101 Crafts # 40 - Googly Eye Shoes!!!

Hello everyone! I am so sorry that I haven't posted on this blog in such a long time. I have been really busy with my new blog Style Independent and I haven't been doing as much crafting as I would have liked to.

Today I am going to share with you some lovely Googly Eye Shoes that I made.

If you would like to see more pictures of my outfit please go to Style Independent.

These started as a plain pair of gold shoes (scuffed). 

I painted them white using Acrylic and a Textile medium.

Next I bought lots of googly eyes!

I used hot glue to affix these to the front of the shoes.

And here you have the most beautiful Googly Eye Shoes in the world!

Naturally you need to leave the paint to dry thoroughly before you affix any of the eyes. Then it is best to let those sit for a while so that they stick really well to the shoes.

What do you think??

Ciao for now!

101 Crafts - #98 Drawer Organizer(s)

Hi everyone!

Work was super busy this week - I am so thankful it is the weekend now.

Today I am returning again to my 101 Crafts to Make List.

#98 Drawer Organizers

These happen to be some fabric covered drawer organizers, and they work (and look) really awesome.

So everyone is familiar with the standard drawer organizers available at home stores across the country. They do however, cost money and they might not be the exact style that you are looking for.

All you will need for this project is:

- a glue gun and hot glue

- scissors

- a box cut to fit the inside of your drawer (I used a cracker box)

- two pieces of fabric (one will be the lining and one will cover the outside - you can use the same fabric or mix it up a bit if you like)

Crochet Tie Organizer

Hello all!

So today I am showing you how I took a horrible ugly wire hanger and turned it into a super functional tie organizer for the closet.

You see - I have a problem (as I am sure you can tell from the post about my closet) I love clothing. I also have a lot of it. So it stands to reason that I have many many things which need to fit into a small space (yes I have been reorganizing and trying to declutter my space). I decided that since Aren didn't really have a place to store his ties, and I didn't have a place either, why not store them together?

The result was this crocheted tie organizer.

Plain Ugly Wire Hanger

The Magic - Black wool and a crochet hook.

I began at the bottom and crocheted my way around the entire hanger.

Once I had finished crocheting all the way around the hanger I needed to make loops in which the ties could hang. I divided the hanger up very roughly in my mind and decided that 12 loops across would be perfect. Using a chain stitch I made the crocheted the loops, connecting them to the hanger once each was finished.

Voila! A finished organizer to help me utilize the space in my closet better.

If Aren or I ever get any more ties (which inevitably we will) I will need to make another organizer as this one is now full! Fun and easy to make and it sure freed up some space in my dresser drawer.

Hope you all enjoyed this project!

Ciao,

How To Turn A Men's Shirt Into A Chic Skirt

How can this become ........

This???

Read on to find out!

You may or may not recognize this skirt from another post HERE where I was wearing it as a part of another outfit. Well now I am going to show you how I made this skirt. I am missing a few photos from the in between stages but I am sure you will be able to follow along just fine.

Of course first you will want to find an old men's shirt, I got mine at a garage sale for $1. Wash the shirt before you begin to sew as with any garage sale or thrift shop find.

Next I held the shirt up against my waist (true waist) and made a little mark on the button placket to make sure the length would be just right.  Once I had the shirt laid flat on the floor (or table if you want) I measured up in the middle and then on the sides to ensure an even length and then squared off a line. I then cut through both layers of the shirt. You may need to remove a front pocket from your shirt before doing this (I did).

You will need to cut off the cuffs on the arms so that you can use these for the waistband.  I cut off the entire arm and then the cuff. Measure your cuff width. Then measure it's length. You will need to measure your waist then subtract the measurements (lengths) of the two cuffs. The remaining number will be the length of strip you will need to cut to finish the waistband.

So for example: Cuff width = 2.5 inches, Cuff length = 9 inches, Waist (true waist) = 28 inches

Cuff  9+9 = 18     28 - 18 = 10 inches

You will need to cut a strip 10 inches by 5 inches (2 times the width of the cuff) plus whatever seam allowance you would like to add. I added a very minimal seam allowance as I was serging the seams together. You could also cut off the portion of the cuff you want to use and use extra fabric for the rest - your choice.

 I apologize for the lack of photos for these steps as I got too caught up in sewing!!

Now you need to sew the cuffs to the extra strip. We make the strip double the width of the cuff as it will be folded over so the top edge of your waistband does not have any raw edges.

Once you have finished making the waistband into one piece you will need to sew the waistband to the skirt portion. The skirt portion will probably have to be gathered in to the waistband. Make sure the ends of your waistband are properly aligned before you start sewing. Trim any stray threads.

