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!

Shredded Tshirt Tutorial (Tshirt Surgery)

I had a spare few hours in front of the tv last night and a new camera to play with. I am in love with my new Canon EOS 500D. It was impossible not to fall in love with! So I whipped up a quick shredded tshirt and tutorial to go with it. Shredding is so easy and reminded me so much of high school, sitting on the bus shredding my new tan stockings – the more shredded your stockings were, the better back then. Well, I still love the shredded effect.

I am obsessed with torturing textiles, i.e doing things with them to make them different. One day soon I will post more textiles treatments (or maybe save them for a lovely little book). I just love taking fabric and playing with it. There is so much you can do to it, paint it, dye it, crush it, fold it, pleat it, shred it. If only I could spend all my time just playing….

All you need to shred is a knit tee. I suppose you could shred a skirt (if you have a slip to wear under it) or a jumper, but I like the look of a tee. Next, I am going to try shredding an oversized white tee. For shredding it’s best to use a new tee so that the stitches aren’t compacted together from washing.

Step 1
Take your stitch ripper and undo the bottom hem of the tee so that it is a raw edge.

Step 2
You will notice some loose threads running parallel along the edge of tee. Pull one of these threads. Keep pulling for as long as you would like the shredded panel to be. Then start separating the stitches of the tee between your thumbs and fingers, pulling the stitches wider. This is a bit fiddly. It is easiest to shred inch-long sections of the tee. Work from the bottom to the top of the tee, separating the stitches. You can make all different sized holes. My fingers got a little bit sore doing this. Work your way one inch at a time, pulling apart the stitches until you have a panel as wide as you want. Oh yeah, before I began I make two marks with tailor’s chalk on the bottom of the shirt to mark the size of the panel I wanted.

Ta Da! Here is the finished product. It took me about two hours in front of the TV to shred this. As you are doing it, it is easy to make holes. It just seems to add to the whole torn effect that I love!
I hope you have fun shredding!
Let me know…
Mia
xxx

Free Thong/G-String Pattern & Tutorial

Hi ya crafty chicas,
I am re-posting a pdf pattern and a tutorial that Emma and I made and have been selling, to make a very sassy little thong.

This is for everyone to enjoy!

Have fun!
Mia
xxxx

To begin sewing,   download this PDF pattern (contains two pages) and print it out.  Now, To check that you have printed the pattern at the correct size please measure the following – where it says ‘bottom’ on both the front and the lining pieces this should measure 3cm and on the back piece from letters C to D should measure 9.4cm.  If these 3 measurements are correct you can make a start!  If not you may need a photocopier.

Materials

• Sewing Machine with stretch needle

• 1.3 metres (52 inches) of 10mm (0.4”) wide underwear elastic

• 30cm (12 inches) swimsuit lining (100% polyester). When buying this material make sure that 4cm (1 ½”) stretches to 10cm (4”) on a flat surface. Any less and the panties will not stretch enough to cover your booty, any more and they will sag.

• 30cm (12 inches) t-shirt material with very little stretch. Scraps are ideal for this.

• Cotton thread (same colour as elastic)

• Optional: Trim (lace, braid…), button, 15cm (6”) ribbon for a bow, needle for hand sewing

Instructions

Note: 15mm (5/8 inch) seam allowance has been included in this pattern.

1. Pin the pattern to the fabric and cut out 1 front in t-shirt material, 1 lining in t-shirt material, 2 backs in the lining fabric, 2×30cm (12 inches) lengths of elastic (for legs) and 1x 70cm length of elastic (for waist).
2. Pin and sew trim onto thong front (shown on pattern).
3. Pin thong lining onto back of thong front (wrong sides facing). Use a zigzag stitch to sew the sides together, leaving the top and bottom open.
4. Pin and sew the two short lengths of elastic onto the front legs of the thong using an elastic stitch (looks like a broken zigzag stitch).
5. Place two thong backs on top of each other with letters matching (right sides facing). Sew from A to B using an elastic stitch. Sew from F to E using an elastic stitch.
6. Keeping right sides together, slide fabric and reposition it so points B and E are on top of each other (seams will be positioned on top of each other). Stitch along top edge (longest edge) of fabric with an elastic stitch joining the 2 layers together (C & D will be together at the ends). Now you have sewn the back thong piece, turn it in inside out.
7. Pin & sew front and back thong pieces together at sides and bottom (right sides together) using a straight stitch. Ease fabric to ensure it matches up perfectly. Cut away excess fabric, fold all fabric towards back and use a zigzag stitch to flatten/neaten seam.
8. Now your thong is sewn together, turn it right side out.
9. Sew the long piece of elastic together into a loop.  Pin & sew elastic onto top edge of thong using an elastic stitch.  Ease as needed.

