DIY Disneybounding Ariel Tank Top (Kids)

September 24, 2015September 24, 2015 | Heather

“When’s it my turn?
Wouldn’t I love, love to explore that shore up above?
Out of the sea
Wish I could be
Part of that world”

Ok, if you were a little girl in the 90’s, you too probably belted out these lyrics as you pretended you were a mermaid with flowing red hair and a crush on a handsome prince. Well, not much has changed since then, little girls still dream about being Ariel. She’s my niece’s favorite Disney princess, and it isn’t hard for me to imagine why. Her Disneybounding look is next!

I had trouble thinking through how I would do Ariel without needing sea shells, or something that wasn’t very appropriate for a 5 year old, but luckily I found some inspiration… somewhere… Here’s my sketch…

Materials:

Purple Tank Top
Sea green fabric – I found a fun sequined fabric at Joann’s that the little girl inside fantasizing about being Ariel couldn’t resist. 🙂
Coordinating Thread

DIY:

I decided the overdress would be at the empire waistline. Measure the width and length from the empire waistline to the bottom of the tank top. Add a few inches to the width so you can gather. Cut out two rectangles.
Right sides together, stitch together the side seams.
Run at least two lines of a gathering stitch along the top of the overdress. Gather to fit to the tank top.
Pin overdress to the tank top along the empire waistline (right sides together) so the dress is basically “flipped up”.
Zigzag stitch all the way around around, press dress down.
To create some slight gathering at the neckline, I hand-stitched about two inches down and gathered it (securing inside the tank top).

OMG, talk about ADORARABLE!! Who wouldn’t want to be a mermaid princess, really?

–h

Disneybounding Merida T-Shirt DIY

August 21, 2015August 21, 2015 | Heather

Ok, you may be wondering, what is Disneybounding? Here’s the concept in a nutshell…

Disneybounding: Creating a fashion look based on a Disney character by drawing from colors, or iconic design elements from that character’s clothing. Disneybounding isn’t simply making a costume, but instead creating a look you could wear on a normal day and hint at a favorite character. You know, bring a little Disney magic to your every day. 😉

Merida from Brave is up next in our little series. My mom chose her because she loves Merida’s color palette. Confession, I haven’t see Brave yet, but luckily Google images came to my rescue and gave me plenty of inspiration! This is an easy project, with VERY little sewing.

Materials:

Green t-shirt
Suede or faux leather cording
Small grommets or eyelets
Faux leather or brown trim
Coordinating Thread

How-To:

Here’s the design I sketched up, you can see how simple it is when you start with a t-shirt.
Measure, mark and apply grommets following the directions on the package.
Cut the cording to the desired length.
Measure/cut cording. Lace up your top. Tie knots at the end of the cording.
Measure/cut trim. Sew side seams together, pin and sew on trim.

Seriously, 5 steps and you too can Disneybound Merida. How’s that for quick, easy, fun! The countdown to Disneyland is on!

–h

DIY Disneybounding: Princess Aurora Tank Top

August 19, 2015 | Heather

We are heading to Disneyland later this month with my family and I can’t wait! I decided all of us girls should get to Disneybound one of the princesses. So I sketched up some concepts and let everyone pick. Watch for the entire series of posts!

My sister went for Aurora…Do you remember the legendary rivalry between Flora and Merryweather? Blue…Pink…Blue…Pink!! Well that rivalry is very real between me and my sister. I know you will be shocked to learn I am clearly in the superior pink camp and she is definitely in the blue camp. So, I’m making her a pink shirt. Because I can. Pink wins!

Materials:

Pink Tank top – I found one for $5 at Target
White Material – I used some I had in my stash (don’t ask, it’s a little out of control). The fabric you choose needs to have some structure and some stretch. You might need to use some interfacing if your fabric can’t hold the shape.
White Thread

How-To:

1. Measure from the center of the bust, to side of the arm. Then measure from the same spot on the arm all the way across the back to the side of the other arm. This will give you everything you need to create the simple pattern.

2. Draw out the pattern on some tissue paper or wrapping paper. You will notice there is an angle on the arm seams. Ideally, you would determine the angle by trying the piece on the recipient. I just guessed and then had to make some adjustments after the fact. Better to do this step now instead of later.

