DIY Hair bows - Denim scraps tutorial

Difficulty:

Cost:

Hair clips - $3 for 6

A while back Ali had a small obsession with denim cut-offs. She cut, bleached, studded and ripped many pairs of old jeans, and ended up with lots of left over denim. The picture below is a stack of some of the pants legs left over from her creations. 

Denim is a nice, sturdy fabric and is cheap and easy to find in op shops or hiding, sad and unworn in the back of your closet. 

So this tutorial is the first of a series in which Ali will show you some cute things you can do with an old pair of jeans.

Materials:

Denim

Hair clips/pins/ties

Tools:

Scissors

Sewing machine

Needle and thread

Bleach (optional)

Method

Start off by cutting a rectangle of denim the height you want your bow to be, and twice the length. I made two sizes, big ones which were 22x8cm and small ones which were 17x4cm.

Then you can leave your denim plain, or bleach it like I did with some of mine.

For the bleaching you will need:

A bottle of bleach - I use the cheapest stuff I can find, and usually get the lemon scented one in a vain attempt to mask the bleachy smell a bit.

Newspaper, a container and disposable gloves.

First you need to decide what sort of bleach effect you would like. 

Then pour the bleach into the container and place your denim in accordingly. You could dip half in the bleach for an ombre effect, put the whole thing in for a lighter coloured denim, or use scrappy pieces of denim to twist and tie your rectangle with before you place it in the bleach for a tie-dye type effect.

I also painted some of my rectangles, one with polka dots and one with stripes. Just make to use an old paintbrush because the bleach will cause them to disintegrate a bit.

Leave the bleach on for about half an hour, or until you like the look of your denim.

Then pop the rectangle in the wash, or give it a good hand wash with some vinegar first and then soapy water and let it dry.

Then it's time to start making the bow!

Start by folding the two ends into the centre, right sides together as shown below.

Then sew along each side separately.

So you end up with a wee square like this.

Next turn it in the right way through the opening in the middle.

Then pinch it in the middle, folding it until you get the desired bow shape. 

Then hand stitch through the middle to hold the bow in place. Make sure you do lots of loops and stitches so it doesn't pop back open. 

And there you go, you're done! Now you can hand stitch or hot glue a hair clip, bobby pin or hair tie onto the back and you have a super cute wee hair bow, yay!

You can see below that I experimented with lots of different types of bow, from bleach ombre, to spots and stripes. I also stitched some pretty pearl beads which I found in my stash onto a couple too. 

All of these bows can be made from less than one pant leg, and would make adorable gifts with clips of hair ties sewn on the back. 

Happy clipping,

This is Ali's lovely pooch Hunter, looking dapper in his denim bow tie.

Vintage Wool Blanket Cushions

Cost:

$1

These cushions are up there with the most satisfying things we have made in terms of how inexpensive and easy they are with the cutest outcome! We are in the middle of exam week here in Dunedin and these cushions were quick enough to whip up during an afternoon study break. 

For your flat, cushions are an easy and inexpensive way to brighten up a room and the perfect thing to snuggle into on these winter nights. We picked up this vintage wool blanket from an op-shop for only $8 and got about nine cushions out of it.

Tools:

Scissors

Sewing machine

Materials:

Vintage woolen blanket

Method

Begin by cutting your cushions out. We wanted to make a standard size cushion so we cut the front of our cushion 45cm by 45 cm, leaving 5cm for a seam allowance, so our cushions would be 40 cm square.
For the back of the cushion we cut one piece that was 35 cm long by 45 cm wide and another piece that was 25 cm long by 45 cm wide. These two back pieces overlap in order to create a flap at the back of the cushion, no need for zips or buttons! 

The first bit of sewing involves hemming the raw edges of the two back pieces, just the two sides that will be showing. This is illustrated in the picture below. 

Next, add any detail or design that you would like to the front of your cushion. 

We chose a variety of cute designs for our cushions, among them were hearts and a few letters, even bits of lace. You can always leave your cushions blank and we did this with a few as well. 

