Jersey Skirt Tutorial

My sister's birthday is in January. I told her I'd either finish writing my novel, or I'd make her something. Since I know I can't finish my story, I made her a skirt yesterday out of some periwinkle colored jersey. Final product:

Side view:

Back view:

I did it all under 35 minutes. I am extremely proud because I didn't use a pattern or tutorial. It looks like one of those skirts that has a black waistband from Forever 21 and Nordstroms. I guess you could make the waistband a different color.

Tutorial

materials: jersey fabric, sewing machine, scissors

1. Measure your waist and multiply by two. This is x. Ex: 36 x 2=72." Cut out a piece of fabric that is x" by however long you want your skirt. I used 2 pieces of fabric, but I think 1 piece would take less time. Sew the ends together for the body of the skirt.

2. Take your waist measurement. Cut out a piece of fabric by that number by double the width you want your waistband. I think my width was about 5" to get a 2.5" waistband.

3. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, and sew the ends together. You should now have a double layer tube for the waistband.

4. Baste around the top of the skirt and gather it until it is the circumference of the waistband.

5. Line up the seams of the back of the skirt and the back of the waistband. Place the band around the top of the skirt, lining up the unfinished edges with the top edge of the skirt. Use a zigzag stitch and sew the waistband on. Flip the waistband up. Done!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Was so busy over the weekend... Went to my aunt's house on Christmas Eve, and we had a wrapping paper fight (like a snowball fight, but I imagine less painful, due to the fact that I've never actually participated in a good snowball fight), then we had a Nerf gun fight. It was fun. On Christmas yesterday I went to my Grandma's house and we opened more presents. Presents include DS games, iPod touch (!), fingerless Nordstrom gloves with crocheted flowers, Vans t-shirt, and some other cool stuff. What did you do over the holidays?

Lovely Loose Fitting Dress/Smock Tutorial

I went to Joann's and picked up some linen and elastic (okay, okay, I didn't 'pick-up' anything; my mom drove me there and I had to beg for some money--not to mention the fact that I printed out a coupon before we left). I only got a yard because it was expensive--$7.99 for a yard! It was 54" wide. There was a sale and the total was a little over $6 with tax. I wasn't sure if it was enough to make the dress, but I planned it out for once. My inspiration:

My dress definitely doesn't look like this. Don't I wish. sigh... My sister says the final product looks like a cute potato sack. Great. I love to wear fashionable vegetable carriers.

This dress doesn't consist of many pieces. You should get more than 1 yd, but if you're making this for a kid, then 1 yd is fine. The dress is a simple design. Sew let's get started...

Materials: 1 yd of linen or light-weight fabric, at least 54" wide; ribbon or binding/bias tape; elastic; scissors; ruler; sewing machine; thread; pins

A Joann's coupon would be nice, too.

1. Take your fabric, and with the 54" on top, cut out 4 pieces.

A: Chest measurement + 8" + 2" x 34"

B: Chest measurement + 8" x 34"

C: Sleeve piece. Mine was 7" x 18" You should measure around your shoulder and armpit and determine the length.

D: Sleeve piece

Save some fabric for pockets.

2. With piece A, cut out your v-neck. Now cut 1/2" under the v-neck, right across the front, so you have 2 trapezoids attached in the middle and a rectangle. Take your 2 trapezoids and trim 1" off the sides.

3. Baste across the top of your rectangle from A and pull slightly so it gathers a bit. It should measure the width of piece B across the top. Now take your piece that looks like two trapezoids connected and pin the edges to the center of your gathered rectangle, right sides together. Sew along the pinned edges, and flip the trapezoids up so you now have the front of your shirt.

4. Take piece B and make a small scoop for the back of your neck, making sure it's not bigger than your v neck. With right sides together, sew A and B together at the shoulder. Mark 9" down from the shoulder for your sleeve hole, and mark with a pin. Starting from the pin, sew to the bottom of your shirt.

5. Take pieces C and D, and fold it in half for your sleeve. Sew it onto your shirt. Shorten the sleeve as desired.

6. Sew 1" casings on the sleeves and the bottom of the shirt, and insert elastic so it gathers a little, and you have slightly puffy, gathered sleeves and balloon-like bottom.

