Monday, February 15, 2010

"Store Bought" Bows

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I misplaced my camera cord, but now that I have found it the posts can continue. This is a quick post on how to make a paper bow. You can jazz up any wrapping with a bow you make yourself!

You'll need:
A page from a magazine
Scissors
Double sided tape
Staples

I chose a page that had a lot of one color in it. And yes, this is an ad for cat food, but look at all the green!


Next I cut out 7 strips of paper. 3 long, 3 medium, 1 small


With the small strip, roll it into a circle and tape it in place.

With all the longer pieces make a figure 8 (or infinity) shape. Staple them in place. You want to make sure the 3 longer pieces all make a figure 8 about the same size, and the same for the 3 medium pieces.

Next nestle the 3 longest pieces in each other and staple in place

Finally nestle the 3 medium pieces in place and staple. Add the circular piece with a piece of double sided tape. Use double sided tape to attach to a gift!
This is a super easy project that take about 5 minutes to make, and in the long run can save you money, and really personalize a gift.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Cocktail Napkins

If you're anything like me you have lots of scraps of fabric that you have lots of ideas for. A few days ago I decided to make cocktail napkins from some white fabric I had. I wanted to make them special though, so I whipped out my embroidery hoop.

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the process. :(

Fortunately, it's a fairly simple technique.
You'll need: fabric, an embroidery hoop, an embroidery needle, embroidery thread


1. I cut out my cocktail napkin squares. Each napkin requires 2 squares.


2. I drew a simple flower design on the front of each napkin. I used a crayola color pencil to make the drawing. A good tip is that flowers, or any design for that matter, looks best in odd groups ie 1, 3, 5, etc.

3. I choose my embroidery colors and started at it. If you're not a good embroiderer don't worry about it. You aren't going to see the back of the napkins anyway. Close up embroidery:

4. Place the napkin face down on a napkin back and pin in place.

5. Sew along 3 of the edges of the napkin. Sew halfway along the fourth edge. Now turn the napkin right side in. It's kind alike flipping a pillowcase right side in.

6. Tuck in the last unfinished part of the napkin. Now you're going to give your napkin a border so it isn't so billowy.

7. Sew a 1/4 inch straight stitch along all the edges.


8. Voila! Done!



Close up pic:



I'm using my napkins as mini place mats in my room. But you can use yours for cocktail parties, as coasters, as a gift set, a a "doily" for a vase. Endless possibilities!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Ruffle Shirt

If you're like me you have, in your life, received a Christmas gift you didn't particularly like. In my case my extended family loved to buy me things that were age inappropriate. Over the years I have received butterfly charm bracelets, lisa frank stationary, a black glitter dragonfly backpack, and the wonderful gem below: a tweetybird shirt. I received all these gifts after the age of 16 mind you. Usually I didn't mind too much as i would pass the gifts down to my sister (who is 8 years younger than I am). I did however keep this shirt thru the years to use as an undershirt (usually under a short sleeved polo). However, I haven't worn it in a few years and decided it was time to give it a little update.


First thing I did is cut off the sleeves. I hemmed cap sleeves with a simple straight stitch.

I then measured and cut the sleeves into strips. I used 4 strips for this project, each about 2 inches wide.


Then I sewed a straight stitch down each strip.


In order to get the "ruffle" I pulled at one of the threads in the straight stitch.


After I ruffled all the strips I pinned them in place on the shirt.


I then sewed the ruffles on the shirt.

I can't wait to wear this out!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Organizing Crafts

If you've been following im26nowwhat.blogspot.com you know that my room was recently flooded. After the room was dried and new carpet was installed I used the opportunity to move my room around a bit. I dedicated a corner of the room to my crafts. I decided that I needed more storage room. I was on the verge of buying something when I stumbled across craft tutorials for advent calendars. Then it hit me. If You can use fabric pockets to countdown the days of advent, I could use them to store my crafts!

For this project I needed one large piece of fabric to be the backing. I already had this on hand. i then cut out assorted square and rectangle shaped pieces of fabric to use as the pockets. I used all different fabric scraps that I had on hand. You can choose to keep your pockets all the same.


I also decided I wanted to frame my project. It just gives it a more defined and finished look. I happened to have this frame laying around. I was glad to finally put it to use. You definitely don't need a frame for this project though. You can just use thumbtacks to hang it up.

Here is my finished project! (You can also see storage my totes in the pictures. )

Some of my pockets ended up a little crooked, but they served my purposes so I didn't bother to re-sew them. Have fun!