One Hour Craft

Tshirt Surgery: How to Make a Dress from a Tshirt and a Singlet

The Finished Product
This is a really quick and easy project. Em and I had a spare afternoon and finished two dresses in under and hour and a half. The only fiddly part of this project was adjusting the position of the tshirt on the singlet so that it sat well. I’d love to see this project using a colourful rocker tshirt or tie-dyed shirt and a wildly coloured singlet under. Let us know what you come up with and we’ll put them up here ok.

Materials
1 singlet top to fit
1 Extra large tshirt
Sewing machine (we used double needles because it makes a great finish on knit items), thread, scissors.

Step 1
Cut the tshirt down both seams from the neckline to the sleeves.
Step 2
Fold these under and pin them. Hem the edges. We sewed around in a u-shape using double needles (not necessary though).

Step 3
Try on the singlet. Put the tshirt on over the top. Pin the front neckline of the tshirt to the front of the singlet. We pinned it about 12cm/5″ from top. Spend some time adjusting it so that it sits right and looks flattering on you. Pin the back neckline of tshirt onto the back of the singlet in the same way.

Step 4
Try the ‘dress’ on with a belt and make sure that it still falls well. Adjust the pins until you are happy with it. Make sure that the sleeves turned inside out are at the same place as pockets should be.
Step 5
Take off the dress and sew the top neckline of the tshirt onto the singlet where you have pinned it.
Step 6
Sew the back neckline of the tshirt onto the singlet where you have pinned it.
Step 7
Turn the tshirt inside out the sew the sleeve holes together to make pockets (pretty clevery huh?)

That’s it! How could it be easier to make a cute little dress? If you are making it for winter buy a long-sleeved tee instead of the singlet and do the same thing. Pair this with a cinched belt, tights, boots and a gorgeous coat. Lovely!

Enjoy!
Mia
xxx
PS Our advent calendar should be completed by tomorrow! All going well. And pompoms and still coming!

How to Make a Very Easy Christmas Wreath – Using What You Already Have!

The finished wreath

Materials
I bought a foam Christmas Wreath from a local craft store
Pins (with plastic heads)
Normal Pins
Now I just used anything in my ENORMOUS (taking over the house enormous) stash – Feathers, chain, leaves, buttons, fabric scraps, ribbons etc…

Step 1
Just take fabric scraps in bright colours (make sure they have some colours in your Christmas theme). Rip them up into strips about 5cm/2″ wide and wrap them around the ring, securing them with the pins. Do the same with ribbons until you have covered the whole wreath in fabric.

Step 2
Using the pins with the plastic heads, secure little groups of buttons at similar intervals over the whole ring. You could use anything here – beads look great, sequins, studs, whatever you have.

Step 3
To make a ribbon for the top of the wreath, take a 1m length of thick velvet ribbon (improvise if you don’t have any). To make the looped ribbon, fold it in half then make the three loops starting with the largest, until you have used all of that side of the ribbon. With a needle and thread, sew the loops together in the middle. Do the same to the second side and sew them together with tacking stitches.

Step 4
To Finish this ribbon, cut a small length of the velvet ribbon and wrap it around the centre of the bow. Secure it by sewing it at the back of the ribbon. Now you have your centre piece for the wreath.

Step 5
First tie a piece of ribbon around the wreath, long enough to hang it up with. Then take your looped ribbon and pin it onto the wreath. Pin it under the folds of the ribbon to make the pins invisible. Now take some chain and string it around the wreath in loops, securing each one with a plastic-head pin.

Step 6
Cut as many little bows you want out the same coloured ribbon and tie them. Make sure you cut the ends into a v-shaped to give them a more finished look. Arrange them on the wreath and use pins to secure them. At this stage I took feathers and leaves and pinned them behind each little bow.
Just keep going until you are done. Now you have a wreath that you can easily re-do for next year…
Mia
xxx
PS Little birdies coming soon and an easy advent calendar……

Christmas Wreath – Inspired by Bows

Today I finished one of the projects I’ve begun. I made this Christmas wreath. I am having a love affair with bows. I find it hard to think of a bow I don’t love. Little girls with bows in their hair make me so happy. Bows on Christmas trees look lovely. Bow rings are just gorgeous. Big bows on wrapped presents make them so special. I love bows so much that when I went to my year 12 ball (prom) I had long hair and I got the hairdresser to sculpt my hair into a bow on the back of my head – the style took him over 2 hours to complete and it was awesome.
Anyway, today I decided to make a pile of bows into a wreath for Christmas. Tomorrow I will post a little how-to on this wreath. But for now, enjoy the lovely bows that inspired me…






Source: weheartit

Inspired by Pretty Vintage Lace Doilies….

