Erica is posting more sewing madness!

I guess its not really madness... its just a funky looking skirt! Have you noticed that I've been posting newer projects lately? So I actually have step by step pictures. Hooray! : ) This one will need it because I completely made up this skirt's design and barely did any measuring. That's always what you want to hear from a seamstress, right? Ha.

Simple skirt tutorial:

       Materials needed - two patterns of cloth (either jersey or some other light weight fabric), elastic, ruler, scissors, sewing machine.
       I sort of attempted to take my measurements and I ended up needing 1 yard of the primary fabric- the blue cloth- and a little less than half a yard of the secondary fabric- the gray and white cloth. The secondary fabric was scrap from another project so I didn't really get a good measurement. I wrapped the elastic around my waist and gave myself an extra inch for the waistband measurement.

1. Lay out your primary fabric and cut it into a round object. I did this by getting some thread and used it to trace a circle on my cloth (like a round pattern). Then I cut around the thread. I ended up with this. (I was aiming for circle but it totally ended up being an oval...but, don't fret, oval totally worked! It made the skirt look layered and asymmetrical.)

2. Lay out your secondary fabric and cut it into three equal strips. As such...

3. Pin the strips around your circle like a border. Then sew the pieces on and remove the pins. Now, your skirt should look like the third picture below.

 4. I mentioned earlier that I did not measure very well at all and I was using scraps for the trim on the skirt. Because of that, I did not have enough of the secondary material. *gasp!* I panicked at first, but then I just turned it into a slit. If you have this problem, follow the next two steps to make a slit. Lay out the skirt to find where you're short on secondary fabric.

5. Cut a little triangle (a very acute angle) about 4-6 inches up your skirt. Pin and hem in where you cut. The slit will blend right in with your skirt and no one will know it was a mistake ; )

6. Now for the hardest parts... Fold your skirt in half and lay your elastic in the center. Cut a half circle where your center is. Unfold the skirt to reveal a circle in the center.

7. Fold in an inch of the fabric into the center of the circle you just cut. Disclaimer: This will make total sense to those of you who've sewn pants or skirts before. For those of you who haven't, I'll do my best to explain.
     When you're sewing in a waistband, you need to fold and sew a little lip (about 1-2 inches) into the inside of your cloth (like, where the waistband should go).
      I always pin it along the inside edge before I sew. So, you'll have an inch of fabric pinned all around EXCEPT for about an inch at one end of the circle.
      Sew this lip to the inside of your skirt EXCEPT for about an inch at one end of the circle. Sew along the inside edge only. You're basically making a little tube around the circle you cut out in step #6.
      Don't worry if it looks like a mess... mine did. The only case where looking messy would be a problem is if you wanted to tuck in your shirt. Sewing clothes isn't something I've completely mastered so I will wear my skirt with a longer shirt to cover the waistband section.

 8. Pin a safety pin onto your elastic and push it through the lip you just sewed around your skirt. My mom used to forego the safety pin and poke it through with a chop stick but I never got that to work. Once you have the safety pin placed in the lip, you can guide it through rest of the circle, pulling the elastic through with it.
9. When the elastic is all the way through, remove the safety pin and sew the two ends of elastic together. Then sew up the remaining part of the lip. Do not sew the elastic to the lip or to any part of your skirt.
10. Put on your skirt and spin around! Finished product should look like this -

This is only the third piece of clothing I've ever made so sorry if the instructions seem a little fuzzy. Feel free to comment or ask questions. I would love the feedback! I wore my skirt to work the next day and my co-worker couldn't believe I made it! Not too shabby for making it up as I got without any concrete measurements. If I were to make another skirt, I would buy a waistband and just sew it to the skirt instead of making my own with elastic. I wanted to do it old school this time around but I don't think it was worth it. I've seen thick elastic in all colors at Hancock's. You just have the clerk measure around your middle and that takes care of steps #6-9. That's reduces it to a skirt in five easy-peasy steps!! Why do we even buy clothes anymore? LOL

Lynn and Erica will reunite in 2015!

Lynn and me at her wedding...my first bridesmaid experience. Throwing it back to 2011!

One of my best friends in my early adulthood is a wonderful lady named Lynn. She worked in the Downtown OKC/Business District area at the same time I did. We would try out all the restaurants and events that popped up in and around downtown. I remember going to a Cirque du Soleil performance and AC/DC concert with her. It was a great way to fall in love with Oklahoma City. And now, I can't complain that there's nothing to do in the metro area!

