Upcycled Pink Floral Dress Tutorial

by | Jan 12, 2011 | Clothing-Tutorials, Craft, Tutorial

I like re-working things in my wardrobe. I like it a whole lot because in a few hours you can completely change up half of your wardrobe.

So I had two things I didn’t want anymore: a pink striped polo shirt from when I was 15 and a dress my mother bought me that I liked the skirt part but not the top. I don’t think I have before photos of them but oh well!

This is the dress, to get to this point I chopped off the bust and up. It was kind of cream beaded crochet and majorly ugly but the skirt part is cute and floralish:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

To get the polo to this point I cut off the white trimmings and the sleeves to give myself as much plain material as I could to work with:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

After thinking about it for a while I layed out what I wanted the finished product to look like. Top part stripes and bottom floral:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

I measured how much fabric I needed for the bust part and cut the shirt like this:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

I then found the center of the fabric and put a pin in once for a seam allowance and a second one a few cm up from that.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Then threaded a needle…

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

And did a running stitch up and down the front to the second pin.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Pulled it nice and tight and you’ve got a gathered front 😀

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Next! With the skirt right side out and the top bad side out I put it over the skirt like this:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

And overlocked them both together. Turn it right side out and bam you’ve got a dress!

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

I can’t wear strapless clothes so I decided to add straps with the left over fabric…

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

I measured the length and over locked some strips into tubes.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Sewn in place:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

To make the waist more fitted and therefore more flattering on my figure I stitched a small piece of elastic around the middle at the seam.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

By stretching the elastic while I was sewing I ensured a nice snug fit.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Lastly I added a couple of bows with the left over fabric.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

And then with a left over strip I made a little circle of fabric which could be used either as a matching hair bow or a belt to add another detail to the dress.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

All up it probably took around 30 minutes to do, I cleared space in my wardrobe by turning 2 things into 1 and I have a pretty dress ready for summer 😀

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Only thing left to do is wear it out 😀

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Nice and bright to try and get me in a more summery mood!

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Lazy Looped Cute Casual Hairstyle Tutorial

by | Jan 11, 2011 | Hair, Hair-Tutorials, Tutorial

There are just some days when dressing up awesomely is out of the question. Lack of time, restrictive dress codes or just a lack of motivation can all be killers but sometimes it’s good to just relax and take a beak from it all. Because I work from home I spend most of my time inside behind a computer with not much contact with the outside world so I live in roomwear a lot of the time! On days when I’m not going out or have client meetings at a ridiculous time in the morning I like to do this style because it takes 2 minutes to do but is still cute and can be jazzed up with the right accessory. Also it’s good for summer because your hair is off your neck!

Lazy Hair Tutorial

What you need:

  • Brush
  • Hair tie
  • Cute accessory, I’m using a bow
  • Bobby pins

Pull your hair up like this with your thumbs

Lazy Hair Tutorial

Hold it up and grab the ends:

Lazy Hair Tutorial

Here you have two options depending on how round and fluffy you want the end result. You can either roll the ends under so it goes in a big cylander (super fluffy) or fold them under like this:

Lazy Hair Tutorial

If you choose to fold it backwards then you can skip the pins altogether and hold it in the hair tie when you make the original ponytail. That doesn’t work for me anymore though because my hair has too many layers so I have to use pins.

 

Lazy Hair TutorialEither way hold the ends in place with one hand…

Lazy Hair Tutorial

Then pin them in place!

Lazy Hair Tutorial

Once it’s secure fluff it all out to the sides and hair spray if you need to. The back should look like a much neater version of this:

Lazy Hair Tutorial

From the side:

Lazy Hair Tutorial

And the front! Big and loopy and a nice change from a standard bun ^_^

Lazy Hair Tutorial

 

Start by tying up your hair in a high pony tail.

 

Lazy Hair Tutorial

If your accessory is on a hair tie like mine then add it now too, if it’s on a bobby pin you can do it later.

