Skinny Tie

Is it just me or are men's skinny ties hard to come by? There seems to be a decent selection of "slim" ties, but very rarely do I find one that's "skinny". I don't want to sound judgmental here, but slim is just not quite skinny enough. So, I decided to go on a hunt for a tie pattern that matched my skinny needs.

At the time, I was not very adventurous and relied more heavily on patterns. I found many tutorials to re-fashion regular ties into skinny ones, but I wanted to make one from scratch. I finally found this tutorial: Skinny Tie Pattern by See Kate Sew. The pattern can be used to make a square-ended tie, but I chose to stick with the classic style. If you use quilter's cotton, you will need to use interfacing like the instructions suggest. I might suggest using a heavier-weighted fabric if you want to avoid interfacing.

The tutorial was straight forward and easy to follow. It was a bit time consuming for me, but it may have been due to the fact that it was one of my earlier projects. I did not gift the tie as intended, but it was still fun to make. Also, you can shorten the length to make a woman's tie. Choose interesting prints and just have fun with it!

Arm Knit Scarf

A few weeks ago I found an "arm knitting" scarf tutorial on Pinterest and it blew my mind how simple and quick it was to knit a scarf using your arms as needles. I tried it tonight and finished a scarf in about thirty minutes once I figured out what I was doing. I reviewed a few arm knitting tutorials and found that this one was the most helpful: How to Arm Knit - Simply Maggie Blog. Maggie used two skeins of yarn at the same time, but I only used one. The receiver of the scarf lives in LA, so I wanted to make it less bulky. I plan to try with two skeins for myself because it is COLD COLD COLD in Missouri! Here is a photo tutorial for those who may prefer it: Arm Knitting - Flax and Twine.

Look Ma, no needles! I would recommend that you do this when you know you have at least thirty minutes to finish in one sitting.

All done! I decided not to do the cowl or infinity version. I just made mine longer and stopped after casting off.

I think that arm knitting would be a great way for a beginner knitter to easily knit an afghan. I have been wanting to do an afghan but do not have the time. It looks like I might be able to do it after all!

Happy Tuesday!

DIY Kitty Emoticon T-Shirt

I have been playing around with t-shirt paint lately and it's been a lot of fun! It is an inexpensive way to personalize a shirt for anyone. I am still trying to find the perfect fabric paint. so, if anyone has any recommendations please do share! I made a kitty emoticon t-shirt recently and here is the design for it for anyone who is interested: Kitty Emoticon T-Shirt Design.

The directions are pretty simple.

To get crisper edges you probably want to print your design on contact paper or anything that is adhesive but can also be removed easily from the fabric. I just did my printouts on regular paper. It will work fine if you are careful and not in a rush like me! For the painting process, just follow the instructions on the back of the container. This can be different from brand to brand and by time.

The first one I did was a gift for someone who is working on an iPhone game. I made a t-shirt with their logo design on it as a little encouragement. I think it turned out OK!

Below are a couple process pictures.

1) Cut out your design VERY carefully with an X-Acto knife.
2) Postion it on your t-shirt.
3) Apply paint per instructions.

Now, I need to buy more t-shirts so I can paint away.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am headed to Nashville tomorrow morning. Pictures to come...

Panda Stuffed With Cuteness

One of my good friends recently had a birthday and I was so excited to make her something. It would have been the second birthday of hers since I started my sewing endeavors. I decided to make her a stuffed panda, because we all associate her with pandas and who doesn't love pandas! I suppose that is why we all love her too :) I designed the panda with simple shapes, so it was fairly easy to do. The template is available here: Panda Pattern. I left the face up to your creativity. Please share what you come up with!

Materials:

• 8x22" white fleece - body
• 8x5" black fleece - limbs, ears
• black and white felt (as needed for your face details and embellishments)
• stuffing

Instructions:

• Cut out all your pieces, including details for the face and any other "embellishments". I added the letter "M" for personalization for my friend's name. I think that is a nice touch, but you can just do a black oval chest as well.
• Sew the face and embellishments by hand on the right side of the fabric. I am not so familiar with hand-sewing techniques, but I think that the stitches I used most represents blanket stitches. My stitches are perpendicular to the edge, where a straight stitch would be parallel. The reason I did it this way was so that the edges would lay flatter.

