Upcycle old Pajamas into Christmas Stockings - DIY

Christmas will soon be here, I cannot wait, I just love celebrating the time with my family. It's the perfect time to wrap up in extra layers, snuggling up with a Massive mug of hot chocolate, watching Festive films.

Whist looking through my drawer for any clothes I could donate to charity I came across my old reindeer PJ bottoms, I don't even know why they were folded up and put away as they had a massive hole in them. (A classic sign of over eating during such a Joyful time, I seem to forget the counting of calories and scoff as much as I can, 'Because it's christmas' )

I really like the pattern on them, and just hate throwing things away, So I decided to turn them into stockings for my partner and my little boy.

 

I literally goggled Christmas stocking template then printed out the best one I could find and got to work.

 

 

 

At first I was going to put a white band around the top, but decided against it, I also kept the elastic, but decided tho throw it away as I was just hoarding and realistically never going to use it.

I also used a safety pin to turn the material inside out to make the tube for hanging up the stocking.

 

I did rush them, but I'm happy with how they turned out. The money I saved on buying new ones has paid for some extra stocking fillers.

 

DIY and save some money this Christmas by up cycling.

 

 

Do you prepare early for Christmas, or get all of your gifts at the last minute?

 

How to make Mustard with Dylon Fabric dyes

I searched online for a tutorial of how to make mustard with Dylon and couldn't find it. So thought I would write up what I managed to create in hope that someone may need to use it too. Mostly because the little Dylon fabric packets are pricey and if you mix the wrong ratios, your colours will be ruined and you will find yourself heading back to the shop to grab more.

My little disclaimer: I'm am not an expert at this, just a creative woman dying some fabric, this colour and method worked for my fabric and you should always follow the instructions on the packet.
Also wear something dark just in case you splash some at yourself if your on the heavy handed side like myself.

This was the colour result I achieved:
Photograph taken in kitchen with natural light shining in through open doorway. (It was Raining..again)

The fabric I started off with was a plain white cotton from John Lewis. Please remember that if your fabric is coloured your results may vary. The colour you obtain will also depend on the fabric you are using and how much, so again please read instructions.

I used the hand dye Sunflower yellow and Woodland brown to get this colour:

I made my mixture up following the instructions, using the whole packet of Sunflower yellow, then adding roughly 1/3 teaspoon of Woodland brown as shown in photograph.

Add a little bit at a time to achieve the colour you would like, as it highly pigmented and the mixture turns it dark very quickly. It's easier to add more and impossible to take any of the dark out. So be careful and patient.

I also added a little test strip first to see what it would look like, then added my fabric (pre rinsed)

 

Here's a picture of the material whilst in the dye:

 

This was after about 10 minutes. Just remember to keep stirring it around gently to get an even colour. Also, after you have dyed your fabric and washed it. I would suggest tumble drying it. This will ensure it dries quickly, as I put mine through a long wash to remove all of the dye, then left it to dry overnight on a clothes horse. There were creases that made slightly darker lines across the fabric. It was only a little, but enough to notice it.

 

If your making mustard and needed to see some results, I hope this helps you. I am using this fabric for an Elisalex dress, which I will be posting about next.

 

If you have any questions just leave a comment and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Flo-Jo's knicker making kit completed

Last month I took a trip to Flo-Jo Boutique in Bristol, You can read about it Here.

Among my bag of goodies, I bought was a Knicker making kit, It's been sat up in my project pile for a few weeks now, so last night I finally got around to making it.

Here's what they turned out like:

 

This kit was £15, being totally honest, I would never buy a pair at that price in a store, however, I think this is a great little kit for beginners, you also get a template which you can keep, so If you want to make more, you can.

 Buying this little kit was perfect for me, it had everything in it which I needed to make the knickers. (Apart from the thread) which meant I wouldn't get distracted and pick up other bits that where unnecessary. I also got to practise using the zig zag stitch and using elastic which I have never used before. So I think I have gained some new skills by making these.
Above is an image of me testing my stitch to make sure it was the correct width to fit across the elastic.

The one thing I will say was that the instructions for putting the gusset in completely confused me. For any experienced sewer it may have been super easy to understand, but for me, I ended up guessing, but luckily it turned out ok.
When I purchased this kit, the lady said if I had any troubles I could give a call or pop in, however it was to late in the evening to do so, also my impatience got the better of me.

So here's what I done instead, it may have been right, but who knows, I still feel I done it differently:

 

I pinned the knicker patterns right sides together, with the gusset on top of the back piece, then stitched all three pieces together. Once I opened it up, it allowed me to fold the gusset back over onto itself, covering the seam underneath. I then pinned this in place to the front piece of the knicker pattern and began sewing the elastic around the edges as instructed. (Hope that makes sense)
 I pulled the knicker elastic to full tension whilst sewing, I wasn't sure if this would make it too tight, but it turned out fine. After sewing all the elastic on I stitched the sides together. I also skipped putting the bow on the front because I wanted the finished look without it.