 

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How To Make You Own Lipgloss

by | Jan 10, 2011 | Beauty, Beauty-Tutorials, Tutorial

This year as part of my Christmas presents for everyone I made them custom lip glosses ^_^ They are fun to make and you can personalise the colour to the person you’re making it for too.

What you need:

  • Vaseline/petroleum jelly
  • Containers
  • Mixing container ( the metal thing from a tea light candle)
  • Tea light candle and lighter
  • Things to colour the glosses with eg. other lip glosses, lipsticks, eyeshadow, plain pigments, shimmer dust etc.
  • Flavour or scent if you want. I used a tiny bit of perfume oil but it’s optional.

DIY Lipglosses Tutorial

 

 

So in your mixing bowl put in a big glob of vaseline and cut off a little slice of lipstick or whatever colour you’re using. I added a bunch of shimmer dust too. Keep in mind that if you are using old lip products and you are planning on giving them to other people you need to make sure it’s hygienic and there are no germs. If you’re making them for other people rather than using old products that you’ve used previously for colour you should really invest in some reasonably priced lipsticks or colours.

DIY Lipglosses Tutorial

Using the pliers or something, hold it over the candle to melt it all together and stir.

DIY Lipglosses Tutorial

Pour it all into the container and leave to set.

DIY Lipglosses Tutorial

Rinse and repeat!

DIY Lipglosses Tutorial

Quick and easy to make ^_^

DIY Lipglosses Tutorial

Very good stocking stuffers or party favours.

DIY Lipglosses Tutorial

Or… just make a bunch for yourself XD

DIY Lipglosses Tutorial

Violet's Strawberry And Cream Ice Tea Recipe

by | Jan 5, 2011 | Baking, Cooking-Tutorials, Tutorial

Iced tea is my favorite Summery drink and it’s so cheap and easy to make there’s not really an excuse to spend lots of money on other drinks!

Fruity teas work the best for this, my current favorite is the T2 Strawberries and Cream. Absolutely delicious!

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

What you need:

  • Jug
  • Caster sugar (I use about half a cup for this size jug because James likes it really sweet)
  • Kettle
  • Loose leaf tea
  • Tea strainer-dunking-thingy-that-I-can’t-remember-the-name-of
  • Tongs

Fill up your kettle and boil it.

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

Make sure to store tea in an air tight container so it lasts longer.

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

For the size jug I’m using I needed two of the tea dunking things with around 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of tea in each.

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

You shouldn’t fill them too full otherwise the tea won’t have room to move around and you won’t get a full flavour.

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

Once the kettle boils add the plungers and the water to the jug.

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

You should be able to see the colour change very soon, use your tongs to give everything a stir.

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

Now herein lies a very important lesson… when you go to refill your glass jug with new tea after it’s been in the fridge for days don’t pour boiling water straight into it! Glass (especially crappy glass from a $2 store) can’t take sudden temperature changes and will crack. Then you will have super hot water all over your bench which is very irritating to clean up and also then you have to have an internal debate on whether it’s worth it to catch a tram all the way to the junk store and replace the jug to continue with the tutorial… it’s not pretty, it looks something like this in fact!

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

So after deciding you are too lazy to go buy a replacement jug and digging around under your bench to find a smaller one and remaking it all up to this point… leave everything to cool for around 10 minutes.

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

Then it’s time to add in your sugar. We like a huge amount of sugar (like probably 1/4 of a cup for the big glass jug above or 1/8th of a cup for the small pyrex one below) but the first time you make this I would suggest measuring and adding a bit at a time until you’ve got a flavour you like. Ours tastes kind of like un-set jelly XD

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Now stir it all together so the sugar dissolves and remove the tea strainers. Leave it out on the bench for a couple of hours until it’s room temperature then pop in the fridge over night. The next day you will have some pretty delicious tea ready and waiting to go 😀

Ice Tea Recipe/Tutorial

Do you guys have a favorite flavour of tea? I love strawberries and cream for the ice tea and at the moment my favorite hot tea is good old English Breakfast 😀

How To Make A Felt Daisy Headband

by | Jan 3, 2011 | Craft, Hair-Accessory-Tutorials, Tutorial

After searching for aaages for something cute to make for James that was daisy related (it’s really hard to make flowers look manly >_<) I gave up and decided just to make myself some hair accessories. I did actually find him something to make but that’s another post ^_^

This came out of an idea that Omega suggested on Twitter as she sent me a link from Future Girl’s blog!

