{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #14

This is going to be the MOST useful tip for anyone that sews on knit. It blew my mind when I saw it. Seriously. This will change the way I feel about refashioning some of my clothes, as in, BRING IT ON!

This tip comes from Jessica at Me Sew Crazy. Isn't her blog name just hilarious?? I love it. Ok so check it out, she says to keep your knit seams from stretching out and looking all wavy, but tissue paper under your piece as you send it through your machine. 

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How brilliant is that??? Guess I've got some refashioning to catch up on this week :)

Go give Jessica some love for such an awesome tip!

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #13

Guess what?? My birthday week has finally arrived. Friday I will be the big 30! Only 3 more days in my 20's. I have sense of doom upon me. But, I'm super excited for all the FUN we will be having to celebrate this weekend!! OK, on to the show....

This week's tip comes from Sew It Love It. Ilse made a list of the 12 most common mistakes when cutting fabric. I'm going to give you the list, but you'll have to visit her blog to get specifics on each point. I'm not trying to steal her post, mmmkay.

12 Mistakes to Avoid when Cutting Fabric:

1.   Forgetting to preshrink
2.   Leaving wrinkles
3.   Letting fabric hang off the table's edge
4.   Ignoring pattern layout instructions
5.   Fabric nap in the wrong direction
6.   Upside down prints
7.   Unmatched plaids and stripes
8.   Cutting on the right side of fabric
9.   Twisted grain lines
10.  Grain going crosswise, not lengthwise
11.  Using old or dirty shears
12.  Moving patterns

I found her article extremely useful. Hope you will too! Visit Sew It Love It and educate yourself on cutting fabric! 

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #12

I've got a new sewing tip for you today! Hooray!

This one is a good one for anyone that does quilting or uses bias tape. I haven't quite mastered bias tape. I've only attempted it a couple times and I have to admit I'm not that great at sewing it. This is one of the reasons I haven't decided to make a quilt yet lol.

Anyway, I got this tip from MeiJo's JOY.  She uses the casing from a crafting blade to make her own bias tape. Check out this picture:

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She has 2 blades at different widths. Remove the blades and the end piece. Fold your fabric into the shape you want and feed it through the casing. Iron when it comes out the other side. Go check out her blog to see how she does it!!

{How Pinteresting} #9 PART 2

Sad news friends...spraying tea on your legs for a tan did NOT work for me :(  Maybe I did something wrong. I don't know. I showered, dried completely and started to spray it on. It just beaded up and ran off. I tried rubbing it in and it still just sat on top of my skin. I thought maybe it was because there is shea butter in my body wash and that was creating a barrier. So I went in the kids bathroom and washed the other leg with plain ol' Ivory soap. Still did the same thing.

I'm pretty disappointed. So I don't know what to try. I read all the comments and advice on Born to be Blonde and did exactly what she said to do. Anyone have any suggestions? I will keep trying to make this work if anyone has some advice. Wish I could have told all my fellow pasty people that this was the best tan ever, but no. Please leave me your suggestions!

{How Pinteresting} #9 PART 1

There are going to be 2 parts to this week's post. I screwed up what I was going to do and I have to wait to finish it up. So so sorry my friends. Let's start with what I am wanting to try out...

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I saw this on Born to be Blonde. She shows you how to tan your legs using tea. Yeppers, tea. Sounds intriguing huh? I'm going to put myself out there and show you how SUPER white my legs are. This picture seems a touch blurry and I feel like my legs look like rubber, like the way Barbies used to look before they started using plastic.

YIKES!! As you can see, I am in desperate need of a tan. I don't want wrinkles and don't like to go to the tanning bed. I mean, how do you really know if they are even clean?? Gross. I also don't like tanning lotions. I always feel like I smell weird and my skin is greasy and it streaks. Where does that leave me? Tea.

So on this site, she says to steep black tea bags for 10-15 minutes in boiling water. I bought 50 tea bags for like $1.50 at my grocery store. Shower, exfoliate, dry off, then spray the tea on and rub in. Here's where my problem is and why this is a 2 part post...

....I made a sugar scrub to exfoliate with. But when I went to spray on the tea, it just beaded up and ran off my leg. My mistake is washing before I exfoliated in the shower. I ended up with a baby oil barrier on my skin. Oops! So the tea won't rub in. No worries though. I will do the tea treatment after my next shower and follow up with how it works. In the meantime, I will show you how I made my sugar scrub!

I bought all these things at my favorite bargain store...you guessed it...Dollar Tree!! $3! I used the entire bottle of baby oil and all but about 1/2 cup of the sugar. The ratio is about 1c oil to 2c sugar. Mix together and store in the jar. Easy peasy!