3. Place your patterns on your white fabric and cut out two front pieces and one back piece.

4. Right sides together, sew the two front pieces together at the center seam. Right sides together sew together the front pieces to back piece at side seams. Trim and press seams open.

5. Fold the entire piece in half length-wise with wrong sides together. Press.

6. Now it’s time to attach it to the tank top. With the folded side up, pin. I pinned the front at a slight downward angle toward the center front to give it the look I was going for. Zigzag stitch to the tank top all the way around (skipping the arm holes for now). Press down.

7. Press down the seam allowance in the arm holes, and top-stitch across the arm holes.

Tada! You’re ready to Disneybound Princess Aurora just in time for vacay! The shirt is PINK!

–h

P.S. Add a gold headband (or crown) if you really want to go for it!!

Marvel’s Black Widow Inspired Infinity Scarf

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015 | Heather

A big Marvel movie releases and there isn’t any Black Widow clothing or accessories to be found. How can that be? She quite literally kicks butt, but doesn’t warrant merchandise?

What’s a girl to do? Since I don’t want to make, much less wear a black leather jumpsuit (shocked, I know), I thought I could make a screen-printed infinity scarf with a subtle (or not so subtle) nod to this super heroine.

Materials:
Black knit fabric (cut to 16″ x 75″)
Thread
Red fabric paint (I used Martha Stewart Tartan Red)
Mod Podge
Embroidery hoop
Nylon
Small paint brush
Credit card or gift card

DIY:
1. Ok, it seems like a lot going on, but it is pretty simple, I promise. I started by sketching out the design I wanted to print. I looked for some references online and created my own “black widow” symbol.

2. I found a great blog post on how to screen print using Mod Podge, check it out here. I’ll also give a brief explanation. Stretch your nylon tightly across the embroidery hoop. Then place it face down on your design and trace it with a pen (I used a Sharpie). Once you transfer the design, take your Mod Podge and carefully paint it on the parts of the “negative space” on the nylon. Basically what you DON’T want to show paint. Take your time, this is important. Two coats.

3. Next, I cut out my fabric to 16″ x 75″, I wanted a nice long infinity scarf. You might want to measure your favorite scarf to find the perfect size for you!

4. I laid out my fabric on a piece of cardboard and pinned it down securely. I then decided how I wanted my pattern to repeat and put pins in those locations. This image should demonstrate this step…

5. Now it’s time to screen print. A little frightening, I know. But truly, it was easier than I thought it would be. With the nylon face down against the fabric, squirt some red paint onto the nylon, then use a credit card, gift card, piece of cardboard, etc. to swipe the paint evenly across the nylon. You might swipe a couple different directions to make sure there is even coverage. Then carefully lift your hoop/printer. Make sure to hold down the fabric when you do so, this will save you some smears.

5. Repeat, repeat, repeat! Between prints, be sure to check the surface of the nylon (the side that goes against the fabric), if any paint has leaked out, wipe it up to keep your printing crisp. As you go, don’t worry if a few of the repeats aren’t perfect. This is a draped scarf so likely you won’t see the imperfect ones. Also, I like the idea of this looking a little vintage, hence the screen printing, so embrace those imperfections!!

6. Once you have printed the entire scarf, allow it to dry completely before sewing. Seems obvious, but if you get excited like me, you might forget. 🙂 I chose a fabric that I didn’t have to hem, so all that left is to sew the ends together. For a neat finish, a flat-felled seem is a good choice, but can be difficult to execute on knits. So I’ll tell you my cheater way to do it…basically a french seam sewed down. So, wrong sides together, seam then trim. Then flip it around and sew with right sides together so the original seam and trimmed seam allowance is inside. You now have a finished “flap.” Pin the flap down to one side and top stitch. Quite tidy and worth the extra 5 minutes.

Now all that’s left is to pair your brand new scarf with some killer boots and an attitude to match!

–h

P.S. As I was working on this scarf, I cut right through my “self-healing” mat. Exploring my own super-human strength apparently! 😉

Can’t get enough of Marvel or the Avengers? Check-out my Captain America quilt, Part I and Part II!