7. Sew ribbon or your bias tape along the neckline to bind it. My ribbon came from a Nordstrom's box, you know, the silver ribbon tied in bows. I also added a belt. However, this stuff frays like crazy. Beware. Add pockets and done! Hope you liked the tutorial. :)

Different Title

I have just changed my title from Yummy Crafts to Sweet LemoNAYde (get it? Nay? Naomi... ok, I'll stop now for your sake), just because Yummy Crafts seems so plain and simple. I don't know. What do you think? My sister suggested calling the blog Craft Cheddar Cheese, and I thought of calling it MayoNAYse... I guess punny humor runs through the family. Here's my sister's joke:

Q. Why did Frodo like to take pictures of himself?

A. Because he was Frodo-genic! Ha-ha... (you know? photogenic?)

Okay, I'm really sorry about that...

Lovely Loose Fitting Dress

Isn't this dress so pretty? Made by NewExtrave on etsy. I love it... [drools]

I think I could make this with some linen, elastic, and ribbon for the neckline--the ribbon was originally wrapped around a Nordstrom's gift box :) I'd make bigger pockets, though, for extra snacks and stuff.

Rosette Jersey Headband

This headband doubles as a neck and ear warmer. I'm making it for my sister for Christmas. Unfortunately, I don't have any of that colored jersey (well I do, but it's very thin). So I used some periwinkle colored jersey.

Materials: jersey, scissors, needle and thread

I love that casual look about it. It's nice and soft. It keeps my ears warm.

***I have decided to give a basic how-to for those interested . The headband is very easy. It is a strip of 5.5" x (your head measurement) piece of jersey. Sew the ends together, and then sew a running/basting stitch along the seam. Pull to ruche, and go back over it with a line of stitching to keep it secure. The flowers are 1.5" x 5" strips with a running/basting stitch along one 5" edge. Pull tight to ruche into a circle shape and sew the ends together. Make another flower and sew along the seam of your headband.***

Christmas...

Is almost here. I can't wait! I have no idea what I'm getting for presents, though. For my sister, I think I might give her my orange juice carton wallet (if I can find it) and some jewelry or an ear warmer or something. For mommy, giving her the movie Eat, Pray, Love, and maybe knit some slippers. No idea what I'll get for Daddy. But for Grandma, I want to give her a sweatshirt jacket. What are you making people for Christmas?

Off the Shoulder Top Tutorial

Sorry I haven't written in a while, but the last week of school is busy. I'm going to start testing out some methods of making off the shoulder tops, just because I really like that artsy, I-made-this-for-an-art-gallery look. No pics, sorry. :/

Materials: t-shirt, scissors

Cut out the neckband. Widen the neck hole as needed, until you get it to hang off the shoulder at a proper angle. I suppose if you cut the hole too big, you could add a band of fabric, like so:

(I know, I said no pictures, but I guess I meant none of my own images)

How was your week?

Wire and Glass Bead Rings

Over the summer, my sister and I made these rings for our summer school, where you do art and building and writing classes and stuff. One of the classes was jewelry, and you were able to sell the things you make. So we made these rings. I saw the project in a book in the library. I memorized the directions, but now I can't find the book. Oh well.

This is my very first ring:

And this is a plain wire rosette ring:

The rings were a success. We earned about $60. For some odd reason, people didn't want to do custom orders. They'd just choose the prettiest ring, force it onto their finger, and leave, even when I offered to do it to accommodate their horizontally challenged fingers. Some of the rings were pretty small, but for others we modeled them after a giant yellow highlighter, and this seemed to be more popular among customers. This one porky girl came up, grabbed the most elegant ring, jammed it onto her pinkie finger, paid, and left. She came back, and I was worried she'd want to return it or something. I noticed her finger was slightly purple. But instead she just said, "I am a very satisfied customer," and she left. Whatever. Whatever floats your boat, right?

Tutorial

(Sorry the x" is backwards. The camera on the computer takes pics backwards. So that's why the numbers are all wonky, cuz I drew them backwards)

Materials: wire, needle nose pliers, at least five beads (well the weird wired orange peanut-looking one only had one bead, but it was a slightly different design.)

1. Cut a piece of wire, about 18"- 24" long. Measure the circumference of your finger, and mark the measurement on your wire.

