Scrap curtain pieces top!

Free Pattern
Awhile ago my perants put up new curtians in their room, the only problem was that they where to long. So my Mum cut off the ends and gave the scraps to me. At first I wasn't to sure what to do with them but then I hit upon the idea of a layered top. Althougth I made mine from curtian scraps, this top can be made from any scraps (if you have enough; see below).

 

 You will need

• long thin scraps of material (prefrable overlocked or instead pre-hemmed), these should be roughly 15cms long (width is less important as you will be threading elastic through; just make sure they are wide enough to fit the full length around the largest bit of your top). x8 or 6 if you are making a strapless top.
• Thread
• sewing machien (set to straight stich)
• Elastic (measureing the length just underneath your armpit, about 4-5cms bellow)

Meathod

1. Layer 5 of your pieces one over the other, so that one edge of the pieces is obscured by the piece above it.
2. Sew them into place.
3. Next get another one of your pieces of material and fold it in half.
4. Secure it with pins onto the top of your layed piece with the rigth sides facing (i.e overlocked edges touching each other).
5. Now sew the pieces together.
6. Then thread the elastic, using a safety pin, though the folded over piece and secure it at the ends.
7. Sew the two ends where the elastic comes out together, right sides facing. If you want to make a strapless top you are now done, if not keep reading!

 

Making the straps

1. Fold the two remaining scrap pieces in half and then in half agian.
2. Sew along both of the longer edges.
3. Finally attach them in the correct possition for you, with one on either end of the tube.

I hope this has inspired you!

Layered Summer Top

Earlier this month I posted about a bag my little sister had made for brownies. When she was done there was still enougth to make something with, maybe not a dress but a top was certianly do able. So this weekend I set about making my little sister a summer top.

I used the under skirt for the ruffle on the straps, the top half of the dress for the first gathered layer and the bottom of the dress for the second gathered layer (as a big whole had been cut in the middle when making the bag). I would have liked to do a third layer but there wasn't enough fabric. Although now I think it looks better with out a third layer.

It was fun and interesting to make and who would have thought that this dress would come out so nicely as a top.

I hope this has inspired you!

Butterfly Shawl Pin

I know that this isn't related to sewing but I just I to show it. Yesterday when my Mum came back from the Wonder Wool Wales show, she showed us her goodies which she had bought. Among them was the most gorgeous and delicate shawl pin I have ever seen and when my Mum reveled that it was only £3, I fell in love with it.

I think I might be borrowing it a lot more than my Mum had first expected. You can also order them online from here, where they have more beautiful designs.

I hope this has inspired you!

Tie dye top

Ok, I know that this isn't sewing but I thought you might be interested. While on holiday in south Korea a theme park siad in their ad that they offer tie dyeing sesions but when we got there it became clear that this was only on special occaisions. It was a shame because most of us wanted to do it. So when we got back my mum, my sister and I decided to try it at home. So we bought some plain white cotton t-shirts and followed these instructions, which tell you how to do natural tie dyeing. It was great because it keept us entertianed for most of the day!

The results on my sisters top where great, mainly because she really went for it with the elastic bands. She used red cabbage for hers.

We all agreed that her top was perfectly werable espacially when it comes wanting something quick to pull on.

I might blog about the t-shirts my Mum and I made but my little sisters turned out the best.

The pale natural colours also mean that it isn't too over powering which many tie dye tops can be.

I hope this has inspired you!

Demin shorts!

I'm the kind of person who wears jeans to death! I wear them every day, so it was hardly suprising when my favourate jeans got a massive whole in the knee. I was still abit annoyed because I loved them.

This picture is from this post.

But yesterday I had a great idea; why not make them into shorts? So I cut of half the legs (just above the whole) and hemmed them, to create amazing shorts, which I know I'll wear to death this summer.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out. All together it took me about 30 minutes, mainly because I was trying really hard to make both legs exactly the same length. I used the same thread that I used for my denim skirt and had the hem line at about 1cm.

 What's great, is that they're ready just in time for spring and summer.

I hope this has inspired you!

High waisted denim skirt

A few months ago I posted about a denim skirt I had made using an ebook.  I really enjoyed making it and had some denim material left over, however I didn't have enough to make a full denim skirt. So I had a look through my box of materials and found some lovely pink flouty material, which I had got a while back in a 60p pack from Abakhans. The combanation made a wonderful skirt.

I followed the ebooks instructions for the top half and then gathered the pink material to give the skirt a floaty summer look. I say that I "followed" the ebook but I totally forgot about the part where you make the pattern given fit you and so ended up with a tight fitting high waisted skirt. Although it wasn't ment to be high waisted I think it actually works quite well. Funny how mistakes can sometimes turn out amazingly well!

I hope this has inspired you!

Simple recycled bag

Free Pattern

When my little sister came home from Brownies saying that they had to make a bag out of recycled material it was obvious she was going to use the sewing machine. Because she had never really used a sewing machine before, I said I'd help her. So while she was looking through the pile of all the families' old clothes (which is conveniently situated at the bottom of her wardrobe), I drafted an easy pattern for her to follow. The item of clothing she used in the end was an old dress of hers that was way to small for her.

27cm and 35cm are the numbers stated.

You will need:

• Old clothing/material (from which you will need 2x A and 2x a strip of contrasting fabric with the Measurements of 75cm x 9cm)
• Thread
• And a sewing machine (this is opional as it can be sewn by hand)

Method:

1. Sew the 2 A pieces of fabric together along the curved line with wrong sides facing, to create your basic bag shape.
2. Next hem along the top to get rid of the scruffy edges.
3. Now get your 2 strips of contrasting fabric and fold in the two scruffy longer edges into the middle.
4. Then fold the material in half so that the scruffy edges are hidden.
5. Once this is done sew down the side with the two inner folded edges to secure it in place. These two pieces will become your handles.
6. Finally turn your main bag inside out and attach your handles to it so that they are evenly apart and the bottom of the handle is hidden. 

    7.   Now you have your new basic bag.

This bag can be decorated in many different ways. For example my little sister used the ruffle of the dress to make a mid ruffle. This effect could also be achieved with a ribbon. If you want to do that, before you start sew the ruffle to where you want it to be on both of pieces A with the scruffy edge folded inward so that it isn't visable. The folding wouldn't be needed if you used a ribbon as the edges would be finnished off for you.

I hope this has inspired you!