V-Neck Shirt Tutorial

I secretly think that you need a good v-neck. I don't know why; I just kind of thought that and now I want my mom to buy me a gray v-neck. I couldn't think of what I wanted to do with some leftover blue jersey, so I squeezed out 2 pattern pieces for a raw edge v neck. No hems. No neckband. Maybe I'll add a neckband later, but who knows. Jersey doesn't fray anyway.

Tutorial

Materials: 1 yd of jersey (originally i had 1 yd and then i cut a lot out of it, so it was hard to cut out the 2 pcs but i managed. you could try with less than a yard if you'd prefer...), v neck t-shirt that fits well, thread, sewing machine, scissors

1. Put your t-shirt on the fabric and cut around it, adding seam allowance and making sure you have a lot of fabric underneath the armpit, or else you won't be able to get into the shirt.

2. Cut 2 pcs that look like a bubble t-shape with large gussets under the armpit.

3. Fold your 1st piece in half and cut out a v-neck. Don't do what I did and fold both pieces in half. I ended up cutting a small snip in the back; but I'll show you later how I fixed it.

4. With the 2nd piece cut a small curve in the back, using your t-shirt as a guide. So the first piece has a lower neckline and the 2nd only has a slight curve.

5. Sew the shoulder seams together.

6. Sew the side seams together.

7. You're done!

The lazy way to bundle up scraps and garbage:

If you're like me and cut a snip in the back... (and you can use this anywhere you've messed up for a patch)

First, I went over the cut with a tiny whipstitch, joining the 2 sides together. After that, I drew a design in pen, making the cut part of the design. My design was a spool of thread and a needle, and some words written in thread that say 'mayonayse.' Get it? Mayo-nay-se? Because my name's Naomi? Nay? G-get it? see... never mind.

Anyways, embroider over your design and you've hidden the snip! Except my letters were super messy and my mom thought 'mayonayse' said 'mother.' And here I was thinking I was so clever...

As you can see here, I used a satin stitch to cover up the whipstitch rip as part of the design. You can look up some basic embroidery stitches online.

Hope you enjoy! :)

And this is what my sister made:

Here's her inspiration:

I might add a tutorial if you're interested. o(^__^o) Have a great day!

Happy Belated Father's Day! (and my fisherman's bracelet)

Sorry I didn't say Happy Father's Day on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday; I was a bit busy and only available to complain about swimming. Anyways, what we did was:

1. we went out shopping and driving around at Palo Alto on university avenue

2. we had a delicious home-cooked meal of pulled pork bbq sandwiches

3. gave our daddy our presents.

All in all it was a fun day for me.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! o(^__^o)

Oh and I made a new icord bracelet. I like to think of it as a fisherman's bracelet because of the natural color and the large knot in the center.

I used some thin string/twine and double pointed needles.

What i did was:

CO 3 sts, leaving a long tail, about 5" to tie the bracelet off with.

K the first row.

Now flip the needle around so the sts are at the bottom.

Then slide the sts up to the top so the working yarn (string, whatever) is at the bottom stitch.

(see? the yarn is coming from the bottom stitch)

Now k the row again, bringing the yarn up from the bottom. Now slide the sts to the other end, flip the needle over, and k the row again.

Repeat till the length around your wrist plus a little more. To bind off, just pull the string through the sts and pull tight. Cut the thread about 5."

In the center of the icord, tie a figure eight knot: Make a loop, twist it once, and pull the end through.

To close the bracelet, tie overhand knots on the ends so they don't unravel and use a fisherman's knot for an adjustable bracelet! Tada! You're all done.

Yuck...

I'm doing swimming lessons for 4 weeks. It was my first day today and my throat is all dry from swallowing water and I'm all tired from doing 4 laps of everything. It's not like i'm a bad swimmer either; i've been swimming since I was 2 or 3. It's just that I'm on my last level and my mom and dad want me to finish since my sister did. Sigh... I don't like it. Especially at the end where you're tested and you have to do 8 laps of freestyle, 8 laps of backstroke, 4 laps of breaststroke, and 2 or 4 laps of butterfly. Oh, and 5 minutes of treading water. Or something like that. If I'm lucky i'll only have to do 2 laps of butterfly.

