So You Sew...

Being a mum I've realised that my money needs to spread further than ever before. With bills, food, nappies and the like, clothes are not on the top of my agenda. Yes, I op shop shop when I can, but I can't always make it out of the house on time. Which lead me to my newest venture, learning to sew.

There are so many tutorials online for different sewing projects, from basic circle skirts, to more complex options such as jackets and cargo pants. I started with the easiest thing I could think of, leggings. On one of my op shopping adventures, I found some black and white knit material, and thought it would be perfect to practice with.

I set about looking online for a simple tutorial, then just followed the steps. Pretty simple really. I'm not the best at reading patterns, so I tend to make my own. If you already have a pattern for leggings, feel free to follow that instead.



1) Find a pair of leggings in the size you want to make. Mine are a 00, but tight fitting, if you want them to be looser around the leg, just add a bit of extra space in your pattern. Fold them in half. Trace around them on some paper. Add a 1.5cm edge - this will be for hemming and sewing the bits together. 


2) Pin your awesome new pattern to your material, then cut out. When pinning, try not to bunch the fabric, this can cause your pattern to be uneven. Because my material has horizontal stripes, I cut out one piece, matched the stripes, then cut out the other one. I wanted to make sure the stripes were all aligned.

3)Fold up the edges of the legs and press with an iron (heated according to fabric type). Sew up the bottom hems on both separate legs. Doing it now saves us having to do it later when everything is sewn together. When sewing with a machine, make sure you go back and forth a couple of times over the start and the end of the stitching. This means it will be less likely to undo.

4) Lay the pieces out flat, right sides together (patterned side for me). We're going to sew the front and back crotch pieces together. I forgot to take a photo, so here is my super crappy paint version. Sew all the way from the top to the bottom, remembering to sew 1.5cm in from the edge (this was our seam allowance in our pattern).

4) Now open the pieces out so the crotch seam is in the middle, like here <--We're now going to sew up from the bottom of one leg, up, then back down the other leg.

Once you reach the top of the crotch, where the pieces are already sewn together, stop. Make sure your needle is down (in the fabric), then turn the leggings, so you can sew down the other leg.

Try to keep your lines straight, as this will be the shape of the legs.

5) Time to create our waistband! If you have a baby to measure, then go ahead and measure their waist. Keep the elastic long for the moment, but mark on it where you need to sew it together.
6) Fold down the waistband, leaving enough room to thread the elastic through, and press. Now sew along the raw edge (make sure you are still leaving enough room to thread your elastic), but ensure to leave a gap so you can actually fit it through!

7) Grab your elastic and thread it through. It might help to attach a safety pin to the end to make it easier to grab. Just be careful not to stab yourself like I did!






8) Once your elastic is through, trim it to size and sew it together (at the spot you marked).
It's best to sew it like this:

9) Now you just need to sew the gap closed, making sure you don't sew over the elastic. All done!

These are so easy to make. Yes, baby leggings can be cheap to buy, but some times you just want something a little different. So why not have a go! Theo clearly enjoys his... 

  

Love, 

Mumma T xx

Crafternoon - Frosted Windows

At my house, we have quite a few windows. Which of course means spending quite a bit of money on window dressings. Or does it?

I recently came across an interesting idea, for creating a cheap alternative to curtains or blinds, but still allowing you the beautiful sunlight. Contact Paper,

Yes, the very contact you would cover books with, also works really well as a window treatment. I originally saw it here, and couldn't wait to go home and try it out for myself!

So, $3 and a combined total of 12 hours later, I am so happy with the results! It took a bit of dedication but once I worked out optimum placement for the pieces, everything else worked out like  a charm. I even remembered to take a few photos for you!

Start off with a stencil...


Then start tracing... Remember to draw on the paper side of the contact, not the shiny side.


Then start cutting. Trust me, you're going to want someone to help with this, two hands (with scissors) are better than one.



Chose your window, and make sure you clean it really well. The cleaner the window, the better the contact will stick.



Start sticking!


It's time consuming, but so worth it in the end. I love the overall look! I left a gap at the top and the bottom of the window, as I liked the look of it. It took about 80 separate shapes to do the one window, so make sure you cut out plenty of shapes. 

Now, on to the next project...

Love,

J xx

Crafternoon - Spiked Sunglasses

Jayde here, with another awesome crafternoon post! As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I made spiked sunglasses. So read on to find out how to make these simple yet fabulous fashionable sunglasses!

First we need supplies:

Any pair of sunglasses that you want to jazz up

A choice of studs, big, small, spikey etc

Strong craft glue

Pliers (optional)

Now that you've decided on some rad spikes to accessorise your boring sunglasses with. We need to work out how they're going to sit on the actual frames. Keep in mind that you don't want to block out your vision, make them uncomfortable, or top heavy so they fall off! 

