Apr 22 2014

Tie Onesie

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Rachel

My friend is about to have a baby boy and I wanted to make him something special. I saw this DIY Necktie Onesie tutorial from HauteApplePie.com and thought that would be the perfect gift. I ended up using the pattern from CrapIveMade.com. Both are great tutorials but I did a few things differently for my tie onesie.

What I used:

muslin scraps
cotton fabric scraps
water-soluble fabric glue stick
matching or coordinating thread

What I did:

First I cut out the pattern pieces, I angled the knot part to make it look more like a real tie.

I wanted the tie to be a bit sturdier and I didn’t have interfacing on hand so I used muslin. I cut one of each pattern piece. I then trimmed ¼” off of the muslin piece.

Next, glue the muslin pieces to the wrong side of the patterned fabric pieces, positioning them so there’s a ¼” edge around the muslin.

Iron the ¼” fabric over towards the muslin, being careful of the points. Use the glue to help keep the fabric down. I didn’t iron the top part of the tie because the know will be covering it.

Position the knot over the un-ironed part of the tie, sew a line across the bottom of the knot, connecting the two pieces.

I trimmed the thread and ironed again.

I then took out the universal needle and replaced it with a knit needle because the onesie is a nice stretchy knit cotton. I then positioned and pinned the tie onto the onesie. I did it in a way to where I didn’t have to move the needles as I sewed so I could concentrate on the lines of the tie.

I sewed along all edges of the tie and close to the edge of the fabric as possible, pivoting at the points. Be careful as you sew, go slow. It’s very easy to catch some of the onesie as you sew .

Iron and wash.

Enjoy!

Dec 31 2013

How to Sew a Reflective Dog Leash, Revisited.

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Rachel

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Awhile ago I made a reflective dog leash for Rusty. It served us well but Rusty got a new collar and the buckle on the leash was too small for the ring. So it was time to redo his leash. I’m using the same leash with nylon webbing and a clip I picked up from Ragged Mountain, a store in North Conway, NH.

First thing I did was seam rip the old buckle off and remove the pieces of reflective tape that remained.

Next I hand stitched the new clip in place. I decided to sew by hand because the webbing is very thick and I don’t know how my machine would handle it. I don’t have a lot of needles to pick from, so I went with a crewel hand needle. I’m not even sure why I have these but they were in my sewing kit. The webbing is thick and stiff so it took awhile to sew.

I then cut 2, ½inch wide by 4 inch long reflective fabric tape to replace the old tape. I then stitched one on the bottom of the leash near the clasp and one near the handle of the leash. My stitching for the reflective tape is terrible. I’d like to say that I am a perfectionist and will redo it but I know I won’t. Feel free to judge. 🙂

Now it’s time to take Rusty out on a walk and enjoy the new leash.

Nov 28 2013

How to Knit a Neck Warmer or Scarf for a dog

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Rachel

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I have this extra yarn from the felted envelope I made last year and I just couldn’t decide what to do with it. So, I decided to make a knit scarf for Rusty. Or it can be called and neck warmer or ear warmer, it serves all of those purposes. This is a very wide scarf for a dog because Rusty has a giraffe neck. Adjust the amount of stitches in order to fit your dog. The yarns are Lion Brand Yarn Color Waves #353 Lava and Watercolors #352 Mist Grey.

I used US size 11 needles and cast on 20 stitches.
Knit stitch 15 rows with the first color
Add new color,(LINK), knit 15 rows
Repeat until desired length. I ended up doing it 3 times and then just completing each color. It’s a different look and I wanted it to begin and end with the same yarn.
Bind off.
Then I sewed on 3 buttons because I knew Rusty would try to shake it off. Since I used such large needles there is no need for button holes. They slip through the knitting. The key was finding the right size of buttons.

The complete scarf is 28 inches long and 7 inches wide.