 

Here's my tea and supplies all ready to tan, but it was a no-go. boo.

The scrub smells good. It leaves your skin SUPER soft. It's cheap {what's better than that}. And it's easy to make.

Stay tuned peeps....I will post part 2 when I have a verdict on the tea tan.

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #10

I seem to getting another cold. I'm not happy about this. I have lots of things to do this week and NO time to deal with crud. I'm also attending Bloggy Boot Camp in St. Louis this weekend and I don't want to be sick for that either! Ugh! Hopefully I can pump myself full of enough drugs to kick this cold quick!

On with the show...

This week I'm sharing a tip with you that I saw on Sew4Home. If you have trouble turning little tubes right side out, then this might make your life a little easier :)  I always push them out with knitting needles or a pencil, but this seems like a lot less frustrating.

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Use a hemostat! She says she bought hers on Amazon for cheap, like $7. I would spend $7 to make my life easier. Pretty clever huh?

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #9

Yesterday my kiddo came home from school and said her school nurse passed away from cancer over the weekend. She wants me to take her to the funeral. I think she's old enough to handle it, she even has plans to make a card. But should I? I hate funerals. Ugh.

Just need someone's opinion on that...

Now moving on

The tip today is useful to anyone who sews any kind of pouch or bag with a zipper that you sew all the way around at once. Did that make any sense?? Let's look at the picture first then I'll talk about it.

So in this picture I was making a cute little coin purse. I have my outside fabrics sewed together at the bottom and my lining fabric is sewn together at the top. 

See on the right side where the zipper is parted? That's the side the zipper pulls towards to close. You can see that in your head right?

Here's the genius tip...

When you start to sew something like this all the way around, sew TOWARDS the teeth on this side.

Believe me when I tell you that it is 100 times easier to keep those ends of the zipper lined up if you are sewing towards those teeth instead of sewing through the tape edge first. Not that I know this from experience or anything ;)

Hope that helps someone!

Have a great Tuesday friends!!

Upholstery Spray Paint?!?!?!?

MY MIND = BLOWN!!!!!!!

I saw this couch on the Sasse life

SHE SPRAY PAINTED IT!!!

Are you just as baffled as I was???

It's some paint called Simply Spray that just soaks in without changing the texture or feeling of your upholstery.

Crazy right?!?!

I think Kim got paid to write about this paint and I am not, but I still wanted to share it with you all.

I am still flipping out about how bad a** this is!

The paint is pricey, but definitely cheaper than replacing a stained couch!

Google it, you won't be sorry!

How many more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can I put in this post ;)

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #8

Hi y'all!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

It's that time again...

Today isn't so much a tip as it is a tutorial. Raise your hand if you love that! I do!

I went through my jeans this weekend and had a pile that looked like this

Yowzers! That's a lot of jeans!

I took out the ones that fit me well that I actually wear. And the ones that are too small (that I dream about squeezing into again one day). And the ones that are too big (that I plan on refashioning into pregnancy jeans if that dream ever happens).

This is what I was left with...

A decent stack of jeans that I either want to hem, turn into skinnies, or cut up into shorts.

Since it's been like 90 blazing degrees for the last 4 days I went with shorts first. 

I wanted to be able to turn a pair of jeans I don't wear anymore into something trendy. We all know that elusive money tree does NOT grow in my backyard and I'm not the person in Kansas that won the megamillions! So I'm wanting to update some of my seriously old clothes to better suit me.

I saw these shorts as inspiration

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Here's the jeans I decided to use

They just scream MOM JEANS!!!!!! AH!! No thanks

New shorts, here we come!

Start by deciding how long you want them to be and add an inch and a half. The best way to figure this out is to measure from your crotch down on the inseam. I wanted mine to have about a 3.5-4 inch inseam so I cut them at 5 inches.

NOTE: You can always cut more, but you can't add length back. Cut conservatively!! {unless you just love booty shorts}

 

Fold your jeans in half to cut them...it makes it easier to get the same length on both legs. Also, don't cut straight across, cut at a slight angle...it is more flattering and looks more like you bought them than did a hillbilly refashion

Next roll your new shorts however much you want. I wanted about an inch to inch and a half cuff. It also looks better if the cuff is slightly smaller in the back, but that's just my personal opinion. 

Then iron your cuff well! Like, stream the crap out of them. I think I even starched them a bit. I want to kinda train the fabric where to lay down.

ignore the hideous ironing board cover that's so thin you can see the ironing board through it. it's gross, I know.

To keep your shorts from unrolling every time you wash them I tacked them down on the side seams. I just kinda folded over that seam allowance part that's sticking out and sewed behind it, like 5 or 6 stitches should be fine. Don't forget to backstitch!