Well, she got married and moved with her husband to Texas and then to Virginia.  We still keep in touch but we haven't seen each other in probably 3 years. We text and talk on the phone and try to write but its not the same. I've never been to the east coast so I thought, "Its about time I visited Lynn," and now we're planning a reunion in the spring! I'm very excited.... and when I get excited, I make stuff. My friends either think its a curse or love all their random gifts; I haven't gotten a definitive answer regarding their feelings yet, but I hope its the latter. For Lynn, I decided on a piece of statement jewelry. She didn't wear a lot of accessories but I do remember a few pieces she liked and she was a Stella & Dot consultant for a brief period of time.

So, here you go Lynn... I hope you like it!!

Statement necklace tutorial:
     Materials needed: pearls--or beads that look like pearls, hex nuts, wire, scissors, cloth, hot glue gun (not all materials are pictured and I changed my mind on the cloth at the last minute so its not the peacock cloth in the finished product picture...sorry, it look me three sessions to get this necklace right and then I blogged afterward.)

1. Lay out your pearls and hex nuts in to the pattern you want the finished product to look like. Count and make sure you'll have enough of the pearls and hex nuts. I had to play around with my pattern a bit before I settled on a final design.

2. String the wire through the pearl. Bend the wire into a knot at the bottom of the pearl. Then string a hex nut through. I looped the wire around each pearl and hex nut to secure them in place.

3. For my pattern, I strung all the rows of pearls and hex nuts independently of each other. And then used small pieces of wire to attach them to each other. I tried doing it all at once with one piece of wire but it all got tangled so I figured doing 7 sections would be cleaner.

 (Here is a work-in-progress picture. This took forever so I should have added patience to my list of materials! LOL I have the scissors there for a size comparission. --------> )




4. Now that the 'statement' part is done, time for the 'necklace' part. The last two steps are really six steps but they're super easy so I'm condensing them into two.

Hot glue the completed pearl/hex nut wire piece to a piece of cloth. I originally wanted it on a patterned cloth but I changed my mind and decided on a more simple cloth for Lynn. After gluing, cut the pearl/hex nut piece out of the cloth. Hot gluing it to the cloth ensures that it won't fall apart (which is good if you're like me and don't work with wire often).

5. Lastly, turning it into a necklace.

Cut the remainder of your cloth into six equal pieces (I wanted my necklace to be pretty short so my cloth was probably 8 inches each but you can totally do long, too.) Braid the six pieces into two pieces leaving about 2-3 inches unbraided.  Hot glue one braid onto each side of the pearl/hex nut piece. Necklace is done! And it even looks good on dogs! LOL

Sadie has a bright future in jewelry modeling!

When too stressed to post a tutorial, Erica will just write about dogs.

The last few months of 2014 were a crazy roller coaster. I survived and now 2015 is here. While I appreciate life lessons and adventures, I'm hoping to have a relaxing and much calmer January. I have to admit that I'm a little crafted out. (Can it be?!?! o_O) I made over 75% of my Christmas gifts and I added a lot of new products to my Etsy shop...maybe I do need a break! While I was perusing the Etsy blog, I came across this article. https://blog.etsy.com/en/2014/4-perks-of-working-with-pets

I totally agree with the article. Sadie and Kensington are always welcome guests to my craft nights. They definitely provide stress relief and inspiration. And a lint roller has become an actual craft supply! Almost all of my projects are either gifts or something for the dogs. Sadie lives under my desk...she used to be deathly afraid of the sewing machine, but now she stays in her bed while ole Kenni is running.

Over the years, Kensington learned to not trample or destroy my crafts and supplies, as they were always laid out around the apartment. Sadie hasn't quite learned that, yet, but she sure does love helping (aka being as close to me as possible without getting glued or glittered).

One of the crazy end-of-2014 events was Kensington's passing. He had a terrible cough and his little lungs eventually gave out. I'm sure he's enjoying every bit of puppy heaven. Here's a throw back to my November 24th blog. (It was the cloth covered decorative box tutorial...just in case you didn't read that one). Wes and I made one for Kensington a week or so ago. I thought it'd be appropriate to share since Kensington passed about a month ago today. The only difference in this box and the one I made in the tutorial is the the burlap.  I used hot glue to glue around the edges and let it overlap about an inch into the inside of the box. The beauty of these decorative boxes is that they're run-of-the-mill cardboard and scraps of cloth. But after you put it all together, they look like the nice fancy boxes you can buy from Hobby Lobby or Target.