Nov 27 2013

How to Add New Yarn to a Knitting Project

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Rachel

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It is not difficult to add a new yarn ball to a knitting project.

Finish row, slip needle into first stitch like for a knit stitch.

Take the new yarn and wrap around the needle you want to knit stitch with, leaving enough of a tail to weave in later.

Hold the tail to make sure it doesn’t slip and finish the knit stitch.

Continue to knit stitch using the new color until row is completed.

After row is complete, cut the old color, leaving enough yarn to weave it in.

Weave in all tails and continue to knit with your new color.

Nov 18 2013

Easy Knit Headbands

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Rachel

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I’ve seen girls around Boston wearing these fantastic knit headbands instead of stocking caps and decided I needed one too. I got searching online for patterns. I’m not an advanced knitter by any means so I needed a quick easy pattern. I found a great one on the cute blog Crafting College.

The first headband I knitted didn’t go exactly as planned. In fact the thing was kind of a hot mess. It was my first time using circular needles and I forgot to combine my first and last stitch to make it one continuous piece! Just plain silly on my part. I was knitting it straight and had to sew it together after it was completed. I was using a bulky weight yarn, Plymouth Grande Glow Yarn. I was in a hurry and saw 10 on the needles but they were actually US size 15, I bought a set of circular needles awhile ago. Anyways as per instruction I cast on 60 stitches. It ended up being too big, but I’m going to go ahead and say that’s because of a couple of things. 1. I didn’t combine my stitches at the beginning and 2. More importantly, I have at tiny head. So I guess this will probably turn into a Christmas present. Also, because of the bulky yarn I didn’t do step 4 of the instructions, Repeat steps 2 and 3 three more times. This headband was plenty wide.

For this headband, I used US size 15 needles, bulky weight yarn. I cast on 60 stitches. Knit 4 rows, purl 2 rows, knit 3 rows purl 3 rows, and bind off. I didn’t follow the directions so it wasn’t the cute twisty one that she did on her blog but I do like the way it turned out.

top view

side view, crappy phone quality picture

So I tried again. This time with US size 10 circular needles. I also used Rowan bulky Biggy Print yarn. It only has 33 yards in the ball. If you’re considering using this you’ll need another ball. I cast on 50 stitches, combined my first and last stitch! I then placed a stitch marker on that stitch so I would know when a row was completed.

Next, I did what I did for the green one, knit 4 rows, purl 2 rows, knit 3 rows, purl 3 rows and bind off. I did it! I successfully used circular needles for the first time and it had the cute twisty effect that the original one had. I’m thinking about making another one out a lighter weight yarn too, but I wanted a nice warm wool knit headband so I used the bulky yarn I had. I am very pleased with how this turned out and now my ears can be warm without having such bad hat hair this winter!

side view

top view

Nov 8 2013

Knit Headband for Running

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Rachel

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I wanted to a knit headband I could wear while running in the late fall early spring that would cover my ears. I decided on Lion Brand pattern #60760, which is available for free if you sign up for an account with them. I did not check my gauge in this like it says to do in all capital letters. But it turned out well in the end, it was supposed to be 3.5 inches wide and mine turned out to be 2.5 inches which was perfect because I only wanted my ears covered. I used an acrylic instead of wool because I want to be able to throw it in the wash after each run.

The pattern is super simple, US size 10 needles, cast on 10 stitches and stockinette stitch until desired length, bind off. Sew ends together, weave in tails.

To make the stockinette stitch you knit one row and purl the next, and repeat. I wrote down a K or P after I completed each row to help me keep track.

It started to curl around row 20 but that’s ok, it just hugs my ears that way. I whip stitched the ends together with a fingerling weight yarn in a similar color. I did this because I wanted to be able to go over it twice for extra strength but not add a lot of bulk.

So different colors but I’m going running, I don’t really care that it’s not perfectly blended. But, if I make another one to wear just out and about I’ll be more careful with my yarn choices.