Braided Headband DIY

April 25, 2015 | Heather

Spring is definitely in the air! It makes me think of fresh flowers, sunshine, sandals, and headbands! Ok, so that last one might just be me, but I was inspired to try making a fun new one this week!

This is a great DIY because you don’t have to sew a stitch! Yay!

Materials:
Fun cotton fabric
Elastic – I used 3/4″ because that’s what I had, but 1/2″ would be better
Ribbon
Thread
Hot glue & gun

Let’s Get Started:

Cut your fabric into strips, I did 1.5″ by 55″ for an adult-sized headband. I think I might go just a little thinner next time…1.25″.
Secure one end, and start braiding. I enlisted Ryan’s help to hold one end since it gets so long.
You might notice some fraying on the fabric, but that was the look I was going for. If it bothers you, fold in the sides carefully as you go.
I used binder clips to hold the ends in place once I was finished braiding.
Use thread to tie off the ends, just loop around a few times and you should be good. Trim thread and excess fabric.
Fold your braided piece in half, then try it on your head. Whatever gap remaining determines the length of your elastic.
**TIP: Don’t cut the elastic too short. Have you ever have the problem of a headband falling of the back of you head? The secret is that you want the headband to be secure, but the elastic shouldn’t be working hard at all.
Hot glue the ends of your headband to your elastic. I overlapped by about 1/2″.
Wrap your ribbon around the place the headband and elastic connect. The intent here is to make this look nice. You won’t be able to see it when you have the headband on, but why not make it look pretty! Then hot glue together.
Plan your spring outfit accordingly!

–h

FREE Vintage Inspired Apron Pattern & DIY

March 17, 2015March 17, 2015 | Heather

I’m not sure why but aprons make me feel this happy nostalgia about being a woman, a wife, and now a mother. I have this fascination with them and what they represent. Maybe it’s like instead of superhero cape, the apron signifies our womanhood and everything that entails. And when I put one on, it’s like I live in a simpler time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super happy about like being able to vote and all, but I also love just being home, apron on, taking care of my family.

Sooo, the votes have been counted, and it was unanimous! Everyone wanted a pattern for this apron. I hope you love it, it’s definitely my fav too. Vintage inspired with a fun/flirty flounce!

Materials:
-1 yard main fabric – I use a pretty sturdy fabric when I make aprons, I particularly like the home decorator fabric section of Joann’s. Also, yay for polka dots!! #rockinthedots
-1 yard coordinating fabric
-Matching Thread
-Sewing Machine
-Iron
-Straight Pins
-Computer/Printer/Paper/Tape – for the pattern
-Quick Turn tool (optional)

How to:

Let’s start with the pattern, you here is the PDF: Flirty Apron Pattern by Heather
Ok, go ahead and print out the PDF.
I’ve numbered your pattern pieces. Line them up top to bottom, left to right. It should be two pages wide, five pages tall. Fold on the black dotted lines to fit the pieces together.
Scotch tape your pieces together, then cut out each piece.
Lay out your pieces on your fabric, like so…
Double check everything, then cut out your pieces. Pay attention to the pieces that should be placed on the fold and which fabric you should use.
Once everything is cut out, I start with the ties. Fold in half lengthwise, and pin right side together. Then sew one end and the long edge, (½” seam allowance throughout unless otherwise stated). Repeat for all three.
Turn the ties right side out. If you don’t have a “Quick Turn” tool, you might want one at some point, they are cheap and such a time saver. But you can use a straight pin and your fingers to work it right side out. Press. Fold in the raw edges on the end, press, and top stitch each end. Your ties are all ready to go.
Next, let’s work on the main body of the apron. Let’s start by finishing the sides. Fold and press ¼”, and then again. This will give a nice finished edge that won’t fray. Sew both sides.
Next, fold and press ¼” along the top. Then fold and press 1”. We are then going to pin the top tie to the top of the body.
Sew across the top, then reinforce the tie ends by sewing like so…
Next, we will work on the flounce. Hem the bottom. It can be a little tricky to hem the curved edge, but I just carefully press it with an iron and it seems to work out fine.
Pin the flounce to the bottom of the body of the apron. This is also a little tricky because of the two odd shapes, but just use lots of pins. Sew. Press.
Almost there… Pin the two side ties, and attach.
Now for the final touch, the pocket. You can use the coordinating fabric for the pocket or the same fabric, totally up to you. I used the main fabric and embellished with the coordinating fabric along the top edge.
Fold the pocket embellishment piece in half, wrong sides together and press. Then line up the raw edge with the raw edge of the wrong side of the pocket. Sew on. Then fold over so the folded edge is on the front of the pocket and top-stitch.
On the wrong side, fold in ¼” inch around the sides/bottom of the pocket, and press. Stitch onto the body of the apron (leaving the top open).

