peace, love, and crafts » yay for tutorials

find me at Adventures in Dressmaking!

Kristen McAshan — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:08:53 +0000

happy sunday everyone! today you can find me over at Adventures in Dressmaking! it’s a previous tutorial i posted awhile back, but it’s one of my favorites. if you haven’t been to her blog before then you are in for a treat! she has tons of refashioning and creative projects, especially with clothes. thanks again Suzannah!

we are having a great day here. lovely church service. we sang a new song today and it went very smoothly. i think everyone liked it. Mexican food for lunch=yummy, and now hanging out with husband. rest is good. hope everyone has a great day. enjoy it while you can. come back later tonight for my 15 week belly!!

check it: after a big rock was dug up from our yard molly found the hole to her liking. :)

peace and love
xox

guest blogger~Adventures in Dressmaking!!!

Kristen McAshan — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:12:51 +0000

i am so excited to share with you my FIRST ever guest blogger!!! my new friend Suzannah from Adventures in Dressmaking was kind enough to be my guest. as you may know from previous posts i have been out of it lately with being pregnant and trying to move into a new house. whew! i am sure you will enjoy Suzannah and all her talents just as much as i do!!!! enjoy!!!

Hello there, readers at Peace, Love,& Crafts! I’m Suzannah, and I blog at at Adventures in Dressmaking, where I share my sewing, crafty, and home decor projects almost daily! Kristen asked me to do a guest post today and, in the spirit of the coming warm weather, I thought I’d share a couple of my fave summer wardrobe tutorials with you!It’s just now starting to get warm here in Oregon and just today I had a hard time getting dressed… it’s definitely time for some of us to add to the old winter/spring basics and create some cute new pieces, but of course I’m always interested in saving money and revamping existing pieces, so I like to sew new things rather than buy! First off, let me share with you a tutorial on how to make a cute patchwork-look tee like one from Anthropologie. You’ll need a basic tee (I used a ring spun v-neck) and some scraps–I chose a vintage hankie,some lace, and some scraps from a men’s dress shirt refashion I did a while ago! Here’s the inspiration:

Start with your tee. I got this one at the Goodwill outlet when I was collecting yellow things–it’s a Kohl’s brand. I think I wore it to paint in and it has a smudge of black high-gloss paint on the front! I wish I had had a paler one like the Anthropologie v-neck, in a neutral color or something, but this will have to do.

Now pull out all your pretty scraps and trims that you think capture the look of the Anthro one. I pulled out all the yellowy ones and some heavy cotton lace.

Lay out the pieces as you’d like them to be. I like to do this with my computer right behind my work so I can glance up a lot and look at what I’m copying!

Use spray adhesive to keep all the fabric pieces in place. If you don’t have any spray adhesive, you could use pins, but this would be a serious pain in the neck. I laid out the big piece that comes all the way up the right side first and cut away at the neck.

Then add everything else with more adhesive…

Press the pieces down carefully–watch out for melting and unsticking the spray adhesive.

Sew down the pieces. I used a zig zag stitch for most of them, but a straight stitch on the finished edges of the hankie I used and on the very high quality, tightly woven shirt pieces (the gingham).

Back to the computer, look at the inspiration and copy the embroidery pattern onto the shirt with a pencil or fabric marker. I really wish I had a fabric marker in times like these…

Can you just barely see the pencil marks I made?

Using a thick thread, sew over your lines either by machine or by hand. I used a heavy Coats and Clark cotton thread in off-white, which was not super easy to sew with, but which left very clearly visible stitches like the original has.

This part is optional, and not necessary if you’re new to sewing or unsure of your machine. I used a buttonhole stitch to make little round-ish spots on the branch–the Anthro version has some fancier detail but this is my simplified version. Some of them are just a row of buttonhole stitch, some are buttonhole, double back, more buttonhole next to the first.

Next, clean up all the threads–trim lots of threads off the tree thing.
That’s it! Maybe give it an extra press, but it should be done!

Easy, right?*Originally posted on Adventures in Dressmaking here* To go with your cute and funky embellished tee, I recommend some shorts! Luckily for those of us with an inner thing consciousness,longer, cuffed-hem jean shorts are soooo in this year. I’ve seen them in InStyle, Lucky, People Style Watch, Cosmo (ick), and Glamour. Here’s a page from my InStyle with quite a few choices to get the look, prices ranging from $25-$167. I’ve seen them at Target even., not too expensive, but it’s much more eco-friendly to make some out of jeans from your closet! I like that they’re cute and trendy but not short-shorts,not too snug, and not the kind that you have to keep tugging down your inner thighs.

