~M~'s Shirred Flutter Sleeve Top

You may remember this yellow button up shirt that I have had stashed away.  It was a men's shirt that I found at Old Navy in the clearance section, only 97 cents.  I finally pulled it out of my stash and put it to good use.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.  I had thought that I might make a shirt like this with it, but I soon found Disney's tutorial for her shirred shared dress/top, and knew that  I had to make it.  I of course tried to make it my own with a little flutter sleeve.  

I don't have a little girl so I thought that I'd make the top for myself, but the Medium shirt I had on hand just wasn't long enough for my torso, but I knew that it would be adorable on my lil' sister-in-law Emily. She's such a lovely girl, and I was so excited when she agreed to not only take the shirt off my hands, but be my model.  

This was my second attempt at shirring and I think that it went a bit better than the first.  I love how sweet and innocent the top is.  

If you want to make this top for yourself you can visit Ruffles and Stuff for a full tutorial on how to make the bodice.  If you are interested in making the gathered  flutter sleeve then read more below.

My Faux Faux Belt

A couple of you commented on the belt that I was wearing with my ruffled petal shirt from Monday's post. It is technically a belt , but I kind of fashioned it out of what I had on hand.  I thought that I'd share it with you.  I also have a couple of more in depth (and slightly more belt like tutorials coming).

So I recently made a trip to one of my favorite local Home decor fabric stores.  They have a huge collection of upholstery textiles that I love, love, love.  I was looking through the fabric when I came upon this faux leather fabric.  They were having a sale on faux leather and I instantly came up with a couple of projects that I wanted to try (one being a belt).   Originally I believe that it was being sold for $12.99, but I got it 25% off, and I only bought 1/4 of a yard, so it didn't cost me much at all.  You only need an inch or two depending on the width of the belt that you want. I ended up purchasing some brown and red faux leathers.  I went in on a free swatch Friday, so I picked up a swatch cut (1/8 of a yard) of some faux black leather for free (plenty to make a belt or two).

Chunky Braided Bracelet Tutorial

Yesterday in my post I mentioned that I really loved the bracelet that I was wearing with my "Warhol Top", well today I am going to show you just how to make it.  I had hoped to make a video on top of some step by step photos, but I had a migraine yesterday and it kind of killed that idea.  Hopefully the photos will do.  The bracelets are super simple to make, but maybe not so simple to explain.  I'll do my best.

After making my Yoga pants and my Warhol Top I was left with several half-shirts and strips of fabric.  I couldn't bring myself to throw them away so I held onto them knowing that I could make something wonderful out of them (originally I figured a headband-shocking I know), and I did-these simple braided bracelets.  I have been assisting our girl's camp director in  making friendship bracelets for our upcoming girl's camp-so it was fresh on my mind.  I sat down and was chatting with my husband and fiddling around with a scrap of knit fabric from my yoga paints when this little dandy emerged. Now let's dive right in.

Cut your fabric:  For the white bracelet that you will see I used three strips of 1"wide (this can be increased or decreased to vary the width of bracelet) fabric that was cut 69" long if you have small wrists your pieces of fabric could be shorter, but I'd try to have pieces that are at least 55" in length.

Fold your fabric in half lengthwise.  You are going to find the center of your strips of fabric and you will tie a knot about an inch down from the center of your strips of fabric.  This loop that is created by the knot is going to be the loop for your button closure. You will no have 6 strands of equal length fabric.

For the tutorial I've used Red, Yellow, and blue fabrics so you can clearly see which strands I am using-don't worry I will not be wearing this bracelet.

Braiding Step 1: Divide your 6 strands of fabric into three sections.  You will have a middle section that will act as the center of your braid (blue) and two strands on each side that you will use to form your knots.  Take the two strands on the left hand side (red) of your bracelet and create a loop by placing your strands across (on top) of your center strands (blue).  It should look somewhat like a number 9.