Drumroll, please…..You now have your very own Woman/Wife/Mommy cape! Wear it proudly ladies!!

–h

P.S. I hope you enjoy the free pattern. Please remember, it is intended for individual use only, not for resale.

Outlander Inspired Knitted Cowl

February 3, 2015April 25, 2015 | Heather

You know that feeling when you find out you have been doing something completely wrong, for like years? Yup, that’s me.

A few of the women I work with started meeting during lunch to knit and crochet together. I was in the midst of a big knitting project and decided to join. Sat down, started confidently knitting, and one of the women told me she wanted to watch what I was doing. After observing me for a few minutes, she told me that, as it turns out, I knit backwards.

Earth shattering realization…I thought I knitted correctly. How could I have gone years and years doing it backwards. So I called my sister who knits a ton and I told her this harsh reality. She started laughing and said, “Yup, I know, when we learned to knit, we learned to knit the mirror image of how Mom knits.”

Ummm, someone could have told ME!!

Turns out, it really isn’t a big deal. I’m working on retraining myself the “proper” way to knit. Anyway, just goes to show, you don’t have to do it the “right” way to get things done!

Fast-forward to my most current knitting project. If you haven’t read through The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, I would recommend it!! I have several friends who have read the books and have really been enjoying the Starz TV show. As you can expect the costumes on the show are AMAZING!!! I would love love LOVE to wear some of the things the main character Claire wears.

Although we can’t all wear giant skirts and corsets in our daily lives, some of the knit wear she sports is totally in the realm of possibility. In particular the large cowl she wears just looks so cozy. Here’s what she looks like on the show…

A little googling, and guess what, people have made patterns. I used the free one here. I’ve gone a little crazy and have now made three…

Supplies:

2 Skeins Wool-Ease Thick and Quick Yarn – the colors I used were Claret, Denim, and Fig.
Size 50 needles (you feel like a cartoon character using these puppies, I found them on Amazon)

How to:
I truly followed the instructions in the pattern, the creator of the pattern did an awesome job.

I used the Long Tail Method to cast on, which I had never done before but found a few YouTube videos to help. Here is one I liked… I tried to make a video, but this is a much better explanation.

Again, she recommended a bind-off method I had never done, so here’s another great video. 🙂

And for the final product…

There are a couple fun ways to wear it (of course).
Around the neck..

Over the shoulders…

Like a hood…

You can see why this would have been perfect for a Scottish winter in the 1700s, right?! Anyway, here’s the perfect winter knitting project, and hey, after you make it, curl up with the books (I just finished Book #3).

–h

Tutu Tuesday: Part I Tulle Circle Skirt

November 18, 2014February 16, 2015 | Heather

Confession: With the new baby at home, I’ve become a Dutch Bros junkie. Seriously, it’s getting bad. Last Tuesday, I drove up and everyone was wearing a tutu and a tiara. I’ll admit I was just a little jealous!! So I told the girl getting my coffee that I loved her look, and she replied…We’ve established it as Tutu Tuesday.

Um, every girl needs a Tutu Tuesday, don’t you think? So here’s a DIY Tulle Skirt for you…

Tulle Circle Skirt

I found a ton of great tutorials on Pinterest, check-out my Crafty Ideas board for several good ones. If you run into questions during my tutorial, those might fill in any gaps. 🙂

Materials:

6 yards (at least) of Tulle – I used green because I was Disneybounding Mike Wazowski for Halloween.
Appx 1 yard of matching Lining Fabric
Elastic the size of your waist plus 1 inch – You want this to fit snugly, but not too tight (we don’t want a tulle skirt muffin top, yikes!)