Of course we need to learn to make these ourselves!!I set out to make a pair and have written up a tutorial for you. Here’s how to make some longish denim shorts yourself!

Start with a pair of loose-ish jeans–snug ones would work, but the look is a little bit softer. I think jeans with or without stretch would work, but mine are 100% cotton. Suuuuper old Abercrombie ones, from Goodwill Outlet, the holes are kind of beyond mend-able.

Figure out how long you want your jean shorts to be. I wanted mine about 12″ from the center of the inseam, including a 2″ cuff.

Cut! Leave a 1/2″ seam allowance, so 12.5″ from the crotch.

Now, you can’t just fold the jeans back and cuff them, like you do rolling up jeans to capri them. They taper as they go down the thigh,so they’re several inches smaller in circumference as you get closer to the knee. It would not work to just fold it back. So, take the flared part of the jeans and flip them around 180. Find the part that’s the same circumference as the end of the jeans.

I want the cuff to be 2″, so there will be a 1/2″ seam allowance on the top and bottom–cut a 3″ piece.

Turn the cuff piece back 180 again. The shape will be like an hourglass, and you’ll be switching the inseam and outside leg seams. See the top stitched side is on top on the cuff piece, but on the inseam on the main piece?

Flip the cuff piece inside out inside the main piece, and pin.

Sew with a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Press under 1/2″ hem.

Press the seam allowance from the two pieces toward the added cuff piece(no pic, but do it the opposite of the picture above).

Fold the cuff piece back and press so that the seam is just under the center of the fold, hidden by like 1/8″.

Hand-sew the hem down using a hidden whip-stitch, all around on both legs. I used minimal pinning to keep the 1/2″ turn under in place.

That’s it!!

The whole process is more complicated than just turning under a hem, but trust me, it works soooo much better!*Originally posted on Adventures in Dressmaking here* Well, what do you think? Are you all ready to dig up some old clothes from your closet and summer-ify them? I hope so!For more ideas on sewing, home dec, and clothing refashions, I hope you’ll check out my blog at Adventures in Dressmaking. Thanks so much for reading, and thanks for Kristen for hosting this guest post!

new home for the earrings

Kristen McAshan — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:57:00 +0000

so i don’t have that many earrings, but i do have enough that i have to dig my way through them to find the matching pair. clearly needed a new place for them. (realized i have a few of my bestie’s earrings as well) :)

i also had 3 grease splatter screens. i don’t know about you but i don’t use 3 of them.

so i took one and spray painted it! i only did the screen part since i knew i was going to cover up the handle.

gave the handle some fanciness. started at the screen end and worked my way down the handle. hot gluing spots every now and then.

wrapped all the way around, but make sure to leave the very end open so you can use that to hang it up.

found this bow i made awhile back and added a bobby pin to the back.

seems fitting for the summer. and since it’s just pinned on there you can change out the bow to fit your mood or season. :)

time to add your earrings!

hang it up and yay! not only is it all nice and organized, but it’s pretty too! :) i’d love to see what others have done with the splatter screens…have a great day!!!

peace and love
xox

elastic waistband with casing tutorial

Kristen McAshan — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:48:04 +0000

experimenting with sewing projects is fun and a little frustrating. haha. but this one turned out nicely! here’s my attempt to show you :)

pretty sure this is meant to be a dress…but it’s a shirt on me. there’s no waistband and i normally wear belts with it but i wanted to change it up. so i added a waistband with a casing!

*mark where you want the waistband on the dress (doesn’t have to be pretty since you are going to cover it up)…measure and add 1 inch for seam allowance.

* cut out your casing fabric to match the measurement. (i used the leftover fabric from the dress that i turned into a skirt)
* make sure the casing is wider than the elastic you are going to use (about 3/4 inch wider than the elastic).
* then measure your waist…add 1 inch for seam allowance and then cut elastic to match. (make sure it is snug enough but not too tight)

* fold over 1/4 inch on both sides of the casing and iron

* then fold over both edges 1/4 inch and iron. (make sure there is enough room for the elastic to ease its way through).
* sew the two ends together (right sides of fabric together) with 1/4 inch seam allowance (i didn’t do this part because i didn’t have enough fabric so i just hand stitched them together after i sewed them on) oops..lol.