I also did some distressing on mine to make them look more trendy. If anyone is interested in how I did that, let me know and I'll do a tutorial!!

Here's what they look like at this stage

They're pretty good, but they need something else....

Throw them in the wash and the distressing and the edges will fray a bit more. 

Then they look like this...

No I'm not trying to show you my butt! 

I want you to see the distressing on my pocket and how the cuff in the back is smaller than the one in the front.

Not bad for a new pair of shorts huh? 

I'm also thinking about dyeing them darker. I saw someone do it on Pinterest and I have several pairs I think it would work with. 

Get out your scissors and make some shorts!

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #7

Hello Hello!!

I'm back! Sorry for the short break last week.

I was busy working on a project for my mother-in-law. 

She is LDS and there is a new temple opening here in Kansas City in a couple weeks. She had an idea for a screen printed handkerchief to sell for the dedication. Anyway, I was busy setting up the website/blog to sell them from. They are really beautiful. So if you are interested, check it out!

All About Temples

Ok, I'm done doing my shameless plug...let's get on with the show!

The tip today is a GREAT one for quilters, or anyone that uses a rotary cutter a lot. I use mine quite frequently. I use it to cut everything from fabric to paper. It really is a must-have tool. Get one if you don't have one! Seriously, like run to the store.

What happens when that blade gets dull?

Do you scream or cuss or get so frustrated that you throw it across the room? Yeah, that might just be me, but whatevs.

I saw this fan-TAB-ulous tip over at Sugar Bee Crafts.

Mandy says she saw it somewhere else, but I'm still giving her credit since her site is where I saw it!

When that rotary cutter gets dull, run it over foil to sharpen it!

Genius!

Sugar Bee Crafts

Give it a try!

It might just save you some $$$$$ on rotary blades!!

PS   I have something new and exciting happening around here. I will share it later this week. I bet you can guess...it involves a new way for us to be bff's...

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #6

Hi all! Hope your week has started off great!

We have gorgeous weather in Kansas City, 70's and 80's

With flowers blooming and trees budding

I'm SO excited!! This is my favorite time of year!

Ready for another sewing tip?

I betcha you are...

I didn't have any stroke of genius this week so I'm highlighting a tip I pinned. It's pretty sweet if you ask me!

source via Pinterest

This one comes from Craft Stylish. It says to put a rubber band around the arm of your sewing machine to use as a guide for larger seam allowances. Pretty darn smart!!

I love tips like this! Seriously gonna have to store this one away in the memory bank!

Make sure to come back tomorrow....I have a sweet tutorial for some DIY, CHEAP, jewelry! <---3 of my favorite words

....on a random side note...every time I say something like "tomorrow I will show you blah blah blah", I always have this urge to write "Stay tuned for tomorrow" at the beginning, like it's some kind of tv show or radio program or something. Haha, I don't know why I want to say "stay tuned", but I always talk myself out of it because I don't want to sound retarded. Oh geez, I need to stop writing...now!

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #5

Happy Tuesday! 

Boy, do I hope today is a better day than yesterday! Yesterday was one of those pull your hair out, drink vodka in the middle of the afternoon kinda days. Sheesh

So let's get to it

Today I have a tip for you that I use ALL the time. It's one of the most useful tips I've picked up along the way. If you sew anything that has to have a hole left open to turn wrong side out, then you need to read this one! I do this on bags, pouches, stuffed animals, practically everything I sew.

Ok, so I just used a couple fabric scraps to illustrate this, but lets say you are making a bag and you need to leave an opening in the bottom of the liner to turn the whole thing wrong side out. After you turn it you iron the raw edges of the hole towards the inside and sew it up, right? But does it ever really look perfect that way? Uh, no, no it doesn't. I know this from experience. Well friends, here is the magic fix to that problem!

First thing you want to do is make sure you backstitch when you start sewing around the edges of whatever you are making. Then backstitch again at the end where you would leave your hole open {make sense? see pics}. I hope you understood that. Right after you backstitch at the end, crank your stitch length up to the highest {mine goes to 5} and keep stitching until you close up that hole.

I bet that picture explains it better than my words did. I hope so anyway.

So now you will iron your seam allowance open, wrong side to wrong side, like this....

Take a seam ripper and rip open ONLY the stitches that were a longer stitch length. The ones that essentially where the hole is.

Now you once again have a hole to turn your project right side out, but with perfectly iron edges. YAY!

Clip your corners {I didn't on this scrap, but I do usually} or whatever else you need to do and turn right side out.

See how much easier it is to sew up that hole now? Hand stitch or machine stitch closed. Looks much more precise right. And I seriously think it is a major frustration saver, for real.

Remember this trick, you will thank me later, mmmkay