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