How did yours turn out? Please let us know

Tutorial: How to Make the Easiest and Cutest Scarf!

(NOTE:  This scarf requires absolutely no knitting or crocheting or knotting so stay around and read more…)

(Mia modelling the tube scarf)

I walked into my local craft store a few weeks ago and saw these divine scarves behind the counter.  They looked like a cross between a feather boa and a scarf, totally cute.  I asked the lady how they were made and she was kind enough to give me a demo on how to make them. Now I am passing on the love….

I am hooked!  These are the cutest scarves and they could not be easier to make. My nine-year old made half of this one easily.

Materials
I used four balls of polyester (this will depend on how long you want to make the scarf)
1.2m of 5/8″ white elastic
30cm/ 1ft length of plastic tubing
Two medium wooden beads
Hot glue
Scissors

Tie a knot in one end of the piece of elastic. Apply a dab of hot glue onto the knot and push it onto the bead.

Use two balls of yarn together – this gives a fuller look to the scarf. Tie the two ends of the yarn onto the elastic with a knot, just under the bead.
Thread the elastic through the plastic tube, with the bead at one end.
Begin wrapping the yarn (two together) around the plastic tubing.  (I started by wrapping the yarn this tightly but found it much better to wrap it quite loosely going down the whole tube).
When you have wrapped the yarn around the plastic tube about ten time push it off the tube and onto the elastic.

To keep the other end of elastic from getting in the way, secure it with a peg as shown in the photo above, letting out more as you need it.

Continue to wrap the yarns around the plastic tubing and then gently push them onto the elastic. You will quickly start to see this yummy, feather boa scarf!

Finish the scarf when you get to the elastic gets to the end of the plastic tubing (you will have 30cm of elastic left when you cut it). Knot the yarn around the elastic. Tie a knot in the elastic (as in the first step), place a dab of glue onto the knot and push a bead onto it to secure it.

Finito!

(Look what I made!)

The next one I will make will be double as long so that I can wrap it around my neck a few times. Millie’s getting this one – lucky girl. And the last thing I have to say — what a strange thing to be making in 40 degree heat!! And that photo shoot with the turtle neck! Hot!
Enjoy!

Tutorial: How to Make Fizzing Lavender Bath Bombs

I started concocting perfumes and potions as a five year old. My twin sister and I would lock ourselves away in the bathroom and mix anything (usually mum’s expensive perfumes) we could find. Most of the concoctions would cause me to have an immediate allergic reaction, so would end in tears. But, this did not deter me.

I still love making lotions and potions. These bath bombs are the fizziest bombs I have ever made. They explode and keep fizzing for ages, then make the whole bath smell divine. The oil leaves your skin soft and smelling like lavender.

These bath bombs make great presents and are easy enough for beginners and children to make.

Ingredients
1 cup tartaric acid
1 cup bicarbonate soda
½ cup powdered starch
1 dessertspoon lavender oil
2 tablespoons dried lavender.
1 teaspoon pink food colouring
7 dessertspoons avocado oil
2 dessertspoons dried lavender.

Mix tartaric acid, bicarbonate soda and starch in a bowl.

Add the lavender and food colouring to the mixture.

Add a dessertspoon of lavender oil. Slowly add the avocado oil (be careful not to add too much).
Mix the ingredients together until you can form the mixture into balls, adding a touch more avocado oil, if needed.

Take a small handful of mixture and place it on a desert spoon. Mould it on the spoon and place it on a tray. Repeat this until you have used all the mixture.

Leave the bath bombs in a dry, warm place to set for between a few days to 1 week (drying time will depend on air temperature and humidity).
Add a few to a bath or package and give them away as a present.

I hope you enjoy making these as much as we did!!
Mia
xxx

What Ya Makin’ Wednesday

Wednesday 8.19pm in Perth Western Australia.  I am sitting in my study writing on my big clunky computer, surrounded by boxes (more about that later).  The sun is setting bright pink in the sky and the evening is very pleasant (not too hot) due to a cool breeze.  The cat is by my feet licking his paws and the dog has stopped barking after being fed.  All is well in my world.

