All posts tagged: Tutorial

Christmas Crafting

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No better time than the holidays to get your crafting on. Here are a few things I’ve worked on recently: #1. Fabric Ruffle Garland This started out because I was trying to make a backdrop for our Christmas card photo. I cut strips of the leftover fabric I had from Grumpy’s costume, left the edges raw, and put my sewing machine to work. No need for a ruffle foot (maybe one day I will actually look up what that is)… just set it to a long straight stitch and bump the tension up to 9 (as I learned here). The ruffles worked out great (SP15)… but the backdrop was a work in progress and looked something like this: Not exactly what I was going for… so I used the fabric strips as garland instead: #2. Merry Christmas Banner (see above)… with this as my inspiration, I cut the letters from leftover shiny paper I had from making the Evil Queen’s mirror for our Snow White Halloween display at the pharmacy and put it together with …

Seven Dwarf Costumes

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Seven Dwarf Costumes – Part Three Tunics and Hats! (see also: belts and shoes) Also, a fun word that I learned in the process of making these: armscye aka the armhole, refers to the opening to which the sleeve is sewn. Who knew!? (well, probably a lot of people… but not me!) So here’s my makeshift pattern (not to scale) and process. Each tunic used approximately 3 yards of fabric; some a little more some a little less depending on the size. For Dopey’s tunic, it ended up taking a full 5 yards of fabric. I used solid flannel for 5 of the tunics and broadcloth for the other 2. STEP ONE: GET MEASUREMENTS Here are the measurements I took from each individual for the tunics: Length from neck to knee (or however long they wanted the tunic) Shoulder width Arm length (shoulder to wrist) Abdominal circumference (I used this both for the belt and the tunic) STEP TWO: MAKE PATTERN AND CUT FABRIC Note: I only ended up needed to make one pattern to go along with …

Costume Belts

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Seven Dwarfs Costumes – Part One. Super easy costume belts! Here was my rough design: Materials Needed: Fabric in 2 colors Batting (or another layer of thicker fabric) Thread Small craft knife or scissors Velcro Fray Check Iron Sewing machine STEP 1: CUT YOUR FABRIC. The strip needs to be cut about 2-3x the width that you want the belt. The length is the waist circumference plus a few inches (just to give room for the velcro strip). STEP 2: FOLD AND IRON. Fold over about 1/4-1/2″ along each long edge and iron, then fold in half and iron flat.    STEP 3: SEW. Fold in each short end about 1/4-1/2″ and sew closed. Then sew along the long open edge, as close to the edge as you can get. STEP 4: ADD VELCRO. Attach a 4-5″ piece of velcro to opposite ends and sides of the belt (as shown in the design above). STEP 5: MAKE BUCKLE. Figure out what size you want the buckle. Cut out two pieces of colored fabric and one of batting. Sandwich the batting, sew …

DIY “Adopt Me” Vest

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Update (Dec14): Find the printable pattern HERE. Thanks! Taking inspiration from here, here, and here – I decided to take on the adopt me vest and make my own version for BDAR (as you may know, I used to be a foster mom to some adorable pups… until this one came along and we foster failed) :) So now that I can’t foster anymore (silly rental agreements), I’m trying to find other ways to help out. Hence, my first sewing project with my new sewing machine. Note: I watched my mom sew through my entire childhood, but this is my first unassisted sewing project ever… so if I can do it… you know the saying :) Easy peasy. Materials Needed: Fabric in a few different colors (how much just depends on what size and/or how many you’re going to make) Elastic (I used dollar store headbands) Printable transfer sheets Thread Pins Scissors Tissue paper (or other paper to make the pattern) Starch (optional) Iron Sewing machine STEP 1: MAKE YOUR PATTERN I’m not really one for measuring, so I …