Jean Bow

Tutorial

Hey guys! So sorry it's been so long since I've updated but I'm back with my favorite craft yet!

I've been making bows for a while but I finally found a pattern that ends up making the bow more stiff which makes the bow much cuter when pinned in hair. 

Anyways, here's how you make it.

Here's what you'll need:

• Jean material (I was able to make two bows out of one pant leg, but it was men's jeans, so there was a bit more fabric in each leg)
• Sewing materials (needle, thread, safety pins or pins, scissors)
• Ruler 
• Sharpie

Step 1: Cut out a large rectangle in the pant leg

Step 2: Cut off any hems

Step 3: I used a bow to measure out how big I wanted the bow to be, but you could just eye it and see. Make sure to measure out DOUBLE the horizontal length of your bow and add about 2 or 3 inches vertically and horizontally about 1 or 2 inches.

Step 4: I used a ruler and sharpie to draw straight lines for me to cut along

Step 5: Fold the rectangle so that the two ends come together in the middle in the back of the bow. Pin together the two sides making sure that the two pieces of fabric overlap in the middle about 1 inch.

Step 6: Fold in the top and bottom flaps so that the bow won't fray. Pin them down. (Notice the difference between the top and the bottom... MUCH better!)

Step 7: Begin sewing up the middle seam and around the edges of the bow.

Here's what mine ended up looking like once everything was sewn down and the pins were out

Back

Front

I have a very limited supply of sewing materials so all I had was some white thread and a needle to hand sew with, so I had to make do. At first I was just sewing normally which made the thread a little too noticeable for my taste so I started barely moving the needle on the front of the needle and then moving it on the back side of the bow...if that made any sense.. 









You can see the difference between the two sewing methods and maybe figure it out :)

Step 8: Cinch the bow

Step 9: Push the needle through the middle of the bow where you cinched it. You don't have to worry so much about the thread being seen because a piece of fabric will go over the cinched area.

Step 10: Using leftover fabric, cut off a piece of fabric at least 2-3 inches wide and long enough to fit around the cinched area of the bow. It's better to make it too long and then cut off the extra part.

Step 11: Fold the fabric the same way you folded the bow material before (with the two ends of the fabric coming together in the middle with a bit overlapped). Pin down the fabric and then sew down the middle.

Step 12: Wrap the smaller fabric strip around the cinched area of the bow and sew together the ends. Cut off any extra parts.

And you're done! Here's what mine ended up looking like!

To secure it to your hair, You could try to use a big bobby pin pushed through the little piece of fabric that's wrapped around the cinched area of the the bow, but mine was too thick so I ended up using a bigger clip that I had. It may look too big, but the whole clip is hidden behind the bow.

Just test out different things and find out what works best for you!

Here's the final product modeled on my sister, Siena.

By the way, shout out to my parents for the new camera which allowed me to take MUCH better quality photos than just iPhone pictures! Thanks for the AMAZING graduation gift :)

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Post a comment below if you have any questions, comments, or your own version of the craft!

Happy crafting!

-Micayla

Goodwill Dress Remake

Tutorial

Hey guys! 

One of my best friends, Angelica, is in town and we both LOVE DIY projects, so when we got together yesterday, our first stop was Goodwill! We picked up some cute stuff, but also some disgustingly hideous dresses that we saw potential in. One of those dresses was this one below:

(Excuse my dog in the background haha)

Not the best photo quality, but you get how old-ladyish it was..

This was my first time sewing a piece of clothing, so it wasn't the best, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out!

Well, here's how I turned it around!

Here's what you'll need:

• Dress
• Scissors 
• Pins
• Sewing needle
• Thread
• Mirror

Step 1: Try on the dress and figure out how short you want it to be. Mark it with chalk so it will rub off later.

Step 2: Take off the dress and find where you marked it. Fold it over to make a straight line of where you'd like to cut it, but add enough fabric to the end so that you can fold it over twice. (I did about 4-5 inches, but it's always better to make it longer than shorter).

Step 3: Cut in a straight line. I didn't do that part so well and it made this whole process a LOT more difficult than it had to be.

Step 4: Next, lay the dress inside out on the floor and fold up the hem twice. Folding it twice keeps it from fraying. 

Step 5: Use pins to hold the hem where you want it. My dress was a bit silky and didn't stay in place very well, so I used an iron to make the fabric stay in place better.

Step 6: Keeping the pins in, sew the dress along the seam with thread that matches the color of the dress.

Step 7: As you pass each pin, you can take them out. 

Step 8: Once all the pins are out, turn the dress back the right way, try it on, and enjoy!

So it was just a simple tutorial of how to hem a dress, but I was pretty proud of how it turned out so I decided to post it anyways :)

Comment below with any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas for crafts you'd like to see me do my own spin on! 

Happy crafting!

-Micayla

   

Global Destinations Map

Tutorial

Hey guys! SO sorry it's been so long since I've posted! I've been so busy, especially with my senior year coming to a close. With graduation approaching, I've been planning my summer, and I'm getting more and more excited the closer it gets! This summer I'll (hopefully) be visiting up to six countries - Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, Italy, France, and Canada! I've already traveled to several different locations, so I decided to make a DIY project that would help me keep track of all my traveling memories! 

Here's what I used:

• Colored pencil (Blue)
• Sharpie (Red and black)
• Large world map
• Yarn (Black)
• Glue
• Push pins
• Tape
• Pictures

Step 1: I ordered my map from Kinkos/FedEx and it ended up being about $25. The picture I used was the one below and from this site.

Step 2: Then I ordered the photos that I wanted. I chose one photo from each location I had been that I felt best represented my time there. The photos I ordered on Walgreens.com. I only have 5 so far and it ended up being just a little over a dollar after tax.