Now I can’t use “my ears are cold” as an excuse to not run. I don’t know if I’m happy or sad about that.

Sep 25 2013

10 Adorable Homemade Halloween Dog Costumes

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Rachel

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Here is a list of my 10 favorite homemade dog costumes that will be perfect for Halloween. Click on the links or pictures for instructions on how to make one of these great costumes for your furry baby.

1. Lion

Turning your dog into a lion always seems to be a popular and oh so cute choice! This is my dog Rusty, he has two different lions’ manes. Version 1 is a pretty simple a quick mane. Version 2, shown in the picture, is little more complicated but adds some volume to the mane the first version lacked. But I think Rusty looks good in both.

2. Dracula

This adorable Dracula cape comes from Mimi & Tara Dog Clothes Patterns. There are multiple sizes for this costume available. So dogs of all sizes can wear it. Just make sure your dog doesn’t bite. 🙂 There’s also a pumpkin pattern for your pup on this site.

3. Dinosaur

This cute little dinosaur tank comes from Martha Stewart. It’s the perfect little costume to make your pup the hit of the party.

4. Walrus

I immediately smiled when I saw this walrus costume on Instructables. It’s the perfect statement dog costume. I would really love to see a video of this cute pup walking in this costume. It makes me happy just thinking about it.

5. Hula Dog

I imagine matching dog parent and dog costumes with this Hula outfit from Celebrating Halloween, it would be cute! The hula outfit is a classic and after Halloween, this too cute costume is the perfect excuse to have a Luau.

6. Bird

This is my Rusty modeling a parrot costume I made him. Lots of feathers meant a lot of the work but it was completely worth it.

7. M&M

This tasty and easy to create M&M costume by Love to Sew Studio is perfect. It’s because you can easily change the color of the candy. If you prefer fruit flavored candy instead of chocolate, put an ‘S’ for a Skittles costume!

8. Pirate

This cute pirate costume comes from Make: Craft. This costume is actually two pieces. So it’s a nice bonus having new shirt and pants patterns for your pooch.

9. Harry Potter

Turn your dog into Harry Potter, or should I say Hairy Potter? Okay wow, that was terrible. Sorry I didn’t attempt a pun on the pirate costume. I’ll leave the jokes to the professionals. But this cute costume comes from All Free Holiday Crafts.

10. Chia Pet

This Chia Pet costume from The Flirty Blog is just hilarious. If you want to make sure you and your dog are the center of attention this would be the perfect costume. This blog also has other dog costume ideas.

Sep 15 2013

How To Turn a Strapless Dress into a Skirt

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Rachel

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I had this strapless dress and although I like it and love the color, I hardly ever wore it. I decided it needed a make over into something I’d actually wear. I made it into a high-waisted skirt and kept the pockets. I worked on the fit in the waist of the skirt before I moved on to the length of the skirt.

How I did it:

1. Removed the hook and eye and zipper.

2. Next I removed the top part of the dress being careful to keep the seam stitching on the top part of the band that is in between the top part and the skirt part.

Close Up of the Seam

3. I shortened the zipper.

4. Next I put on the skirt to figure out how much I needed to take in on the waist because it is going to sit at a different spot on my body.

5. Seam rip the side seam. Mark and pin it together with the new measurements. I left the seam allowance to be quite large to be cut down a bit with pinking shears later if I needed to let out the seam a bit.

6. It’s time to sew the new seam and install the zipper! It is important to note to TEST your FABRIC and USE the CORRECT NEEDLE in your machine. I’m sure you all know that, but I had a blonde moment and didn’t test my fabric first resulting in my universal needle poking/ripping some major holes into the material.

blurry picture of the holes that need repaired

The jersey/knit needle worked much better. Mark on the skirt where the zipper will begin. At that point, you’ll back stitch a couple of stitches and then change to a longer or basting stitch on the machine. The basting stitch is where the zipper will go.

