Tutorial: DIY Fold Over Elastic Hair Ties

Fold Over Elastic (FOE) hair ties are everywhere.  You can find them on Etsy, Forever 21, American Eagle, and even Walmart.  They are cute, colorful, won't damage your hair, or leave a crease in your hair when removed.  Unfortunately, they are also horribly overpriced. 

I've slowly been packing up my hospital bag in preparation for this little baby.  The idea of being able to pull my hair up during labor, and let it down afterwards for some photos is super appealing (even though I'm going to be a hot sweaty mess). So, I made up several sets of these elastic, and gave some to my expectant sister in law as well.

Do you want to make some for yourself, and the whole neighborhood?  All you need is some fold over elastic, which you can find at most craft stores. I purchased mine from The Ribbon Retreat.  I was able to pick up several fun colors and prints for much less than at Joann's. You will also need some craft scissors, and a lighter or candle for heat sealing the ends.

 

So pretty.

Measure out 9.5 inches of elastic, and clip.

You can tie a couple of different kinds of knots, a simple overhand knot will work, and will allow for a little bow like ends...

...or you can tie a side knot.  This is the knot that I see most frequently. Whichever knot you choose, you'll want to keep the ends about an inch long. After you've tied the initial knot, give the tail ends a tug to tighten the knot, and then pull on the loop end to tighten it even more.  Your knot should be quite secure after tugging.

Angle off the tail ends with your  scissors.

Place the tail ends near the flame of a lighter or candle to heat seal the ends.  Sticking them IN the flame is not necessary, or the best idea.  You'll burn the elastic, rather than seal the ends.

Nice and sealed to prevent fraying.

Now gather up your favorite color combinations, and put them together for easy gift giving, and a pretty presentation.  My Sister In Law received a pretty set along with a bottle of dry shampoo, because new mamas don't have time for showers or curling irons.

Thanks for reading.  Love this idea? Don't forget to pin it.

DIY Leather Bookmark Tutorial

Another simple leather scrap project for Father's Day.  My husband is an avid reader, and being on summer break, he's catching up on his hobby.  I thought some nice leather bookmarks might be appreciated, especially since there is usually a junk mail envelope, or receipt holding his place in his current read.

These are super simple to make.  No photo tutorial for this one, but I think that you'll do just fine without.

Materials: 
Leather scraps (upholstery weight-not too thick)
Thread
Leather Sewing Needle

 First off, you need to cut two right triangles of equal size.  Mine are about 2 1/2 inches long on the right angle sides.  The hypotenuse (the diagonal), will be longer.  Just make sure that the square sides are equal in length.

Next, this is optional, stitch along the hypotenuse edge of each of your triangles.  This is purely decorative, but I can't resist.

Next, place your leather triangles wrong sides together, and back tacking the start and finish of the stitching lines, sew the pieces together.  I stitch 1/8" away from the raw edge of the leather.  You can lengthen the stitching length if you'd like.  Contrasting thread is always a fun touch with leather as well.

As with sewing any leather project, I recommend using a non-stitch presser foot.  You can also reduce the amount of tension/pressure on your presser foot, to help the leather slide under the presser foot.

Slide the book pages into the open hypotenuse edge, and mark your place in your favorite book.  

DIY Leather Cord Strap

After making up some fabric cord keepers for Mother's Day, I figured that it was time to tackle the problem of unruly cords in a more masculine fashion.  Leather is such a great material to work with, and is a great gender neutral material. I love it so much, that I have a really difficult time throwing out leather scraps.  I have a whole bin full of small leather scraps, and fortunately, there is plenty to do with them.

These little leather cord straps require a piece of leather that is only 5/8 inch-3/4 inch wide, and only needs to be about 4 1/2 inches long. I made a few different sizes, just to see what I liked best, and to be honest, the smaller the better, four and a quarter to four and a half inches in length seemed to be just about right for phone chargers, and usb cables.  If you need something for a small but bulkier cord, five to five and a half inches would probably work well.