Sew the design on to the front of your cushion. For our heart, Ali carefully sewed around the outside using a tight zig-zag stitch to achieve an appliquéd look. 

All that's left to do is sew the cushion together!
Place your bigger back piece on top of your front piece with the right (outside) sides together. This is so that when the cushion is finished it can be turned the right way out and the seams are on the inside. Pin your cushion and sew along the pinned edges. 

With the second back piece repeat these steps, making sure that the two back pieces are overlapping. Pin and sew. 

Then you have an inside out cushion so turn it in the right way and it's done!

This is the finished product, a beautiful bright cushion that would look adorable in a living room or bedroom. These cushions would make a wonderful gift as well, you could easily whip up a whole batch and customise the designs for all your friends. 

We also made a smaller version of the heart cushion so we had a matching pair. 

Happy crafty cushion making, 

Alexander Mcqueen inspired Clutch DIY

Cost:

$6

This really is the most unbelievably easy project, and the result is stunning!
The three finger ring we used was bought off Ebay for $2.50 including postage, and the sunglasses case was bought from the dollar store for $3.50, so cheap! If you can't find the right coloured case, you could paint it before you attach the ring. Cover it in polka dots or a chevron pattern, or your name in beautiful calligraphy, the options are limitless.
This clutch is stunning too, inspired by Alexander Mcqueen's infamous clutches, it is the perfect accessory for a classy night out. It would also make an affordable and customizable gift.

Materials:

Sunglasses case

Thin ribbon

Three finger ring

Tools:

Hot glue gun

Black vivid/sharpie

Method

Cut your ribbon into three short strips and glue each one into a wee loop.

Flatten the loop and glue one end onto the sunglasses case, right next to the opening. Push the other end of the loop through the ring and glue it onto the other side of the case. 

Repeat for the remaining two loops so there is a piece of ribbon threaded through each finger hole of the ring.

Optional extra:

If some of the glue is visible and not looking too pretty, colour it in!

Just grab a sharpie and blacken out the white bits.

And you're all done, just like that!

And for a very small price you have a one of a kind, edgy clutch that'll make all of the other girls jealous.

Happy carrying,

Badass Pockets

Difficulty:

Cost:

T-shirt- $6 each

Material- $1

We have seen so many awesome t-shirts recently with every kind of pocket you can imagine! We made these t-shirts for Ali's cute as flatmates, mostly because we wanted to see Nick wearing cats over his heart. The variations of this DIY are limitless, you could add a pocket to any item of clothing, and put whatever you like on the pockets. 

These would make a beautiful personal gift for someone special in your life like a brother or boyfriend.

Materials:

T-shirt/singlet

Fabric

Tools:

Sewing machine/needle and thread

Quick unpick (optional)

Scissors

Iron

 These gorgeous shorts were made by Ali a wee while ago and feature her fabulous cat material. Honestly, how cute are those kittens? 

Method

The first thing you need to do is cut your pockets out.
We used one denim pocket from Ali's shorts and we cut out another pocket using the pocket that we unpicked from one of the shirts as a template.

Make sure that you cut the pocket a little wider than the template as you want to leave some extra material for a seam allowance.
Once you have cut out your pocket iron the seam allowance under the pocket so you have a nice smooth seam like the picture underneath. 

The first bit of sewing that needs to be done is on the top of the pocket.
Simply sew a straight line along the top of the pocket about half a centimetre in. This is what Ali is doing in the picture below. 

Next, pin your pocket onto your t-shirt, making sure you get the placement right.
Finally, sew your pocket on to your t-shirt, sewing around the outside of the pocket. Make sure you don't accidentally sew the pocket shut at the top!

That's all! Finished, just like that! 

Now await the praise that will inevitably come when you gift one of these stunning shirts.

The boys are Tom and Nick. Tom is Amy's boyfriend and both of the boys live with Ali. They are silly gooses.

Happy pocketing,

 Tom, Nick and Ali live in the red block of flats, their very own heritage building.