Well it’s not Summer here but I think I’m a bit tired of Winter so I’m pretending it is >_>
For someone who only ever seems to wear one pair of sunglasses I sure have a lot of them hanging around the house. So on a mission to get rid of the things I didn’t use I decided to give some of the sunglasses a make over and actually start using them!
The end result is pink and green, perfect for a warm Spring day out! Now if only we had some warm days!
Originally the sunglasses were clear and pink. Cute but for some reason I never really wore them.
All it took was a few coats of nail polish!
I got some polish on the lenses because I was a bit careless it it was easy to poke off with a toothpick once dry.
Easy!
Super cute!
It’s inspired me to be a bit more creative and try to dress up my other sunglasses too!
I’m on a roll with my crafting! I’m going to start some new knitting projects this weekend, what are you guys crafting at the moment?
I admit that I am a craft supply/clothes horder. I love finding new uses for items of clothing which I can no longer wear and that’s how Lottie came to have a cute new sweater.
While she doesn’t really *need* a sweater because of all of that fur, she is a total baby when it comes to the cold so the second it’s under like 15 degrees she’s trying to take my hot water bottle >_> we are both only children so neither of us share well and this was the compromise. Luckily it works so she can have her warm tummy and I can be selfish and not have to share my hot water bottle!
I started off with a children’s jumper that I picked up at a thrift store 8 years ago for $2. I wore it a bunch but the neck was just a bit small to be comfortable. I couldn’t get rid of it, that embroidery was just too sweet.
So let’s get started! I turned it inside out and measured Lottie. I cut it in the shape of… a smaller sweater ;D I cut off the ribbin at the bottom too to resew on and make it shorter in the middle.
I overlocked all of the edges again. Keep in mind if you’re sewing or cutting knitted fabric you need to be very careful because it will completely unravel if you don’t seal the seams well. If you can’t use an overlocker then use French seams so every single loose end is encased. I’ll add that technique to the Sew Fun list.
To make the neckline a bit more fur friendly I snipped it down the front into a V shape.
Then I stitched it up by hand. I pleated it a little bit so there was extra room in the front for her mane.
Done! This took me around 15 minutes start to finish and how cute is Lottie? I think she’d probably rather the hot water bottle but that’s one of the perks of being pack leader ;D
You guys have probably seen this photo before but it’s the creepiest photo of Lottie I’ve ever taken. Her little arms *_____*
“Hello fellow humans let’s all walk on two legs together and have bacon parties!”
Before we get deep into the sewing for next week’s tutorials I thought I would show you guys a very quick no-sew project!
This is another super old idea which has been around the internet like crazy and I never thought I would actually make one until I recently realised I have very few big chunky necklaces.
And so my version of the traditional tshirt scarf/necklace turned out like this:
Since then it’s been sitting in my craft pile waiting for a project.
So step 1. is to cut off the seams around the neck and arms and the bottom.
Then cut the remaining fabric into strips. You can either remove the side strips or you can leave them for really long necklaces.
I love the gradient effect!
Now with each of these pieces stretch them out with your finger.
They will roll up on themselves and curl around like this.
Now it’s just a matter or arranging them the way that you like so they form a necklace. You can hang them all at the same length or make longer variations.
I went with different variations depending on the colours. I thought the seems looked pretty cool but you could easily cover them with beads or plait several strands together. There are so many versions of this one idea!
In the end I decided to keep mine plain so the colour was the main focus.
To finish off all of the edges you just need to hold them together and use another piece of shirt to secure it. Tie the shirt in a knot around loose ends and then wrap it until the ends are hidden. Tie off and then poke the loose pieces inside the wrapped area. You’ll get something nice and clean like this:
Easy!
And that all there is to it, it’s a nice quick project, no sewing involved and you can customise it as much or little as you want.
This has made me think more about fun things to do with old tshirts!
Today is something really simple, a braided leather cuff made from a belt!
This style of braided belts used to be super popular but these days they are more often found in thrift stores. That means you can easily pick one up for a few dollars and make a whole heap of different things from it!
The first thing I made with mine was a thick cuff. It’s really simple, just cut a section of the belt which is long enough to go around your wrist plus a few extra centimeters to fold over in the hem. This belt is not held together other than at the ends so before I cut, I put down a line of hot glue at each end to prevent it from unraveling straight away.
Once it’s cut, add another line of glue and fold the ends over. You will need a clasp so you can actually wear it so you can either stitch it in place or you can glue it on too.
And that’s it!
I used a claw hook and some rings for the attachment but you can use pretty much anything.
An easy craft for a super hot day! Considering it only used a small amount of the belt there is heaps left over for other projects. Now I’m thinking of threading it through some more chain for necklaces and bracelets.
Hope the weather is better in your part of the world 😀
I’ve been playing around with some darker looks in terms of jewellery and clothing. While I was trying to put together looks I realised I don’t really have very many non-pearl necklaces and bracelets. So I set about making myself some!
This was my favorite of the pieces I made that first day by far:
To make it I used some chain, a butterfly I pulled off a broken ring and a strap of leather from a woven belt I bought for $2 from a thrift shop while I was out one day poppin’ tags and looking for a come up 😉
The butterfly was all broken so I glued it back together again and cut two even pieces of chain. At the beginning I considered adding some bling but the end result didn’t need it. Less is apparently sometimes more 😉
I used a couple of rings to attach the chain to the butterfly wings and added a clasp to the ends.
I then cut some lengths of leather which were a bit longer than the chain.
I folded the leather around the end of the chain, glued the end down and then wove it through the links. Once reaching the other end I cut the extra off, folded under again and glued in place.
Easy! That’s all there was to it and it took me more time to decide on the design than it did to make it.
Bonus shot of the designer wearing it!
I think the butterfly is still quite delicate so it adds a nice touch to a darker outfit. What other kinds of jewellery should I try making? I’ve had an obsession with thick bangles recently!
These wrapping bracelets have been in a lot of stores lately but they’re so easy to make that I really don’t think they’re worth spending much money on.
You need:
Thread or yarn
Beads
Basic knowledge of how to plait
Cut 3 long strands of yarn and tie the ends in a knot. Leave a little extra before the knot so you can make a tie later with it.
This is easiest to do with something holding the yarn steady, I used a bead container and closed the lid on the thread.
String a heap of beads onto each thread. I started with 6 on each strand, you can always add some more later.
Start plaiting. Move the right thread over and to the center.
Move the left thread over and to the center.
Push the first bead up the middle thread and place it in the center of the plait.
Move the right thread around the bead and to the center. The bead is now trapped.
Move the left thread to the center and push up another bead. Continue the plait like this, every time you move the thread on the left to the center, push up another bead.
It will look something like this:
Plait until you run out of beads or it’s as long as you wanted. I think these look really cute when they wrap around a couple of times.
Plait the loose ends at the beginning and tie them in a loop.
Plait the rest of the yarn without the beads and then tie the end into a large knot.
You can push the knot through the loop to secure it.
Done!
Now you can experiment with different materials, I make one with wire too and it was really pretty!
These make really nice presents too!
Hope you found it useful, let me know if you tried it out!
Illustrator. Strong tea, knitting, watercolours, and making a video game called Moonlight in Garland. Living with her adorable husband Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.
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