Spicing up a Cardi!

Do you have loads of cardigans that are just dull & plain...? Don't get me wrong, a few are handy but sometimes you need a really cute cardi to go with a skirt!

This was another idea that I found in the sewing magazine I bought years ago in Hawaii =)

First off, find some ribbon you like & sew along it in the middle. Next separate the two strings and start to pull one of them


Keep going & you'll get this...


Next job is to attach the ribbon to the cardi. I will be totally honest with you & tell you this was a total pain...it kept getting stuck over the 'ruffles'. Not sure it was worth it - but we'll see (depends on how much I end up wearing it)


However finished product is pretty cute!

What to do with a skirt that has a broken zip????

Remove it!


I literally just cut it out... didn't even try to make the cutting a 'pretty job'


Next I stitched up the hole...(see you're being reminded why I call myself 'Crooked Stitch' not 'Pretty Stitch'..)


Chopped off the waistband


And pinned on some elastic! This way the skirt fit better & I didn't have to worry about matching up a new zip with the one I just cut out.


Again... TA-DA! Finished product. Pretty cool! =)

Another Apron

Back to basics with aprons... they are such great gifts, people love them & I love giving them!

This cute little number....




Is for our sweet 'Grandmother' Joyce who looks after us so well, always cooking us meals and making sure we're ok.... she mentioned the other day that she has worn out her old apron & needed a new one... so I said I'd make her one! =)

I did do something new this time & tried adding a waistband! Loved how it turned out!!

xx

10 minute skirt!

I'm loving all things simple these days!

Found this fabric, loved it... mainly because it will never require you to wear a slip with it .. bliss! =)

Attached some elastic as a waist. I used extra wide elastic and made this a semi-high waisted skirt. Next I took an idea from my usual source - Pinterest - and sewed strips of elastic to both sides of the skirt. While sewing the elastic I pulled it, and when you let go - you get this cute little 'ruched' sides! I found the idea from this blog... http://www.sewastraightline.com/2012/05/ruching-for-skirt-week.html







I loved it so much that I wore it the next day to Sunday morning meeting!! =)
Planning on trying this again, just with a longer skirt... tonight maybe!!!!

xx

Dress it up!

Back to my obsession with tees! I found this idea on Pinterest (imagine) and thought I'd give it a go!

Start out with a basic tee & an old/new tie


Next pin the tie onto the shirt - I added a few 'ruffles' because the tie was super long.


And you're done! How cute is this???

Wear it your way!

I saw this dress about a year ago in a magazine I bought on one of our stopovers in Hawaii & have always wanted to have a go at making one...




So I found some fabric & chopped it up. I piece of fabric for the skirt, and then two long rectangles (about 1 1/2 times your height) for the straps/top of the dress. I totally guessed on this, so don't have measurements.


In about 10 minutes later I had attached all 3 pieces of fabric to some elastic for the waist - super easy!


And then it was time to play. There are so many ways you can wear this dress - as you can see from the magazine page above - I had a bit of fun coming up with my own ways... with my hubs as the 'patient' photographer =)










Ta-Da! If you're looking for an easy, fun dress to wear from something fancy with heels to a beach cover up - then this is a dress for you! =)

Stain Removal -- Ash's way =)

I bought this beautiful dress in NYC and the first time I wore it the dark blue bled into the other colours ... gurrrr. It was tragic, but it looked 'dirty' and so I stopped wearing it. You can't really see it in the photo.. but trust me, it was there.



So I decided to do something about it....

I went to the craft shop & bought some dye - just picked a random colour, as I had no idea what it would turn out like anyways. My thought process was that the blue was the colour that was dying, so if I just dunked the whole dress in blue - then that should solve the problem - ha!


Got my supplies together and dunked the dress in....




45 minutes later... much to my surprise, the dress was still in beautiful colour lines.. just a few shades darker!! The pink turned a purple and the orange turned a 'burnt' orange.. but it's GREAT! And best part of all ... no more blue bleeding into the other colours! Win-Win!!!

An adorable way to say THANK YOU!

I wanted to make something for the adorable elders of our Sunday morning meeting - they are like grandparents to us and are always looking after us.

Sooo I made some muffins



And then I wrapped an empty tinfoil box and put the muffin in! With a quick stamp on the card - how cute & easy is this!! =)

Painting with hands

Who said it's only for kids... ha, seriously ... that's 1/2 the fun!

I needed to add 'rain' to my painting, but had no idea how to do it. The idea on Pinterest said to melt crayons with a hair dryer. However we live in a rental and I don't think I trust myself melting crayons and not getting it everywhere! =)

So instead, I put paint into Ziplock, poked a few holes in the bottom and squeezed.... soooo much fun! =)











Next I decided that I needed to add some 'dots' so I decided to dip my hands in painting... see 1/2 the fun! And I started 'flicking'.....

Don't try this if you don't like to have paint in your fingernails for a week to come!





The effect is amazing though! Love the this painting has loads of thick paint on it -- just the effect I was going for!







And the finished product!!!


So happy that I decided to make 'coloured' rain... fits my style a bit more! It's the first painting that I've done that I've actually decided to keep - and not it's proudly hanging on our living room wall!!! =)

The things you can do with a tee!

I'm in love with tee shirts...

No not the kind you go to the shops, buy and then actually wear in a normal fashion.. boring =)

I'm in love with buying an oversized tee shirt for a steep price of $4 and then cutting it up! Pure bliss! ha!

Lately I've been taking ideas from Pinterest and putting my spin on them - here are a few things I've made out of tees:

Tee shirt vest for Mom... (apologies for the ugly black top in 1 of the photos... I was too lazy to change into something nice than my PJ top =)







The 'Tee' skirt.... I'm in love with this skirt.











The Tee scarf .. yet another creation for my adorable mother! =)This is super easy... think next time I'll go with a longer shirt...as this is a bit hard to wrap around your neck twice =)









And finally the 'tee' dress =)This was a tee cut off with material attached at the waist... maybe the easiest, cutest thing I've made yet =)











And so... it's no longer just an everyday tee... it's simply SO MUCH MORE! =)