Shirt to Skirt tutorial

#6
(6 down, only 25 to go)
Here's a quick tutorial on how to turn a ladies shirt into a childs skirt.  Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about doing the Fabric Canvas tutorial yet.. I just haven't had time to make the canvases yet.  Maybe later this week.  I did this skirt over the past weekend.

This tutorial is great if a shirt doesn't fit you anymore or has a stain on it or something.

This is the shirt I started off with.  Found it in the Thrift Store for a few dollars.  I find it is easier to make these skirts out of shirts that have a longer bodice - which are common in empire line tops.

I cut the top off, right under the sleeves.  I also cut the straps off that were in the front.  Saving those for something else.

Now you need to create a waistband.  I didn't make this skirt for anyone in particular so I guessed the size/measurements for my waistband.  I think the general rule is you do 1 1/2 of the waist measurement - cause you want a little gathering.  I think that sounds confusing.  Maybe I'll break it down a little better.  If the waist measurement was 100cm, you could cut out the waistband to be 150cm.  Get it?

Ok so you cut out the waistband, and then sew the two ends together.   I think I just confused you again.  Here's a diagram... 

Does that make sense?  Sew those two ends together, then iron the flaps flat, and then turn it so the seam is inside.  (I just realised I'm really bad at tutorials, must be why I've never tried before).


Fold your tube in half and iron it, so theres a nice definate line in the centre.

Now you need to pin your waistband to your skirt.  I want you to look at this picture, and not do what I have done.  I pinned the waistband to the INSIDE of the skirt and sewed it on and then realised that I was blonde, and should have pinned and sewn it onto the OUTSIDE. 
Remember your waistband is going to be bigger then the skirt.  So you need to mark on the waistband and on the skirt, where the front, back & sides are.  When pinning, you line up those four points.  The open edges face up whilse pinning.

When you sew on the waistband, you need to pull the skirt fabric taunt so your waistband is sewn on flat.  (Another corker of an explanation).

Make sure you leave a gap to thread your elastic through too!

Once you've threaded through your elastic (which you premeasure to be the perfect length for the size waist it needs to go around) - sew the two ends together.  I then tuck the elastic back into the waistband and then you can sew the little opening shut.

And to finish it off, the straps that I cut off the front in the beginning, I made into a fabric rosette with some buttons, and sewed it on front.

I didn't need to worry about a hem, I just left the original hem from the shirt.













And there you have it folks.  My first official horrible tutorial.  I'm really going to have to work on expressing myself in a way others can understand.  If you can follow what I just wrote in this tutorial, KUDOS TO YOU!  You must be special :)

By my calculations this skirt is about a girls size 4.

Until tomorrow... have fun crafting!

Christy

Giveaway for Blogtoberfest!

#5
I did promise another Giveaway and here it is folks.  I figured Christmas is only 12 weeks away, so I gathered a few Christmas items....

(4 Christmas greeting cards, 2 flower hair clips)

Here is how to enter:
1.  For one entry, follow my blog.  If you are already a follower, great.  You need to leave a comment to tell me you are following.
2.  For a second entry, post about my Giveaway on your blog - either in a post or in your sidebar.  Leave me a comment with a link to where it is.
3.  For a third entry, you have to leave me a comment telling me your most favourite Christmas tradition, either from in the past or something you currently do.
(so to clarify - that is 3 SEPERATE comments folks - one entry per comment)

As far as I'm concerned Christmas is around the corner, and I LOVE Christmas.  So let's get into the Spirit nice and early and share some of our most favourite memories and moments.

Entries close on Sunday 31st October at 9pm (Brisbane Australia time).  I will announce the winner as soon as I draw it.. and will post the winner as my FINAL entry for Blogtoberfest.  Overseas entries are welcome.

Good luck to you all me maties!!

Until tomorrow.....

Christy

Blog hopping finds.

#4
I love blog hopping.  I do it almost every day.  I love finding new blogs to follow too.  I have become fussy in who I want to follow, or else I end up with 50 zillion blogs I'm following, and because I keep up with the blog posts and like to read every single post as they appear.  I can't get behind!!! I think it's the OCD in me.  Plus I don't want to miss out on any fantastic idea's that people give me.  Afterall, I lack imagination at times.  So here are a few of the blogs I've found recently and started following.

1.  Mousehouse - by Megan.  She also has a giveaway going on.  She makes the sweetest little things!

2. Cat Taylor Design - by Cat.  One clever lady.  I WANT ONE OF HER NEEDLE BOOKS!!

3.  GemmaJoy - by Gemma.  Amazing flower accessories.  Never knew felt could look so gorgeous.

4.  Beads by Laura - by (you guessed it...) Laura :P  She makes them HERSELF.  People amaze me.

5.  CurlyPops - She has an awesome giveaway going on too, and I hope I win it!!  She'll have several more giveaways this month to so make sure you follow!

