DIY Lace Collar Necklace (Oliver Bonas knock-off)

DIY Lace Collar Necklace by Thisblogisnotforyou.comHeeeelllo! Hope you all had happy Easter holidays! Mine were awesome and I think I cannot eat any more chocolate for the next few years (I might change my mind by the end of the week). Before travelling to Germany for the holidays, I went konditorn [German for ‘going out to eat confectionary like old ladies do’] with a friend (modelling the necklace above) and when we went shopping afterwards, she dragged me into an Oliver Bonas store. Man, I wanted to buy everything in there, but luckily I was out of money.

We looked at this Cute Collar Necklace and I mentioned that this could be a cool DIY project.DIY Lace Collar Necklace by Thisblogisnotforyou.com I loved this necklace so much, so I looked it up online and printed it off the same night.DIY Lace Collar Necklace by Thisblogisnotforyou.comUsing the printed copy as a template I transferred the shapes (roughly) onto shrink plastic with a pencil (for reference, the picture was printed on A4 paper, the unshrinked plastic is approx. 20cm high).DIY Lace Collar Necklace by Thisblogisnotforyou.comAfter shrinking the collar pieces are now approx. 11cm. Using pliers I attached the necklace. I joined the collar pieces with a small silver ring.DIY Lace Collar Necklace by Thisblogisnotforyou.comDIY Lace Collar Necklace by Thisblogisnotforyou.comI love this necklace so much, but it was a whole lot of work. Cutting out the collar pieces was the hardest part and my fingers hurt so much, but it was totally worth it (and I saved 34 €).DIY Lace Collar Necklace by Thisblogisnotforyou.com

Refashion it! The Bambi Shirt & Tips for stamping fabric

hand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.com

hand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.comhand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.comI recently bought a white tee and refashioned it for my best friend’s birthday (yes, the one who also was lucky enough to get a made-to-measure bridesmaid dress for Christmas!).

I bought a tiny Bambi stamp on Amazon. I have loads of textile paint left from the time when I spent my days stamping totes and tees (pre-sewing machine days!) and used a basic black paint for light fabrics which I bought in Oslo years ago. This paint is tried and tested many times and I know that it lasts forever without loosing its colour.
hand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.comhand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Yay! I finally have new labels! I used to have woven labels which you had to sew on (and I still have loads left), but I really wanted some that relate more to my blog, so I got these which are printed and you can simply iron them on. You can machine wash them by 40°. I might use some of the old woven ones for delicate fabrics, though as I’m not so sure if they will stick to the fabric if ironed at lower temperatures.hand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.comhand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.comStamps need to be cleaned before the paint dries. There will be stains that stay, but that’s fine as long as all fluff and paint gets washed off.

10 Tips for Stamping a Tee

hand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Before you start, practise, practise, practise! It’s best to try stamp and paint on a piece of scrap fabric which is similar (in colour and structure)  to the one of your shirt.

1. Wash your fabric/tee. The colour lasts much longer if your fabric is pre-washed.

2. Place some cardboard between both layers of fabric. Don’t use newspaper as the ink might leave stains on light fabrics. I placed the tee on the cardboard and traced & cut around it. This really helped to keep the fabric even while stamping.

hand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.com3. Don’t mix the fabric paint with water. You can do that, if the paint is water-based, but if you want to have a neat and sharp print which looks stamped, I recommend using the paint as it is. You will only need a tiny amount anyway and mixing the paint with water might lead to a slightly blurry outcome.

4. Apply the fabric paint to the stamp with a small dry brush. I prefer this to dipping the stamp directly into the colour. The outcome will be much better, neater and uniform.

5. Less is more. Don’t use too much paint, otherwise the image will get blurry and you won’t be able to see the details.

6. Apply a little paint to the stamp after each step to make sure that the contrast of the motifs is consistent.

7. Make sure to clean the stamp every once in a while with water. Leave to dry for a few minutes before continuing. This is to remove any fluff or dried on colour which could make your design blurry and uneven.