2. At the mark, bend the wire at a 90 degree angle. You will have what looks like a straight 7.

3. Now take the long end of the wire and make it into a loop.

4. With the rest of the wire, tightly wrap around the part where you marked the ring. When you're done, bend the wrapped wire around your finger, and tuck the two little ends into the loop and twist together.

5. Cut a piece of wire 10-12" long. Place it through the loop on your ring base and slide a bead on. Weave the wire into the loop.

6. Take the other end of the wire and put a bead on. Weave it through the ring.

7. Repeat till you've run out of beads, or until your finger can't take the weight and you think it may fall off. Wrap any remaining wire around the base of the bobble. Wear. When people ask you where you bought it, tell them you made it. Or that it was $80 at Anthropologie. Either way.

Anthropologie Knock-Off: Curtain Call Top Tutorial

Edit: more pics are in this post.

Remember the Anthropologie Curtain Call top that I posted about? Well I finally got around to hand-sewing it, and I think it was worth it. I plan on wearing it to a play we're going to on Wednesday. We're supposed to wear sort of fancy clothes. My inspiration:

The result:

So, tutorial:

Materials: one t-shirt that fits you, one XL t-shirt, scissors, needle and thread/sewing machine, tape measure, pencil

1. Cut off sleeve hems, hem, and neckband.

2. Mark the front of the neck evenly, making six sections and five marks. With your tape measure, measure between the marks. This will be x.

3. Take your XL t-shirt and cut six strips, x" wide.

4. Use a basting stitch and baste each side of the strip. Pull it to gather the strip.

5. Place your gathered strip, matching it up with the lines, and backstitch it to the shirt on both sides.

6. Repeat with remaining strips.

7. Wear proudly. I added ties to the sides so it could tie in the back, because the shirt was wide, and I also added a band to the bottom so it was longer.

Curtain Call Top

I really want to make this shirt from Anthropologie:

Isn't it nice? Very pretty. I love the ruffles and the drapey parts.

I've got an idea on how to make it. I must get a white t-shirt first.

I will share the tute when it's done.

No-Sew Pencil Case Tutorial

I need a new pencil case, because the knitted one I have has no lining and needs a proper closure. So, ingredients:

-one ziploc bag

-scissors

-stapler

-tape

-comics/magazine

1. So first, put a picture or comic inside your bag. Make sure it fits, and leave enough room between the zipper and the image, at least 3/8".

2. Now cut the zipper off of the bag, leaving at least 3/8" plastic remaining on the zipper. You should have something that looks like this. (see how the zipper has some plastic on it?)

3. Fold your plastic bag with the image inside in half. You should now have something that looks like a flat pencil case (or at the very least, a plastic bag with an image inside folded in half).

4. Your mother might, at this point, throw away your zipper while you are at school, due to the fact that she thinks you cut it off for a reason. So cut one off of the plastic bag holding that 2 month old pack of graham crackers (don't be surprised if a cloud of dust forms from the crumbs... or if you're unlucky, they might not be crumbs at all). Wash it VERY VERY well.

5. Now staple your zipper on. If you can't reach the far corners of the bag like me, use tape.

6. Use clear packing tape to seal the sides, and place your school supplies inside... or your candy or band-aids or buttons... or just about anything. Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving!

Plastic Bottle Flower Tutorial

Yesterday I went with my mom to a nursing home to visit, and one nice lady, named Gloria, taught me how to make a flower out of a plastic bottle. She was doing art projects with the seniors. I kind of liked the flowers even without the paint, but they were nice painted, too. I liked it with gold paint. In the middle of class today I took someone's empty water bottle and used my (safety) scissors to make myself a flower. Everyone kept saying, "Whoa! That's so cool. Is that, like, an octopus?" To which I responded, "I guess. It's supposed to be a flower." Everyone told me to put a candle inside, or some candy for Christmas. I like the candy idea. Maybe some Lindor chocolates... Nom, nom, nom. For your viewing pleasure, I used scrapbooking paper for background. Oh, and when I refer to 'line,' I'm talking about those creases on the bottle. You know, the lines that wrap all the way around the bottle?

1. Starting from the top, move down one line on the bottle and cut it. You now have something that looks like the pic above. I'll call it the top half.