And here’s what others are doing…

• Pam is making (well, a little while ago anyway)  a coffee filter garland.  Easy Peasy and so shabby chic.
• Hop Skip Jump is designing a very interesting looking mustard-coloured stripey quilt.
• Alicia is cooking coconut custard.  Yummy recipe at her site.
• Gisella at Ox Hill is constructing these gorgeous bracelets.  So tempting to try to make something like it.  What do you think she has wrapped the thread around?  Rubber?  Looks so good!
• Tania has been making the cutest bird clock.
• Shim at Shim and Sons is making gorgeous Lunar New Year cards.
• And.  My very favourite.  These are so pretty and I just dream of being in weather this cold so that ice doesn’t melt outside.  Ice would melt in approximately five seconds where I live.  Think long hot dry summers and mild winters.  Benita is so clever.  She is making Ice Lanterns.  I want one!
• I am making a very cool scarf with a tutorial to follow in the next few days. And apart from that I am organising my craft supplies.  After writing a book for well over a year and making enough things to sink a ship, my house is still over-run by crafty loveliness.  Everywhere you look.  Basically my house is one big craft studio from the front door to the back door.  And it just dawned on me that the others who live here may well appreciate some culling, placing boundaries and some organisation.  And I think I may need it too.  Photos to follow.

I imagine a lot of you (in the North) are just stumbling out of bed to begin another day….  Let me know, where are you from and what are you makin’ this Wednesday?

Mia

xx

Flower Crown Tutorial

Long hot days of summer give us plenty of time to become fairies playing in the garden or princesses wearing long white dresses and beautiful blue flower crowns….

This crown was very quick to assemble. It took no more than half an hour and now I have a little girl who is completely in love with it. She has gone to bed and put it in the ‘most special place’ in her room, on the top shelf far from her kitten’s paws.

Materials
Small fabric flowers bought at a craft store
Silver-coated wire (22 guage)
Wire cutters
Flat-nosed pliers

Firstly, wrap the wire around the top of your head so that it is a loose fit. Hold the wire and cut three times this length. Wrap the last length of wire around the other two to keep it in place.

Take a fabric flower and wrap the stem around the wire base. If the stem is too long, cut it in half with the wire cutters.

Place the flowers close to each other and wrap the stems around the wire base. Alternate the flowers you use or use all the same flowers.

Continue to wrap the flowers until you are finished. You could also embellish your crown with rafia, ribbon, beads, diamontes, whatever you like. I prefer to keep mine simple and lovely enough for a big or little princess.

Enjoy!
Mia

How to Make A Recycled Paper Tree Advent Calendar

I am forever looking for different ways to use the glossy pages of old Vogue magazines to make into something new. I am so happy to share with you guys my new little creation, an advent calendar with a difference. Me and my little one spent some time last weekend creating and perfecting these little trees. They are easy to make, very inexpensive and so colourful and fun.

Materials
For these little trees I used the soft tree pattern from Little Birds Handmade and adapted it a little.
Glossy good quality magazines
Little pom-poms for the top of the tree
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun
Candy for the middle

Steps to Make Advent Calendar
1. Download pattern and then cut out twenty five little trees from pages of a magazine.
2. Cut out the circles for the bottom but adapt the pattern by adding four tabs onto the bottom to help glue it.
3. Glue together your first little tree using your hot glue gun. Place a line of glue down the side of the piece and then stick the other side of the tree onto the top of it. You will need to repeat this 25 times, of course. I found it a little fiddly at first but it got better and better.
4. When you have the tree forms made, glue a pom-pom onto the top.
5. Cut out numbers from magazines from 1 to 25 and glue them onto the front of the trees.
6. Place the candy inside the trees. Or place little inspirational quotes, parts of the Christmas story, little activities to do, little love letters. You are only limited by your imagination.
7. Take one of the bottoms and place a dob of glue on each of the four tabs you have cut out with it. Place the tree on top of the bottom, fold the tabs upwards and glue them to the outside of the tree. This gives them a really funky little edge. I tried putting the tabs on the outside and this way definitely looked a lot better. You will need to repeat this 25 times too.

Ta-Da! You now have the cutest advent calendar!

Handy Tips..

• Cut out all the pieces at the same time and glue the same pieces together at the same time. It will save you time, which is a precious commodity at this time of year.
• Cut out magazine pages in mostly reds and greens then some in purples or blue or yellows for a little variety.
• Please don’t let little children anywhere near a glue gun! They are dangerous. My little girl searched for all the numbers and cut them out for me. She also counted out the candy and put it in the trees. She loved doing it!

Enjoy!
Mia

How to Make Scary Spiders for Halloween and Other Stuff

(Gumnut Redback Spider for Halloween)

Halloween is not really celebrated in Australia. But this year we are having a Halloween-themed birthday party for a certain little girl who is turning eight. Every year I get so excited about the birthday celebration. We have been spending a lot of time brainstorming and organising.

