I have a bit of a soft spot for glasses, in fact I’ve worn them since I was around 9 years old and while my sight is a lot better now so I don’t need them for reading or distance (unless its for a long period of time) I still love the way they look! I’ve been wanting to deco a pair properly for the longest of times, mostly as just for a fun photography prop and when I realised the potential of the gold sunglasses I got from Fashion Addict I decided to take the leap.
So these are the glasses I started with:
I wasn’t a fan of how they looked on me so they had been sitting in my cupboard since I did the original post. No point having them there if I’m never going to wear them so I got to work and this is what came out:
Perfect for the diy at home purikura booth I’m planning to rig up for a tea party 😀
What I used:
Sunglasses
Deco supplies: diamantes, bows, stars etc
Epoxy glue
Pliers
First thing to do was poke out the lenses, they were really hard to break so I ended up moving the metal frames with the pliers and then forcing them free.
Lens free!
Then it was a metter of changing the shape to something a bit more suitable for my face. I achieved this by using some pliers and bending the metal into a more flat square shape. I also bent the curve around the face so it was much flatter.
One on the right done, left untouched:
Happy with the shape now, super old man style ^_^
Then I decided what I wanted the feature piece to be. I used a bow that came off a pair of Bodyline shoes.
I picked a couple of different jewels and cabachons to experiment on a style with.
I laid out the rest of the jewels to decide on the design next!
And after that it was just a matter of mixing up the glue and sticking it all down.
The top section was done first…
The around the bottoms:
I did the bottom in smaller sections because the rims were thin so I needed to wait for the glue to be tacky and balance the jewels in place. Lastly I added a little butterfly over the bow to cover the ugly string.
Last thing I did was add matching jewels to the side while making sure not to prevent the arms from opening/clothing.
From the back…
And the front…
Pretty damn happy with the result! They are super huge, super over the top and super awesome as a blingy accessory 😀
Ridiculous bling for the win ^_^ And to show how ridiculously huge these really are, here’s a crappy phone photo from 2am after I made them!
Today is a random-craft-that-I’ve-completed-kind-of-a-post. James found pictures of a cute rose shaped shower pouf thingy that he thought I would love. Lucky me, it came with a tutorial on Ruffles and Stuff’s blog!
We had a bunch of these little towels left over from an Easyway promotion so I thought I would give it a try!
Click over here for the original tutorial, her results look much nicer than mine!The technique is pretty similar to the method I used to make the rose pillow over here.I used a few different ideas than the original tutorial, I removed all of the edging for a softer look, hand stitched it and added a ribbon so it could hang from a hook.
The back still has the little hand grip too.
I’m pretty happy with the results! And that concludes another random craft post. What have you guys been making lately? Anything interesting?
Ages ago someone requested a pin cushion tutorial so this idea has been bouncing around my head for a few months but I didn’t have the materials until now.
You need:
Felt
Stuffing/fabric scraps
Needle/thread
Lace
Rose ribbon
First you will need to decide how big you want your heart to be, I was using scrap lace so I had to measure how much I actually had to go around the heart!
So cut two hearts…
…and one long rectangle which is long enough to go around the outside of the heart. You will also need 2 pieces of lace as long as the rectangle and two pieces of the rose ribbon to cross over the top.
Sandwich the lace between the rectangle and one of the hearts like this:
Carefully stitch all around the outside, wrapping the rectangle all the way around the heart. I’m using white thread so you can see what I’m doing:
Make sure that you pleat the lace as you sew so it goes around the curves of the heart. Trim the excess of the sides and stitch it shut. From the top it should look like this:
Now put the rose ribbon across the top in an “X” shape. In the photo below I accidentally put the top heart felt on first but it needs to go ribbon then felt on the very top otherwise it will be on the inside!
So stitch around the top heart leaving a couple of centimeters gap on one side.
Turn it inside out through the hole and it should puff up with the lace sticking up nicely. Fill it with stuffing!
Then you just need to stitch the hole closed and you’re all finished.
Done! Pretty cute.
You can use it as a regular pin cushion or to hold larger things you’re using like small scissors under the rose ribbon.