Ever since my vintage lace doily shopping trip I have been so inspired. I have made a few things so far and am still whipping up a tutorial (sorry it is coming I have just been very busy on other projects). For now, don’t you just love these creations made using doilies??

And unfortunately the day is far too beautiful in sunny Perth to stay inside so I think I will take a rollerblade around the Swan River or maybe a trip to the beach..
Mia
xxx
Source: Etsy. weheartit

Tuesday’s Thrift Shopping – Inspiration

It is fabulous +++ to not be working on a Tuesday and instead trying to start on the next hundred projects and get this blog really up and running again. There’s so much to do, how do I ever fit in work anyway?

What a lovely day! I spent the whole morning thrift shopping, or rather, hunting, for lace doilies. These are precious, precious, precious. And many things are going to be made out of these beauties. Can you believe I bought them for 50 cents each? I felt like I should grab them, pay and run back to the car before someone realised the mistake and took them back. Apparently, people do not value the hundreds of hours spent making these, the intricate patterns, the confusing arrangement of bobbins, all colour-coded and waiting to be weaved into the design. I do! When I was a child, grandma would sit for hours in summer with her lace-making on her lap, in the air-conditioned front room of her house and I would sit and watch her. Mesmerised by how she knew where and when to weave each bobbin.

I got this whole bunch at three different stores for about $5.

And as an added bonus, I found these lovely cross-stitched table runners (also ridiculously cheap). These will turn into something new also. Give me a few days and I will be able to make up my mind. I had one idea on the way home….. then it turned into another …..now my head is spinning with all my treasures and the possibilities.

And I found this gorgeous photo here. More pom-pom love. It has given me another idea. Maybe our favourite horses, Storm and Roman should have pom-poms for Christmas? I am sure they would like them a lot!
Now, I have so much to do and I don’t know where to begin…
Mia
xxx

Christmas Inspiration – Pompoms!

I can’t believe I am already writing about Christmas and thinking about it. Seems just a day ago when I was making my New Year’s resolutions and holidaying in Denmark.
This year I am loving pompoms. I am in the middle of making a tutorial for you all. I will have it up soon. But for now, enjoy some pompom inspiration.

I think that my presents will look a little like this, this year. So cute (via bleubird vintage)

Miss James of Bleubird Vintage has come up with this lovely pompom wreath. See how it is made here…
Here is a good tutorial for making pompoms. I promise it’s completely addictive.
Back with more soon…
Mia
xx

What a Great Night – Book Launch Photos

The book launch was so fun! Thanks for New Edition for hosting such a great party. Thanks to everyone who came and shared the party. There were about fifty people there. It was just the perfect number for the night. And thanks for your support. For me, it was a real landmark event in my life. Really it was the first party to celebrate nearly four years of work on the site and two on the book. It was time for me to get over the fear of sharing my book with the world and just enjoy it! And I did. I hope everyone had a good time.

Thanks to Emma for giving a speech and for all the help getting ready. Thanks to dad for the photos.

Here are photos of the event. There are lots and lots….

The display table, so much fun making all this.

;”>The book display table with the gorgeous embroidery made by Sarah, my sister

Me and my girl.

Emma and me

My favourite flowers – thanks Em

Glenys and Linda

Dilip

Andrew and Jason

Emma introducing me

Emma’s speech

Lisa, Linda and Anna

My speech

Emma, Carla and Clare

A goodnight kiss for Kate

Thanks again everyone for a great night. I appreciate it!

There are more photos on flickr here!

Mia

xxx

When life gives you lemons…….

Was thinking this morning….

When life gives you lemons(and not if, it’s a certainty there will be lemons) make lemonade, or candied lemons or lemon butter or pickled lemons, lemon syrup, lemon gelato or dried lemons, lemon meringue pie, lemon facial scrub, roast lemons???

