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.