Upcycled Skirts: Umbrellas Converted into Colorful Clothes
Like designing your own styles to dress in but not skilled with complex stitching or comfortable with creating new patterns? From their shapes and size to their scale and appearance, skirts and umbrellas have a lot in common – except, perhaps, that when it comes to an umbrella the interior is designed to be seen publicly and thus is as carefully considered and crafted as the exterior … whereas, well, looking up a skirt … that might get you in trouble. But seriously: used umbrella material is a perfect choice in many regards to upcycle into a skirt, dress, other easily-planned piece of refab clothing, as designer Cecilia Felli discovered during her creative umbrella-to-skirt upcycling experiments. Moreover, since umbrellas are well known for breaking down, this provides a simple do-it-yourself way to take advantage of something that frequently falls apart.
DIY Cake Stand
It seems as though all sorts of cute party decorating items are “all the rage” these days–cake stands, tiered plates, apothecary jars, hurricane lamps, etc. I love these items, but there is often one big problem! The price tag.
Free Clothes Patterns
Posted on | October 9, 2008 | 7 Comments I originally became interested in patternless sewing, many years ago, because I had a hard time finding patterns in my size. Nowadays, patterns in large sizes abound. Nonetheless, I still love my pattern free sewing. These patterns generally of three types.
Made By Lex & Blog Archive & Anthropologie Pratia Tank Top Tutorial
February 6, 2010 1:59 pm Per popular demand, here is the Pratia tank tutorial! Start off with a t-shirt or tank top. What I did was get a larger t-shirt so I could gather it at bottom like the pratia tank. I cut off the sleeves so it would be a tank.
A Herd of Snugglesauruses
I recently made some new dinos for the shop! They are similar to an item I used to make, but these are even better... they have an improved design, stand up by themselves, and have two rows of adorable ruffles down their back! Just the right size for babies, and super cute too! There are seven different fabrics I used for the ruffles, here is a sampling: And here is the whole herd lined up for a group photo:
- StumbleUpon
One of the great things about being a seamstress in Paris is the fabric district! On the flip side one of the worst parts of being a seamstress in Paris is the fabric district. It is pretty much your only option when it comes to fabric. Whats the big deal you ask? For me, who lives on the complete opposite side of the city, it means setting aside an entire morning or afternoon if I need the littlest thing. I needed twill tape in the worst way the other day but I just couldn’t force myself to drive the 30 minutes, try and find a legal parking spot (impossible) only to dash in and grab what I need only to drive 30 minutes home.
how to make a staple-free matchbook notepad.
In an effort to use up the damaged & small surplus of 2010 calendars I have on-hand, I've been experimenting with ways to repurpose them. These matchbook notepads were this week's project. They are easy to make .... and adorable ... and completely practical. I'll be making these to drop into my customers' packages as a token of thanks.
Sex And The City Half Scoop Gloves
LEATHER-SEWING TIPS: Use a longer stitch than you normally would when it comes to leather...and a good tip when sewing leather is to crank the needle forward manually so that it has pierced the leather completely...BEFORE pressing with the presser foot of the machine to sew your line of stitching. Start sewing with the needle already in the leather to say it another way. Also, you can't go super-fast or super-slow...there's a happy medium where your machine's feed dogs advance the leather at the right speed, the needle punches through the leather without jarring and hitting the needle plate, and the needle goes in vertically and doesn't hit the bobbin case.
Easiest Quilt Ever! The Rag Quilt Tutorial
Make a cute baby quilt, a TV throw, or a warm camping blanket! These blankets are so easy to make and customize to your needs. The nice thing about these quilts is that unlike "real" quilts, they don't have to be perfect! Now that's my kind of quilt! :) The quilt shown in this tutorial is a finished size of about 38 x 50 inches, using 8-inch cut squares.
Fully lined zippered box pouch - pattern and tutorial - its a Pretty Modern life
I love the look of a zippered box pouch...so incredibly cute. I found many tutorials on the internet, but was disappointed after making pouches following these tutorials to find that they were not fully lined; looks so much nicer when you open your pouch and there are no seams. It took me a long time to figure it out and I thought and thought and thought...then I got it♥ I don't want to keep this knowledge to myself, so here it is. I'd like to thank Jane at Projects by Jane (the only other tutorial like this that I was able to find on the internet - wish I'd found it sooner).
Who, me?
Tweed Owl Purse Whenever I see that Anne Frank quotation, you know, the one that says, "I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart," I wonder at the mind that can be exposed to the worst in humankind and still see only the best. We decide to believe, or doubt, every time we talk to someone. I tend to believe in everyone.