8. Press the stamp down with a quick, well-aimed movement and try to avoid shifting the stamp or fabric.

9. If you are stamping the whole tee in a continuous pattern, start at the back of the tshirt working your way from bottom to top (same in the front). This way you will have perfected the method when you reach the neckline. It’s important that neckline, shoulders & bust area look good, because that’s where the image/motif will be most visible. Give the paint enough time to dry before you turn the shirt over.

10. Iron the fabric from the wrong side for about 5 minutes to set the colour. After that your print is washable (have a look at the instructions on the paint).

hand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.comhand stamped Bambi tee by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I loved this little stamp so much! So be prepared to see more Bambi tees on le blog in the future! I might even try to make a stamp myself using a rubber eraser – we’ll see! 🙂


Happy sewing!

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Tutorial: How to sew a cover for your sewing machine

sewing machine cover by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Helloooo!

As promised, here comes the tutorial for the cute sewing machine cover I made last weekend. I looove it. My sewing space (which is basically 90% of our flat) looks so much better now (and tidier – probably the main reason why Mr Thisblogisnotforyou likes it very much).

The cover is rather simple to make, depending on how much detail you want to add. As the lining is the same shape an size as the fabric, you can also make your cover reversible (you sew the cover part twice and use one instead of the lining).

What you need:

– fabric leftovers/ fat quarters, some plain fabric for the lining (unless you want your cover to be reversible)
– thread
– scissors/or rotary cutter
– measuring tape
– a piece of cardboard

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Measurements:

For my cover, I used different quilting cottons. I ordered so many when I started sewing and never really used them after I began making clothes.

The size of the fabric pieces depends on your sewing machine and your design. When you use a lot of different fabrics like I did, the fabric pieces can be rather small – time to get out these leftovers you’ve kept all that time!

If you like to keep it simple and only want to use one fabric, the biggest piece should have the width of your sewing machine (plus seam allowance) and height as follows: 2x height + 1x depth of your sewing machine (plus seam allowance).

Now get out your tape measure and take measurement of your little darling. This of an imaginary rectangular box around your sewing machine, where everything needs to fit in. Don’t forget to include the balance wheel when measureing the width, height of spool pin etc.

My machine was 40cmx30cmx16cm. You should add about 1cm on each side.

To assemble the cover, we want to cut out the following pattern pieces:
sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Front & back (mine is: 42cm x 32cm incl seam allowance), top (18cm x 42cm), sides (18cm x 32cm). 

Does this make sense? Alternatively, if you’re using only one fabric, you can combine front, back and top and cut out one big piece instead.

If you want to use up all your small fabric pieces, sew strips of them together creating one big piece with the right measurements.

This is my back panel.

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.comsewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Stitch the pieces together (right sides facing) and give it a good press.

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

When piecing your panels together, a large square ruler helps to get perfect rectangles.

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Cutting out:

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Here we have front, back and top panel.

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Cutting out the side panel. I aligned it with the front and top panel, to check that all the measurements fitted perfectly before cutting.

Adding pockets:

In case you want to add pockets to the side panels, cut out one or more pieces with the same width and different heights. Use bias binding to finish the top edge of the pockets,sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Align all bottom edges and stitch the pockets onto the side panel with a very narrow seam allowance.sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Assembling then pieces:

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Now that we have all pieces, we start sewing front and back onto the top panel like so:sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Press!

Next, the side panels. When sewing these on, make sure not to stitch over the front/back panel seam allowance like so:

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.comThis is important in order to get nicely pointed corners in the end. You can also press the seam allowances apart. This makes is easier to sew side and front/back panel together and will help you to get that perfect corner.sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Now sew side and front/back panel together. You can now check if the cover fits nicely.
Then do the same for the lining.