This is what you end up with…

Daisy Hair Band Tutorial

What you need: 

  • White felt
  • Needle
  • Ribbon
  • Yellow thread
  • Pen
  • Scissors

Start with the white felt and draw a circle, if you need to use something round to trace around.

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Cut as many circles as you want daisies. I chose to make my headband with 5 because I think odd numbers work look better.

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Find the centre of the circle by folding it in half twice and putting a pen dot where the folds intersect.

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Now draw a small circle in the middle which will be the yellow part in the end. Then it’s time to cut the petals, below you can see the order in which to cut. You should cut from the outside edge and stop at the inside circle. You will end up with 12 petals, the crappy diagram at the bottom has lines to show the cuts XD

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Now on each of the petals cut the corner off into a rounded point.

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Repeat on the other side ^_^

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Now thread your needle with the yellow thread. You could either use thick embroidery thread or just double up like I did, if you use thin cotton you will be here forever.

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Turn your flower over to the right side (the non-drawn on one) and running stitch around the centre circle. Pull the thread tight so the flower buckles a little and becomes more 3d and the petals stick up a bit.

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Do a second round of running stitch in the gaps from the first one so it forms a complete circle of yellow:

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Now stitch across the circle like this:

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Then go back the other way so it forms a kind of cross hatching ^_^ and fills in the circle. Done!

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

Repeat for all of the daisies then sew them on to the ribbon ^_^ I used a green ribbon for the tie then added a yellow ribbon over the top as an extra dangly thingy.

Daisies Hairband Tutorial

And that’s it!

Daisy Hair Band Tutorial

Wear and enjoy ^_^

Daisy Hair Band Tutorial

Hope you enjoyed it! I’m feeling very Spring-ish today ^_^

Decoden Fan ^_^

by | Jan 1, 2011 | Craft, Other-Tutorials, Tutorial

The lovely Retro Jet Girl sent me this fan a while ago just in time for Summer… unfortunately Summer doesn’t seem to be happening here in Aus this year *_* This year on Boxing Day instead of the traditional Australian shorts and singlet (not that I would actually wear that) I was decked out in a jumper, scarf and beret! Some places here even apparently had snow, which is just insane for the middle of Summer here! So anyway… The fan was really beautiful and I wanted to personalise it a bit. I’ve done this before with a fan last year which has since died a long drawn out death in my handbag:

Traveling in style with Violet

This is what it started out like ^_^

How to make a fan cuter

What I used:

  • UV nail polish
  • Embroidery thread
  • Scissors
  • Beads

How to make a fan cuter

First thing I did was pull apart the bottom with scissors so it came apart like this…

How to make a fan cuter

Then using pink UV nail polish I painted every second one of the wooden pole thingies. I did two coats and let it dry ^_^

How to make a fan cuter

Then using the embroidery thread I slotted it all back together…

How to make a fan cuter

I put a bead on the thread too:

How to make a fan cuter

Then pulled the thread back the other way again and aded another bead:

How to make a fan cuter

Pull it all very tightly and tie it off.

How to make a fan cuter

On the ends of the thread I added a couple of other little beads.

How to make a fan cuter

Done! Very quick and easy to do and adds an extra point of interest. Also because I used UV polish it changes colour when I’m in out the sun! Very cool 😀

How to make a fan cuter

You could easily go further by adding jewels to the outside part or a small row of lace along the top but I thought I would go the slightly more subtle route this time XD What do you think?