• Sew the ear pieces together by placing wrong sides together. I wanted the raw edges for the ears, so did not plan do the whole "turn-right-side-out" routine.
• Sew the limb pieces together by placing rights sides together. Turn right side out.
• Stuff the limbs about 2/3 of the way. If you over-stuff, it becomes difficult to sew them to the body later.

• Place the ears along the edge of the panda's face where the ears would go. Then, place the back piece for the head (wrong side up) on top of that. Pin together.
• Sew the layers together and leave a 3" opening at the neck.

• Turn right side out and stuff. Sew the gap close with blind stitches.

• Place a body piece right side up and lay the limbs in position with the openings pointing outwards. As you can see in the picture, I have purposely made the limbs pieces slightly longer so that it would be easier to work with. Also, this why you do not want to stuff the limbs all the way.
• Place the other body piece over the limbs, right side down. Pin and sew the layers together while leaving an opening for the neck.
• Turn right side and stuff away! Blind stitch the opening closed.

• Lastly, attach the head to the body. I don't know what the "best" way to do this is, but this is what I did... Pull the needle through the neck of the body, grab it from the other side, and pull the needle through the neck of the head. Repeat all the way across to secure.

Here's my friend presenting her new gift! As you may have noticed, her panda has a cape. Have some fun and add your own accessories!

Infinity Scarf

I hope that everyone had an amazing Christmas and a safe New Year's celebration! 2013 came and went by so quickly. I guess it's only going to feel more like that as I get older. It was a rough year and I am thankful for having great friends and lots of hobbies to escape to when needed. I caught a bit of the sewing bug last week and I am happy to end the year on a productive note.

One of the projects I finished was an infinity scarf. I am obsessed with scarves and plaid. So, naturally the two was the perfect combination. It was also super easy and cheap to make. I found a thick good quality plaid flannel in JoAnn's clearance for a little under $2.50 a yard and one yard is enough to make two scarves. So, make one for yourself and another for your significant other or friend ;)

Material:

• 1 yd of fabric (a thicker fabric will produce a better shape, but you also want something soft and wearable too)

Instructions:

• As mentioned earlier, one yard of fabric can make two scarves. Fold the fabric selvage to selvage and cut down the middle. It should give you a piece of fabric that will be at least 21x36". I thought this was a good size for me, but a few inches wider shouldn't be an issue either.
• Fold the fabric long-wise, right sides together. Sew the long sides together with 1/4" seams. This should form a long tube.
• Turn right side out.

The next step is to sew the open ends together so that the scarf will become an enclosed tube.

• Fold the scarf in half so the open ends are on top of each other.
• Pin the inner two layers of fabric together. Start by sewing the pinned edges together and continue sewing all the way around as far as you can. This can be somewhat difficult, but try to do as much as you can and be sure to not accidentally sew any of the other layers into it.

• When you can't sew any further, stop. I was able to sew together all but about 2".
• Turn right side out again and ladder stitch the gap close.

The result is a cute and cozy infinity scarf!

First Knitting Project - Scarf

I started on a knitting project earlier this year and I finally finished today! YouTube videos came in very handy. If you want to start knitting, google casting on (your initial row of stitches), knit stitching (your basic stitch, the other is purl stitching), and binding off (closing off your last row of stitches). My grandma showed me how to do basic knitting when I was about 8 years old, so I was able to find my rhythm more quickly.

I've only worked on my scarf a little here and there, but tonight I decided try to start and finish a whole package of yarn. After four long hours of knitting and watching TV, I was able to finish the entire second half of the scarf. It took two packages of yarn to complete. I used the super chunky yarn, #13 needles, and 15 knit stitches per row. I tried using smaller needles and thinneryarn, but it felt like the end would never come. Plus, I love the look of the bigger stitches. I hope to create videos after I get more practice, so stay tuned for more!