Step 3: When I picked up my map I saw that the image didn't turn out great and looked a little pixalated once blown up, so that's where the black sharpie came in. I traced over the outlines in black sharpie to make the map look better and then colored the waters with a light blue colored pencil. 

Step 4: Then I colored in the places I had been in red sharpie.

Step 5: Next, I cut pieces of black yarn and put a dot of glue on one end and placed that end on the location I visited. Then I stretched that yarn outside of the map and taped it to my wall. I did that for each location I visited 

Step 6: Using a pushpin, I put up the photos over the end of the yarn, thus connecting the location on the map to the photo.

And that's it! 

Sorry that it was a super easy (and maybe self explanatory) tutorial.. I needed something easy to ease me back into blogging since I've been gone for so long!

I've got a couple of longer-term projects coming up as well as some college dorm room DIYs that I plan on doing this summer in preparation for my freshman year at college next year! Ah, so many exciting things coming up! Stay tuned :) 

Happy crafting,

-Micayla

No Sew Lace Bow

Tutorial

Hey guys!

So sorry for the lack of posts recently! With Easter comes the annual Easter Celebration production at my church, so I've been behind about just about everything- including my blog. But now it's spring break, leaving me with plenty of time for crafting. :)

Speaking of spring... the warm weather makes my knitted bows kinda out of the question, so I had nothing to accessorize my hair with! Until I found some lace fabric...

Here are the supplies you'll need:

• Lace
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• Bobby pin 

I went to Michaels to buy some lace but I couldn't find anything except this lace umbrella, so I just bought it and cut the lace off of the plastic frame of the umbrella. It actually worked well, but it would be much easier to actually buy lace on it's own, and I'm sure you get more lace for your money.

Step 1: Fold your fabric in half.

Step 2: Cut your fabric.

Now you can decided how big or small you want your bow to be, but remember that you fabric is folded in half, so it only needs to be half as long. 

Now I meant to cut my fabric much wider so that I could fold the width in half to make up for my sloppy cutting job. 

Step 3: Cut off about an inch of the fabric on either side. Or if you like the size of your bow already, you can just cut off an inch of fabric from the original lace fabric.

Here's what I was working with. Luckily, because it's lace it doesn't end up looking as messy as the purely cut fabric once you put it all together. 

Step 4: Take the hot glue gun and put a line of hot glue down the middle of the bow where you will cinch it.

Step 5: Cinch the lace where the hot glue is.

Step 6: Put a dot of hot glue on the cinched area and then take one of the inch wide, long pieces of lace and press one end of it on the dot of hot glue. Then wrap the long piece of lace around the cinched area until you run out of fabric. You can put another dot of hot glue to keep the wrapping fabric in place.

Just stick a bobby pin in the back, pin in into your hair, and enjoy!

If you have any questions about this tutorial or if you would like to share your own version on this craft, please post below in the comments.

Happy crafting!

-Micayla

Philippines Mission Trip

Hey guys!

Unfortunately, I don't have a craft to share with you today, but I do have some news!

This summer I will be going on a missions trip with my church to the Philippines! There we will be working at the Young Life Center in Cebu where we will be serving the people there by doing some construction work!

To get me there, however, I'm going to need your help and support!

Here's how you can help:
1) Prayer- Please keep my team in prayer before, during and after our trip! That we'd be able to raise enough money, stay safe while in the Philippines, serve with our whole hearts, and then have a smooth transition coming back.

2) Financially- The trip cost a lot of money ($2,600 is a lot for a jobless teenager!) and I could really use your support! By donating here you can get me one step closer to my goal! It doesn't need to be a lot- any amount will help more than you'll ever know!

Thank you so much for reading this, and hopefully I'll have a craft up here for you guys soon! I've got a project I'm working on right now, but it's taking longer than I though it would.

God bless and thanks for considering supporting me on this new and exciting adventure!
-Micayla

Confetti Dessert Platter

Tutorial

Hey guys! 

So today's tutorial is inspired by two pins that I found on Pinterest (like every other tutorial.. haha!). The first pin is making a dessert platter out of a plate and a cup, and the second is an Anthropologie knockoff of their confetti tumblers. I didn't mean to put the two crafts together, but it ended up working really well together! I love this one- it might even be my favorite craft so far!

Here are the supplies you'll need:

• A plate and a glass (My glass was a margarita glass from Goodwill.)
• Super glue or "Cement"
• Acrylic paint
• All purpose sealer or Mod Podge
• Paint brushes (At least one small brush and one large one.)

Step 1: After washing the two dishes, apply the super glue or cement to the rim of the glass.

Step 2: Press the glass onto the center of the bottom of the plate. 

Make sure that the glass is in the center of the plate. If it's off center you can adjust it, but then some of the glue is on the inside and isn't touched by outside air, and that makes it not dry clear.

Now this was my project after 12 hours. 

Not sure if you can see clearly, but all the glue on the outside of the rim of the glass dried clear, but the glue on the inside of the glass isn't dried very well.

I figured that it wasn't going to dry anytime soon and I'm a bit of an impatient person with somethings, so I decided to find an alternative method to hide the undried glue.

At Michael's I bought five shades of blue acrylic paint and multi-purpose sealer. It only ended up being $7 with a 50% off coupon for one item! The acrylic paint is only $0.69.

Step 3: Using the small paint brush, alternate paint colors and paint dots all over the plate. 

This is my plate before the seal.

Step 4: Using the large paint brush, apply the all purpose sealer or Mod Podge over the whole plate.

Let it dry, and then CAREFULLY wash the dish so it can be used.

Here's the final product with the delicious lemon bars I made!

So, that's the tutorial! Leave a comment below if you have any questions about the craft or if you want to share your own version of the craft.

Happy crafting!

-Micayla