How-to:
1. Determine the length of your skirt. Measure from your waist down to where you want the skirt to end. I went down to my knee.

2. Determine your waist radius. Measure around your waist, divide that by 3.14, then divide that by 2. That gives you your waist radius.

3. You are basically going to cut out a number of tulle “doughnuts” out of squares of tulle. So add the waist radius to the skirt length and multiply by 2. That will be the length you cut your fabric. You also want the width of the tulle to be at least equal to that same measurement. So cut several of these pieces. I would do at least 4. Do the same for your lining fabric (just 1).

Here’s what we are going for:

4. Now fold each piece in half lengthwise. You should have a square piece of fabric with 2 folded sides.

5. Now take your waist measurement and skirt length to create your pattern.

Skirt pattern

Tip: Create a pattern out of tissue paper or wrapping paper. You’ll thank me for this step because tulle can be challenging to work with.

If you think about it, here are the tulle doughnuts you are cutting out so make sure your folds are the right places…

6. Pin your pattern to your first piece of tulle, and cut out. Repeat 4+ times and 1 time for your lining fabric.

7. Hem your lining fabric.

8. Take your tulle and lining circles and layer them on top of each other. Pin and baste around the waist line.

9. Take the ends of your elastic and overlap ½” and sew together (remember this is an important stitch that will have pressure one it).

10. Pin your skirt to the elastic. Zig-zag stitch around. Done!

Tulle Circle Skirt

Again, this was for a Halloween costume, I’m excited to make one in black or red for the holidays.

Happy Tutu Tuesday!! Also, anyone also in the mood for a doughnut or some coffee now?

–h

P.S. Part II continues here…

Disney’s Elsa Snowflake T-Shirt

November 9, 2014February 16, 2015 | Heather

What little girl right now doesn’t LOVE Elsa from Disney’s Frozen? I think we met at least 100 Elsa Princesses this Halloween. But seriously, what’s not to love… she’s a princess, she can sing, and she has frozen powers. Well, my niece is no exception, she is a huge Elsa fan. She loves to perform “Let it Go” complete with every hair toss, cape swirl, and dance move. It’s incredible how this movie has little girls (and boys I hear) completely smitten.

That said, of course we had to do an Elsa project. My sister and her family went to Disneyland this summer and my niece really wanted an Elsa outfit. My sister decided to make a no-sew blue tutu and I had an idea.

For those of you who don’t know, Ryan loves to make paper snowflakes. For the last three winters, he has spent hours drawing out increasingly complex and beautiful snowflakes. You would not believe some of the incredible designs he comes up with, it is really fun to see his creativity. I have snowflakes for my office, for my dining room, and they keep coming! Anyway, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to put his talent to good use. 😉

My sister bought a t-shirt to match the tutu, and I put Ryan to the task of designing a snowflake inspired by one of the snowflakes from the movie (don’t worry, Ryan will share his snowflake making secrets in a future post coming soon).

The inspiration…

The pattern…

We then bought a silver sparkly glitter iron-on transfer. Ryan then traced his design onto some card stock and then cut it out of the transfer with an Exacto knife on a self-healing rotary mat.

Then, following the iron-on transfer instructions, I ironed on the snowflake. The result, a special Elsa shirt for my sweet niece!

A super quick and easy DIY anyone can do! Need a gift idea for, well, any little girl? This is it!!

–h

P.S. Ready to kick it up a notch? Try this Elsa Inspired Cape next!

Rockin' the Dots

DIY, home, and general craftiness!

Clothing

DIY Disneybounding Ariel Tank Top (Kids)

Disneybounding Merida T-Shirt DIY

DIY Disneybounding: Princess Aurora Tank Top

Marvel’s Black Widow Inspired Infinity Scarf

Braided Headband DIY

FREE Vintage Inspired Apron Pattern & DIY

Outlander Inspired Knitted Cowl

Tutu Tuesday: Part I Tulle Circle Skirt

Disney’s Elsa Snowflake T-Shirt

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