Category Archives: Tutorial

4 Quick Steps for Turning ‘Clothes’ into an ‘Outfit’

I’m have a mostly analytical nature. I love having a process or steps to complete for any task. It helps me define is working for me and improve on anything I dislike.

We headed out on Saturday night with friends, these are the ‘boring’ chambray shirt & jeans I was wearing during the day. To walk the dog, clean house, and curl up on the couch and watch Bob’s Burger’s on Netflix instant view (I’m in love with Kristen Schaal). When we decided to met some friends for drinks I wanted to take my clothes and turn them into an outfit. I’ve been working on these steps for a while now, and while I don’t follow this list every time, having quick go-to steps helps me decide what to do next. Like any medium ‘You have to know the rules before you can break them’.

1.) Tuck it & belt it.

  • Add a belt to your outfit, and if you are wearing two pieces tuck in your top. This helps define your waist, and breaks up long stretches of color.

2.) Roll up & Unbutton.

  • My mother used to have to tell me to unbutton my top button, because I thought ‘if it’s there I should use it.’ That’s not really true. Unbutton your top couple buttons, you can wear a bright-colored camisole to add some interest here.
  • Rolling up your sleeves breaks up the color. I feel like it makes my arms look longer and less stuffy.

3.) Accessorize.

  • I’m admittedly not great at accessorizing yet, so I typically limit myself to one big statement piece. Dangly earrings (in this case), or funky bracelets, or chunky necklaces. I like to keep it simple by just choosing one.

4.) When in doubt. Bright lips.

  • Bright red lips are definitely in vogue this spring. In a couple more seasons you might try a bright pink, or a coral, or a dark mauve, or whatever complements your skin color. It adds a bit of contrast to your face and really adds that extra oomph to make you look put together.


Tada! Loren is ready to rock & roll! Or just dance with her friends and try to avoid all the night club creepers. Do you guys have steps for going from drab to fab?

1920s Photobooth Props

We are planning a 1920s gangster/flapper murder mystery party for Curly-haired-boy’s birthday. (Everyone is really excited.) I’ve been looking for an excuse to printout/make a couple of the photobooth props from ‘Oh Happy Day‘. So I took this chance and we printed a couple of her props out which I supplemented with some gangster themed items that I drew myself. A couple bottles of illegal booze, a gangster fedora, a couple flapper facinators, some flapper lips, a tommy gun. I will be taking them to a REAL party next weekend (a week from Saturday), but for now decided to have a mini photo party by myself.

After my ‘practice shoot’ Ian-dog asked to get in on the fun. This is he.

Really he is just asking ‘Come on! What do I have to do to get those treats in your hand?’

Click here to download the parts above that I made. Check out the Oh Happy Day website to view instructions on making them/download the props that she has there.

 

An Almost No-Sew Teepee for the Dog

I have been pinning lots of teepees because of this website. Our little Ian-dog has a very similar story to the one linked, he hates to be crated. He’s fine in the crate as long as everyone is visible, but the minute we leave his sight he becomes agitated, destroys things, starts bending the wires of the crate, and can escape. We still aren’t entirely sure how. You’ve seen photos Ian not a big dog, but he is not skinny either. He is just dense & determined. If he doesn’t want to be somewhere he will get out. We think this comes from spending most of the first year of his life fenced in the backyard at his original owner’s.

Are you ready for the cutest thing ever?

We still wanted Ian to have his own place, somewhere he can hang out, to ‘get away from it all’, to relax & ignore us. So I decided to build him a teepee. Sure you can buy one. But that one is HUGE for a 40lb dog, our apartment is super tiny, it’s kind of not very cute, and is A HUNDRED DOLLARS.

So I headed over to Home Depot, picked up five 1-1/8″ wide 48″ long dowel rods for about $3.50 a piece (I should have gotten 6, and I should have gone down a size). We already had a painters tarp, but you can pick them up for about $10.

I followed a lot of the steps here. I drilled holes about 4″ from the top of the dowel rods, strung them together with some ribbon, glued little pieces of a non-slip mat I had to the bottom of each pole because our floors are hardwood and I didn’t want the dog to be able to knock it over with his tail wagging. I folded the painters tarp along the awkward not-quite-in-the-middle-seam which made it almost exactly 4′ long, and trimmed the bottom into a circle much like this tutorial says.

I hammered some 7/8″ grommets into the tarp so we could tie it closed with some ribbon.

Don’t do this on your balcony at 11pm it will be very, very loud. The neighbors won’t like it.

Why This is Almost No-sew

Here is the step that makes it almost no-sew, I sewed a little ‘button holes’ (there’s no button I just made the hole) on each side so we could pull back the front ‘doors’ secure them to the front legs (with some fabric scraps from this skirt). They aren’t really button holes I just did a very close zig-zag stitch in a square and then cut a little hole in the middle, to keep the edges from unraveling to much. We didn’t secure the fabric to any of the other teepee legs, mostly because the tarp is heavy that it’s not going to move far. And also that seemed like to much work for a glorified doggy bed. You can probably avoid this step if you really hate sewing/do not have a machine. The other tutorials I linked have some other suggestions.

It is barely big enough for me to fit into, but perfectly fits Ian and one of his dog beds (ie an old folded up comforter that fit my old Twin bed before Kent moved in). Ian-dog is still a little bit wary of the new space, but will easily be lured in to munch on some snacks. He loved napping on the bed before it had a roof, so we’re pretty sure he’ll be napping in there again in no time.