The lining cover will go into the cover, left sides facing. I secured the lining by basting it to the cover in all four corners.
sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

If you’d like to have a more stabil cover, you can slide a piece of cardbord (a tiny bit smaller than your top panel) between the top parts of lining and cover. You can keep it in place with double-sided tape or, as I did, handstitch it onto the lining in a few places.

sewing machine cover tutorial by thisblogisnotforyou.com

To finish the bottom edges, press both cover and lining seam allowance inwards, so that the seam allowances of both parts are facing each other. Secure with a few pins and stitch along all sides.

Done!

sewing machine cover by thisblogisnotforyou.com

If you have any questions, just leave me a comment below!

I’d love to see your version! Send a picture of your finished cover to hello(at)thisblogisnotforyou(dot)com!

Happy Sewing!

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Valentine’s DIY ideas

Free Printable Valentine's Day Card by thisblogisnotforyou.comHi everyone!

It’s that time of the year again… So here comes a quick recap of last year’s Valentines DIY ideas and articles.

How about some cute Free Printable Valentine’s Day Cards *made by me* ? Check them out by clicking on the picture below.Free Printable Valentine's Day Card by thisblogisnotforyou.com

 

In case you’re looking for a cute DIY idea for your loved one – here’s one! I enjoyed making this one last year and Mr Thisblogisnotforyou loved it!

jar of dates -  valentines gift by thisblogisnotforyou.com

 

 

However, if you’re not a big fan of Valentine’s Day, this article might be for you.

the valentines day alternative

 

Last but not least – for all of you waiting for some more sewing-related posts, be reassured they’re on the way. I had quite a few days off lately and did A LOT of sewing. However, nothing is finished yet since I started several projects instead of finishing the first one. Ooops.

Soo…there will be a cape, one or more dresses, maybe a finished project I started over a year ago and …. yes? MENSWEAR! Yes. Menswear. If I finish to fit that %&$$§%/$ pattern properly. Something is wrong with Mr Thisblogisnotforyou’s arms. That much I can tell you.

Happy Sewing!

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 Soundtrack for today: The Proclaimers – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)

 

 

Refashion It! The Autumn Skirt

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Hi everyone!

The secondhand store around the corner had a huge seasonal sale a few weeks ago and they sold EVERYTHING for 1pound only. I bought quite a few things without even trying them on (they all fit like a glove) and some plus-sized skirts for the occasional weekend refashion project.

In this sale I found this rather ugly and way too long beauty which screamed “refashion!”:

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.comNot only was it way too long (mid-calf) but it also had the fly in the center front which certainly wasn’t very becoming. The original size was a size 20 (UK)/46 (Eur).

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

First, I used the seamripper to separate the waistband from the skirt. Then I used another fitted dress I got at the sale as a template:

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Tracing the shape of the skirt with tailor’s chalk:Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I decided to keep the pockets. I had to come up with a solution since I had to take out some fabric in the front from between the pockets. To avoid awkward center front seams I made the skirt a wrap skirt;

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

After cutting, I sewed the side seams and inserted the zipper.

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I topstitched the overlapping parts in the front and added 4 parallel topstitched rows as embellishment.

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I had to shorten the waistband and ended up having an awkward seam. Since I wanted to keep the fastener, I decided to cut out a bit from the middle. I matched the seam up with the topstitched part in the front to make it looked a bit more planned 🙂

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Fake wrap skirt almost finished:

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I really liked the skirt at this stage, but I still had quite a bit of fabric left which I really wanted to use, since it wouldn’t be enough for making another one.

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I cut the bottom part of the original skirt in half (keeping the original hem). I gathered the two strips and pinned them onto the skirt, marking the seamlines.

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I stitched the strips onto the skirt (right sides together) and hemmed them.Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.comAutumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I made the mistake of putting the fastener on the wrong side of the skirt – this way the flap is facing to the front, which looks a bit weird. Well, lesson learned for next time.Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.comAutumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

(Hello London! I think I need a tan!)Autumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.comAutumn Skirt Refashion by thisblogisnotforyou.com

 

Happy Sewing!

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