Now the reason that we used the cuffs for the waistband is so that you have a ready made button hole. You may have to change the placement of the button on the other side so that it fits properly. This can be done once you are trying the skirt on. You will notice in the following pictures that I added extra buttons all the way down the skirt in order to give it a more uniform appearance and keep it from looking so much like a men's dress shirt. I also stitched closed the bottom of the button placket so that it would not flap open awkwardly. This was done by top stitching over the edge of the placket (it is almost imperceptible).

Try on your skirt and make any adjustments necessary. A brand new skirt! Voila!

I really hope that this tutorial has been helpful and perhaps the next time I have a spare men's shirt I will try to add some photos of the waistband creation. I would love to see your versions!

The rest of my outfit is as follows:

Clockhouse black tank top, Talula sweater, H&M socks, Nine West shoes, Thrift Store Bag (Daniela is the brand), Forever XI headband, Aldo necklace and assorted rings and bracelets.

I apologize if I am not able to post anything new tomorrow as this week is going to be a busy one for us out at work, I will try my best though.

Until next time.....

Toque Made From a Turtleneck

Well, it is getting pretty late here, but I don't want to ruin my "posting streak" lol. This is a short little post but I hope you will enjoy this simple project nonetheless.
I refashioned a turtleneck a while back and had the neck part left over (I still have to post the resulting cardigan but don't have any photos taken yet) . I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I made a little mini toque out of it! Either for a small child or baby, or a teddy..

Since there are no children in my house I used a teddy as a model.

Basically, the rolled edge is what used to be the top of the turtleneck. I trimmed the bottom seam away from the neck and gathered the edge all together. I sewed it together by hand and think the results are pretty cute! Tell me what you think!

What a cute model!!

Top view of teddies head.

How My Kitchen Chairs Got a Makeover

Hello everyone! Another bright and sunny (not too cold) day here at Ekati. In this post I will show you how I (FINALLY) finished revamping the chairs in my kitchen. As some of you may remember I embarked on a quest to breathe new life into my drab kitchen chairs some time ago. Well, here are the results! I am really happy with the cushion covers. I ripped open the old covers, took out the stuffing and used it again in the new ones. I drafted the pattern for the new covers myself to be sure that it would fit the chairs properly. They are an awkward shape (not really square) and the old cushions flopped off the sides which looked really sloppy. I sewed box corners into them to help them keep a nice shape, although I am sure they will be getting squished down soon enough. The ties were THE WORST part of all as the fabric is a really stiff cotton canvas and was very difficult to turn inside out when sewn into a tiny tube. In the end the hardwork paid off. What do you think of the cushions? Also, should I tuft the new ones the way the old ones were done? I appreciate your input!

Painted chair with BLAH cushion cover.

Sewing ties for covers. These were so hard to turn inside out!

Close up of Box Corner.

Side View.

How do you think they turned out?

A Super Cute Rosette Pillow From a Pair of Pants!

I made this pretty pillow for my sister as a housewarming gift for her new house. I was in camp when she had her housewarming party though so I wasn't able to give it to her until Christmas. It was a lot of fun to sew and kept me busy when I was staying with Aren while he was on a job in Grande Cache. It took me a while since I didn't take it to camp with me. Now that I have a portable machine though (thanks Pris!) I will be able to take stuff with me while I'm out. Awesome!

I started with these pants that my sister gave me while I was visiting her.

These were my two ideas for the rosette pillow. I decided to go with the rectangular pillow as the square one seemed too busy.

I made some piping (some people will call this cording) for around the edges to give it a sleeker look.

This is the finished piping before it was sewn onto the cushion itself.

One side of the cushion with the piping sewn down. You can see the seam at the bottom wear the edges of the piping meet. This will be enclosed in the pillow seam once it is all sewn up.

I used an existing pattern that I had made for the rosettes. Basically three circles of varying size.

Each rosette consists of six pieces. You sew two of each size together, cut a small hole in the middle and turn it inside out, then iron them flat. Sorry some of these photos are no good. I don't know what setting the camera was on and I can't really go back and take new photos now. :)

Then you gather each of the pieces into a rosette shape.

After the center piece has been gathered you gather the next piece around that one being sure to hide the hole you cut in between each layer. From left to right we have single rosette centers (three), then a center sewn to a 2nd piece and finally a finished rosette.

The two sides of the pillow were sewn together and it was stuffed before the rosettes were sewn on. Using very small stitches s as to keep them completely invisible the rosettes were sewn down securely in a line across the front.

The Finished Cushion

As I said, this was a fun project and my sister really likes it which makes it well worth the effort! I am pretty excited about the machine I got for Christmas too as I have been unable to do much as far as crafting goes while I am out in camp. I am thinking that I will finish my Strip Quilt while I am out there.