Template for "Secret Santa" Christmas Card

In my last post, I shared with you my free Secret Santa e-card. In addition to e-cards, I will be giving out some printed cards as well. I made a template of the same design for letter-sized media (card stock recommended) and the PDF files are available for download below. Each page will print two cards. Follow your printer's directions for proper layout and do a test print to make sure that all sides are aligned. Once the card is printed, write in your special message and jazz it up! For my cards, I hand drew the snow on the ground with a silver coloring pencil. Then, I used a small paint brush to dot glue (I used Mod Podge) on the front and back for the falling snow and sprinkled fine glitter dust over it. I also did glittered zig zags in the snow. There's many ways you can personalize yours and I'd love to see how yours turns out!

File 1: This is the front and back of the card.

File 2: This is the inside of the card.

I had a lot of fun doing this, aside from a little glittery mess I made. I think it's awesome to receive custom or handmade cards and I hope that my recipients think so too!

Free Animated "Secret Santa" e-Card

I've never been a huge fan of Christmas cards. I always felt like they were a chore and always had a hard time finding cards that seemed right. So, this year I decided that it would be fun to design my own card to reflect me. The printer was setup, test prints were done, and then a light bulb with on. Why not just do e-cards?! For the particular story that I was trying to convey in my design, an animated e-card would be the most effective. I was practically halfway there already... And so, I represent to you- "Secret Santa".

What do you think? If you like it, then feel free to save it and send it as part of your holiday greetings to your friends and family. Especially your cat-lovers and it might be a good chuckle to those who don't like cats! Right click the image to save or share this direct link: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1yWWtl3IBY3Z5YMUfNXrEa2m_xW4nf9ep6wgeEr9oblXDx0LKiqkLTZVXr2o8qK1oH7Smgx6G5dweCeqcM8JYk05woGR-vtdvZByjT3iTEUgxPAzbUjmSC41u7cWTFUy9u-CG45vFyI/s800/eCard_CupofThreads.gif. If you use the image, please be respectful of my work and DO NOT alter the image.

I created a greeting that would be appropriate for the general public. However, I'd be happy to do a personalize greeting upon request to the first 25 people! To request this, please comment or send me an email with the information below and I will get back to you as quickly as possible.

• Email
• Short message (~30 words or less)

If there's enough interest and I have enough time, I'd love to do more! I'll keep you all updated via this post. Until then, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

DIY Ax In A Jiffy

One would think that Halloween would be one of my favorite holidays because it's one of the best times to display some craftiness. Unfortunately, I never know what I am going to do for Halloween or if anything at all, so I never plan for it. Also, I don't like the cold so it limits me on what I can wear. I had a Halloween party to go in Boulder, so at the last minute I thought I'd go as a lumberjack. Yes, I know... it's not very creative but at least I was dressed warm with my flannel, vest, boots, and hat. I did make an impromptu ax to go with my costume though. Does that count? This was super easy and I just used trash that was around my friends. Here are some quick instructions on how to make an fake ax in about 10-15 minutes.


Materials:

• branch about 2 ft long and 1" in diameter
• cardboard
• duct tape
• red nail polish (optional)

Instructions:

Cut out a piece of cardboard in the shape above (I made it so that I had a 5" blade).

Tape the branch or stick to the center of the cardboard.

Fold the edges of the blades together and duct tape all around (this should create realistic angle).

Try to get smooth seams by avoiding overlapping as much as possible.

Don't forget to cover the top and bottoms of the blade too!

*Alternatively, you could use foil on the outside or a different silver material. Duct tape was the best solution at the time.

 

For the bloody version, smear some red nail polish to both sides of the blade.

I got my effect by pouring some polish on the sides and whacking it around on some shrubs. :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEEN AND BE SAFE!

