that had been unpicked, and appliquéd it onto a brown t-shirt.  While reinforcing the ruffles to the shirt, she too sewed her shirt together!  Lynette quickly unpicked it, and as the shirt was a thicker knit, the holes were too tiny to worry about.  K left it as is and modeled it proudly for me to show off here.

This shirt is made with three thin strips of ruffles.  Normally you’d just sew the ruffles to the shirt, but this had to be a tad different because of our previous struggles! :) Linking to these parties!

New Addition!

Well, I saved my pennies, and I bought myself a Bernina!  I ended up with a used machine that had been teaching high school students how to sew.  I got a great deal, and it came included with sewing classes!  I am so excited!  The case it came with was boring…it was plain white.  So I got busy, and with a LOT of help from my mother-in-law, I was able to come up with this…

Isn’t she pretty?  I put pockets on each side so I have a place for my camera (for tutes), my foot, scissors and stuff!
I used one of my decorative stitches on the main body pockets.  Here’s a close up for you.

That’s what I did ALL DAY yesterday!  What a job, but it turned out fabulous!  Now my sewing machine can go to class in style!  Be sure to come back tomorrow for some refashioning bliss!

Hoo are You Tuesday #3

Hi there!  Lynette still here!  Here's another Hoo are you Tuesday!  (And I'm headed over to my lil' sister's house to help her with some T-shirt makeovers today!!! Pictures to follow...very soon!)

1. What are some of your pet peeves?

Dishonest people,
2. Do you have a favorite or lucky number?

9
3. What is one of your family traditions?

Moving every 3-6 months. :)  (I hope this one doesn't last TOO long!)
4. Is there anything you are OC about?

Hmmm...Yes, and no.  I go in spurts.  Sometimes I really care about where things are, and then I remember that it's just stuff, and that it's okay to have things not so clean at times.
5. What is your favorite kind of food?

I love Mexican (think Cafe Rio), and Italian (think Pasta Factory/Olive Garden)

Hoo Are You Thursday...ahem...Tuesday!

Hi friends!  I've been a busy person this week!  With my last week of nanny-ing, visiting and making quick gifts for brand new babies, cleaning and organizing my whole apartment (especially my craft/sewing spot!!!!), I haven't had much time for tutorials or blogging.  I have something super cool in the works though, so hang tight until (hopefully) sometime next week!  Meanwhile, here's a Hoo are You Tuesday....a little late!

1. What is your favorite thing about your dad?

His sense of humor, and his way of turning something annoying or frustrating into something funny.  I can't be mad for very long while he's around.

2. What are you favorite smells? Mango/citrus-y stuff, cucumber melon, fresh-baked bread, chocolate chip cookies, and lasagna cooking (this is making me hungry!!!)

3. What is your favorite Holiday?

My Birthday! (The flags go up on my birthday, so that's fun too!)

4. What did you want to be when you grew up?

Always wanted to be a teacher...and I'm almost there!

5. How many different places have you lived, towns not houses?

I've lived in 5 different towns so far.