This is the second year Erica made a majority of her Christmas presents...

...and I see it as an accomplishment. I only bought gifts for my mom, her boyfriend Mike, (my soon-to-be step-dad, actually!) and Wes. I made tea light candle holders for my coworkers and a few very special friends this year. I would have posted this before Christmas but I was afraid someone would read this and it would ruin the surprise. They're not really Christmas-y, actually, so I guess the timing of this post doesn't matter. I hope everyone had a spectacular Christmas and an even more wonderful New Year! : )

These are super simple. Here are tutorials of all the candle jars shown above.

Candle #1:
Materials needed - jar with lid, whole coffee beans, tea light candles, hot glue, and ribbon

1. Fill the jar half way with coffee beans and add the tea light to the middle.

2. Hot glue the ribbon to the lid. Keep the lid on the candle when not burning. Remove lid to burn.

3. When you burn the tea light, the entire room should smell like fresh brewed coffee.

Candle #2:
Materials needed - small circular jar, cinnamon sticks (my size jar needed one and a half packs), tea light, hot glue and ribbon (I think I use hot glue and ribbon for everything!)
1. Hot glue the cinnamon sticks all around the jar. Hot glue dries really quickly so I just used small dabs of glue. I also glued around and in between the sticks. My sticks were taller than the jar so it looked like the jar was made of cinnamon sticks, which I thought looked neat. If that's not your taste, you can measure and cut the sticks.
2. Tie a ribbon around the jar.
3. When you burn the tea light, the room will smell cinnamon-y and warm.

Candle #3:
Materials needed - glass jar, tea lights, Elmers glue, hot glue, marbles, pearls, glitter, paint brush, newspaper (as a floor covering -- glitter is messy!), cardstock or cardboard

1. Hot glue marbles and pearls around the jar. Arrange in any pattern you wish. I used a ton of hot glue because I was paranoid of my marbles and pearls coming off. LOL
2. Measure a piece of card stock or cardboard just a pinch smaller the size of your jar with ornaments glued on. Glue the jar onto the cardboard or stock (depending on which you have). This will further prevent them from falling off.
3. Spread glue all over the rest of the jar and sprinkle generously with glitter. I did this over newspaper. I still got glitter all over the ottoman and carpet...sorry, Wes.
4. Put the tea light in and it should be super sparkly when the candle's lit.

Candle #4: (this one is really similar to the one I just did)
Materials needed - glass jar, "gems" - they're actually decorative fillers, tiny pebbles (like the ones at the bottom of aquariums), hot glue, and a tea light
1. Hot glue decorative fillers around the jar. I found them surprisingly easy to glue on.
2. Remove excess hot glue and finger prints from the jar. I used a Clorox wipe.
3. Fill with a very shallow layer of pebbles & place in tea light.

I don't have a close up finished picture of this because I was running out of time and I absentmindedly wrapped them without taking a picture.  The one on the bottom right square is pretty close to complete. And, yes, Sadie loves helping. : )

Erica would love for you to meet Keni...

...that's short for Kenmore Ultra-Stitch 10.  My beautiful and wonderful sewing machine. She's an oldie but a goodie, handed down from my mother and used regularly to live out my dreams. That sounds super cheesy but its true; I LOVE this thing.

As you probably know, I started an Etsy shop about a month ago. I've already gotten 3 sales. If you didn't know, check it out www.etsy.com/shop/RagsRebornGifts

                                     

My first sales!! Thank you, thank you Vietfil and Michelle (I also got a sale from a lovely lady out-of-state who bought a pillow for her daughter but I don't know her well enough ask for a photograph)!! : )

I just realized that I don't have any blogs that showcase Keni's magic. Well, its time to change that! Here's a simple sewing tutorial for a homemade scarf.

                                       Made one for my mom's boyfriend and one for Wes.

DIY Scarf Tutorial --
    Materials needed: sewing machine, one yard of cloth, scissors, ruler

1. I chose a pattern that is already lined so measuring was a cinch. Call it cheating, call it genius, call it what you will but it made this project a lot easier.The length of the scarf will be one yard. The width can be however wide you want. I made mine 8 inches. Fold your cloth in half lengthwise (hot dog style). Cut along the fold so you end up with 2 long strips of equal size. Cut off any excess, if necessary.

