Ten minute no-sew recycled t-shirt bag! Tutorial time! I got a gig teaching a recycled t-shirt project at the library a few months ago, with a request for a recycled tee bag – the only bags I’d made from tees in the past had required sturdy sewing, and I didn’t want hand-sewing to be the only thing holding the bottom closed in a class version of the bags, so I started brainstorming about some kind of hand-sewing-friendly or no-sew bag idea…. and here’s what I came up with! The simplest version of these bags is great for smaller tees, or the more light-weight kind of girl-tees – just turn the bottom of the shirt into a drawstring and tie it closed! But to make smaller holes, just make more than one of them! And now for the actual tutorial – for this one, with the step-by-step, I will be making the bottom with 3 holes. Cut the sleeves off, but try to make a somewhat straight line, and go in a bit from the seam – these lines will be the sides of your straps: You could make it rounded, V-shaped, or squared like this one:
No-Sew Tote Bag From A Pillowcase I was inspired to make this DIY tote bag after I took a trip to the farmer's market and realized I needed a comfortable and lightweight bag to carry all my goodies. I love the way this DIY project turned out and, more importantly, there was no sewing involved! A pillowcase already has all the stitching you need to create this easy and stylish tote bag. Follow the steps below to make your very own. Materials: • King Size Pillowcase (you could also use a standard size, but the bag will be smaller. • Acrylic Paint and a Dish Sponge (if you wish to add a pattern to the bag) • Long Fabric Strip (for the strap) • Scissors • Lay the pillowcase flat with the open end facing towards you.
DIY Wood-Grain Laptop Wrap When I was wandering through the dollar store the other day I came across this super amazing wood-grain contact paper. and was completely smitten! I knew I needed to find something to cover it with - pronto! Enter, my lapytop. So, I had plenty of photos of the entire process, but my camera is also an old and quirky beast and has taken to randomly deleting photos, which it decided to do half-way through the whole DIY process, so sorry! So, to start, go ahead and power off your laptop and take out the battery so you're free to work on it without any worries. Now, unroll your contact paper, and lay your computer on top with the grain going wichever way you want, then cut around it, leaving a large boreder on all sides (you'll trim it down later). Now, you can decide what you'd like to do about the logo on your cover. After you cafefully remove the backing, lay it gently on top of your laptop, careful to line-up where your logo cut-out is, and smooth the contact paper out.
How to Make a Simple Cahier or Notebook It is a gorgeous summer in The Pyrenees and many of our Dutch friends are visiting. They come to relax, swim in the lake, enjoy the views and see the vineyards and winery grow. Needless to say, we had fun and I had little time for bookbinding. But, when dear friend Natascha needed a simple travel journal, I wouldn't let her get away with buying a spiral-bound notebook, mass-produced in China.So, I made her a 'quick and dirty' cahier, in less than an hour. This was refreshing as many of my painted or appliqued books take me days, even weeks to make.. You will need:15 sheets of paper, white, coloured or both. Step by step: 1. b. c. 2. a. b. c. 3. a. b. c. 4. b. c. d. e. f. g. 5. a. b. c. Et voilà: your own hand-made cahier or notebook, containing thirty pages (sixty counting both sides), ready to use!
Lovely Wire Knot Ring Tutorial You can make this lovely ring (or a version of this design) yourself, using just some basic tools, wire and a lip balm! Yes, in this tutorial I am going to demonstrate that just basic beginner tools and a wire from Michael’s can go a long way! Wouldn’t this ring make a great present?? For the purpose of this tutorial I am going to be using the very basic, cheap tools that are available almost everywhere. Instead of a ring mandrel you can just use a tube of a lip balm, like I did. I chose to make my ring from a simple gold-plated wire (20 gauge) but you could also use 18-gauge wire, twisted wire (wouldn’t that be nice?) PLEASE excuse the state of my nails in these pictures.. First thing to do is to cut a piece of wire. Next, wrap your wire around the tube of your lip balm. Cut of the extra bits, if any. Now bend the wire coming from your left to aim away from the ring and then bend again to aim it slightly upwards, as shown on pictures below. Almost done! And it’s done Like this:
FIKS*D: How to Make ... Washi Tape! Are you like me and just can't bring yourself to spend a lot of money on things that even though they are really pretty, will probably just sit there for ages without use? I've always loved the look of washi tape but find it so expensive and hard to justify. So, I decided to get creative and make my own.. All you need is some double sided tape and tissue paper! Too easy!
journals | curiously crafty. welcome to the wonderful world of journalling! i promise, if i can make one then you can too. the following instructions will make a journal that is 5 3/4″ x 4 1/2″. (view more journals here) Materials: 60 – 70lb. paper (i use 20 sheets per journal) one sheet of white paper for the cover guide, cut to 5 3/4″ x 9 1/2″ decorative paper for end papers (I used scrapbook paper: you will need 2 papers that measure 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ each)cardboard covers are 5 3/4″ x 4 1/4″ eachspine is 5 3/4″ x (width of pages; to be discussed later)fabric (1/2″ wider than cover guide on all edges)pencilscissorsgluewax paperclothespins/paperclipsrulersewing needlestrong thread (you can buy bookmaking thread, or just use hand-quilting thread)bone folder (*optional)awl (*optional) Part 1: Sewing the pages Cut pages in half, leaving you with 40 – 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ papers. 2. Each group becomes a signature. 3. You can now cut the spine cover at this width. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Allow this to dry for at least 1/2 hour. 7. tada!