Materials:
Scrap of leather 5/8"x 4 1/2"
Sew On Hook and Loop Fastener (velcro) 1/2"
Leather Sewing Needle
Sewing Machine Thread

Take your strip of leather, and sew around the perimeter of the leather using your leather sewing machine needle. Lengthen your stitch length if desired.

Sew on your hook and loop (velcro) fastener.  You will attach one side to the right side of the leather, and one to the underside, on opposite ends of the strap. Done.  

If you really want to get organized, you could stamp the name of the cord that belongs to the strap using leather stamps.  I had a clever reader mention that she used her embroidery machine to label her fabric cord keepers.  So smart.

If your leather is particularly thick, or has a difficult time moving under the presser foot, reduce the tension on your presser foot, and use a non stick or teflon presser foot.

Baby Hat and Pants from a T-shirt

I spent last week tackling my upcycle clothing pile, which was getting too big.

I selected about eight pieces of clothing that needed to be turned into something new, and worked my magic.  One of those articles of clothing was a gray turtleneck that was never worn, but was in great condition.  It became a new pair of baby pants, which happen to be one of my favorite little things for baby boys, and an adorable top knot hat with a Mom Tattoo Applique (another of my favorite things).

For the hat, I printed off Prudent Baby's Top Knot Hat Pattern.  I aligned the original hem of the turtle neck, with the hem line on the pattern.  Cut out the hat, leaving the side seams of the turtle neck intact for the baby pants.

I followed her instructions, minus the cuff on the hat, and the hat was finished in no time flat.  Then, just to dress it up a bit, I added a small  Mom Heart Tattoo Applique.  I love it so much more than I ever did the turtle neck.

 As I mentioned, I preserved the side seams of the shirt, and cut out my infant pants using the existing hem as well.  I added a faux fly, crotch and leg seams, and the casing, and these were done in minutes also.  So easy.  I'm thinking that I need to make at least one more pair of these.  Do you want a tutorial?

Then, just for good measure, I whipped up a Mom Tattoo appliqued body suit to complete the look.

You can find my PDF file applique template here.

Thanks for reading, and I have more upcycled goodness to come.  It was a productive week.

Jack and Jill

We have a Jack and Jill bathroom in our home.  It was a great way to maximize the usable space in our small home.  One door connects to my boys' room, and the other to my office/sewing space.

Jill

I picked up some vinyl a few weeks ago from Pick Your Plum, and I thought it would be a fun (non permanent) way to add some details to the rooms.

I created some templates in Photoshop, and then cut my vinyl by hand.  You see, I'm still living in the crafting dark ages.  No fancy shmancy cutter here.  Me and my x-acto knife went to town, and in a matter of minutes, cut out our little couple.

The orange man fits in nicely with the decor in the boys' rocket ship room, but I kind of think that I need to make him a space helmet.  The pink doesn't work quite as well with my office decor, which is decorated much like my blog.  Blue and green.  I figured I'd use up the pink vinyl, seeing that I can't see any immediate need for it.

Anywho, should you be interested in the templates, you can download them here.

Thanks for reading.

DIY: Mother's Day Felt Flower Magnets

 I have the best mom for me, and a wonderful mother-in-law. They're quite fantastic.  I always feel a bit overwhelmed at Mother's day, because there really isn't a gift that you can give a mother, that really shows the appreciation that I have for all that they do for me and my family.  So rather than stressing myself out trying to decide what to get them, I let Clark do it for me.  What grandmother doesn't love a gift that their grandchildren picked out? 

This year when I asked Clark what he wanted to give to his Nana and Grandma, he said that they needed some pretty magnets.  Pretty magnets-great idea.  Pretty magnets to hang up all of the adorable photos of their grandkids.

So we of course decided to go to the standard mother's day theme of flowers for our "pretty magnets".

Jersey Necklush Scarf...From a Knit Dress

You've seen the t-shirt scarfs, in fact you've probably seen my tutorial here. Well here is my new ombre  Valentine's Day version.  A while back I picked up an XL women's sundress for $1 at Wal-mart.  I always feel guilty buying things like that, but all of that material for $1...it was a good buy.

