Awards at the Fair

So I entered some of my zipper flowers in the fair this year, and I won some ribbons!  They were entered in two categories.  The first being Crafts - Inspired by Nature, which won Best in Class, Silver, and Blue Ribbons.  The second category was a recycled wearable art contest, and I got a Silver and Blue ribbon as well!  Yay!

I have been making more zipper flowers, and will list them on etsy once I get some awesome pictures of them.

Contact Paper Tree

So the wall in my bedroom was really boring.  I'm not allowed to paint my room because of the lease at my apartment, so I used contact paper.  I cut out the trunk first and worked my way out.  Every branch and leaf is a separate piece of contact paper.

The packaging says you can remove it and replace it over and over again, but when I would adjust my branches, they wouldn't stick as well the second time around.

I want to add some more patterns and colors to it.  Maybe even decorate it for holidays and seasons?  Like ornaments or snow flakes for winter, or birds and flowers for spring.

Window Makeover

So I went and picked up this awesome window-shaped mirror at a thrift shop for $6.  It was originally painted forest green and it had a hefty amount of chipped off paint.  I decided I wanted to give it a little makeover.  I tried to remove the mirror, but when I was sliding it out, it cracked right in my hand.

I had to make something with the empty frame, and  I bought a few cans of neon pink spray paint at Michael's.  (I have been printing 40% off coupons from this Link, for months now.) I was lazy and didn't paint the frame white first, so it took many layers of paint to cover that icky forest green base.

After it was neon pink, I took a scribe paintbrush (long and skinny bristles) and hand painted abstract swirls over the entire frame.  I also painted all the visible sides of the frame with the swirls.

I wish my camera could pick up just how bright it is, it glows when the sunlight hits it!

Now I just need to figure out what to put behind it.  A poster, collage, another mirror?

90's Tshirt Reconstruction Tutorial

So,  I have had this 90's itty-bitty top since high school, when I stole it out of my mom's old clothes.  I always wanted to make it into the top of a dress.  So I finally took an old grey tshirt, and come scrap blue jersey material and made a dress with it all!  I also found a bright red zipper in my stash, and used it in the back for a little pizzazz.

Here are the steps:

1.  Gather your materials.  You will need t shirts, jersey, scissors, a zipper, and a handy dandy sewing machine.

2.  So my grey t shirt had a pocket on it, so I removed it with a seam ripper.  Then cut the neckline and sleeves off of your t shirt.

3.  Next take the large body section of your t shirt and fold it in half.  Cut through both sides of fabric, creating a trapezoid shape.  Make sure the wider end is the original hem of the t shirt, so you don't have to rehem it later. 

4.  Cut one of the large body pieces in half, leaving you with two back pieces, and one front piece. Cut out a strip of fabric (mine is blue) for the waist that is about 2-3 inches tall, and as wide as the front part.  (I trimmed 2-3 inches off the top of the front piece, so when the blue is sewn to it, it will be the same length as the back pieces.) Next cut out two long pieces the same height as your front blue piece.  Make sure these strips are long enough to wrap around your body and tie into a nice bow in the back.

5.  Use a zig zag stitch with jersey material to let it stretch afterwards.  Now sew the front blue strip to the top of your front grey piece.  

6. Now we are going to make a sandwich.  Take your entire front piece ( blue and grey sewn together), right side up and put it as the bread. Make the filling with one end of a strip, and the other piece of bread is one of your back grey pieces right side down.   Pin and repeat with the other side. (Make sure the angled outside edges (of the grey) are lined up, so when it lays flat it is symmetrical and lines up correctly.)

7.  Sew the two sides together, so you have one nice big piece, with the blue tie ends free. I didn't hem my waist ties because jersey is awesome and doesn't fray.

8.  Now pin and sew the top part of your dress onto the body.  After that sew the entire back seam together if it is stretchy enough, or install a zipper into the top part.  I used a zipper because the 90's top had no stretch to it.