What I am trying to say is that when life throws **** your way you always have the option of sitting down in that **** or thinking creatively and using your creativity to create many options for happiness. I believe there is a way to make every situation better.  Sometimes we just lose our way of finding these solutions.

My friend Kate teaches me this a lot.  She is the only person I know who could make having a lumbar puncture seem more like a trip to a great cafe for a catchup than the horrible procedure it is.  She always says, ‘just be fabulous’ and she always manages it.  She can make a gourmet meal in the middle of the Australian outback with only potatoes, sausages, a saucepan and a knife.  She makes a boring afternoon into a fun-filled day full of silk screened tshirts, mosaic mirrors, organic herbs and vegies. 

When really big lemons are thrown at us, there is always a way to make lemonade . I started making jewellery and silversmithing during a really hard time in my life. I sat at home each evening and made things. I found that gradually just using my hands and being creative gave me happiness and it also gave me options. Out of my sadness, came some really cool silver rings, and many, many necklaces. Somehow pouring myself, bit by bit, into the act of creating something gave me hope that life would be ok again — and it was.  Of.  Course. 

I just thought I would share this little story with you because I know many people who are going through hard times right now. When a mate asks me, ‘what should I do?’ I want to say, ‘think of a hundred different solutions, think creatively and make them happen but also, use your hands to make something, even something little. It will help you turn your lemons into lemonade…

Today a mate of mine, wrote a song out of one of my lemons.  I was so touched by that……..

Happy day,
Mia
xx
PS. The book launch was unreal. Photos coming very soon. Thanks for coming and supporting me. I am so appreciative.

One Hour Craft – Book Launch

Finally, it’s organised….

You are invited to One Hour Craft Book Launch

Date:  Friday 23 October 2009

Place:  New Edition Bookstore, 82 High Street Fremantle, Western Australia

Time: 6.30pm

Please send me an email at mariabinns@hotmail.com to RSVP just to make sure we have enough beer and wine for everyone!

And send these details to anyone you know who you think may be interested in coming!

Hope to see you there!

Mia xxx

Where I Surf….

Just a quick post to update you with the current sites I surf. I am giving up social networking but still love my daily surfing.  I follow craft sites, fashion sites, and lifestyle sites.

Sites I love (a motley mix I agree).  Click the ♥ to visit:

The Cherry Blossom Girl♥  A very cool Parisienne who works as a stylist, with a penchant for beautiful shoes and vintage-y things.

Bleubird Vintage♥  James, another fashion blogger, everything vintage and fantastic.

Ismoyo♥  A crafty designy blog, a lovely girl half-Dutch, half-Indonesian living in NYC.  Cute, quirky style.

Fashion is Spinach♥  Betsy a fashion writer and blogger, living in Washington DC.  Great fashion blog written in a very down-to-earth style.  Always well written and interesting.

Not Martha♥   A crafty site by Megan Reardon, Seattle girl.  lots of crafty links and great product links.  No fuss, quick to read and always interesting.

One Lucky Duck♥  Sarma Melngailis dishes on raw food benefits.  Will get ya drinking green juice and eating raw foods.  Eat raw, sparkle more!

We Like it Raw♥  Raw foodists site, interesting articles.

Crazy Sexy Life♥  Chris Karr has set up an on-line health community.  So many super-fantastic health experts and amazing people in one place.  Always interesting, always great read (even if you eat meet this will interest you. i’m sure). Vibrant.

Crazy Aunt Purl♥  Laurie, a southern girl living in LA.  Funny.  Funnier.  Knitting blog (sort of), more just tales of living in la la land.  She’s a staple in my internet diet.

Andrea Scher♥  Another staple.  Berkeley girl, photos are wicked.  Jewellery designer.  Posts to lift your spirits.  

Gala Darling♥  A New Zealander living in NYC.  Lifestyle, fashion, articles, photos.  Such a fun, amazing blog.  Always makes me smile.

I think I have covered everything I love, making things, eating good stuff, having fun, dressing up..

Oh how could I forget…Each time I get a chance I am working my way through all the episodes at..

Darryl Hannah Love Life♥  All I can say is…go and have a look.  It is the best!

Mia