* pin the casing to the marking you made on the dress.

* sew down one edge of the casing all the way around (really close to the edge) back stitching the beginning and end.
* and then sew down the other edge (really close to the edge) but leave about 2-3 inches open in order to put the elastic through.

* pin down one end of the elastic to the dress and attach a safety pin to the other.
* use the safety pin to pull the elastic through the whole casing!

* sew the elastic together. i overlapped 1/2 inch and did a square and x method or you can do several stitches of zigzag as well.
* (forgot to take a pic) but i sewed the remainder of the casing closed (back stitching at the beginning and end)..make sure you stretch out the casing fabric (since there is elastic in now) in order to sew the fabric without puckering (make sure you do not sew the elastic to the fabric!!!!).

yay! new shirt/dress. :) you can do this to anything…shirts, dresses, skirts, jackets…etc.

now i don’t have to wear a belt with this outfit. it has a permanent one!

peace and love
xox

pajamas all day long

Kristen McAshan — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:00:06 +0000

i like to wear pajamas. all day. :) i even wear them to the grocery store. now, i’m talking about comfy pants and shirts…nothing crazy. :) anyways…i had these pants for the longest time and would wear it around the house but never out because they were too short for me to wear in public and be okay with it. a little picky i know. check it…

old (wrinkly…who irons pajamas??) and short pants.

busted out with some bias tape. this was already made but making your own bias tape is easy! maybe i can make that a tutorial some day. cut off about 5 inches of the pants and slapped this on…and bam!

new pants that i can wear out and not feel awkward. haha. if you don’t have bias tape you can just easily turn up the hem and sew the edges for a clean finish. super, super easy! since i am kinda tall i have had to do this to a lot of pants. :)

peace and love
xox

cupcake bag

Kristen McAshan — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:04:21 +0000

new handbags are fun, especially if you make it. of course! i love jessica’s placemat clutch tutorial over at happy together. go check it out!! here’s one i made!

lovely vinyl placemat that only cost me $1 for 2 of them!

did some pinning…

did some measuring (i left 2 inches at the bottom)..some sewing…some turning inside out.

some cutting. i drew it out on the placemat and then cut one side.

then i just traced the first cut handle onto the other and cut that. super easy. :)

some sewing…you can’t see it but i used a bright blue stitching.

going for the “worn” look. ha.

glued some felt over some cardboard and glue it to the bottom. i would have used plastic canvas but i couldn’t find mine:( cardboard=next best thing.

some hand stitching…since i’m not eating sweets at the moment…this was hard. ahh a cupcake.

**what’s in my bag…

some good essentials. i’m thinking i want to add a pocket or two inside the bag. oooo fun!

oooh and i just found my new earrings i bought with my friend madison. must put on now. :) have a great day everyone!!! what’s in your bag????

peace and love
xox

jumper love.

Kristen McAshan — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:35:29 +0000

i don’t do many apparel projects but i want to get back into it! so i was motivated to create a lil jumper. this was one of those projects where i didn’t really know if it would work out. ha.

i used an old pair of cotton shorts (pretty sure the elastic was about to give out) some waist band elastic and a nice stretchy shirt (stretchy enough to step into and pullover)….and i’m pretty sure this is one of my bestie’s shirts that i have had for several years, but i didn’t think she would mind. hehe

step 1: measure your waist for the waist band. make sure it’s snug enough but not too tight…and then add an inch or whatever your liking for the seam allowance. i used a zigzag stitch. (i’m not an expert with elastic but that seemed to work).

step 2: i did the shorts next and i pinned it to the waistband. make sure you stretch the elastic to match the shorts. i went pin crazy again.

step 3: sew together! i used a stretch stitch on my machine and i did it in about 1/8 of an inch. i then cut the old elastic off. (saving it for another project??)

step 4: i then went pin crazy again and pinned the shirt to the other side of the waist band. if your shirt has gathers then make sure you spread them out evenly. :)

step 5: sew the shirt to the waist band…again with a stretch stitch.

now you have a jumper! :)

i wanted to add a little more so i sewed up some little patch pockets! i also took off the white bias stripping on the shorts. i wanted to take it off the sides too but that was too late. :)

super excited about this jumper. however it snowed the other day so i don’t see myself wearing this anytime soon. but who knows…this is texas so maybe it’ll be 80 degrees tomorrow. :) i have a bunch of other clothing articles that need some revamping. hmmm..what should i make next??? AND thanks Rachel for featuring another post of mine on her lovely One Pretty Thing!!!

peace and love
xox

cozy home for my phone.

