Tutorial Tuesday: Feather Hairpieces

So, yesterday I offered up the idea of using fascinators to spice up a simple dress to make it into a prom-ready ensemble. In that post I claimed you could easily and cheaply make one yourself. Well, just to prove it to you I found two tutorials that will show you how you can make yourself a lovely fascinator, for prom or any other fancy occasion you may be attending.


First a video from threadbanger, mostly utilizing feathers.



And second, a link to a photo tutorial from corvus tristis showing how to use feathers with flowers and ribbons to make a gorgeous hair accessory sure to sparkle.

Tutorial Tuesday: Flower Headbands

So, playing around on polyvore.com (which I'm sure will be a new favorite pastime), I've seen tons of headbands that just make me squeal in girlish delight. Bows, flowers, hearts - all such sweet little embellishments that have me thinking spring and wishing I had even a single headband in my collection. Well, I found a tutorial that just might help me (and you) out - DesignMom gives us an easy-to-follow tutorial on how to make a sweet flowery headband that's sure to compliment all your modest spring outfits.

Tutorial Tuesday: Wrap Pants

Easy, breezy, beautiful... wrap pants. I found this tutorial by Laupre on how to make these awesome wrap pants that look to be divinely comfortable. They're versatile, unique, comfortable - and, our favorite, modest. Click here for the tutorial. Or, if you would rather shop than sew, you could probably order some from her Etsy shop. I'll also take this opportunity to highlight a few of the other delightful items she has available in her shop right now.

Exhibit A: This adorable shrug, currently on sale for $16.00


Exhibit B: This fun, almost patchwork-esque shirt for $27.00


Exhibit C: In the accessory category, this purse has totally captured my heart.

So go check out Laupre, and maybe make yourself some pants!

Tutorial Tuesday: Sweater to Bag

So, I've decided that winter is officially over. I'm sick of it, and I am ready for spring. Therefore, it's time to chop up those old sweaters and not look back! Cindygert (fiber fashioned with flair) has created a brilliant tutorial for how to turn a winter sweater into a purse perfect for the transition between winter and spring. Enjoy! Click here for the tutorial.

Tutorial Tuesday: Muumuu Top

Today's tutorial is another from our friends at Stitch Lounge - this time a refashioning adventure! It's a slightly more complicated project than the ten-minute top, but the results will be worth it. Plus you get to take something that is mostly unwearable, though horribly comfortable - the muumuu (I used to have a real thing for muumuus) - and turn it into a still-comfortable, much more wearable, adorable top! :) Click here for the tutorial.

Mommy Monday: Easy Burp Cloths

Here's another fun and easy project for the beginning sewing enthusiast. Gerbera designs shows us how to fancy up some simple cloth diapers to turn them into some very charming burp cloths.


Click here for the tutorial.

Tutorial Tuesday: Sweatshirt to Flirty Skirt

I think all of us have that sweatshirt - you know, the one you just love for whatever reason (maybe it's super soft or maybe it has sentimental value), but you just never wear it. It's a bit bulky or it's not flattering. Well, Do Stuff (leethal blog) has come to the rescue and created a tutorial for turning that lovable old sweatshirt into a cute new skirt that's totally you. Click here for the tutorial

Tutorial Tuesday: Hat and Mittens from Old Sweater

So, I've been scouting around on the internet and I've found some of the most delightful projects to share with you. Today's treat is a tutorial from One Pearl Button, showing us how to take an old sweater and turn it into the most adorable mittens and hat set. Winter is only here for a few more weeks and hopefully you won't need these long, but they could make these last few cold weeks a little more cheery. Click here for the tutorial.

Tutorial: Ten Minute Top

Well, I've been trying to find us a good tutorial for a while, and today I think I hit the jackpot. Stitch Lounge created this adorable and easy top that just involves two squares of fabric and ten minutes of your time. I have some green-striped jersey I'm eager to try this with (I got it at Wal-Mart... three yards for 1.50. That was a good day.), so if it works I'll be posting pictures soon. Click here for the tutorial.

