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

Happy Mother's Day! Paper Bag Envelope Tutorial

So, for part of the mother's day gift, my sister, dad, and I wrote letters for my mum. Though naturally the only person who knows where the envelopes are is my mom. So I had to make envelopes out of paper bags. Not the big kind; the small ones that are used for sack lunches.

Materials: brown paper bag (one bag makes 2 envelopes), scissors, glue

Open up the bottom like so.

You now have a paper tube.

Cut up the side folds.

You now have 2 of these. Set one aside for later for your 2nd envelope.

Flatten the bottom.

Round both ends of the rectangle (you could do a different shape for the flap, but I prefer it round).

Fold up the bottom however high you'd like it.

Fold down the top. Now unfold.

Cut the flaps off from the bottom fold down to the end of the flap.

Now cut the flaps off from the top fold up the the end of the flap. Round the 2 remaining flaps.

This is what the whole piece, unfolded, should look like.

Glue the bottom onto the flaps.

And... you're done! Easy as pie. I've actually never understood that phrase. Making pie doesn't seem easy. Maybe they mean as easy as eating pie. For me, eating pie is pretty easy.

On an unrelated note, I made this cool star paper lantern. A teacher taught me how. It's currently holding a yogurt cup that would be cool to use as a planter.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

(o^__^)o

DIY Dish Towels

I know what you're thinking. Dish towels? Kinda boring... I know, because I'd be thinking the same thing. But honestly, the end product is pretty fun and satisfying. They're also extremely useful, a great way to recycle, and easy to decorate. So basically, you take an old threadbare bath towel and cut it into pieces. After, just hem the sides. You don't have to hem the tops because, if you cut it like me, the tops will be from the sides of the towel, which are already finished.

At first it was really frustrating, because the machine got jammed with thread and lint. Also, by the end it was reallllly boring and I got slower and slower and S L O W E R. You'd think by the end I'd be aching to finish and zipping through, but it was so repetitive I went super slow. However, it's pretty satisfying, and I was able to make 4 towels in an hour.

I also cut off the borders from the top and bottom of the towel, overlapped them, and zipped a seam right down the center. Ta-da! Fancy towel.

Don't ask about the pineapple, it seemed fitting... like you might be at a fancy spa or something...

That soap is from the Sheraton. You might be able to tell by the big S on it...

Have a lovely Sunday! :{

There... Again?!

Yep, I'm over at Alyssa's AGAIN. Aka, best friend, best blogging buddy, etc. I just got back from soccer, so sorry I'm kinda late! Alyssa, if you have not heard me before, is awesome. Have I said that before? Well, if I haven't, I'll say it again. And if I have... well, I'll say it anyway. She's awesome.