6.  Dot Dot Dot - by Tasha.  This lady is Thrifty like no other.  One I look up to!  I love Thrifting!!(she made that table by combining two old ones!)

7.  Emily Sparks.  A stay at home mum who loves to be creative.. loving her necklaces!

8.  Kyla Does Stuff - by Kyla.  How awesome are those totes? I mean really, it's the best tote I've EVER seen!

9.  LaLa's World - by Denise.  This lady is one fab scrapbooker and card maker.  Pretty much amazing!

10.  White Mouse Creations - by Yana.  How cute can a softie be?  I mean, a chicken AND it's baby chicks?  Outta this world cute!

I hope you've found someone new and fun to follow!

Happy crafting me maties!!

Christy

Going backwards

#3
Don't you love it when you are sewing away, and then, you realise....  You did it wrong.  Or even better, the bobbin runs out HALF way through the line.  And it's one of those lines that you can't just start back where the bobbin left off before you refilled it.  (Did that even make sense..?)  Then out comes the unpicker.  I bet it's laughing at me.  You did it wrong again!! Mwahahaha.  Evil little tool.

Car Boot Sale - Failure #2

#2
Well I did it again.  I had an unsuccessful attempt at selling my goods.  But you know what, this time I don't care!  I made a total of $11!  WOOHOO I'm rich!!!!

Let me tell you why I don't care.
1.  I had a good friend sit with me for the whole morning.  How amazing is that.  Thanks Maioha.  (PS she is an amazing photographer)
2.  The stall only cost me $10... so not big loss there.
3.  Everyone there was SO LOVELY.  I had many chats with fellow stall holders, and also the organisers of the Sale at the Uniting Church.  Such a nice bunch of people.
4.  There was food for sale.  And it was cheap.

And folks, that is all I need to have a good time.  Oh and an added bonus that made my day good was that no one stole anything!!

So here are the piccies..

My spread.  See those ladies outside the window... they're standing behind a BBQ with delicious sausages cooking on them.  I love a sausage in bread.  And only $2.  I had 2.

I had a good spot, right near the doorway so I had a lovely breeze which was at times quite chilly and also good traffic (even if it didn't lead to sales).  This Sale was supposed to be held outside, but it was raining ALL MORNING.  It was quite depressing, but luckily I got there nice and early to set up so got a good spot inside.  Other's were not quite so lucky.

Peeping through the space on the earring stand.  Can you believe I picked that baby up from a Thrift Store for $4?  I know, neither can I.

One of the pretty necklaces.

Bracelet stand.

One side of my table.

The view from my table.  Most of the other stalls were 2nd hand goods.  I got a few goodies of my own - a vase, some scrap fabric, some doileys, kiddie clothes & best of all.....

Homemade Apple Pie, Lemon Butter, & Choc & Caramel Fudge. MMMMMMM mmmmm!  Pie is good...

And pie makes EVERYTHING better... especially with cream :)

Hope you're all having a fab weekend...Happy crafting!

Christy

PS.  I have two lovely little packages all ready to be posted on Monday

Let the Blogtoberfestivities begin!!

#1
Well folks, if you haven't heard of Blogtoberfest, then you're just not in the loop.  (I heard about it for the first time today hehe).  Few things you  need to check out.  First of all, pop over to Tinniegirl's blog and sign up for Blogtoberfest.  Secondly, you MUST check out CurlyPops blog, she is going to be doing giveaways all throughout Blogtoberfest.  I have just entered her first giveaway to win a gadget holder.  It is so cool!

But there is one condition of entry.

You have to post on your blog EVERY DAY.  This is going to be a challenge and a half for me, but I'm excited to do it.  I might even do another giveaway myself this month.  I have a few ideas of what I'd like to do.  BUT let me know if there is anything in particular you'd like to try your hand at winning! 

Oh and make sure you get the Blogtoberfest button for your sidebar.

Happy crafting.. and good luck!

Christy

And the winner is...

Well the time has drawn nigh, and we have ourselves a winner.  But before I tell you who it is, I want to thank you all SO MUCH for your support.  I started this two weeks ago with 11 followers, and now I have 36!  I never thought it could happen!  And thank you all for your kind words, it means a whole lot to me and has given me a boost of confidence in my abilities.  Now onto the real business.  I sat at my desk tonight awaiting for 10.30pm to arrive so I could finally draw out the winner.  (Geez writing all your names on little pieces of paper and folding them in half took forever...)  The winner is The Clip Cafe!  I'll have it out in the post to you ASAP!

Thanks again everyone for your support.  This giveaway was so much fun, I'll have to do another one real soon.. maybe something do to with Christmas eh?