DIY Racerback Tank Top Tutorial

I went to Michael's and got a t-shirt and scrapbooking paper (used for my paper chain bracelet) and this is what I made with the t-shirt.

materials: t-shirt, scissors

1. Cut off neckband and lower the neckline if needed.

2. Cut off sleeves and make straps thinner if you want.

3. Turn it over and cut out a slight racerback. I did freehand.

4. Cut a deep v down from the neckline in the back, making the tip of the v going down onto the racerback.

5. Cut off the hem, and then cut of the stitching above the hem to get a very long strip. Stretch the strip, and tie the 2 shoulders together in the back, starting about 2" above the tip of the v. Wind it around like so and tie a knot.

6. If you have annoying wrinkles above your wound t-shirt strip like this--

--cut them off.

7. And you're done. Perfect for summer or a swimsuit coverup or anything you want it to be!

Can you tell I'm kind of tired in this post? It's pretty short and the steps are pretty much only one sentence long. Except for steps 3, 5, and 7. Plus I have only 1 exclamation point in the whole post in step 7. Please excuse me. I'm hungry.

Good-bye.

**Edit: I didn't explain the knot-tying part very well; you can see more info if you scroll down to comment #11 and #12.**

Glossy Gum Wrapper Chain Paper Bracelet Tutorial

I had another blog when I was about 10-11 (that blog is kind of embarrassing so i won't tell you what it's called, but it was on wordpress). I posted this same project, except with different paper. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't show up because I never knew how to upload pictures. Sadly, I lost my last bracelet. I thought it was really cool, and it was. Teachers and friends complimented it. And then, I left it on a bookshelf, and it was stolen. In other words, I lost it. So, here's my new tutorial, complete with accessible pictures. I'm sure some adults have done the same thing with gum wrappers; my dad taught me this, saying he used wrappers. I've tried using gum wrappers, but for me they're just way too small for this project. So...

Materials:

-2 pieces of 12" x 12" scrapbooking paper (not cardstock, it's too stiff); i got mine from Michaels for 25 cents each paper, so 50 cents for 2 pcs

-scissors, or if you're lucky a paper cutter

-ruler

-mod podge (optional, but it adds a nice shine and makes it more durable)

1. On one edge going across the top, mark the paper on the back every 2." You should have 5 marks and 6 sections.

2. On the other edge going up and down, mark the paper every 4 and 1/2." You should have two marks and 2 sections.

3. On the edge opposite of the 2" marks, repeat step 1. On the edge opposite of the 4 and 1/2" marks, repeat step 2.

4. Using the ruler, connect the 2" marks together and the 4 and 1/2" marks. You should now have a grid of 2 x 6. See that long piece at the bottom in the 2nd photo? You can trim that off. It'll be about 3" x 12." You can throw it out, but I'd keep it for now.

5. Now cut along the grid lines so you have pieces of paper 4 and 1/2" x 2." I like to crease along the lines and then cut along the creases. Repeat with the other piece of paper so you have a pile of paper like this.

6. Take one piece and fold it in half lengthwise.

Now fold the 2 edges to the center like so...

And now fold it in half again lengthwise.

7. Now fold it in half so there are 2 long 'arms'...

and fold those to the center. You should have this.

Repeat with the other pieces of paper. I needed about 22 pieces, you may need less or more.

8. To connect them, insert the 2 arms into the folds of another piece like so and pull through:

You get this.

9. Repeat with another piece. This is how I do it sometimes, insert one arm and pull it through, and then bend the other one through the other slot.

10. Repeat till it's as long as it goes around your wrist.

11. For the clasp, fold a piece and then unfold the arms.

12. Now put it through the slots like regular, and fold the arms around the first link and into the slots on the other side.

(as you can see, the brown paper, which is the last link, wraps its arms around the first link and you fold them into the slots--that's a view from the top)

13. Mod podge if you wish for a glossy finish and you're done! Makes a cool present, even for non-jewelry wearers-- I'd know because I'm one of them! Have a fantastic week!

(if you can tell in these pictures, the bracelet is giving off a bit of shine from the modpodge :))

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