Took around 20 minutes to make and I’m sure if you did a better job than I did it would make a lovely present! ^_^
Yet another bow tutorial, are you sick of these yet? I think I’m getting sick of making them but I’ve got one more after this that I promised before I’ve crossed them all off my list 😀
Today I’m making an rosette ribbon bow. That’s a mouthful!
Below you can see the results, mine is on the left and the one that inspired it is on the right, it’s an AP one. I don’t generally condone replicas etc but this bow is maybe 6 years old and I don’t think they’ve made any similar for quite a while. I don’t wear black as much as I used to so I wanted a similar design in several other colours.Funnily enough this bow was the first piece of brand that I ever got, it was a gift from my friend Sandy many years ago and though we’ve lost touch I still think of her when I wear it. She was my Lolita big sister back when I wore it and I really wouldn’t be where I am today (personally, professionally or style wise) without the example she set for me.
I love this style as it can be worn in so many ways!
You need:
Thick ribbon
Medium ribbon
Thin ribbon
Felt
Bobby pin
Tulle
Needle, thread, scissors etc
The three ribbons I’m using:
First cut 2 lengths of the thick ribbon, these need to be around twice as wide as you want the finished bow to be.
Fold the ends into the middle and stitch up both of them. Pull the stitches tights so it ruffles them into a bow.
Lay them crossed in the middle to form an “X” and stitch in place like this:
Now make another bow out of the middle ribbon in the same way:
And stitch it on top…
At this point you really should wrap a piece of the small ribbon around the middle to hide all of the stitches but I forgot so I had to do it later. Clearly my brain was too distracted by the chocolate I was eating at the time, don’t eat and craft it’s serious business.
So pretending you did that, make an upside down V shape with a long piece of large ribbon.
Put a V of the middle ribbon on top of it.
And then a V of the small ribbon on top of that.
Stitch them all together at the top.
Then stitch your bow section of top of that!
The back doesn’t need to be neat because it will all be covered.
Now we need the tulle puff which pokes out the back. Cut a long thin piece of the tulle.
And do a running stitch down one of the long sides. Pull the thread taught so it forms a big ruffle, if you tie the thread to where you began it should curl around into a rosette.
Something like this:
Mine was way too big so I grabbed the non-stitched end and trimmed it.
Stitch or glue the tulle on the back of the bow and then add a circle of felt over the top to make it much neater and finished. No one is ever going to see the back of mine so I just tacked it on. I also cut two slits into the felt to slip a bobby pin through. I usually wear this in my hair but the original was a brooch back so it could be worn anywhere. Completely up to you which you prefer, if I had more of the little metal brooch things I would have used that because then it’s so much more verstile.
Now seeing as I forgot to add the thin ribbon around the bow to hide the stitches before, I had to go back and do it now >_< Craft fail.
Last thing to do is cut all of the ribbon ends into little points
And that’s it! Obviously not as good as the original but still quite pretty and in colours I wear much more often. Now that you know the basic techniques you can make rpetty much any ribbon bow you could possible thing of.
Hope you enjoyed this and on the off chance that Sandy ever reads this: I miss taking photos at pretty buildings with you big sister!
Phew! Way behind schedule as per usual but finally I am finished this bunny crochet tutorial! Sorry it took so long >_< Hopefully the wait was worth it and those who wanted to take part have had enough time to get some yarn and a crochet hook!
This tutorial is made up of both a video and the photos so you can pick and choose the way of learning that suits you the best or use both for supersized learning 😉 It is picture heavy, there are around 50 photos plus the 10min video so if you’re on dial up beware.
The finished project (with a silly drawn on face)….
Pretty cute? Yes! And all you need to do is make 2 rectangles so nice and easy for a first project ^_^Now a couple of things to think about before you go ahead and start the tutorial: I am a knitter first and foremost, I have been knitting since I was 3yrs old but have only been crocheting for 4ish years so my technique is not perfect. I learnt via friends, books and videos and I am by no means the be-all-end-all crochet genius. In fact, I have been told that I crochet like a knitter XD If you are looking for perfect beginners technique then check out some of these links:
If you prefer my style of tutorial and are happy with my results then read on!
