Update a Sweater with Bows!

Well, I bought this longsleeve shirt, then I got bored. I kept it for a while but then decided maybe its time to part with it. BUT WAIT, I saw a picture of a sweater with bows connecting it in the back and thought, I HAVE to have this, then I thought, I HAVE to make this. So I did...

Open Back Sweater Tutorial

Step 1.) Cut off the tag carefully.

Step 2.) Mark out the middle of the sweater with a washable marker.

Step 3.) Now cut along your dotted line and hem the edges.

Step 4.) Take material from another shirt and cute the pieces for the bows. 

One Bow:

2 Pieces 4in X 6in

1 Piece 2in X 4in

Step 5.) Now, with the right sides facing together, sew the edges of the large rectangle except for a small opening which you will use to turn the bow inside out. Also, fold the long rectangle in half and sew along edges except leaving one end unsewn. Turn both these rightside out.

Step 6.) Fold in the unsewn edge and then sew along the sides. 

 Step 7.) Fold the small rectangle in half and sew so it is about an inch. The turn this loop inside out.

Step 7.) Pull the large rectangle through the loop and adjust it so it looks like a nice bow.

 Step 8.) Hopefully yours now looks like this.

Step 9.) Now once you make all of your bows, pin onto the sweater, making sure that they are the same distance apart.

 Step 10.) Now keeping the bows pinned, sew the bow to the sweater along the sew line already on the bow. 

Step 11.) Hand sew the bow to the edges of the sweater. Try to just get the bottom layer of the bow so the stitches don't show on the other side.

Step 12.) Repeat steps 10 and 11 with all bows, remove pins and enjoy your new reconstructed sweater!

Notes: I could have made this a lot easier if I had made smaller bows and aligned the sew edge of the bow to the edge of the sweater and stitched it with the machine rather then going through hand stitching.

Wind Chimes!

So this was a little complicated. My rocket scientist of a dad figured out how to make a metal pipe ring at certain tones. Anyway I'm going to post a tutorial and try and explain what the hell he figured out, but if I can't communicate it to you, don't get mad! Hes a genius and I have no Idea if i will be able to explain this...

Supplies:
-Hollow aluminum pipe
-Drill
-Sand paper
- Sharpie
- Ruler
-Saw

*Note this is not how to make a wind chime tutorial, it is specifically just the CHIMES. I don't want to spend a year writing this.

Step 1) First, go to this website, click on the picture and a chart with the pitches, lengths and all the information you will need to figure out what pitches you  need will be there.
http://home.fuse.net/engineering/Chimes.htm#Pre-calculated

Step 2) Now figure out how long each piece needs to be and mark them with a sharpie, then cut them up with your saw!

Step 3) Once you cut your pieces, look at the chart and measure how low the hole needs to be from the top. It's different for each piece so pay attention to the chart!

Step 4) Drill those suckers! Make sure you don't drill a hole into your finger!

Step 5) Ok, so now it is time to sand off the pieces. You can use a sand paper, but my dad had an electric sandpaper/buffer thing (I obviously don't know my tools). Make sure you get the inside as well. 

Step 6) Now here you may be done, but if you want a specific pitch, your going to need to make this contraption:

This is a metal block with 2 bolts on each side and 2 rubber bands holding them down. 

- Lay the piece you have just cut onto it and hit it with another metal piece. Because it is somewhat suspended, it will ding its true sound. 

- You can try and match this up to tones on the piano and make it shorter if you had to. (My dad is a perfectionist so we did it many times)

And hopefully you can understand this and cut yourself some chimes! Good luck...

Seastar Barrette

I'm sick of winter. I miss the beach. A lot. So I got inspired to do some beachy projects starting with this barrette. It is super simple and anyone can do it! Just go to your local craft store ( or shell shop if you live on the coast) and get a sea star that about 2.5 inches. Its a good size to cover the barrett.

P.S. Make sure the barrette you get doesn't bend or else it wont work right after the stars been glued on.

Supplies:
-Sea star
-Barrett
-SUPER glue

Step 1) Begin by putting SUPER glue on the barrette.

Step 2) Place the barrette on the star and make sure the barrette is hidden.

Step 3) Let it dry

                        NOW WEAR IT AND PRETEND ITS SUMMERRRR!

T-shirt Cutout tutorial!

Ok so I have seen these amazing cut out shirts and they are being sold for like 20 to 40 dollars... HECK NO I am not paying for something I can do myself... So please, do not buy any more cut out shirts and just do it yourself...

Supplies:
-Tshirt
-Scissors (fabric scissors are the best!)
-A washable marker

Step 1: Draw the design you want to cut. I recommend finding a stencil and using that!

Step 2: Carefully cut out the design.

Step 3: Wash the shirt in order to get the marker off.