Kristen McAshan — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:15:00 +0000

another knitting project to help me not forget how to do it. :) i am still learning!

i just started knitting…not really knowing what i was going to make. ha (this pic was from another camera so not the best color)

so then i decided my phone needed a comfy cover. i already have a case for my phone which does wonders, BUT i wanted something more fun/girlie/crafty. :) i was going to do this another way, but i liked how it turned out. gotta learn from experience some how. :)

after i knitted enough rows to fit my phone i folded it and added some stitching on the outside (i was going to fold it inside out but i like the decorative stitches)

i don’t know how to crochet (just yet) so i just braided some yarn instead and stitched it through the back and tada…nice lil closing.

this wouldn’t be complete without lil pom poms. here’s a lil how to. i made my uber small…but another lovely kristen @ domestifluff has an easy to follow pom pom tutorial too!

step 1: wrap around one finger [the bigger pom pom you want...the more fingers you can wrap around AND/OR the more times you wrap around your finger(s)]

step 2: slide it off your finger and tie another piece of yarn around the middle of the wrapped yarn.

step 3: cut the loops on both sides of the wrapped yarn.

step 4: fluff it up and trim to your liking. yay

step 5: i used the remainder of the middle tie yarn to tie around the end of the braids.
and yay. i think it turned out nicely. :)

love at first sight.

yes i am still in my warm robe. :)

***check out my giveaway!!! hope y’all have a fabulous thursday!!!

peace and love
xox

photo album makeover.

Kristen McAshan — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:57:31 +0000

***giveaway is still open! check it out below. xox

i had a few mini photo albums laying around. the ones that are nice….but a little boring in style. but if you are like me and have a kagillion pics already and do not need any more albums laying around then there’s so much more to these little albums.

here’s one of them. simple, textured, off white album. not bad. BUT i decided to make it more of a journal, verse jotting album instead. i started a new bible study on thursday nights and this way i can use this lil one to help me keep my fav verses in. so instead of pics i will use note cards.

i didn’t really have a theme in mind, but i thought i would use these fun silk leaves. oh and the hot glue gun does wonders.

one of my things i want to work on is praying…(i listed a few more from a past post too!) so i dedicated this album to prayer and fav verses, and also to remind me of certain things or people to pray about! so if you need any, let me know!! :)

throw in some lace and yarn and yay!

this is a great idea for those who are wanting to jot things down and keep it handy….in a cute little album. BUT these can be used for all sorts of favs like life quotes, movie quotes, fun jokes, even the daily to do lists.

this is the inside so far….blank…i know. gotta get started. i am so excited to use this little gem. AND it’s a beautiful day outside!!! so took my lil prayer book outside for some quiet time….and get my fill of vitamin D for the day. :)

what would you fill your mini photo album up with?!

***don’t forget to check out my 1st giveaway in the post below!!! :)

peace and love
xox

spray paint fun.

Kristen McAshan — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:35:38 +0000

so i have a pair of boots that i have had for quite some time now, and they are WHITE. i mean white. ha. i am pretty sure i have not worn them too much because they are just…white. not hating on white, but i guess it’s just not my color.

before shot of the boots. i heart them. i got them in london when i was interning with a fashion designer…la petite salope…so they are precious to me and i didn’t want to get rid of them even if i didn’t ever wear them. haha. there’s the pack rat in me.

step 1: so first off i did some taping around the bottom part of the shoe. all i had was duct tape, which works great. i figured there wasn’t a pretty way to go about doing this but i tried. in fact my hubby called it ghetto. so call it what you want…it still works. :)

step 2: more taping. i taped the inside of the shoe just in case…again, doesn’t have to look pretty.

step 3: since my boots are flimsy i stuck some random newspaper that i had laying around for stuff like this to make it stay propped up.

step 4: shake up the spray paint for a bit…test it out on some newspaper to make sure. put on some fun music and then go for it!!

step 5: i did one side at a time, but you can do it all at once. let it dry…the can says about 10-12 minutes to dry but depends on the surface and how much paint you spray. if you feel they need another coat then spray away.

step 6: once they are dry, you can take out the newspaper and take off the duct tape and yay! brand new shoes that i will actually wear! :)

i have more shoes that are going to get makeovers with spray paint! stay tuned!! i am going to go out and enjoy my new shoes! have a great saturday!!

peace and love
xox