What you need:
Main colour yarn (mine is pink)
Corresponding sized crochet hook (mine is 3.75mm)
Tail yarn (mine is white)
Needle and thread in the same colours as your yarn
Scissors
Something to stuff the bunny with, I’m using scrap fabric
Patience <- very important
First here is the video I made, even if you don’t want to learn watch it anyway because James made me an awesome new introduction to match my new video set up. LOVE IT! . .
Ok so on to the photos.
Untangle the end of your yarn and make sure you have a decent amount unraveled to work with. A note on which yarn/crochet hook to choose, here I am using 8ply yarn and a 3.75mm hook. If you live overseas, here is a needle size conversion chart. You need a hook which is the right size for your yarn otherwise you will end up with big holes or a very tight stitch (like amigurumi animals) here is a chart to help you pick.
With that out of the way let’s get started.
To cast the first stitch on to your hook, start to tie the end of your yarn in a knot but don’t pull the tail through the hole. In the photo below you can see that the tail is underneath the loop of the knot. If you were to pull it tight, it would just all come loose rather than tying into a knot.
Poke your hook through and pick up the part of the tail which is inside the loop. Like this:
Grab both the very end of the yarn and the part still attached to the ball and pull them gently downwards.
They will form a kind of slipknot around the hook.
Pull the tail of the yarn to the left and the rest of it to the right to tighten the knot around the hook. That’s your first stitch!
From this point on you’ll have to excuse how I’m actually holding the hook, generally I hold the hook in my right hand but I was holding the camera so it was a bit hard to juggle XD
So holding your hook upwards you should have something like this…
Now to start off we will need to make a foundation chain which is the base row of stitches. The head needs to have 20 chains in the foundation row.
To make a stitch take the yarn (make sure it’s the part attached to the ball, not the tail or else you will run out very quickly!) and wrap it completely around the hook clockwise. See my awesome arrows below!
Point the hook to the left and gently move it down so the yarn you wrapped is caught under it.
Keep pulling down so the hook with the trapped yarn actually slides through the first stitch you had on there.
You can see how it’s being pulled here:
Now you’ve got a new stitch on your hook! 1 down, 19 to go 😀
So wrap the yarn around the hook again.
And pull down through the other stitch.
It’s quite quick to do once you get the hang of it.
When you have 20 chains done, add two more. So you should have done a total of 22 chains. The reason we are doing an extra 2 is because we will make them into a right angle (and an “L” shape”) to give us enough space to start the first real row.
Ok so lets start the 1st real row.
Skipping the 2 extra chains, push the hook through the next one.
Wrap your yarn around the hook.
Pull the wrapped yarn down and through the first loop on the hook.
Now you have this:
Wrap the yarn around again.
And pull that wrapped yarn through both of the loops on the hook
So now you should only have on loop left on the hook. One stitch DONE!
Now it’s really just a matter of rinse and repeat over and over again until you run out of chain to do it into. You should be able to do 20 of them, one for each chain.
Once you are finished the row, chain 2 extras, again this will give you enough room height-wise to start the next row.
Then begin again, skipping the two chain and pushing the hook through the next stitch.
You can see this is halfway through the second row.
And finished the second row.
So keep adding rows until you have enough! For the head you will need 28 rows.
Aaaaaand done! On the very last stitch you can cut the end of the yarn leaving a 5-10cm tail.
Use the hook and pull it completely through this time.
Pull tight and it forms a knot!
So the head piece is 20 chain and 28 rows. To be completely honest, it really doesn’t matter the exact number of rows or chain as long as you end up with a rectangle so if you have too many/few don’t stress about it.
Now you just need to repeat all of that and make the body! This time start with 28 chain and do 30 rows. Again the exact numbers don’t matter so much in this particular project as long as you have 1 bigger rectangle and one smaller for the head.
You should end up with something like this…
So let’s put the damn thing together! We’ll do the body first 😀
Take the body and fold all of the corners into points. I didn’t get any clear photos of this part so if you need more detail, check the video! Basically you get the middle of each side and push them into the middle so the corners become pointy legs.