Cool Pillow With Fraying Logo

Boulder, CO is easily one of my favorite cities in the US! I just got back from visiting a couple of my friends who just moved there a year ago and one of my good girlfriends also met us there. I love the mountains and my friends lived literally right next to the Flat Irons and it was beautiful. I loved the views, the weather, and the people! Most of the people seemed as laid-back and casual as they dressed and I loved the fact that it just seems like a very nonsuperficial city. I found it quite refreshing. I am bad about taking pictures, but some pictures will follow this post.

I decided I would make my friends something for being awesome hosts and welcoming my friend and me into their beautiful home. My friend, Daniel Galhardo, started a Japanese fly-fishing company in 2009 called Tenkara USA. It is a company that has grown quickly in a short amount of time and he has such a passion for what he does. Him and his wife took us to the Canyons in Boulder to teach us tenkara. I don't normally like fishing, but once I got the hang of this style of fishing, it was actually pretty fun. If you want more information about Tenkara, please visit his website: Tenkara USA. Anyway, I thought that I would make a throw pillow with their logo on it for them. It was pretty simple to do and you can do use this tutorial for any simple logo or image.


Materials:

• canvas or upholstery fabric (I used (2) 13x13" pieces)
• printout of logo enlarged to fit your pillow (choose a simple image with large cut out space)
• contrasting fabric 2 inches bigger than your logo on all sides (makes it easier to sew)
• stuffing

Instructions:

Cut out the pillow size you desire with 1/2" seam allowances all around.

Cut out the logo on the printout with an X-Acto knife.

Flip the image the wrong side up and trace it on the wrong side of a pillow piece.

Cut out the image with X-Acto knife or scissors.

Pin the contrasting fabric evenly to the wrong side of the pillow piece.

Edge stitch about 1/8" around the logo outline.

Place the right sides of the pillow pieces together and sew together with a 3-4" opening at the bottom.

Snip the corners, turn right side out and throw it in with your laundry!

When you take it out of the laundry you get this really cool fraying effect.

The stitching will keep it from fraying any more than desired.

Stuff and ladder stitch up the bottom.

Now you've got yourself a plush and cool pillow that make great gifts for anyone, including yourself :)

Start And End Your Day With Inspiration - Art For Your Room

A few weeks ago I started looking into the feng shui of my house to see what I can do to increase the positive chi or energy in my home. I found a lot of things that were "off" and set out to rectify or improve what I could without breaking the bank. One of the things I decided to do was create a motivational piece that I  could wake up to every morning and see before I go to bed. Now, you don't have to believe in the whole feng shui business, but I think that this is a good idea for anyone. Sometimes we just need a little reminder. So pick a quote or even a single word that means a lot to you and put it on a canvas.

One thing that I have learned is that I have a greater control over my emotions than I thought. Emotions are a choice and we can find many things in our current lives to satisfy the choices of how we want to feel, but we may not conscious of these choices. If we want to be angry, it is easy to find something to be angry about. If we want to be happy, we are bound to find happiness somewhere if we are willing to look for it and be open to it. It can sometimes make us vulnerable, but vulnerably is what makes us real. I wanted to remind myself of this everyday and I wanted it pretty immediately so I went right to my craft room and had at it.

It's not the most artistic piece of mine, but it's the message that counts right? :) Just pick your favorite colors and get a wide brush and blend them for the background. In my case I had a tiny brush, so it took a bit longer. Then, write your message in a contrasting color. My walls are a light minty green, so I picked calming colors that went with my wall and bedding. When I see it, it makes me smile.

Fabric Coasters

I should probably be better about using coasters, but I am usually not too bothered about them unless it's a glass surface. The coffee table set that I purchased from Craigslist are all glass tops and I've been meaning to make some coasters ever since I got the set. I was not able to find the right cork size pieces I needed and didn't find a fabric that I liked until last week at Joann's. The fabric was actually an upholstery hanger sample that matched my living decor. It cost me $0.40 and I figured that I could get at least 4 coasters out of it without much effort. That sounds like a good deal to me :)

Material:

• a template to trace a square with (I used a 5x5" paper CD sleeve)
• thick fabric

Instructions:

I folded the fabric right sides together and sewed the squares before cutting them out.

