DIYs: Done

Well, I've made some bracelets from jersey scraps (ignore the scary monster nails)...

I finished a cowl. It's the scrunchable scarf pattern with the ends sewn together.

I refashioned a dress shirt (details on that in another post)...

...and my sister made a shirt with my tutorial! Didn't she do a great job? I used a strip of the fabric to make one of my bracelets. ;) Speaking of that very cool, stripey fabric, it was only $2.39 a yard.

That's all for today, folks. 

(o^__^)o

DIY: No Sew Crop Top Tutorial

Yay! Easy tutorial today...

A crop top!

It's really easy and fun to make. You can wear it off the shoulder, cut off the sleeves to make a tank top, wear it over a camisole--it's a very versatile piece. My sister made one too (she's modeling the black shirt). Then we went and had a photo shoot, haha... 

(my sister's flower hair)

Except it didn't exactly work out. We always start goofing around and we run out of poses. Like in this photo shoot:

I can't believe I actually posted this picture (and I know, the outfit choice isn't the best).

And if you were wondering, yes, I got highlights. :D

(If you wanna see real photoshoots, though, go to Live Love Craft)

Anyways...

Materials: size L men's shirt and scissors

1. Cut off the neckband and sleeve hems.

2. Rotate the shirt so that the side seams/folds line up.

3. Cut a slope to make a high-low hem, making the shirt cropped in the front (or you can just cut straight across).

Yep, that's it. Easy.

We liked stretching and curling all the edges, and we also thought cuffing the sleeves looked better (I might tack down the cuffs with some stitches, but for now I just fold them).

That's it! You're done. Now go find some big tees that don't fit.

(o^__^)o

What I've been up to...

Knitting a pair of hand warmers due to a sudden decrease in temperature. It's also started raining. I love it. :)

My sister got a pair of ugly green plaid sunglasses (no offense to anyone who has these; if you do, just ignore me. My opinion doesn't count) and we got out some gray nail polish. We're painting the sunglasses gray, we're painting the sunglasses gray (like in Alice in Wonderland. Except they were painting the roses red)...

I still try to do all this even with school and soccer. Just wanted to let you know I am making an effort. o(^___^o)

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.**

5 Minute T-shirt Shrug Tutorial

Tutorial

Easiest shrug ever. Took about 5 minutes. Hence the name. Obviously. Duh.

Materials: L-XL t-shirt. Mine was a soft, thin, stretchy shirt. sewing machine, scissors.

Turn inside out. Follow the diagram and sew a scoop from shoulder to shoulder, about 1/2" away from the neckband. Now trim the fabric 1/2" away from the stitching. Turn right side out. Ta-da! You're done. To put it on, stick your arms through the sleeves as if you're putting on a jacket. Leave the rest of the material on your back. So, your arms should be through the sleeves, the neckline should be a seam on the middle of the back of your shrug, the front hem should be resting on your neck, and the back hem should be the bottom of your shrug.

Seashell Shirt

I call this shirt (well, in my mind) the seashell shirt, or a pinwheel shirt, because of the swirly, ruffly design. I tried to resize my shirt, but made it too small, so I added panels to the sides, and that worked well. So I then reattached the sleeves, made a ruffled strip, and sewed it into a spiral pattern. Finished:

The machine was hard to manipulate to get it to move in a spiral, but I finally managed. Tutorial on Made By Lex.