2. Sew the two pieces together along the sides of the length.
           Leave the first and last 6 inches of the two pieces unsewn. We will use this part for the tassels at the end.
           Face the pattern to the inside (so its essentially inside out).
           Sew about a centimeter in so the seam isn't too close to the edge of the cloth. That will help with it coming apart or fraying.
3. After sewing, turn your scarf inside out (so now the pattern should be facing the outside like its ready to wear). It should look like a tube.
4. Sew the two loose ends together so now it should be one whole piece of cloth (a very long rectangle). The only things that aren't sewn are the 6 inches you left free for tassels.

5. Time for tassels!! Cut the excess 6 inches into little strips. Mine were about 1 centimeter (maybe a bit thinner). Cut the same amount on the 'front' and 'back' 6 inches. After cutting them, tie two at a time into a knot at the top.

And that's it. Bundle up and enjoy the winter. Almost time for 2015. Another year for new adventures! : )

Merry, jolly, white Christmas from Erica and Sadie!

Last week, my work had an ornament exchange. Everyone brings an ornament; its put in a gift sack and the participant gets to draw a number in return. Later in the day, the participants get to take home the ornament that matches the number they drew in the morning. Some had secondary numbers that corresponded to matching gift cards but I didn't get one of those. I got a nice glittery ornament shaped as a sleigh filled with presents.

For this event, I wanted to make my own ornament (its so close to Christmas, I bet there aren't any good ones left at the stores anyway). I was born in Michigan so I'm pretty sure the love of snow and winter weather is in my blood. Here's a quick run down on how my sparkly snowflake ornaments came to be. They turned out a bit more elementary than I would have preferred but that makes this a great project to do with children.

Materials needed:

dowels, craft glue, wire cutters, paint, glitter, paper plate, ribbon, ruler, paint brush

1. Measure and cut the dowels into pieces to form geometric patterns. I played around with a few shapes and designs. Arrange the pieces on the paper plate into any pattern of your choosing.

2. Glue the pieces together and paint both sides of your snowflake. I waited about an hour to let my glue fully dry before painting. It probably took forever because I used an excessive amount of glue (as you can see in the picture above). Then after painting, I let 'em dry overnight (it was getting late anyway).
3. Using the paintbrush, spread glue all over the snowflake. Then sprinkle generously with glitter. Make sure the whole thing is coated!!

4. Tie ribbon on top to use as the loop to hang on the tree.

I made three so each of my coworkers could either keep one or use it to participate in the ornament exchange. Only a few more days until Christmas. Is all your crafting done? I'm done with my DIY gifts : ) Now all I have left to do is baking...chocolate peppermint bark and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Yum!

Captain America and Iron Man are Erica's favorite super heroes...

... but Wes' favorite is Spider-Man. I've learned to be a Spider-Man fan over the years of dating Wes. When we went to Sydney, we saw Amazing Spider-Man 2: The Rise of Electro at the world's largest IMAX. It was the one in Darling Harbour. P.S. Darling Harbor is my favorite place in Sydney; I highly recommend it if you ever visit the land down under.

Wes's friends got him a hideous Spider-Man shirt from a garage sale. (It was one of those oversized faux silk ones.) He mentioned that he needed a lunch bag for work. I was wandering around Target and saw a canvas lunch bag on sale and snagged it. Then DIY inspiration happened!! I took the two and made this.

Recycled shirt lunch bag tutorial-
   Materials needed: lunch bag (mine was canvas), shirt, hot glue gun, scissors, needle & thread

                                                      The original bag and shirt

1. Cut the shirt into pieces that are a little bigger than the sides of your bag. One piece for each side of the bag (mine was 5 pieces).
2. Glue the pieces onto their respective sides.
3. Since we cut the shirt into pieces that were a little bigger than the sides of the lunch bag, we can trim to the exact perfect size. After trimming, sew the edges of the shirt onto the lunch bag. This probably isn't absolutely necessary but it will prevent damage from wear and tear.

Its almost Christmas!! A little over a week before I get to shower my loved ones with hand crafted gifts : )

A little off topic... but... I just wanted to thank everyone for the birthday wishes, engagement congratulations and condolences regarding Kensington. All the Facebook messages, texts and phone calls were greatly appreciated and reminded me of all the wonderful friends and family I am surrounded by.