I like to cut as little as possible so I traced the squares so that each square was touching.

Then, I sewed three sides of each square 1/4" from the sides.

When all were sewn, I cut along the traced outline.

Snip the corners, turn right side out, and iron flat.

Iron the folds of the open side in and edge stitch all around.

There you have it, coasters in a pinch! No more glass on glass action or water rings!

Felt Fortune Cookies

It's been a long time since my last post and that's no good... but I'm back! It has been a crazy summer and a lot has happened since my last post. Some good, some bad, but fortunately I have been able to find the good even where least expected. So now that I am getting back on track, I decided to go back to doing the things that I love.. crafts! I've also picked up a few musical hobbies, but we'll have to see how that goes!

I just got back from a trip to Dallas for a work conference/vacation. I visited some good girlfriends of mine and I had a great time with them. I've really discovered the importance of friends over the last couple months and the trip only exemplified that. I had a friend back in St. Louis who was going to take care of my kitties while I was gone, so I left her a small thank you note inside a fortune cookie. I came up with the idea because we are always having fun with our fortune cookies at the restaurant. It was simple and quick to make and I think they would make fun party favors too. Here's how to make them:

Material:

• something circular for tracing (I used a CD)
• a piece of felt to fit your circle
• a thin strip of white paper no longer than the diameter of your circle
• optional- hot glue gun (in the picture above, I used the glue gun for the cookie on the right and sewed the left one)

Instructions:

Trace and cut your circle on the piece of felt.

Fold the circle loosely in half and push in at the center of the fold while pulling the corners back.

Pin the center together and it should look like the bottom two pictures.

Sew the center together from the inside of the cookie or glue the center from the outside.

 Lastly, write a message onto your strip of paper and you've got a cute fortune cookie!

Do something nice for a friend :)

Stegosaurus Remade

I'm excited that for the first time, I've been commissioned to sew! I'm thrilled, because it involves making stuffed animals and those are so much fun. I love coming up with the patterns and designs, but I just hate stuffing them! Today, I got a chance to remake my Stegosaurus from a few months ago (original post here). This was my first stuffed animal and the only one I have used a pattern for so far. I feel like making this the first time gave me a good start because it made me understand the general how-tos of a simple stuffed animals. I've been able to expand on it since then. I could see a significant improvement in my second go at it. The feet were very difficult for me to do the first time and I had jagged looking feet pads. I decided that I would baste the feet to the legs first this time and it helped. The feet pads turned out much smoother and circular. The legs also turned out thicker, which I like. I'm still experimenting with stuffing brands and different techniques, but please do tell me your recommendations! In the next week I get to remake my turtle and design a doggy hand puppet. I've never done a puppet before, so I'm excited for the challenge! Well, that's what I am working :) That and moving... but moving is not nearly as fun.

Vintage [Wine] Bottle Carrier

I went to a really cool Thursday evening called Remake Thursdays hosted by a local community called Perennial. Perennial's mission is to teach the community about repurposing products and being eco-friendly through DIY sessions and workshops. This was my first Remake Thursday and for a small $5 donation I was able to make a vintage [wine] bottle carrier out of leather belts. There were a couple other small knick knacks I could have made as well, but I was happy to leave with just the bottle carrier and a chance to share it with all of you! I got permission from the host to take pictures of their tutorial pictures and to share it on my blog. With that being said, the instructional images below were made available by Perennial. The first few steps in the written instructions are for verbatim, but I added to/changed up the rest since they seemed unclear to me.

Materials:

• 2-3 belts
• 4 paper brads or other fastener
• awl
• bottle

Instructions:

1.

Select two belts! Belt 1 should be solid leather and Belt 2 can be whatever you like.

They do need to be about the same width so either buckle will work on either belt.

 2.

Fasten the end of Belt 2 into the buckle of Belt 1.

3.