 

 I'm not going to lie, my stitching was a tad wobbly, but practise makes perfect, and everyone has to start somewhere right?
To keep costs down, I think I will make these again when I can find some reasonably priced elastic, along with using scrap material from other projects, or upcycle any old clothes I no longer wear.

I hope this helps anyone else who gets stuck on the gusset section.

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Completed my Charlotte Skirt
Spoonflower projects in the works...

Spoonflower projects in the works...

A few weeks back I found an online store called Spoonflower, it sells Beautiful fabrics, wallpapers and even gift wraps. As I am new to sewing, I was very overwhelmed when looking on here, there are just so many different designs that I have never seen before.
So although I am budgeting and being more sensible with my money, I must admit, I got sucked in by all the unusual pretty designs and I had a little splurge. Whoopsie.

Have you been on their site?

I've been waiting for my material to turn up, then on Friday a little note dropped through the door just to tell me I needed to take a trip to pick up my parcel and pay a customs charge.
Fuming was not the word, I was a tad bitter as most of the fee was just the royal mail charging me so that they could stick a label on my parcel to tell me I owed them money. So just beware of this before you order as you could be left out of pocket.

All of my frustration for the customs charge soon went away after I opened the parcel and set eyes on my beautiful fabric... I'm well chuffed and can't wait to get sewing.

Along with my 2 pieces of fabric I order a material swatch booklet and colour chart.

The first fabric I selected was the stained glass pencil skirt by thesummercountry on cotton poplin.

The designer had two versions of this skirt available, one had an old style manuscript across it which I really adored, however I thought the colours in this skirt would allow me to wear it with more, especially with the bright and dark contrasting, I feel I would be able to style this Skirt in the summer, then maybe in the winter with some thick black tights. What do you think?

Then next on the list was Toothy the tooth fairy by Sammyk again on cotton poplin.

I can't wait to make this plush tooth fairy teddy, mainly because I know it's going to be easier than sewing the skirt, but because its just so cute. Again, I may have got carried away with buying this. My little boy hasn't even got all of his teeth through yet so It's going to be awhile till they start to fall out, but I just couldn't resist.

Here's a few picks of the packaging, material swatches and colour chart:

Before I get sewing the skirt I am going to make a Muslin like I did with my Charlotte skirt, I just hope it fits me and can't wait to see what it looks like on. I've done a lot of searching and cannot find a pick of anyone wearing it. If you've spotted it on a blog, please leave a link in the comments box, it would make me super happy and grateful.

Have you ordered anything from Spoonflower lately?

Don't forget to check back soon for updates on Toothy and the skirt.

Completed My Charlotte Skirt

I'm planning on putting together a capsule wardrobe with classic garments that can be mixed and matched to create several different outfits.
If you've read my previous post on replacing my favourite skirt, you'll know that I've been planning on sewing the Charlotte skirt from By Hand London.

Well this past week I am pleased to say I have completed it.

I was planning on sewing the version with the ruffles along the bottom, however, I realised that now I have been blessed with having a child in my life, I will be running around after him and thought it would be more practical for me to go for the plain version.

After measuring, tracing and cutting out the pattern, I started by making a muslin from 1M of cotton fabric (BOMULL) which I purchased from Ikea which was only £2 Per Metre.

I am so glad I did, I haven't sewn for a long time, and this is the first pattern I have ever used and I managed to balls up my muslin when taking it in to be more fitted. So, I didn't waste my £11 Per Metre Fabric I had purchased for the final skirt.





I have also never put in a zipper in my short time of sewing, as you may of guessed, YES, I'm a beginner.
On a trip to John Lewis my mother bought me the Janome zipper foot as a gift to help me along, it's a must and worth every penny. I completed the zip very quickly and was overly impressed, it allows you to get very close to the zip and gives a more professional finish.

 

Here's my little Beauty in action.
I also Unpicked the zip from the muslin to use on my skirt so I didn't waste money. It was well worth practising and I feel so much more confident about inserting the zipper now, although I must say it's not just down to my zipper foot, but the FANTASTIC TUTORIAL on how to insert an invisible zipper from By Hand London.

With my muslin in the past, and my mistakes rectified, I couldn't wait to get started on my final skirt. I used a black cotton canvas from John Lewis to make it, for my first go at sewing a pattern, I'm very pleased with the result, I took 7 inches from the length and added a 4 inch split at the back of the skirt:

 

Please accept my apology for the lack of quality of the photos, I initially had the pics taken outside, but it started raining during posing time (typical British weather for you). 

 

           

 

 

So what do you think? Have you made the Charlotte skirt? I will definitely be making this again, it gets a big thumbs up from me. Hmmm, what to sew next....

 

 

 Please note: All items were purchased by myself to create my new skirt. :)

Build a baby / toddler wardrobe from £10 Ikea bookcase

Are you decorating on a budget? I sure am.

If you are and need a great little wardrobe at a fantastic price, why not use this for inspiration.