Break-Down:

  • 5 1-1/8″ wide 48″ long dowel rods – $3.50 a piece = $14. (I already owned one because of a Halloween costume)
  • Red ribbon – $1.99
  • Grommets & Stud Setter – $8
  • 1 Painter’s Tarp (Owned)
  • Doggy bed (Owned)
  • Fabric Scraps (Owned)
  • Non-slip mat (Owned)

Total: $23.99

Not bad for an adorable doggy teepee. Except now I need to make a big one for myself as well!

I’m linking up to the Pinterest Challenge over here. Check it out to see a bunch of other people complete cool tutorials.

 

Helping Keep Your New Years Resolution: Learning to Sew

It is cold, and dark outside. Also I am fighting a cold. So instead of photos of me shivering beside a tree here is a post that might help you with one of your New Years Resolutions. If that resolution was ‘learn to sew’. Learning to sew a little completely opens up your thrifting options, your Halloween costume choices, and lets you tailor every little piece into something that you love. I can’t recommend enough learning the basics of sewing.

Now I am in no way an expert sewer, I’m barely at intermediate level. I took a costume construction class in college and learned a lot of basics, but am also somewhat self taught, mostly through the internet or trial & error. But here are some of the basics that I wish I’d could go back & tell 17-year-old Loren when she was first pulling out her mother’s sewing machine:

18 Beginner Sewing Tips That I Wish Someone Had Told Me

  1. Remember Right Side to Right Side: You will almost always be sewing fabric right side to right side. Meaning the pretty patterned sides of the fabric should be touching, and you’ll be looking at the ‘wrong side’ while sewing. There are exceptions but if you can SEE the right side of your fabric you probably have something pieced together wrong.
  2. Don’t Pull: You do not need to ‘pull’ things through your sewing machine. The machine that will do that for you, you mostly just need to keep it feeding straight.
  3. Thread Color is Important: Thread color for patterned fabrics generally should be the MAIN color of your pattern. When in doubt go for the lightest color in the pattern, it makes a big different.
  4. Invisible zippers are hard: You won’t get them right the first time round, so make sure your zipper isn’t a super funky color. (I’m looking at YOU purple skirt)
  5. Re-Thread: If things are going wrong re-thread your machine. ‘I just DID that!’ you are saying. I know, but go ahead and re-thread it again. Practice is good for you and 99% of the time there is just a tension problem with your thread. This will fix that.
  6. Read the Manual: Learn about your sewing machine. Mine has a needle threader, a button hole setting, AND a setting to fill bobbins. Oh, the hours I wasted before I knew these things.
  7. Nobodys Perfect: Start with something easy, and push yourself to learn new things. But, it’s ok to drop a project and work on something else if you FUBAR a project.
  8. Zig-zag Stich: Use a zig-zag stitch on knit fabrics.
  9. Slip Stitch Your Pleats: Pin pleats into your pattern piece and then use a slip-stitch to hold them together before you sew two pieces of fabric together. This may seem like an obnoxious unnecessary step but it’s CRAZY easier to sew.
  10. Take a Class: If you REALLY want to sew, just take a class there is so much that is just easier to learn in a classroom setting.
  11. Back Stitch: Back stitch on the edges of your project! That way they don’t unravel Loren!
  12. Finish Edges: Whenever possible do something to finish your edges. That way they don’t unravel Loren!
  13. Take the Long Way Around: Sometimes it’s OK to take the short cuts, but sometimes you need to woman-up and do it the right way.
  14. Measure: Quit guesstimating lengths all the time, you stole that measuring tape from your mother for a reason. You should use it.
  15. Seam Ripper: You NEED a seam ripper.
  16. Buy an Iron: Your life will be so much simpler.
  17. Google is Your Friend: There is a tutorial for EVERYTHING on the internet. When in doubt Google it.
  18. Fabric Dye is Cool: It’s not nearly as scary as it seems, just follow the directions on the back of the package. And try to keep an open mind about how things will end up. Even when you are using undyed 100% cotton fabric the colors can still do weird things.

If you’ve been ‘meaning to learn to sew’ I also suggest this site. Burda has great forums & tips, free printable patterns and loads of tutorials and photos. Mostly remember sewing should be fun, nothing feels cooler than pulling on a dress or skirt that you made yourself. And remember if you don’t enjoy it then find a new hobby.

Does anyone else out there have any sewing tips? Feel like there’s something awesome I am missing?

Two Holiday Star Garlands

An Origami Lucky Star Garland

I found the tutorial for these stars here. They are very simple to make, you’ll be cranking them out in no time. I think this garland would look better on a ‘real tree’ or at least against a darker background. The instructions I found online for folding a star are better than mine but here are some basics.

  1. Cut a strip of paper about 11x.5″. I just cut each sheet of paper into 16 strips.
  2. Fold the end into a knot.
  3. Flatten as neatly as possible so that the shape has five sides.
  4. Flip and fold the long strip around the pentagon you’ve made.
  5. Tuck in the final end under another fold.
  6. Press along the five sides of the pentagon to ‘inflat’ the star.
  7. Pinch the tips a bit if you need, to create a more star-like shape.

Tip: Do not grab card stock like I did. Regular printer paper will be fine. ‘Inflating’ the card stock killed my fingers. Use a needle & thread to string together. Tie a little knot to keep them in place.

Second Tip: Use dental floss instead of thread, the wax helps keep the garland from getting super tangled.

 

 

 

 

A Sticker Star Garland

Remember those gold stars you got on your papers in elementary school? Pick a pack of those up in the grocery store for a couple bucks. Grab some dental floss (unused). Put two stickers back to back around the floss. I spaced them out a couple inches apart. I like to use a different color on the front & back for a lot of them.

Quick tip: We used ‘Mint’ dental floss for this one, adds to the number of senses that can enjoy our ladder tree.