DIY Summer dress from yoga pants

Lovely Rose from Fine Craft Guild invited me to be part of her new series:

Here is my contribution, a skirt/dress made from yoga pants:

Easy and quick, like most of my tutorials. Come over to Fine Craft Guild to see more.


Thank again Rose!




Lots of love,

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Cat napping pillow

After the little bird ornaments, I wanted to make something else with my transfer paper (before it goes back into its
box and gets forgotten for the next couple of months :-) ).

I made a pillow in honor of our nap queen. The method is the same as with the ornaments.


First, little kitty had to try out all the different napping spots:

This of course let to an encounter with the nap queen herself:


And who are you?

 

Oh, you like napping too?

Let's go for it, girl!

Lots of love,

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Needles, pins, and what to do with them - a DIY

Whenever I sew there are pins everywhere.
On the table, on the floor, in the fabric, under the sewing machine...

So far nobody stepped in one I forgot to pick up afterwards, but I am always nervous about the possibility.

Seeing that it hasn't rained here in about 5 months my skin is very dry and I go through a lot of cream.
I know that might sound rather random now, but bear with me, I am leading up to something :-).

This morning I had finished yet another pot of cream and just when I was about to chuck it into the rubbish I
remembered something I saw some time ago on a German blog (please let me know if it was yours so I can give
credit).

Empty pot + magnet = no more pins on the floor!

You will need:

an empty pot or tin
a magnet
double-sided tabe
some paper or fabric to decorate

Cut the paper to size and glue it on with double-sided tape. Then glue the magnet to the inside of the lid. I also used
double-sided tape for that.

I then still stamped 'pins' and 'needles' on it to make it clear to little people that it is not meant for the earring or sticker
collection.

Quick and easy!




Lots of love,

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Sew a simple summer dress

Today I finally finished ALL the admin that had been piling up after the holidays.

As a reward I then unpacked my brand new, beautiful, shiny sewing machine and the fabric I bought in Germany.


The fabric is quite light-weight so I decided to turn it into a summer dress:

 

If you would like one too to wear on the last days of summer, here is what to do:


Start by spreading the fabric out. First fold it double (with the good side on the inside) and then fold it in half again, so that the front of your fabric is closed.
Now put half of a (very big) t-shirt on top and trace the lines, extending the length so it becomes a dress:

 

 

Cut it out. Now you have the front and back part cut out all at once and they are hopefully the same size :-).
When I try to do them independently from each other one always ends up bigger.

Then cut a v-shaped form into the front and round the back part slightly to form the necklines:

Next trim the necklines in front and in the back:

Now close the seams on the shoulders and arms, and down the sides:

Next, find the right length and neaten the seams:

Nearly done! Now you just have to trim the seams on the arm openings:

I decided to put some brown ribbon at the end of the arms, and also used a ribbon around the middle:

And then you are done!

And in case you do not like sewing, take part in our Shabby Apple giveaway and win a US$ 50 to spend on one of their gorgeous dresses! The competition closes on the 4th of September.

I am linking to these lovely parties.



Have a wonderful day!


Lots of love,

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Dress re-fashion

One more week and we will be flying into the summer!

So when I walked past a cheap and cheerful yellow dress with butterflies (while Eva was doing some spying
in the mall), I couldn't resist.
It was a bit on the short side, but I was wearing thick thighs when I tried it on and it seemed ok.

Before packing it, I just quickly wanted to see what it would look like with bare legs.

This was a quite a shock.
There is no way I can get away with wearing it without thighs.

As I am still hoping that it will actually be warm in Germany (despite having lived through many cold and wet
summer there), I went looking for fabric scraps to use on the dress.
The only thing I had that was long enough was a Chinese 'lace' tablecloth.
I have a whole stack of them. Some got turned into pillows, and a couple are hung up as curtains.

When I want to do something, I can be a tiny bit impatient.
Instead of buying new fabric, I decided the curtains would add a retro-cool edge to the dress.
They also had the added advantage that they don't need to be hemmed.

My sewing machine is still unraveling the threads as she sews them, so I had to sew it on by hand.

Here is a quick how-to, in case you also have dresses that are too short:


Here is the original dress:

And here it is laid out on the tablecloth:

I cut a strip off and pinned it onto the dress, then sewed it on by hand. If your machine is less of a primadonna, I would suggest sewing it on with the sewing machine:

My assistant wasn't interested in sewing by hand and rather took a nap:

 

 

Summer, here I come!



Lots of love to you, have a fabulous day.

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Another no-sew skirt DIY

Every weekday morning after the alarm goes off, I lie in bed and wish I could sleep just a little bit longer.

So why can't I sleep in when it is Saturday?
I woke up at the normal time this morning, and after rolling around for half an hour I got up. It was dark and cold and everybody else was still sleeping.
The perfect time to take a tour through blogland!

And there, while visiting Sincerely Kinsey, I discovered a wonderful no-sew skirt she made.
Her lovely blog is full of great ideas, but the skirt was the one that caught my eye.

I immediately set to work. The only piece of fabric I had that was big enough is relatively thick, but seeing that it is winter here it was perfect.

It took me some time to understand her instructions, so I decided to take some pics along the way for everybody who wants to also make such a skirt (just now, when I clicked on her specific blog post to get the link, I discovered that she does actually provide some pics you can't see on the main blog page).

To make the skirt, you need a relatively large piece of fabric that doesn't fray. Mine was 150 cm by 130 cm (59 by 51 inches), which is smaller than the one Kinsey used, but it came out great.

Now you have to measure the size of your waist. Divide the number by 2 and add to your waist measurement. Then divide the whole by 3.14.

For example, my waist is 25 inches. Divided by two is 12.5. This I add to the 25 which makes 37.5.
Divided by 3.14 this makes 11.9 inches.

Now get a piece of paper and draw a line that is 11.9 inches long. Cross it with another line also 11.9 inches long so that the two lines form and X. Connect the endpoints of the X by drawing a circle and cut it out:

Now fold your fabric in half, and than fold it in half again:

Take the corner that is made up only of folds (the middle of your fabric), fold your circle to a quarter, and align the edges of the circle with the sides of your fabric:

Then cut it out. This is the opening for your waist:

Next, fold the fabric along the waist circle about 2 inches (5 cm) in and pin:

Then cut small slits at a regular interval, about 2 inches (5 cm) apart from each other and thread a thin rope through:

And that is it!


Step into your skirt, tie the robe and enjoy your new no-sew garment!

 

A lovely Saturday to all of you!








Ps: I am linking to these lovely parties.

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