Monday, December 31, 2012

Knitted British Flag Pillow

Tutorial




Happy New Years Eve!

Well my day has been filled with two things-
1) Getting ready for tonight
2) Knitting like crazy


This project I have for you guys today is inspired, literally, by my phone case given to me by one of my best friends when she spent a summer in London. (I had to look at it to know what the flag looks like exactly.)




But my project was also largely influenced by my love (and slight obsession) with the British (and Irish) boy band One Direction.
(Thanks Mom and Dad for the Christmas present! ;) )


But please, don't stop reading now! I promise this is the last time for this post that I'll talk about them.





Here are the supplies you need to make your own knitted British flag pillow:

  • Knitting needles
  • Embroidery needle (to sew pieces together.)
  • Pillow stuffing (I just bought a cheap pillow and cut it open.)
  • Red, white and blue yarn





Step 1:
Knit together the following pieces.

With the white yarn:
  • Two large squares.
    • You will sew the edges of these squares together to make the pillow. If you'd like a different color than white to be showing on the back of the pillow then you can use any color yarn, but white seems to be the safest bet.
    • I don't actually know how large I made my pillows (I think I casted on 70-80 stitches) but whatever size you make your pillow you can adjust the rest of the measurements. Trust me- if I made this project up, you can customize it easily.
  • Four long rectangles
    • For the first two, cast on 19 stitches or enough to make a border for a red rectangle with 17 stitches casted on. (For length, see the corresponding red knitted piece.)
    • For the second two, cast on 7 stitches or enough to make a border for a red rectangle with 5 stitches casted on.(For length, see the corresponding red knitted piece.)

With the red yarn:
  • Two rectangles with 17 stitches casted on. Make them long enough to fit comfortably when placed going across the pillow both up and down.
    • Note: I wish that I had made these pieces a little smaller, but the width is up to your own discretion.
  • Two rectangles with 5 stitches casted on. Make them long enough to fit comfortably when placed diagonally across the pillow.
With the blue yarn:
  • Four blue squares. I casted on between 12-17 stitches (the numbers varied because I started running out of yarn. hahaha.. oops.) But the bigger the better because it's just the background. 




Step 2: Sew together the two large white squares that make the base pillow. Because I don't know how to knit things together with knitting needles yet, I use an embroidery needle to sew together the edges of the pillow. Sew until there is a small opening to add the pillow stuffing and then finish off the edges.





Step 3: Sew the blue squares onto the four corners of the pillow using the embroidering needle.
Step 4: Sew the white, knitted rectangle pieces to their corresponding red, knitted rectangle pieces. 



Step 5: Sew the red rectangle pieces with the white backgrounds diagonally across the pillow, connecting one blue square to the other.



Step 6: Sew the larger red rectangles with the white background across, going the other way (not diagonal- there should be a word for that.)







And there you go! You've finished your pillow!

I can't really tell you how much it will cost or how long it will take because this was made over a long span of time. But I made all of the red, blue and white border pieces all day today. 
But I wish you all the best of luck if you attempt to make this! Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions!
Have a great (and safe) night tonight!
Happy New Year, and happy crafting in 2013!
-Micayla

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Simple Cross Earrings

Tutorial





Craft Inspiration
(Instagram: Camila_Cabello)
Hey guys!

So I have to admit, my Wednesday and Thursday nights are a bit more depressing now that The XFactor USA has had it's season finale. And while I was rooting for Carly Rose Sonenclar the whole season, I started to love Fifth Harmony as the weeks went on (I blame my soft spot for pretty harmonies). The second I saw Camila Cabello's cross earrings, I knew I had to have them.

I figured that I could get the same pair at Forever 21 for cheap, but all they had were shorter ones with designs or longer ones with like five crosses hanging down, but I just wanted the simple ones that she had.

So I decided to just make my own pair! And since I'm not a blacksmith, nor could I find a cross pendant exactly how I wanted it, I had to be a little creative and find a way around it.

The total for this project came out to be $15 for the supplies but I had already bought the earring hooks. You can make something like 3 pairs of earrings from the $15 supplies, so each pair of earrings are worth $5 plus the 20 minutes it takes to get a hang of making them.

The supplies you need are:



  • Eye pins (about 2.5 inches)
  • Head pins (about 1.5 inches)
  • Bead stringing wire
  • Earring hooks
  • Hot glue gun (optional)








Step 1: Fasten eye pins (2.5 inches) to earring hooks with the bead stringing wire. 

I probably tied mine three or so times. Just tie it tightly until it feels secure.



Step 2: Put together the head pins (1.5 inches) and place it perpendicular to the eye pins and spaced like a typical cross.



Step 3: Tie the two pairs of pins together with the beading string by criss-crossing the strings over each other and then tying a knot. I found it easiest to do one set of criss crosses and then tie a knot and then repeat the cycle one or two more times, making it harder for the strings to become untied while trying to tie the rest.
(Note: Here's where the optional hot glue gun comes in. You can hot glue gun the ends of the pins together to make them stay in their pairs while you're tying to tie them together. Then once finished you can easily peel off the glue and leave it with the finished product.)








And there you have it! In three simple steps you end up with these! 



I plan on debuting these tomorrow, on New Years! I'm singing at my church's New Year service and they'll go perfect with my outfit.


Well, that's all for now, hope you enjoyed my first craft tutorial for you!

Let me know how yours turned out or if you have any questions in the comments below!

Happy crafting, and happy New Year!
-Micayla

Introductions

Hey guys!

My name is Micayla and you've arrived at my DIY/Crafting blog!

I'm currently a senior in high school living in Northern California. I love crafting and have been obsessed with it ever since I started last year, and I haven't stopped since!

A lot of my crafts are simple, but I'm happy to share my tutorials with anyone who's interested.

Happy crafting!
-Micayla