See below? That's how I decided to place the spikes on the front of my frames. I found it easer to actually work out the placement on the frame, then take the spikes off in the right shape, then glue them on one by one. 

Make sure you have nice strong glue, otherwise, like me, the first time you take off your rad sunnies and put them in your bag.... all of the spikes will break off. But never to mind, just need to try a different glue next time!

So, here are my awesome sunglasses (once I repaired them). They're my goth goldilocks glasses, they're a little bit punk, but they sit just right!

Next time I want to try out the whole 'hey let's where tiny flowers on our sunnies' trend. Now to find some tiny flowers...

Until then!

J xx

Crafternoon - Cardigan Clips

Ahoy there folks!

Last Saturday, my darling boyfriend did my few odd jobs around the house, so that I could spend some time doing craft. I must say, I went a little crazy, but really why wouldn't I?

So, I was thinking of things I could make. I love to make little fashion accessories, like hair clips, lapel clips, cardigan clips (I'm noticing a theme here...). I decided to make a few different things, but this post is to show you how I made the simplest cardigan clips.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Well, cardigan clips are a pair of clips, joined by chain or ribbon. You pin one to either side of your cardigan, to hold it together. It's like buttoning it up, but cooler, and easier if you have a heaving boosom and can't actually button things up...

Here is Emma Pillsbury from Glee rocking some cute cardigan clips!

Let's get started!

First, we need our supplies. 

Pliers - Either needle nose or round nose

Chain - This will be what connects our broaches together

Jumprings

Broaches x 2

Now we can start putting our little goodies together!

Work out where on your cardigan/sweater you want the clips to sit. This will help us determine how long we make our chain. I chose to make mine about 8 inches apart, but you decide how far you want yours.

Once you've worked this out, we can measure out the chain. I chose to create a draped effect with mine, with 3 layers of chain. This is why they're all different lengths.

Connect your lenghts of chain to your jump rings, making sure the chains are sitting correctly and look right to you. When opening the jump rings, ensure you pull them forward and backward to create an opening, not left and right. Pulling them from the sides weakens the ring and distorts the shape. Remember there is no set rule for this, just whatever you like.

Okay, so now that we have our chains measured and cut (I simply pulled the links apart with my pliers), and the chain is all connected to the jumprings, we can connect the jumprings to the back of our broaches. Some broaches will have holes around the sides, or on the back. Connect them where you please, just make sure you sit them against your chest to make sure they look right. 

You can connect them to your cardigan how ever you please! Sadly, I forgot to take a 'finished' photo, but I will take one soon, and upload it. I promise!

Until then...

Love J xx

Crafternoon - Glitter Sunglasses

I seem to collect a hilarious amount of sunglasses, and most of the time, I stick to a certain style and shape. 

I decided to jazz up a couple of pairs I had in stock, with glitter, and another with spikes. Today my pretties, I'm going to show you how to go glitter glam!

First, supplies:
Pair of sunglasses
Glitter in your favourite colour/s
Small paintbrush
Mod Podge - Gloss (you can buy this from Spotlight)
Table Cover
Painters Tape

Now, to save us having to do a tedious clean up later, let's tape up all of the areas we don't want to cover in fabulous glitter!

Once you've taped everywhere you need to (don't forget the section where the glasses sit on your nose. Glitter here is terribly itchy and annoying), we can do our first layer of Mod Podge. It goes on white, but dries clear. Make sure you only do small sections at a time, to make sure it doesn't dry in between.

Now to glitter! Pour that beautiful sparkly stuff everywhere you need to. A nice thick layer to start. Wait a couple of minutes for it to dry, then tip off the excess. Make sure you're pouring the glitter over a piece of paper, so you can fold up the paper and puir the excess glitter back in it's container. 

Unfortunately, we need to wait while the MP dries. I'd say about 20 minutes.
Man, waiting is boring. I want to craft damn it!

Once you've done the first coat of glitter all over, and it's fully dried, it's time to do the second coat! Why a second coat you may ask, because we want to have a good solid coat of glitter, and make sure the old ugly colour doesn't show through.

Back to waiting... Is it dry yet?!?!

When everything is dry to the touch, we need to seal all of that lovely glitter in place, to make sure we don't malt glitter everywhere. It's exactly the same process as before, but no adding glitter. So just a nice thin coat over the glitter to seal it in, then more waiting till everything dries.

Then....

Oh yeah, that's right, they're awesome!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial of sorts, and good luck with your crafternoons!

Much love

J xx