I thought I would share with you how to make a redback spider for Halloween. We are using these spiders as decorations. We have made over 50 so far so they should look great en masse. These are so easy to make.
How to Make Gumnut Spiders

Materials

Gumnuts

Black Gloss Spray Paint

Black Pipe Cleaners

Hot Glue Gun

Red Glitter Glue

Method

1. Lay the gumnuts on sheets of paper and spray them black with the spray paint. Make sure that you turn them over and spray the bottom as well. Leave them to dry.
2. Take a black pipe cleaner and cut it into thirds. Put the three pieces between your fingers and twist them together in the middle.
3. When the gumnuts are dry take your hot glue gun and place a dab of glue on the gumnut just below the lip of it (who knows if that is the correct terminology, somehow I doubt it). Then stick the middle of the pipe cleaner legs onto the glue.
4. Bend the pipe cleaners so that they look like little legs.
5. With a paint brush, paint a dab of red glitter paint onto the back of the spider.

It is that easy and we had so much fun making them!

I thought I would also share some of the other ideas we came up with for the children’s Halloween party. Firstly here are the black cat invitations..

I got myself into all sorts of knots wanting the invitations to be perfect. Then we came up with these designs and Milly loved them. They were really easy to make also. I have a passion for paper and cardmaking stores and love the dye-cuts. We found these cat dyes and cut them out in black card. I just sewed on a small piece of paper for the background, Milly stuck on the cat and we used diamontes for the eyes. You all must know how much I love sewing on paper! It just makes me happy

Other ideas for the party…..

We are making a ….

• Black Cat Cake
• Black Spider Pinata
• Red jelly cups with gum snakes coming out of them.
• Black Cauldrons, by spray painting some pots black, filling in the hole in the bottom with filler and filling them with dry ice.
• Witches hat little cakes
• Lolly bags in the shape of pumpkins. I have been thinking about these every night for about a month and have not yet come up with the perfect design. Am struggling for a better design than the lolly bags for last year’s party. Remember the humbug bags?
• Pass the parcel

I am going to be quite busy this week!

Have a good time!

Mia

How to Make a Gypsy Lantern

I am in love with this little project, being the hopeless romantic that I am. What better to way to decorate a pergola for an outdoor dinner party? Or to hang in the bathroom while you take a long bath? I was delighted to find this project in Marie Claire Idees and adapted it to come up with this tutorial.

I hope you enjoy making some of these along with me.

Materials

Cotton Fabric Scraps or Tissue Paper. Make sure that you use material which is quite thin. I love the lantern I made using Kaffe Fassett scraps.
A clean, empty glass jar. I used a small vegemite jar for mine.
18-guage wire. You can buy this from a hardware store. If you are using a bigger jar, then use a thicker wire to support it.
A sewing machine (the Maric Claire version was hand sewn with embroidery cotton which looked great but I decided to machine sew mine)
Cotton Thread
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun
Wire Cutters
Round-nosed pliers or square-nosed pliersInstructions
Step 1 Making a quick pattern.

(Photo above shows the jar and the finished pattern piece)

Firstly measure the circumference of the top of the jar. Divide this number (in my case it was 20cm around) into 4 because there are four pieces to the lantern = 5cm. Now add 3cm to this = 8cm. Now mark out a strip of paper which is 8cm wide. Take the paper and hold it up to the jar and cut it to the length of the jar + 8cm. Now you have a strip of paper the right size.
Now take the paper you have made and mark two points on either side about 5cm from the bottom. Fold the paper in half and draw a point in the middle. Now cut a rounded point to the middle of the paper. Here is your pattern piece.

Step 2 Cutting out and sewing together the lantern pieces

(First photo shows cut out pattern pieces, Second photo shows lantern pieces when they have been sewn together leaving the top open and seams on the outside)

Use your pattern piece to cut out four pieces of fabric or tissue paper. If you are using a thin cotton, iron on some interfacing to give it more structure.
Now pin together the pieces and sew them from the top to the bottom, leaving the seam on the outside. I left a 1.2cm seam allowance down the sides, then when I sewed the bottom I made the seam allowance about 0.5cm. When these are sew together you now have your lantern.

Step 3 Gluing the lantern to the jar

Now glue around the very top edge of your glass jar and slide the lantern into it. Stick the top opening of the lantern onto the line of glue around the jar.

Step 4 Wiring the lantern

Now cut a 30cm length of wire, find the centre and make one loop in it. Then bend the wire into a crescent shape. Take your pliers and bend each end of the wire upwards to make a little u-shape.
Now cut another 50cm length of wire. Hold the first piece of wire onto the top of the jar and wrap the second piece of wire around the jar and on the inside of each end, to keep it in place. When you reach the end of the wire twist the two end together to keep it in place.

And there you have it. Now put a tealight in the bottom of the jar, light it up and you have a very romantic one-of-a-kind lantern. These are so simple to make you could make thirty of them for a garden party.

Enjoy! And let me know what you think. I hope that you can work out the way it works even if you work in inches not cms.

Mia