I had initially intended to turn it into a girl's skirt or dress, but come on, I don't have a little girl.  So instead I made myself another scarf. Because of the shape of the dress, each color was slightly smaller than the shade below it, making it perfect for the scarf.  Each strand gradually gets smaller as you work your way up.

Very festive right?  I figure that if I get sick of wearing it I can always turn it into a chunky braided bracelet, or maybe one of Ashley's five strand braided headbands.

Long Lost Project: Leather Coil Headband

Here's a long lost project for you.  I've been intending on making myself a leather headband with multiple strips, since I made my leather coil cuffs, but I never got around to (which is ridiculous because it took no time at all). I recently snatched up a piece of bronze colored foil leather, it was perfect for the project.

I cut a 3/4" x 14"  strip. I left about an inch and a half of solid leather on each end, and  cut two slits in my leather (1/4" apart) using my rotary cutter.

I then used this tutorial, and some elastic, to turn it into a little headband.

The cuts in the leather allow you to separate the individual "coils", for a fun look.

I had enough leather left over for a slightly different coil cuff.  I cut three of my strips to 1/8" wide, and two to 1/4".

Bling in the New Year Belt

Everyone needs a little sparkle to ring in the New Year.  Have you noticed all of the sequins and glitter popping up everywhere?  I made myself a sparkly sequined belt for the New Year, and it couldn't have been simpler.

What I used:

Sequined trim from Joann's (4-6 inches longer than the width of waist)

Strip of faux leather (cut to the same width and length as trim)

Velcro: same length as overlap

4 covered buttons

To create the belt I used a three point zig zag stitch to stitch the trim to the faux leather.  I stitched all the way around the trim.  I then attached a piece of velcro to the belt.  The rougher piece was attached to the right side of the belt, and the softer piece was attached to the wrong side of the belt.  When attaching velcro you'll want to make sure that you try the belt on for proper placement.

I then sewed a four covered buttons to the end of the belt.  So simple.

Yep, still breaking out the maternity clothes.

I'm not a very glitzy girl, so a semi sparkly belt is perfect for me. Speaking of sparkle, did you see the glitter hot pants shared on Grosgrain...my behind couldn't handle that much sparkle.

Don't forget to enter the My Memories Giveaway.

Lace Belt Tutorial

Last week I showed you how to make the lace embellished top or tank.  During the photo shoot I accessorized it with a lace, faux leather, and ribbon belt.  Although the belt is not a top in and of itself, I think that it can do a lot for a basic top.  Today I'll show you how I made my belt.

Materials: Faux Leather or vinyl, a yard or so of satin ribbon, around a yard of lace, leather punch, sewing machine, and fray check

To begin you will want to cut a strip of leather, and one of lace, that are as long as your waist plus six inches.  I cut my belt material to be about 1/2" wider than the width of my lace. Once your materials are cut you will want to center your length of lace over the belt material.  You can pin along the length to secure the two layers.  I then machine stitched down the length of the belt.  The first rows of stitching were about an eighth of an inch from the edge of the lace.  I then stitched around a quarter inch inside the initial rows. The placement of your machine stitching should be determined by the shape of your lace.  I recommend using a lace that doesn't have much of a scalloped edge to avoid the edges from pulling away from the material.

I used a regular sewing machine needle on  my project, but a leather needle or heavy duty machine needle would worker on thicker or hard to work with material.

Next fold over the ends of your belt by two inches.  Pin them in place. Stitch around the entire perimeter of the tab (see image below).

You will next want to mark where you would like the holes of the belt to be punched.  I put three holes each 1 inch apart, the first hole being 1/2" away from the edge of the belt ends. You only need two holes on each end, but adding a third allows you to adjust the belt width a bit more (great for when you are wearing the belt over multiple layers).

Now cut a length of ribbon that is long enough to tie either in a bow or a know.  Angle the edges  of the ribbon and apply fray check to prevent fraying.

That's it.  I can't wait to make more of these belts in different colors and widths.

I'll be linking here.