sharpie surprise

sometimes, life gets a little ghetto.

let me explain.

i had an interview for graduate school and i found the most amazing outfit at h&m and had to match it with a pair of black heels. after some deliberation i decided theses had the best shape and whatnot

overall.....scuffed

however as you can see they weren't in the best of shape

weird white scuffs along the side

i used to wear these shoes allll the time. my sister wore them to prom back in high school and she gave them to me. bliss!

dirt on the heel, as well as a huge rip

so, i figured there had to be a way to make these shoes look presentable again

white scuff on the back, wear on the wedge

 and that is where one of my most favorite crafting secrets ever.... (and it is a somewhat ghetto secret)

sharpie!

so i just filled in the blanks. and by blanks, i mean all those scuffs

before: scuffs on heels

after: scuffs on heels

white scuffs, brown scuffs, all gone!!!

weird white scuffs on the side, gone!

it's almost like....brand new shoes!

hahaha not quite

so, go find a pair of scuffy shoes and fill them in! 

it isn't absolutely perfect, but it makes your shoes look like they are one color instead of beat to crap

like most of my shoes are

see?! you can't even tell!

this doesn't just go for black shoes either, you could simply find a sharpie to match your shoes

and there you go!

do you have any secret crafting secrets?

the 70's never ended...

at least not in my wardrobe

i have owned this shirt since the beginning of high school. i had a thing for three inch lapels in high school

it has made for some awkward photos to say the least

and since i love this shirt so much, i decided it was maybe time to take the lapels. i mean....they almost reached my shoulders

so pull out those too big lapels and let's fix 'em up real quick. all you need is

a seam ripper

matching thread

a needle

so

lay out your shirt nad measure 1.5" out. start ripping the seams from there to the tip

rip the seam upwards until it matches the width of the rest of the collar and stuff the extra lapel fabric inside of the collar

and pin

using your dextrous fingers, start hand sewing the lapel back up, trying to keep your stitches similar in length as the rest of the stitches

and....you're done. the seventies is still lives in the fact that this shirt is 100% polyester (haters gonna hate, i love polyester)

but now you don't have to look down and see that your lapel is getting friendly with the end of your shoulder

have you ever made a really small change to something and it just made all the difference?

do tell

all tied up

i received a letter from my brother in the MTC about how excited he was to get a tie that i had made just for him.

yea.....ties are definitely hard to make from scratch. it's the truth.

but i realllly wanted to make dennis a tie so i dealt with it. that's why when you look at the pictures to follow, there will be two different types of fabric because one tie bit the dust. hahaha how embarrassing....

but hey, the failure led to success. i'm down with that.  so, would you like to make a tie for someone?!

yes!!!

let's hop to it!

you will need

an old tie (as a pattern)

half a yard of fabric (you will have a bit extra)

contrasting fabric

thread

some good eyeballs

tons and tons of patience

grab your old tie

 cut it into pieces (only where there are seams though)

 especially those two neck seams

 take the pieces and pin them down on your fabric

 and cut the pieces out

 iron over your tie's tips by folding the bottom up and iron, then continue to the sides by folding, then ironing making a point at the bottom. do the same to your contrasting pieces 

now it gets tricky. you need to do what i call an invisible stitch by sewing through the middle layers of the fabric, not the outside. and it needs to be done by hand

your end product should look something like this

remember those neck seams? well now it is time to connect all the pieces. make sure they line up!

 after sewing those pieces together, fold over the sides and iron them down

\

 then fold the sides over again and iron

 now, to make the tie holder on the back, just take your outlined piece, fold and iron on both sides, and hand or machine stitch the ends like so

 if you want to, embroider your name/logo on the front

 now, for another tricky invisible stitch. you need to sew the two ironed sides together by going back and forth between the pieces without the thread showing. i couldn't take a picture of it because it is invisible. so if you need to just look at another tie you have lying around to see how it is stitched invisibly back and forth

now, pin your tie holder about five inches where your side pieces meet. pin it in place

 and sew the back of it on by hand

lightly iron it into its new found shape....and

WOWZA

look at your tie! ah!!!! so proud 

 a little crooked, but hey i like crooked :)

 love love love

 and some bonus footage of my uber hot model :)

he told me not to use it because his hair isn't done......so silly

i think dennis is going to love it! if i ever get a picture from that kid of him wearing it, expect to see it!

now, go take some time out of your daily schedule to sew up a tie for someone just from you

and have a great monday!

i've gone a-bunting

we have had our run ins with buntings before here on cola cola island (remember this? and this?), so it should come as no surprise that i finally wanted one just for me. well not really for me, more like my husband for his birthday (which was awesome)

because it is felt, it is nice and sturdy. not all flippy floppy, which i liked.

have a special occasion that you need a bunting for? or just want to make one for fun?

well you will need

(ignore the pinking shears, you don't need them)

assorted colors of felt

a cutting mat (optional)

a rotary cutter (or scissors)

embroidery thread

a hole punch

a sewing machine with a cool stitch setting

let's hop to it!

1. take a piece of felt and cut it in half. use one half to make the size triangle you would like. 

it took me  a bit of snipping and trimming, but eventually you will get your perfect triangle!

2. now use your first triangle as a pattern for the rest. i could fit three triangles on one piece of felt, and i cut cut cut! you will need 14 triangles total for this bunting

3. i used pins to outline the letters i wanted to make. again, this is going to be different for everyone depending on if you want to use lower or upper case letters, or both. once you have pinned your letter outline, sew on a decorative stitch setting. try and pick a stitch that is thick so you can see the letters from afar

remember that perfection is NOT important. so if your p is looking weird, awesome. you made a new kind of p that no one else ever has before. good for you :)

4. with all of your letters sewn, bring out the hole punch and punch two holes on the top sides of each triangle

5. pull out your embroidery thread and basically just thread the letters onto the thread

6. leave about 1.5-2 feet extra one each side for hanging and knot the ends of the thread

7. hang it!

ahhh so cute :)

i want to make a mini one to put across my desk wall....note to self put that on my project list...

if you were to make a bunting, what message would you put on it?