DIY Braided Hex Nut Bracelet We’re nuts for nuts. Is there a more versatile and inexpensive DIY component than a hex nut from the hardware store? You can imagine our excitement when we first discovered Philip Crangi’s Giles & Brother Hex Collection. Honestly, nuts braided into jewelry is WTF genius! You’ll need:3 strands of cotton butcher’s twine cut into one yard pieces18 small brass hex nutsa bit of dexterity! Gather the 3 strands of twine and tie a knot at the top, leaving about 2 inches of slack. Keep your thumb at the base of the braid, holding the nut in its place. Repeat the steps, by threading the rest of the nuts to the outer pieces of twine before they are crossed over. The bracelet should wrap around your wrist at least two or three times. Good luck!! (top image from here, rest of images by Honestly…WTF)
the DIY: FISHTAIL FRIENDSHIP (BRACELET) If you know how to do a fishtail braid to your hair, then you pretty much know how to make this bracelet. But for those of you who don't know about the fishtail and those of you who are curious about the logistics of my specific bracelet, well, read on! You will need embroidery/ friendship thread in various colors, some tape and a bead! I used 9 strands of thread in 9 different colors. I twisted this top part so it doesn't get all tangled later. Where you twisted the top part, tie it around your finger. Then tie a knot. I'm now taking one of the strands and tying it around the other, almost like a tie. Then pull the end through the loop you've created and pull into a knot. Tape the top down to keep the bracelet stable. Star by grabbing one color from the right side and pulling it to the middle. Pull the same color from the left side. Add the piece from the right side to the left group of colors. Now take the color from the left side and pull it to the middle (over all the other strands.)
Make Your Own Moleskine-Like-Notebook What we'll make: Your very own Moleskine-like-notebook/journal/sketchbook. The one we'll be making is 3.5 x 5.5 x .5 inches. I use this size because it fits nicely into my back or front pants pocket. Strangely enough it is also the same size as the Moleskine notebook. Don't be put off by the many steps involved. This particular notebook was developed over many years of feeble attempts to organize my thoughts, appointments and small sketches. I hope you enjoy making and using them as much as I have. Table of Contents: Page 1. Materials Needed: 24 sheets of paper 8.5 x 11 inches (use 20# bond at first then you can try other types of paper)One 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of a "special" paper. Tools Needed: A bookbinders needle. Step 1. Take a sheet of your paper, t-square, triangle and pencil and mark your cut lines as shown. Step 2. Now you have 26 sheets of paper (folios), 24 for your pages and 2 for your endpapers. Step 3. Collate six of your folios into a signature as shown then flatten them.
rolled paper flowers {tutorial Welcome to flower week – five days of simple and delightful flower projects. I could probably do three weeks of flowers because there are so many different ways to create them, but I’ve limited it to five of my current favorites. Before we get started, let me make a few disclaimers: 1. 2. 3. Okay, so let’s begin. Here’s what you’ll need: :: paper {either cover or text weight} :: florist wire :: scissors, pencil, glue gun STEP ONE: cut irregular circle This circle is approximately 8 inches, but you can do any size you wish. STEP TWO: cut spiral Start at the outside edge and cut in a spiral fashion to the center. I like a sort of bumpy shape so that the petals end up a bit irregular If you aren’t so sure about your cutting skills, feel free to draw your spiral before cutting. To add a little interest to my bouquet, I used a variety of yellow scrapbook papers {my favorite is that yellow dot} STEP THREE: roll your blossom start at the outside edge and coil tightly STEP FOUR: release coil
DIY Wrap Headphones | I got the idea to make these from the DIY wrap bracelets I made a little while ago. These headphones were all white before, and since I had the coloured string left over from the bracelet tutorial, I decided to try it! To start off, take the string and tie a knot with it around one of the wires. You can use one colour, or as many colours as you want. Once you have the knot set, start wrapping. Make sure you have a lot of string because you don’t want to run out halfway down the wire and have to tie another knot and start over again. If you want, you can add beads along the way to jazz it up a bit. I thought these turned out pretty good, but I didn’t like the look of the knots all over the headphones. Let me know if you are going to try this! Like this: Like Loading...