Make Your Own Layering T-Shirt

So, they're a big deal these days - shirts made specifically to go under other shirts/dresses/tank-tops/what have you. The problem for cheapskates like me is that, heck, they can get kind of pricey. All for a shirt you're only going to see the bottom of, or maybe the sleeves. So, what can a cheapskate do about it? Well, if that cheapskate has a sewing machine, that cheapskate can now take advantage of (dun dun duuuuuun)

The Great Layering T-Shirt Tutorial

Step One: Find yourself a big ole t-shirt that has your desired color, stretchiness, and softness. Maybe someone in your family can donate one to you, maybe a trip to your local Goodwill/DI/Savers will do the trick. I got mine at Savers. The t-shirt should be many sizes too big for you.


Step Two: Remove the sleeves. Cut them off, leaving about an inch beyond the seems.


Step Three: Turn the shirt inside-out. Find a shirt or tank top that fits you well and line it up with the t-shirt so that the collars are in pretty much the same place (I think the picture makes it easy to understand). Trace the sides and pin.


Step Four: Sew along the lines you drew, then trip the excess.


Step Five: Iron down the seams, so that they are open. Then, sew a top-stitch on either side of the seam. This gives it a nice detail and makes the shirt fit you more comfortably, with no bunchy seams.


Step Six: The sleeves. For this, just fold down the inch of sleeve material, then fold it under. Or you could fold it halfway, then fold it again. Just look at the pictures, hopefully it will make more sense. Then, sew down that hem.


If you want, you're done! You can also cut off the collar to make the neckline more to your liking (as I did) and you could also shorten the t-shirt if you feel it's too long. But there you have it - your very own layering t-shirt.

Getting Ready for Fall: Hoodie Tutorial

So, I love Threadbanger. Love, love, love Threadbanger. And today's episode was no exception. They took us on a fun tour of the American Sewing Expo, then taught us how to make a hoodie out of an old flannel and an old t-shirt. I am thinking I'm going to have to raid Savers/D.I. and find an old BYU T-shirt and blue flannel and make mine soon! Fall is here, and I am anticipating the cold. Anyway, here's the video so you can get to creating yours:

I Heart Aprons

I really do. They are so useful. I've always been (to my mother's great annoyance) one of those people who wipe their hands on their clothes constantly. Wearing an apron is the perfect way for me to avoid getting junk all over my jeans, and plus they're so adorable. I found an awesome tutorial through sewing republic that teaches you how to make an easy and adorable apron that you can wear around your kitchen or (as I do) in the sewing room. Enjoy!

Skirt Tutorials

So, the week of incredible lameness is officially over. The search for a new banner is not, but that's ok. I'm on it. Sort of.

Actually, what I'm really up to more than anything is watching the Olympics. It's been a few years (say, four? no actually eight) since I really have gotten to watch the summer Olympics, so it's fun to be excited about the events again. I'm certainly jazzed about the gymnastics, and diving and swimming became new favorites during the 2000 summer Olympics (thanks to Ian Thorpe. Ah the Thorpedo. It's good to be cheering for the US this year though, instead of falling for that quick Aussie.) And look how cute the Beijing Mascots are: Oh, yeah, I do have something modesty-related for you today. I have to admit, I still have not done much legwork, but it's the beginning of a new week: I gotta build up slowly to daily blogging. Anyway, for today's treat, I will point you to ThreadBanger for what they call their weekly diy roundup. This week, it focuses on several web tutorials for awesome skirts - all very modest and some pretty simple and fun to make. Enjoy!

Two Ways to Sew Sleeves

I think the photo takes the place of any snappy intro to today's post. It also makes up for the fact that it's 10pm. That guy is awesome.