Until then..

Christy

Last chance! Oh and I have a market this weekend.

Well folks, there is only one day left to enter my giveaway!  So if you haven't entered yet and you're one of my followers, or if you haven't posted about it on your blog, now is your last chance to enter!  It closes 10.30pm tomorrow night (Brisbane, Australia time).  I will draw the winner out shortly after it closes and notify you directly - and I will also post the winner on here.

On a side note, I have another market this Saturday.  I'm not as nervous about this one.  It is an early start but that is just how markets roll!  I'll let you know how it goes, and hopefully I'll feel more like taking pictures to share. 

What have you been making today?  I am stuck at work and can't make anything :(  Wishing I was at home making cards and sewing on gorgeous applique!

Until next time!
Christy

Secret nibblies

What do you have hidden in your Craft Room to nibble on?  At the moment, for me it is Kool Fruits (fruity chewy balls) and Chocolate Cream Wafers.  I always have something stashed to nibble on if needed.

Off to do some nibbling :)

Till next time,
Christy

The beginnings of Christmas...

I've been getting started on my Christmas Cards.  Here are a few I've made so far and thought I'd share.

Happy crafting!

Christy

Catch up time... again!

Ok I think I am the worst blogger in history.  I never get around to posting what I've been up to.  So here I am again, with a few things to show you (that really should have been blogged about individually as I made them).

1.  Fabric Canvases
I decided about a week ago, that although I am always making something crafty, my house is absolutely, 100% not decorated.  We rent so we're limited as to what we can do, but it seems to have escaped me to do anything until now.  So I went down to Crazy Clark's (Aussie Dollar Store) and bought a whole heap of different size canvases.  They ranged from $3.50 to $10 a piece.  I bought 10 in total.  I got the idea to do this from a blog I follow.  I can't remember whose blog.  I just looked for a good half hour and couldn't figure out who it was.  But I still ended up doing my differently.  They made their own frames and just did the fabric over the frame.  Where I bought frames with canvas on them.  Different but the same.  I have been asked to do a tutorial for these.. I promise I'll add it to my Urgent To Do List.  But here is what I've made so far.

These are in my craft room.  I love them.  The fabric in the centre is some vintage fabric I got from the Op Shop.  It was such a good find.

And here are the ones in my bathroom - yes they are covered in towels.  I found some super cheap ones and thought they'd be a fun way of decorating the bathroom.  I love them!

I have 4 more to make.  Then I need to find other ways to decorate my house... it is looking less bland.


2.  Money bag
I decided I needed to make a bag to put my money in for when I do Market Stalls.  I  made it out of nice and sturdy denim scraps that I had, and put in my VERY FIRST  ZIPPER!  I was so pleased when it worked out.  I was fully expecting a fail.  I think it's super cute!

3.  Applique Onesies
I finally bought that wonderful (I don't actually know what it's called) baking paper sticky iron on stuff for appliqueing.  It makes life a hell of a lot easier!!  I whipped up two onesies the other night.  I have a few more to go, plus a little boys Tee.

4.  Lace Earring Frames
Once again, got this idea from someone else, and can't remember who or where.  I really must write these things down....  I made a whole heap to sell at Markets, in white, silver & gold (gotta love spray paint fumes.. wooooohoooo!!)

5.  Christmas Paper
I will be going overseas in 47 days.  For a whole month.  Right before Christmas.  So I need to be super organised with having all my Christmas Cards ready to go to sell.  So I went and bought a very nice selection of patterned papers from Stampin Up! & my local Scrapbooking store (which is hugely overpriced).  These are just a FEW of the delicious stash that I now have.

6.  Filling orders
My friend/cousin came over the other day.  She went through my fabric stash, and chose all the fabrics she wanted me to make flowers out of.  She is a photographer and needs props.  She photographs babies quite often.  I am putting together a selection of flowers to be clipped onto headbands.  Here's what I've made so far.  There's still a few more to go.

7.  Other flowers
Last night a friend of mine put on a Girls Night.  I brought some of my crafty stuff (I made the previous flowers at this event) and the others girls there decided to give it a go themselves.  This is what they came up with.  I really think some of them are funky as!

8.  My stall last month
The promised photo of my stall at the Fete last month (that was depressingly highly unsuccessful).

And I think that pretty much brings me up to speed!!  I promise I will get my tutorials under way.  I have three in the makings.  I rarely have time to do anything, so when I do it's usually an hour - and I'd rather craft then blog (sorry ladies).  I'll post some of my Christmas cards once there are more to show (only 2 types so far).  Hope you are having a lovely Sunday!  Back to work tomorrow!

Happy crafting!
Christy

PS Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!  Only 4 days to go!!