Posts Tagged ‘tutorials’

Peplum Top Refashion Tutorial

June 12th, 2013
8 Comments

You asked for it, so here it is. I was a little lazy and decided to show this as a refashion instead of making something from scratch. The nice thing about this being a refashion: no inserting sleeves, no hemming necklines, no hemming sleeves and no need for a serger. If you’re constructing a basic tee from scratch, you definitely want one. If you’re adding a peplum? No need.

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I just took a simple top from my drawer ($5 at Kohls or something?) and matched it as best I could to fabric I had on-hand. After the fabric mother-load two weeks ago, you better believe I was going to find it in my stash. No fabric shopping for this girl for some time to come!

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The refashion was easy enough to pull together. After drafting the pattern, it took just over an hour to complete it. I could’ve finished it faster had I not been distracted by tv shows.

Outfit Details

  • top: Kohls, refashioned
  • necklace: Forever 21
  • pants: Target
  • shoes: c/o Blowfish

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I think I would prefer the pattern to be reversed, stripes up top and the solid as the peplum, but it’s fun and funky. I’m thinking I may wear this to my 10 year high school reunion on Saturday. Or maybe I’ll sew up something completely new. Wait. What? Ten years has flown by so fast!

Click the button below for the full tutorial!

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Tutorial: Galaxy Print

June 4th, 2013
10 Comments

I’ve noticed that if I can’t do something in my studio (if it makes a huge mess), I rarely muster up the motivation to start it. This was one of those rare occasions. I made this galaxy print from scratch. It was fun and painterly, I think I may actually do it again sometime.

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This fabric was originally a painful juvenile raspberry color. I could have made it work, but it wasn’t me. I had a few items piling up that weren’t quite the right color so I had a dyeing party in my wash room. I didn’t care what colors came out as long as they weren’t the same colors that went in. I threw this knit and a couple of others into the wash with a high concentrate of teal dye and let it do its thing. It was awesome to see how different each piece came out!

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The purple that came out of the dryer was just begging to become a galaxy print. I read a few things on spot dyeing, but just went for it. I ended up having to do it all over again, but I figured it out in the end. It wasn’t terribly time consuming once I figured it out. Full explanation after the jump.

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Sewing up the peplum didn’t take much time at all. I basically used the block I made from my high-low circle dress, but drafted up a new circle piece on the bottom.

I didn’t want the peplum to be too flouncy, so it’s not a full circle. Long explanation short, I used a slash and overlap method I learned from Carrie in a pattern making class I took at Sewing Summit last year. I can provide a full step-by-step tutorial if y’all are interested. Just pipe up in the comments.

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Constructing this top took about an hour and a half. I feel like I’m getting much faster when I use patterns that fit me already. It definitely helps make sewing “cost” less.

Outfit details:

  • necklace: Forever 21
  • top: handmade, hand dyed
  • belt: thrifted
  • pants: Pac Sun
  • shoes: Target

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I’m so happy with how this peplum fits! I think they’re such a flattering silhouette for any body type. At some point Chris and I will add another baby to our family. It’s nice to know I’ll have a few pieces in my wardrobe that will work for the first and fourth trimesters.

Speaking of the awesome pooch-hiding superpowers of peplum tops, I’m over at Über Chic for Cheap sharing the things I’ve learned about dressing a postpartum bod. It’s got some funny illustrations so you’ll want to head over.

Get the instructions how to make your own galaxy print after the jump.

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No-Hem Bubble Skirt Tutorial

May 22nd, 2013
4 Comments

I hate hemming. It’s certainly easier now that I have a rolled hem foot and a serger to speed things along, but I still despise it. I want them to be perfect, but often don’t want to spend the time to make them so.

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This idea for a bubble skirt came to me as I was wondering what to do with the remaining yardage from my scoop neck tee. I quickly put it together in about an hour, minus some unpicking because I pinned the skirt on wrong.

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Penelope reacted as she normally does with complete and utter elation. But when I asked for a photo or two, she gave me the stink eye. Gummy worms did the trick for this session.

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I would suspect this would be the perfect kind of tutorial for a sheer or semi-sheer lightweight material. The knit drapes and flounces nicely here.

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Outfit details:

  • top: Walmart
  • skirt: handmade
  • shoes: Target

Read more for the full how to!

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Wrap Bracelet “Tutorial”

April 16th, 2013
3 Comments

This is the most complicated tutorial on my blog to date. I kid, I kid. You probably already have everything on hand, it’s just a matter of repurposing. And maybe you’ve already done this before.

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Yes, make an awesome, hip, trendy, amazing wrap bracelet in a matter of seconds.
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Find the skinniest skinny belt in your closet.

Wrap it around your wrist a ton of times.

Fasten.

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Mind blown? I sure hope so. The gold belt above I scored as part of a sweater set at H&M. I made the hot pink one from leather cording and a lever-back clasp.

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I measured the leather cording to my waist and glued the leather into the end cups. Each wrap took 2 minutes to make and an hour for the glue to dry. So I can wear these as itty bitty skinny belts or multi-wrap bracelets. I like these as bracelets as they’re flexible, comfortable and don’t get in the way.

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Outfit details:

  • glasses: Coastal.com
  • scarf: thrifted
  • blazer: H&M
  • top: Forever 21
  • pants: target
  • shoes: thrifted
  • bracelets: handmade and H&M
Leather and clasps courtesy of endlessleather.com (cording here, clasp here).

 

Tutorial: Kate Spade Inspired Skirt

April 5th, 2013
31 Comments

I’ve had the skirt of this dress in my head for a while now. It’s simple, too. Three pleats in the front and three in back.

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So for Easter I drafted up a pattern for the skirt and I thought I’d share the tutorial with you.

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The skirt itself is really simple, pretty much straight lines.

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I used this fabric from Kollabora. I love the tie dye, mottled look of it. It’s a cotton twill, perfect for heavy projects. It may be a bit stiff for this kind of skirt, but I couldn’t help myself. I will be making some pants for Felix out of this and I think those will be perfect.

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This was my second invisible zip insertion and it went even better in this than the last. Probably because this fabric is much more responsive than chiffon. Perhaps? I then thought how I could make it out of jersey. And I love my jersey version, too.

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I made it out of a stripe jersey, it’s soft and wears totally different. This was easier to sew up as I didn’t have to work with any fasteners because of the amount of stretch.

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It’s still pretty cold around my neck of the woods, so I’m not about to wear shorter skirts without stockings any time soon. But I couldn’t help myself. I’m just itching for warm weather!

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Click the read more button for the full tutorial.

First Outfit Details:

  • top: H&M
  • belt: thrifted
  • skirt: handmade
  • shoes: thrifted
  • earrings: etsy

Second Outfit Details:

  • top: handmade
  • skirt: handmade
  • shoes: thrifted
  • bracelet: handmade

Oh! And lookie, I just found a skirt you can purchase that’s very similar, but much less expensive than the Kate Spade dress version. Check out the awning stripe pleated skirt.

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