Stitch up 3 of the legs and stuff it with fabric/stuffing/yarn/whatever. Stitch the last leg closed. Then you need to fold all of the legs forward and stitch them in place. You can see below where the stitching should be and how it forms the body.
I’m using black thread so you can see what I’m doing but obviously you should use a colour that matches your yarn so it can’t be seen!
See how the legs look from the side:
And the top! DONE!
Oooook almost finished! Pat on the back if you managed to make it this far!
Take the head piece and fold the bottom in half, stitch it shut. Once flattened out it should look like this…
Fold the little top edge over and stitch it to the seam you already made. Add some stuffing!
Now flip it over to the front and pleat the the points so they actually look like ears. Once you are happy with how the ears look, wrap some yarn around it very tightly and tie it off!
Something along these lines:
And that’s the head! Here’s the back:
And the front!
What you need to do next is stitch the bunny’s head to it’s body in the corresponding place.
So close to being finished! Now the last step is to make a little pompom for a tail. Wrap some white yarn around your fingers, tie the middle, cut the loops and stitch it on to the bunny’s butt XD
And there you go! Cute little bunny all finished, congratulations!
Such a cute little bunny!
If you want you could stitch on a cute face but I liked him plain so I just drew one on in Photoshop XD
Big congratulations if you actually read this far and even bigger congratulations if you actually gave this a go and made your own bunny! I would love to see if any of you actually did 😀
Now if you enjoyed that I’ll be doing the striped knitted scarf next… but I think I need a break first because this took so long to put together!
Months ago Celeste and I were out shopping and she spotted a belt she liked, one of those ruffly elastic ones with the bows on the front. She almost bought it but it looked wrong when it was stretched because it lost the cute ruffle. I found a bunch of left over elastic in my stash when I cleaned it out so I thought I would have a go at making her one instead.
What I ended up with:
What you need:
Lace
Elastic (thick)
Fabric
Sewing machine/overlocker
Bows for the front or more fabric to make bows
Snap closures
Needle, thread, scissors
Start by measuring around your waist and cutting two pieces of elastic. You can adjust how much elastic you want depending on if you want the belt to be tight or just a bit snug. Leave around 5cm more than you think you need so the ends can overlap for the closure.
Lay out the elastic on the fabric and measure so you can cut 2 strips which are twice as long as the elastic and with 2cm extra for seams on the top/bottom.
You should have something like this:
Cut 2 pieces of lace which are as long as the fabric. Lay the first piece of fabric face up, place the lace along the edge with the nice edges pointing towards the middle…
Then place the other fabric on top, good side down so it sandwiches the lace. Mmmm lace sandwich…
Pin in place if you need to. There shouldn’t be much lace sticking out the sides if any. Now overlock or sew down each long side to form it into a big tube.
You can see when I lift up the top layer of fabric, the lace is being sewn into the seam between them. When we eventually turn it all inside out it will poke out the top and bottom without needing to be top stitched.
One side sewn and flattened out so you can see what I mean a bit better…
Stitch the other side too and you should end up with a tube like this:
Open up the hole at one end, turn it all inside out and flatten it. If you want it to be flatter you can iron it and top stitch each side.
Now thread both pieces of elastic through and make sure they don’t twist along the way. If you need to you can use a safety pin in the end to push them through.
It should be all bunched up like this:
Making sure the elastic isn’t twisted, overlock down each side to hold it in place.
Now you have a big stretchy ruffled thing…
Hand stitch a couple of snap closures or hooks on to the ends.
If you want you can fold the edges into seams to hide the raw stitching but as it’s going to be covered by the bows it doesn’t really matter.
Now stitch on some bows to one side and you’re done!
Taadaaa finished!
Now fingers crossed Celeste will like it and I’ll be able to show you it all being worn ^_^
Want to download this tutorial in one handy portable file?
Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a list of all of my downloadable tutorials? OMG so convenient! I know right?
Just sign up to The VLB monthly newsletter/magazine/awesome thing below and have the list delivered right to your inbox in the welcome message!
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.
By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.