2. Now mark three lines up on the bottom piece. Cut one long line down till you reach your mark and stop. Cut six more lines so you have a kind of fringe. Cut these into tapering triangles, like petals. You will have 6 petals.

3. Now stuff your top half (with the cap that you made in the first step) into the bottom half--the one with all the petals that you made in step two. Now spray paint it, put some candy inside, and stuff the top half back on. If the top half doesn't fit, then cut some notches into the bottom, and cram it together. Now stuff with candy and give out for Christmas.

I suppose in these pictures they do kinda look like some mutant squids or octopi. But they're cool, nonetheless.

Cabled Hand Warmers

I've never done a real cable project. So I went over to the Hand knitted Things blog, and I learned how to knit a cable with this tutorial. I made another panel, and then sewed them together to make hand warmers.

Pattern

US 8 (5 mm) needles

Yarn

Cable Needle or DPN

So, the pattern says:

Cast on 14 stitches.
Row 1; Purl 4, Knit 6, Purl4.
Row 2; Knit 4, Purl6, Knit 4.
Row 3; as row 1.
Row 4; as row 3.
Row 5; Purl 4, C6F, Purl 4.

C6F:

1. Slip the next 3 stitches onto the cable needle,

2. Hold the cable needle in front of the work,
3. Knit the next 3 stitches from the left hand needle onto the right hand needle.
4. Then knit the stitches from the cable needle onto the right hand needle.

Cable till 7 inches. BO. Now, CO 14 sts and knit in St st till 7 inches. BO. Now sew the two panels together, leaving a gap for a thumbhole.

Stanford Splash

I just got back from Stanford Splash. It was really fun. I had the classes Taiko and Sewing with Electronics. I recommend both. For sewing, I made a circuit and attached it to a fabric dinosaur so the eye lights up. I plan on sewing it onto a t-shirt. For Taiko, we learned a song. It was really tiring. I was sweating like crazy.

Leg Warmer Pattern/Tutorial

I had a ball of LB Homespun in a bag, hanging on the closet door, waiting for something to happen to it. So I knit myself some leg warmers. Did you know that November is novel-writing month? At least that's what my friend in science said. I am working on my novel write now. Sorry, right now. Okay, so, here's the pattern. Sorry for the bad pic. I was trying to turn the camera towards my leg, which was kinda hard.

Materials: 1 skein of Lionbrand Homespun yarn, size 10 needles (you could use circular, but I used straight)

CO 36 sts. Knit in k2 p2 ribbing for 1 inch. Knit in St st till piece is 12 inches long. Knit in k2 p2 ribbing for 2 more inches. BO. Seam.

Some lovely warm leg warmers! They are kind of big on me, but they are very warm and should fit an adult. These would make a great gift. Christmas is almost here!

Update on Halloween

Popcorn costume was a success. People loved it. They'd laugh and say stuff like, "I know what I'm going to be on Halloween next year" and "Oh! I love popcorn." Kids and adults would reach up and touch the popcorn on the box. Unfortunately, the glue wasn't dry. My sister had glued on the popcorn hours earlier, but it was still wet and the popcorn slid around. I put my hood up to avoid getting my hair greasy. Then suddenly, I felt someone clawing at my hood. I figured some kid was just feeling the popcorn--until my sister said, "Oh my gosh! He just ate it!" Which is when I whirled around and realized with a start that some kid had gotten some free popcorn, along with some (non-toxic) glue. Oh well. I got a lot of candy, at least.

Halloween

For Halloween, I'm going to be a box of popcorn. Yesterday, I wore my Goomba hat and dressed in brown. People liked it, but they didn't know what it was called.

person: Hey, what's that on your hat?

me: A goomba.

person: What's that?

me: You know! Those brown things from Mario?

person: Whaat?

me: You know, Mario is always sitting on them and squashing them.

person: Oooh! You mean those mushrooms?

Mushrooms? I always thought of goombas as brown monsters that look like dogs or something. But whatever. A lot of people did, however, say, "Dude, your hat is so awesome!" Thank you, I made it myself. No, I didn't buy it. Yes, I know it's cool. Thank you, thank you.

Even my teacher said, "I like your hat." But then someone passed gas and everyone's attention was instantly diverted by my wonderful headpiece. Sigh.