OMG SO EASYYYY

Leather Pouch Necklace

Christmas is coming up :O. Time to start getting ready! I promised myself I wouldn't get myself neck deep in presents 2 days before Christmas like last year. So this year i'm starting early. Mid November is a decent time to do this soo here is my tutorial for a simple gift. Jewelry is always a good thing to give away so we will start with that. I have this pouch tutorial and I made some bracelets for another friend and Ill post the link to that soon! Ok, well here we go!

Supplies:

-Leather Scraps

-5.5 ft of Leather String

-Scissors

-Small sharp scissors

Step One: 

Begin by cutting 2 pouch shapes out of the leather.

Step Two: 

Place them together with the good sides out and start by making a hole in the top corner with the little scissors. Puncture both sides in the same place.

Step Three: 

Thread the string through and pull until you have about a foot and a half left. That will be used to tie around the neck.

Step Four: 

Make a second set of holes, bring the string from the back and thread it through the front first, this will make it look woven. This is called Overcasting. You can google that if you still cant figure it out.

Step Five: 

Continue to make holes and thread the string through until you reach the top other corner.

Step Six:

Simply make a knot at the length you want your necklace to be.

GIFT IDEA: Place a gift card inside then wrap it up and give it to your buddy!

Jewelry Holder

Alright, so I made one of these years ago and I still have it and it is just the most PERFECT thing ever! My mom wanted one for her closet so I decided to do a tutorial as I made it for her! So, if you are a girl, and have tons of jewelry laying around and want a better way to hang it up, you may enjoy this tutorial!

Supplies needed:
- A Picture frame (Proportional to the amount of jewelry you have)
-String or ribbon to hang it
- 3.75 Mesh Blank Rug Canvas ( for latch hooking)
- A stir stick from lowes (usually free)
- Spray Paint
- hooks
- hot glue/ gun 

Step 1:
Spray Paint your canvas and stick with the color of your choice.

Step 2:
As those dry, Take the string that you chose and tie it on each end of the picture frame. Double knot it to make sure that it wont fall!

Step 3: 
Hot glue the stick to the picture frame leaving some space at the bottom. 

Step 4: 
Cut the canvas to size then hot glue the perimeter to the picture frame and the stick.

Step 5: 
Hot glue those hooks on. I put some on the stick and some on the actual picture frame.

Step 6:
Put all your jewelry on and enjoy your new organization!

You can modify this by using a larger picture frame, adding more sticks for more bracelets, more hooks for more necklaces, you can even glue a little box at the side for studs and rings. The possibilities are endless, send us picks of yours if you make it!

Collage

How to Make a Collage Like Your a Natural 

(even if you have no idea what your doing).

So, I am not a collage person. I cannot envision what goes where, what I want out of it, or even what to use in it, but my friend Harriet is just absolutely amazing at them without even trying. So my motto for this is WWHD (What would Harriet do). I created a collage using items that I found around my house and that everyone would have easy access to. So if you are terrible at coming up with collages, this is the tutorial for you!!

Supplies:

-Newspaper

-Mod Podge (Gloss was used in this one and it looks really good)

- Paintbrush

-Hot glue/gun

-Beads, broken jewelry

-feathers

-staples

-A canvas, or something else to put all this stuff on!

Step One: Cut out a bunch of little squares from the newspaper. I  used the show section and used many different sizes. The bigger the size the faster. 

Step Two: Begin adding the newspaper on by painting on a thin layer of mod podge to where your are going to add the first piece. 

Step Three: Place the piece of newspaper onto the wet Mod podge. Don't forget to cover the sides! Once you place it on, Paint over it with a thin layer of mod podge.

 Step Four: Continue to completely cover all showing sides of the canvas.

 Step Five: Now take a large Sharpie and draw something simple but repetitive in the corner, I drew a flower. If your a good drawer then great, go draw something cool in the corner!

 Step Six: I found some beads I haven't used in my room, so I gathered those. I also found a lone earring and a pendant that used to be on a necklace. These can all be used!

 Step Six: Get some hot glue and glue on your beads! I outlined  bolded word and glued the rest in a group of three at the bottom.

 Step Seven: I decided to add on some more sharpie so I outlined the picture and signed my name in the top left.

Step Eight: Now I found some feathers and I decided to glue them into the corner and It added some color to it!

Step Nine: Now I just need something to fill in the extra space, So I decided to make dotted lines using staples. So take that long rectangle of staples and break it up.

Step Ten: Now hot glue the staples on. I made little lines come out of my main line so it ties in the whole collage!

Alright, Now we have a collage that looks like we knew what we were doing. If  you make one please send it in or send us a link to it! we would love to see it and no doubt there will be better ones than this!! Anyway, share, leave a comment, tell us how we are doing or better yet, tell your friends to check us out! Haha good luck making this project!