So yes, today's post is about sleeves. I found a site today (whatthecraft.com) with two tutorials on how to attach sleeves to existing or homemade shirts: the easy way and the harder way. I hope that these will be useful to you in your modestifying endeavors.

Tomorrow: Some of my recent projects. I know you're all on the edges of your seats.

One More Reason to Love Japan

Ah, Japan. Home of tempura, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hello Kitty, and all thing cute. Now we have one more reason to love Japan: the haramaki. Apparently, as I discovered while randomly stumbling craft blogs, the haramaki is a new fashion trend over in Japan, and one I think we should import over here to the good ol' U. S. of A. and use for our own purposes. It's also been called a belly warmer or a tummy warmer, which is rather descriptive of what it is. Basically it's a tube of fabric or knitted material that wraps around your stomach, waist, and hips to provide a little extra warmth and coverage. This can be especially useful since sometimes the only pants you can buy are of the low-rise variety (a fashion pet-peeve of mine). Here are some pictures of some cute haramaki I found online:







As you can see, there's a lot of potential for spicing up an outfit, providing color, adding modesty, or just adding texture to whatever you're wearing! I gotta get me one of those. It's been a bit frustrating, because I can't seem to find anywhere to buy them on the internet, but I did find a tutorial for how to make one on Planet June (a fun, crafty blog to visit in your free time). Go here to access that.

Easy Fix

Ok, so I bought a really cute dress, um, last year, but haven't been able to wear it in a while as my husband pointed out that it is too short in the back and shows my garments. Whoops. So, taking some inspiration from vintage hem, I made my own lengthening underslip. Here's what I did.
First, I gathered my materials:
One, an old, knee-length slip I probably stole from my mom somewhere between 5 and 7 years ago. :) Love you Mom!
And two, about two yards of thick lace I bought for 67 cents a yard.

Next, I busted out the handy sewing machine and just sewed the lace to the slip, basically just using a straight stitch to tack the lace right onto the slip. And ta-da! Now I have a modestifying slip for whatever occasion :)


So now I'm happy cuz I get to wear my cute dress again, and maybe take a second look at some dresses that were not-quite-long enough. :)

Patterns! Continued

So, continuing with the sewing theme this week has mysteriously taken on, I've decided to post some of my favorite patterns I've found on Burdastyle. The ones I've picked to someday make myself are all in the very easy to moderately easy category, so if I can do it you can do it! Just gotta get some ink for my printer... Anyway, here they are:

Patterns!

With all the amazing sewing sites out there these days, all you really need to make your totally unique, personal, modest wardrobe are some sewing skills and a pattern. My favorite source of patterns is Burdastyle - it is "open source sewing" which means most of the patterns are available to download for free AND there are tons of people all working on the same or similar projects to help you out when you get stuck. Here is an awesome video in which my two favorite internet craft addictions - Threadbanger and Burdastyle - have teamed up to teach us all about patterns.

Sewing Tips: Hemming

For the longest time when I was sewing things, I left the hems unfinished or tried to fudge my way through that part of the project. Well, to save you the sadness that comes from having a nearly perfect clothing item ruined by a botched made-up hem, I am posting this awesome video from Threadbanger that teaches you not one but two ways to hem. Good luck!

Another Adorable Shrug

Time for more shrugs - and more "I made this!" joy. Using a video tutorial from Threadbanger (below), I successfully made the adorable little shrug shown below. It worked perfectly. The sweater I used was a Christmas gift from a few years ago; I didn't want to get rid of it because it was cute and I am sentimental, but the darn thing squeezed my arms mercilessly and had some sort of vendetta against me that involved constantly showing off my stomach. And so, I revamped it and have been terribly pleased with the results.


Improvements: 1.) Now it's supposed to be short. 2.) Cutting the sleeves and doing a zigzag stitch really opened those sleeves up and now they don't make me feel like I'm about to bust out like the Hulk. 3.) The button. I heart buttons.

Make yours: