Making: Super Simple Recyled Sweater Felt Scarf

 

I love this little scarf. It is my favroite to wear when out hiking or running around with the kiddos... times when short and simple is exactly what I need. It makes a great scarf for the kids too.

Last night, after the kiddos hit the hay, I was going to make up few more of these (for the kids) while I watched Downtown Abbey for the first time. I say a few more because they are super simple and quick to make!

Plans changed when my sensitive working man needed a new collar on his jacket. The collar was rough and chaffing... We can't have that! (I added a wool collar over the canvas one to protect his sensitive neck.)

These have now be moved into line for tonights making.

Here is how I make this Super Simple Scarf:

All you need is:
the arms of a soft wool sweater that has been felted
needle
thread/embroidery floss
button
hair elastic

1. Cut the arms off the sweater and even up the cut.
2. Match up the top of the arms and stitch them together. I used embroidery floss.
3. Wrap the scarf around your neck, cross the arms and take note of where you would like to button it up.
4. Sew on the button.
5. Cut the hair elastic and sew it on so it matches up with the button. This does not have to be pretty because it is on the backside but you can sew a scrap of felt over the top to cover these stitches... just don't sew all the way through to the front side.

All done!

I found this sweater all ready felted at the thrift shop. Oops! My lucky day. It is very soft and such a pretty pattern.
The ones I am making up today are plain and will be in need of embellishment. It will be fun to experiment with making them fancy and fun for the little people!

So... as I watched and stitched the collar onto the jacket I realized that I would in fact be spending my time downstairs with the servant staff. If only I had a beautiful embroidery project I was working on like the lady of the house! Next time I watch Downtown Abbey I will definitely be scheduling some fancy stitching... so I can move upstairs!

Making: Sewn Paper Tree Tutorial

I had it in my mind to make some paper trees to decorate for the holidays. After a bit of searching I could not find a pattern that I liked so I started sketching. I took my sketch ideas and started fiddling around with some papers I had cut out of a book, for another project, and came up with this simple little tree to hang in the window... or any other place that needs a little flare this season.

Supplies:

• Paper of your choice. 
• Sewing machine w/ needle and thread
• Paint or other supplies for embellishment

1. Draw a tree on your paper. You can use a tree cookie cutter as an outline but I like the quirky way a wonky hand drawn tree turns out.

2. With four papers together cut out your tree.

3. Fold each tree in half close to the mid line. These will not be perfect... just get close to half.

4. Starting with two of the trees match up the fold lines.

Press them flat and sew up the middle leaving a long thread tail at the top.

Remember this will not be perfect. The mismatch top adds to the character of the finished tree...

5. Refold those trees along their original fold lines.

6. Open up the other two trees and placing one on top, one on bottom sew them down the middle... leaving a long thread line at the top. Trim the threads at the bottom of the tree.

7. Open up/refold all of the trees and fan out as you please. Use the long threads to hang your tree or add a ribbon for hanging.

You can now paint or embellish as you like. The Artist chose to paint his tree. Be careful with paint... too much and papers start to stick together.

Next time we are going to decorate with pens before we sew the trees together...

Being the Plain Jane that I tend to be I chose to keep mine simple and embellishment free...

Happy Tree Making...

Making: Shirt Skirt Tutorial

There are many things you can do to remake a men's shirt. When I first thought of this idea I had the notion that all I had to do was cut the shirt at the arms, make a casing and thread the elastic through. It was not that simple because of the overlap at the buttons. A problem with my plan! 

Check out the tutorial below to see just how I solved it.

1. Start with a men's XL shirt and a few supplies. Choose a shirt with a hemline that you like.

Other supplies you need:

Sewing machine (will make things faster but you could stitch this by hand)
Needle
Thread to match
Scissors
Ruler
Cutting mat & rotary cutter (helpful but not required)
Fabric marker
Two buttons
Section of 1 inch Buttonhole elastic to fit (here they sell it as Maternity Elastic)
Embellishments (optional)


Preping the shirt:

2. Press the shirt and lay it out flat. Most have darts in the back. Don't worry too much about that... we will take care of extra fabric caused by those later. Just even up the hemline and cut the shirt straight across at the arms.

Save the top half of the shirt for other projects... more on those later.

3. Unbutton the shirt and lay it out flat. The extra fabric from the darts will create a curve in the back of what will eventually become the waistline. Cut straight across to remove the curve.

Making the casing with buttonholes:

4. To make the casing at the waist use your iron to press down the top of your casing (the raw edge you just cut) 1/4 inch across the whole length of the waistline.

5. Fold again 1 1/2 inches. Iron and pin. At this point you should have the whole casing pinned.

6. Measure in 4 inches from the edge and mark that point with a pin. Do this on both sides of the casing. This is where your buttonholes are going to be made.

7. At that 4 inch point use a fabric marker to mark your buttonholes. To acommidate the 1 inch elastic make the buttonholes approx. 1 inch.

8. Unpin the section of casing near the buttonhole marks... you don't want to make buttonholes through your entire casing.

9. Make your buttonholes. One at each end of the casing.

Note: In order to make my first shirt skirt I had to teach myself how to make buttonholes. I am still learning but don't let this step worry you if you have not made a buttonhole. Just take that scrap of fabric you cut away in step 3 and practice using your sewing machine instruction manual for guidance. You can do it. 

10. Measure 1/2 inch from the buttonhole and sew your button.

11. Edge stitch along the bottom of the casing all the way around.

12. Button up the skirt and using a spare button (I used the one you saw on the casing up there in step 5) sew the top of the casing together.

13. Prep the elastic by folding over the ends and sewing to secure. Staring at one of the buttonholes thread the buttonhole elasic through the casing and attach at the buttons. By attaching a safetypin to the end of the elastic it should thread through easily. Remove the safetypin after threading.

Adjust to fit.

All finished!

Almost...

If you want to add embellishemnts to make it extra fun that will just add to the charm of this cute little skirt.

I also added a few buttons to the bottom to keep things together. In the past I have also sewn up the front of the skirt alongside the buttons.

I watched the clock and even with taking pictures for documentation this little green skirt was sewn up in two hours. I later added the button snowflakes to make it festive... can't you just see this with a red sweater and holiday leggings. Fun!

I still consider myself quite the novice so if I can do it you can too.

If you have a bit more experience behind the sewing machine and see any way I could make this easier... or have any other sewing tips I would love to hear from you! Always looking to learn more!

Please let me know if you make one of these cute little skirts. Leave a link in the comments so we can see what you have done with this simple idea.