7. Press the seam open, and carefully pin the zipper onto the seam making the teeth directly over the seam line. Make sure the pins can easily be removed as you sew the zipper on and that you changed to a zipper foot on your machine.

8. After the zipper is installed, it’s time to finish the top hem. Because I cut the top to where there was stitching at on the top band, I simply folded over ¼inch pressed and pinned. I then sewed it and pressed again. The only thing I wish I had done differently with this side seam and zipper would have been to leave space for the hook and eye. Rookie mistake on my part.

9. I put it on to make sure it fit and to figure out the length I wanted. I pinned it to the desired length. I needed to remove about 3½ inches. I marked the skirt to just below the desired length, and cut with my pinking shears. Folded up ¼inch and pressed and pinned.

10. Sew that seam! Press! Try on!

11. Enjoy!

Finished skirt and bonus flip flop tan lines!

Sep 10 2013

How to Shorten a Shirt Dress

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Rachel

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I recently bought a shirt dress to wear with boots as a fun fall work outfit but of course it is too long, about 2 inches too long. I knew I needed to shorten my shirt dress. This was going to be tricky for me because of the curves at the bottom. I usually only work with straight lines because my lack of patience usually gets the better of me when trying to work on a curve. But after a long afternoon with Rusty whining behind me from lack of attention I managed to get it to my desired length.

Here’s what I did:

Stood in front of a mirror and figured out how much fabric needed to be taken off the bottom. I pinned the length and then stood up straight to make sure that was my desired length.

chalk marks

Next I unbuttoned the shirt and laid it out, right side down, and with my chalk pencil, I marked a lot of spots up to the desired length of the dress. Then, I also marked about an inch below that to serve as a cutting line.

two rows of chalk

It’s now time for my most time-consuming part, the hem! I needed to clip a couple of spots on the curves in order for the fabric to lay flat. Little by little I rolled over a ¼inch of fabric and then another ¼inch of fabric and pinned. I made sure to put the pins in to where I could sew with them still in the fabric so I’d have one less thing to worry about. And after all of that work, carefully, put the dress back on to make sure it is at the desired length.

http://www.covergirl.com/collections/nfl-collection/chicago-bears

lots of pins

Sew time! Slow and steady with some patience, wins the race because it is a tiny hem and there are curves, it’s best to go slow.

Try on one last time. Good? Press. Now I have a dress that will be perfect with flat and boots this Fall!

Sep 4 2013

Make Your Own Dress Form Links

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Rachel

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Ever wanted to make your own dress form? Me too! I have complied a list of tutorials to choose from. Pick the one that is best for you and good luck on your dress form making endeavors!

This how to is from The Esty Labs Archive gives a very detailed description with pictures to make a dress form out of a t-shirt and duct tape with the help of a friend. You can also jazz it up a bit by using colored or patterned duct tape.

This paper tape dress form from Instructables is great idea with the use of paper tape, t-shirt, spray sealant foam and a friend. The instructions and pictures are extremely detailed.

This dress form from Jezebel is probably the closest to buying the real thing, but it is also a lot more involved. It uses plaster bandages, sealant foam, IV cart to create your own stand for it to go on and sewing and creating a cover to cover the form.

I love the creativity used to make this form. It seems to be so simple. Syzygyo of Worlds created one from chicken wire and some duct tape!

Also, if you have your own dress form already but it isn’t to you exact measurements, look at FabulousFit, they sell “fitting systems” which are pads you can buy to help make adjustments to any part of your dress form!

Needles and Know How

Putting my Needles to Work

Tag Archives: diy

Tie Onesie

How to Sew a Reflective Dog Leash, Revisited.

How to Knit a Neck Warmer or Scarf for a dog

How to Add New Yarn to a Knitting Project

Easy Knit Headbands

Knit Headband for Running

10 Adorable Homemade Halloween Dog Costumes

How To Turn a Strapless Dress into a Skirt

How to Shorten a Shirt Dress

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