Slip the end of Belt 1 through the buckle of Belt 2.

Hang this loop over your shoulder and pull Belt 1 to shorten the loop to a comfortable length.

Trim belt 1 right after it exits Belt 2's buckle.

4.

Use an awl to punch a hole in the new end of 1 so you can buckle it to Belt 2 to make a loop.

[I was able to skip this step and use the existing belt holes, but this will depend on your belt.)

5.

Use the scrap you cut from Belt 2 to cut two lengths to wrap around the bottle and Belt 2.

[If the scraps are not long enough then this is where the third belt will be necessary.]

You don't want it too loose but just snug enough so that the bottle won't move around much. 

6.

Place the center of Belt 2 underneath your bottle.

Hold the loop in the air so the belt meets the sides of your bottle and align buckles.

Wrap your newly cut strips around the bottle, making sure the ends overlap the larger loop.

Mark where they will keep your bottle secure, then punch the holes.

 7.

Mark where you punch a hole on each end of the strip and punch the holes.

Punch a hole equal distances from the end holes on each strip.

8.

Take one end of a strip, align its hole with a Belt 2 hole, and wrap the other end all the way around.

Three holes should be aligned at this point; fasten with paper brads.

Also, fasten a brad to the opposite hole. Repeat with the last strip.

Click the image below to view a large image of the original instructions.

Here is the carrier on me. Please excuse the blurry image!

Sewing An Apron For Mother's Day

I decided not to wait until the last minute to sew a Mother's Day gift for Mike's mom. It feels great to cross one project off my list for this week. I gave Mike's mom an apron last year and I decided to give her another one this year. I am satisfied with the pattern I draft, but will give it another go when I make one for myself. I found a cute cupcake remmant a while back at Hancock Fabrics and I had aprons in mind when I saw it. The best part is that I have enough left to make myself one with this fabric too. What do you think?

Materials:

• (1) 3/4 - 1' of outer fabric
• (1) 3/4 - 1' of lining fabric
• (1) 66x6" strip of lining fabric - waist tie (piece together several pieces, if necessary)
• (2) 22x3" strips of lining fabric - neck ties
• (1) 12x12" of lining fabric - pocket (optional)

Instructions:

I fit XS-S sizes and included my measurements for each section of the apron below. The only modification I would make next time is to cut about 2" from each side of the chest section. I rounded all corners, but the waist corners do not need to be rounded (I had intended to add the waist tie differently).

Top - 13"

Waist - 16"

Bottom - 20"

Top to waist - 10.5"

Waist to bottom - 21"

(1/2'" seam allowance)

When the two body pieces were cut, I started preparing the accent pieces. I ironed after each step.

• Iron the waist strip in half long ways wrong sides together.
• Open up with the right side facing down.
• Fold the corners towards the middle crease line, making sure to come to a clean point.

• Fold the both top and bottom edges towards the middle.

• Fold the whole piece in half again and top stitch all around.

• Do the same thing for the neck ties, but skip the pointed corners.
• Fold in half to get your crease line.
• Fold top and bottom edges towards the crease line.
• Fold a little bit of one end in before folding the whole strip in half again. (You can leave the other end unfolded because it will be hidden between the two body pieces)

Optional pocket:

[You can create the pocket pieces like the ties straps (fold sides to the middle and then in half) If your fabric is thick enough, you can just hem the sides. I did it the following way to get the desired thickness for the fabric I was using.]

• Fold the pocket piece in half right sides together.
• Sew the three unfolded sides together and leave a 3" gap.
• Turn the pocket right side out and edge stitch the folded side. This will be the top of the pocket.

• Iron the other three sides in about 1/2".

• Sew the two body pieces right sides together, but leave the top of the apron open.
• Cut notches into the corner seam allowances and turn right side out.
• Pin the neck ties in place (in between the front and back body pieces at the opening) and top stitch the whole apron.
• Pin the waist tie amd pocket in place and sew onto the apron.

 Good luck to all your Mother's Day projects!