When I have a budget, I tend to be more creative, I find a way to get what I need without that price tag attached. I do my research and find inspiration from somewhere.
So today I wanted to get a mini wardrobe for my lovely little boy, well, his clothes really. I was fed up of having all of his tops in a drawer and just reaching for the top ones. There are always clothes underneath which I forget about, and as soon as the others are washed, they get folded up and put back on top again. So I thought it would be nice to have them hanging up.

I gave myself a budget of £20 and this is what I came up with:




 

An Ikea Billy bookcase converted with a rail.

Total: £12

 

(please excuse the pink wallpaper, I haven't got around to stripping that down yet.)

From Ikea, I purchased the small white Billy bookcase for £10 and the 50cm Komplement rail or £2.

So, the thing I like about Ikea is that they have great instructions and things are so simple to put together.
I built the bookcase as instructed, cut the rail to the correct size, then marked out where I wanted my rail to go inside the bookcase.

Here are a few photographs for tips on how You can achieve this:

 

Save money by looking in the IKEA & The environment section, this is where scrap wood from broken items gets left. This is always an excellent place to start if you are making things, you may find a few treasures here for free. Always put it in your car as soon as you spot, it because it will probably be gone when you get back.

 

Always get all your stuff ready before you start to put it together, its always handy to have things in reach, you'll get the job done much quicker. (Don't put the shelves in yet)

 

 

After Building the Billy Bookcase you can see what the width of your rail has to be, I made sure I marked it out clearly. Also I remember to mark the space for the plastic insert that holds it up as this takes of an extra couple of mm, as you can see, I first drew the line, then marked the width of two grey plastic holders so it will fit correctly. I used a saw that was ideal for metal, and also was careful to wear gloves as it will expose sharp metal. I then used some sandpaper to smooth the edge, popped the grey caps on the end and then got marking the bookcase.

 

 

 

Take in to consideration the shape of the hanger, I bought the children's hangers from Ikea, and they don't fit well when the rail is upright.

 

 

I chose to have the rail up the following way as I found the Ikea hangers fit on much easier, also the flat edge on the top made it easier to mark where the holes would be, for this I used a pen. Also I knew that because the Billy bookshelf is slightly small in depth the hangers would poke out of the front, so I made sure I put the hanger in and that it was not banging the back of the bookcase. This gave it a good fit, and ensured the clothes would hang correctly.

 

 

The screws for the Komplement rail are meant for the wardrobe range, these already have the holes drilled so the screws you get with this rail have a flat tip. this is useless for this task as I needed to screw it into the wood so I found some replacements from my spare screw pot. I made sure that it had a point on it, and also that it was the same size. If the screw was any longer it would go through the other side of the wood. Below on the right side if the photo is an example screw.





 

OK, This was the hardest part. I used a screwdriver to push where the holes where, this made an indentation for the screw to sit in.

 (Honestly, the screw did go in straight, I was just using one hand taking photo so could not hold it)

I gradually screwed it in part of the way, then took it out, then once I had done this in each of the marked holes, I put the rail in. I did not want to use a drill as I didn't want it to go through the other side of the wood.

Well, this is the end result with the shelves in, as you have seen above.
Feel free to use this as inspiration for your project if you're decorating. It's such a fantastic price at £12 to make, and you could always decorate it with stickers or paint.
you could do it even better and have two rails, although I only think you would fit skirts or short in the bottom because o the length.

 

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DIY Perfume and make up beauty shelf

DIY beauty and perfume shelf

Need more storage space?

Clearing out the loft I came across an old shelf, this was great as I needed more storage, especially as my beauty products were taking over the top of my chest of drawers.

But in my eyes, it was not seen as an ordinary shelf, it was the starting point for my new beauty project. I like to think of myself as a creative person, always being inspired by the simple things in life, below are some pictures of my finished DIY beauty / perfume shelf.

It took me about a day to make, as I could not find the chuck key to adjust the drill bits and it only had a masonry one in, also I had to wait for the paint to dry too.

I wanted to customise the shelf space to fit certain products on it, so this was a great way to do that, I drew it roughly on the backing board to use as a template, then got measuring, toned up my arms with the saw action, then used some long wood screws to secure the frame together.

Using small sample sized pots from B&Q I painted the frame gold, then a soft creamy colour on the front edges.

I also got a sample piece of wallpaper from B&Q and stuck this to the backing board, then used some small tack nails to keep it in place.

I wanted it mounted to the wall, so I put some brackets on the back.

Then finally got to use the drill, I marked where it would go, drilled the holes and put some wall plugs in, and then with the last 2 screws, up it went.

So I hope you like it, and if your inspired feel free to use my idea, but remember if you aren’t familiar with DIY projects that include using a saw and drill, ask someone else who does for help, as I don’t want you guys hurting yourself.

What’s on my beauty shelf?

I’ll quickly run over what’s on my beauty shelf:

Lipsy EDT 30ml & Lipsy Love EDT 50ml

Prada Candy Perfume 50ml

My favourite mac lipsticks

Soap and glory Mist you madly body spray 250ml