Braiding Step 2: Take the two strands of fabric on the right hand side(yellow) and place them on top of the tail end of your (red) left hand strands.  Now move your right hand strands (yellow) under the center strand and through the loop that you created with your left hand (red) strand. Pull both the right and left hand strands tight to create your first knot.

Braiding Step 3: Step 3 and 4 are going to be the opposite of one and two. We will start by taking our right hand strand (red) and crossing it's tail end over the top of the center strand, creating a loop on the right hand side of our center strands.  It should look like a letter P.

Braiding Step 4: Take your left hand strands and place them on top of the tail end of the right hand strands and move them under the center strands and up through the loop on the right hand side.  Pull tight.  You've just created the four basic steps for the bracelet.

Repeat braiding steps 1-4 until desired bracelet length is reached.

 

When your bracelet is the correct length you will want to tie a simple knot to the end, pull it tight, and trim the ends of your strings.

Now that we have our bracelet braided we are going to attach a covered button.  This is a super simple process, and I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence, but I thought I'd show some basic steps to remove any fears that might be out there.  To cover a button this is what we need to do.

Gather your materials.  You can buy a kit at any craft store or craft department.  This kit cost just over a dollar for 4 buttons.  You will need your kit which includes the needed tools, and a scrap of fabric that is slightly larger than your button.

Place the scrap of fabric in the indentation of the white button covering tool. Place the domed shell of your button directly on top of the scrap of fabric.

Tuck in the edges of your fabric so that they are all pointed toward the center of the button. Place the back of the button on top of the fabric and front of the button.  Make sure that you can't see any raw edges of your fabric.

Take your blue push tool and place it on top of the backside of the button.  Firmly press down and secure your button.

That's it-you have a beautifully covered button.

Now it is time to attach the button.  I use a doubled thread and tie the button directly onto the knotted end of the bracelet (not the loop end).  Don't worry I am not going to show you how to sew on a button.  Do secure the button several times so that it doesn't pull loose.

You now have a beautiful braided bracelet, and better still you used up your scraps of knit (and no sewing required).

You can make variations to this bracelet by alternating colors of looping fabric, or using multiple colors as in the example (but please don't use yellow and red).

By the Way-I'm planning a post on how to sew with knit fabrics, if you have any helpful tips that I should share please let me know.

Yoga Pants from T shirts

I recently did some clearance shopping at Old Navy.  I was quite pleased because I found several nice T-shirts in the men's section for $0.97 each.  I bought them knowing that my husband probably wouldn't be crazy about them and that I could turn them into something special.  I've been eyeing the Warhol baby dress from Dana at Made, but after some thoughtful consideration, and some t-shirt repurposing research I decided on some yoga pants.  I found this great tutorial on Cut Out and Keep.  Now I love to sew, but sewing clothing is really intimidating to me. It just seems that it is really difficult to get a proper fit.

The instructions are pretty simple.  You lay your T-shirt out flat, cut off the sleeves, the collar, and cut the shirt down the middle.  The arc for the shirt sleeves will serve as the crotch of the pants.  You simply sew together the two pieces at the middle, stitch one seam on each pant leg, add a waistband and your done.  Several tutorials that I found used the shirt sleeves as the waistband, but I decided to use a strip of fabric from another 97 cent shirt to serve as my waistband.  I liked the two colors together, and I felt like it gave it a little something different.  I folded my strip of fabric in half, matched up the center seam in the back, and wrapped the waistband around the front.  I crossed the waistband in the front and formed a "V".  I had to adjust the waistband a couple of times to get it snug enough to stay on my waist without a drawstring, but I am really pleased with the way they turned out.  The pants are super comfortable and were simple to make.  If you didn't want to fit your waistband you could always add elastic or a drawstring.  I have a feeling that I am going to be living in these pants for the next little while.

I used a shirt that was a men's large, and it ended up being a woman's size Small-Medium pant.

Sorry about the goofy photos, I am not the best at taking self portraits.

You can find my Sweatshirt to Lounge Short Tutorial here.