So for Halloween I'm gonna be a box of popcorn. Nom, nom, nom. :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (o^-_^o)

Goomba Hat

Since my popcorn costume isn't done yet, I'm going to be a Goomba from Mario at school. I'll still be a box of popcorn for Halloween on Sunday, but for school I'm just gonna wear this hat I knit (from Fade Crazy). At first the hat was too short, it didn't even cover my ears. I was so sad. :( But then I had the bright idea to add ear flaps, and after that, I got a bit more creative and crocheted a chain and added some pompoms. I told my mom I'd just be a Goomba for now, and at first I think she didn't really like it. But I think she warmed up to the idea and agreed to lay out brown clothes (did I mention she picks out most of my clothes?).

Knit a Recycled Apple-Picking Market Bag

This is my apple picking bag, knitted out of plastic bags. So, here's the story...

Once upon a time, a girl was obsessed with making a raincoat. Absolutely, positutely, obsessed. She reasoned, I want a nice raincoat. A unique one that no one else has, cuz even though that black North Face one is cool, everyone has it (and I mean everyone--just like everyone has that danali or danny or danielle fleece NF zip up too). So she saw posts on Instructables and she saw Penfelts awesome fused raincoat and thought, I want one like that.

When her grandparents came, she got tons of plastic bags, due to the fact that they ate at Chinese places every night (she got tired of those Chinese places--except for the pearl milk tea at Quicklys). Determined to make those fused plastic raincoats, she collected a ton of bags--only to find out that her mom wouldn't let her walking out of the house in a coat made of trash (well, she wasn't that harsh, but she didn't want her daughter in a coat like that).

Disappointed, the girl wondered what to do with these plastic bags. So she went online and saw the '80 ways to save the earth tote' on darn good yarn, and she wanted to knit one. So she grabbed a pair of us 15 needles, made a bunch of plarn, cast on 28 sts, and knit till it was 2 ft long. She bound off, sewed up the sides, and there she had it. A perfect stretchy market bag.

THE END

Today I picked apples off our tree with that bag and it was really nice. But I was afraid the part of the bag where the handle was (i just grabbed the handle off of an old messenger bag) would stretch or something, so I supported the bottom of the bag and carried the misshapen package to the kitchen. Now we've got a beautiful bowl of crispy, tart apples. o(^__^o)

T-shirt/ Infinity scarf tutorial

I saw a scarf like this in generation t. So I started it. But then I realized that I was too lazy and that the piece I had cut off the shirt was perfect, and it was long enough to wrap it around my neck twice. Tutorial time!

Ingredients (why do people use the term ingredients? I'm not saying a t-shirt isn't edible, but still...):

*a t-shirt

*a pair of scissors

Cut your hem off. Now cut off the shirt under the armpits, so you have one large tube. Pull it over your head, and then loop it around again. Ta-da! A nice soft scarf that will gain many compliments and keep your neck warm. Or you can drape it around your shoulders and pull it up like a hood.

Disclaimer: if you do the hood idea, it's not my fault if it looks hideous. I tried it and it looked funky, but it might be because it was crooked and too short for a hood.

How to get a Guy (named ******) to Stop Annoying You

Ha ha, I found this in my art journal; I was really annoyed at this guy. Guess I wasn't very mature or nice, but he was really mean. Plus he swears. I don't like it when people swear. It gets to me for some reason. Maybe I'm just really easy to infuriate, but everyone is at one point or other. Here's the entry I made:

1. Don't let him get to you, because you know you are an infinitely amount of times smarter than he is.

2. Don't ignore him. Stand up for yourself and only back down if he threatens to beat you up, touch your hair, or throw an onion at you.

3. When he says, "Shut up," tell him that the term shut up is for people who don't know what else to say. Then tell him to shut up.

4. When the sub teacher accidently calls him Marian, remember that.

5. When you have to correct the sub on how to say your name and ****** keeps copying your voice, tell him to "Shut up, Marian." It will get to him. He may call you a loser. This is the time when rule #2 should be ignored as you snicker and bask in triumph.

Just saying Hi

Hello, everyone. This is my first post! I just want to say that this is where I will be posting about crafts, and just random things. Thanks. Hope you enjoy! (o^__ ^)o