Civil War Skirt Tutorial

EHow has two simple Civil War skirt tutorials available. The first set of instructions is for a skirt with a waist band, and the second is for a draw string skirt. No pictures or video are included, but the instructions are simple enough.

Hoop Skirt Tutorials

I found an ingenious hoop skirt tutorial at OneWalking. No need for expensive boning from the fabric store. This hoop skirt uses water tubing from the hardware store. Awesome idea.



Also found this awesome tutorial for a cage hoop skirt at TheDreamstress.com. I'm not sure what pattern I'm planning to use for our upcoming event, but either of these will do nicely.

After looking a little longer at patterns I ran across a step by step flash tutorial by Yiji at DeviantArt.com . Her tutorial is possibly the best, but since it is flash you can only view one page at a time.

Corset Tutorial from ThreadBanger

Looking for a quick easy corset pattern? This video from ThreadBanger may help. Step by step instructions can be found here, but the link to the pattern instructions is missing from the ThreadBanger post. Some basic instructions on making a pattern can be found at this link.



I dug a little deeper, and found a site that generates a corset pattern/instructions based on measurement inputs. The corset pattern generator can be found on ElizabethanCostume.net.

Farm House Doll Bed Plans

I was looking for baby doll cradles to go with the baby dolls we bought for Christmas, when I ran across plans for this adorable farmhouse doll bed from Ana-White. I must try to make this for daughter's American Girl dolls.

Link to the free plans from Ana-White.com: Another Farmhouse Bed

Rolled Hem Tutorial

I found a wonderful tutorial by Vanessa over at Little Big Girl Studio, that details how to use a Brother 1034D to sew a rolled hem. It is great to find someone that is actually using the same machine that I am. The other tutorials I've seen have been some what helpful, but her tutorial showed me the exact settings I needed for my machine. It worked wonderfully. I'm so happy I found this.

The tutorial can be found here.

Make a Font in Inkscape

I was browsing through some online tutorials to get ready for the arrival of my new Cricut, when I found a video by CleverSomeday showing steps to create a font using Inkscape. The video can be found at this direct link. It looks so simple; I must try it!

Jewelry Holder

Today I'm getting around to posting a project that was done quite a while back, maybe over a year ago. It is still just as useful as it was back then. This is my jewelry holder. It holds a ton of necklaces, but I'm just about out of space, and I'm going to need second one real soon.

To make the jewelry holder I found an old picture frame from my closet, some cup hooks at Habitat for Humanity, a piece of cardboard, some batting, satin ribbon and fabric.

Step one: remove the glass from the frame.

Step two: If you don't already have picture hangers on the back add them now. They are hard to nail in once the hooks have been added to the front.

Step three: Screw the hooks into the picture frame. As you can see, mine aren't all the same size. That is because I bought all of the large hooks they had at Habitat for Humanity the day I visited, so I had to buy some smaller hooks as well.

Step four: Paint

Step five: Cut the cardboard to fit the inside of the frame, and wrap it with batting. I think I actually used duck tape on this project, but I don't want to take it down off of the wall to be sure.

Step six: Wrap the fabric around the cardboard, and duck tape or hot glue in place.

Step seven: Hot glue the ribbons in place. Every where the ribbons intersect with each other they are glued to both the fabric and each other. Then they are also glued on the back of the cardboard. The remaining ribbon is left loose, and able to hold light weight earrings very well.

Step eight: After everything is glued in place, the cardboard is inserted into the frame, and the normal frame backing is placed back on the back of the frame to hold everything in.

Make an envelope for any size card!

I wasn't having much luck making or finding an envelope template for note cards. Then I found this tutorial on YouTube. It is very simple to follow envelope tutorial, that shows you how to make an envelop for any size card. I highly recommend it if you have been having trouble making envelopes for the cards you have created.

Shirred Smocking Tutorial

I haven't been able to find the video I was looking for tonight. I wanted to find the Sewing with Nancy episode that showed how to create smocking with a serger/over lock machine. It is a great episode, and the guest shows all kinds of great stitches that can be created with a serger.

I did however find this great tutorial on YouTube that shows how to create smocking with a regular sewing machine. Marking this one now, so I can find it later.

Coffee Filter Flowers

I found this wonderful idea at Totally Tutorials, and I had to post it before I forgot it.

These are a wonderful idea for cards, or gift wrapping. The tutorial is on a Swedish blog, Trisa Prickaformar. The only word I understood was "brad", but the video instructions are easily followed.

Here is the link: http://tesaprickiformar.blogspot.com/2010/04/kaffefiltersblommor.html#comment-form.

Homemade Cutting Dies

I've been searching for a way to cut felt without spending hours cutting out flowers. Paper craft punches, even the larger ones, just aren't hefty enough, and I haven't been able to find any felt punches. I've thought about purchasing one of the die cutting machines, but that is a pretty large price tag for saving myself a little time with a pair of scissors, and I'm not ready to make that purchase. Maybe when I become a little more addicted to scrap booking.

Rishnai has created tutorial for creating homemade cutting dies out of tin cans. The tutorial can be found on Instructables.com, and it doesn't look to difficult. I will definitely be using wood instead of foam, but other than it looks pretty straight forward. It is definitely worth a try.

Patriotic Flip Flops

This evening we made patriotic flip flops for the 4th of July weekend.

Originally we had planned to make the "fuzzier" version, with strips of fabric tied around the straps, but I ran across a really cute tutorial at Everything Etsy, and we had a last minute change of plans. These just struck me as so much nicer, and maybe a little easier, that we had to try them. The great news is that after three pairs of flip flops, we still have plenty of fabric left to make headbands or flowers, or maybe a small purse.

We varied our instructions just slightly from the tutorial linked above. I didn't use scraps of fabric, but rather purchased some fabric and cut it into strips about one inch thick, and six to nine inches long. I used my machine to straight stitch six strips together (five strips for the smaller pair). From there we followed basically the same directions as outlined in the tutorial.

I absolutely love these red, white and blue shoes. I wish I could wear them to work tomorrow. They are so much more comfy than my heals.

Not pictured in the photo above, Kristen's flip flops. She is far to busy taking the online practice exams for her learner's permit to pose for a foot photo. She is officially fifteen and a half today, and is hoping to pass the test on Thursday morning, before Coral and I leave for church camp.

Ribbon Necklace Turorial

Found yet another great tutorial on YouTube tonight. This tutorial from Lorelei1141 shows how to create a ribbon necklace. She wire wraps the ends, instead of using ribbon closures. This seems more economical appears to be a nicer look as well. Definitely going to try this one.

Rosette Chain Tutorial

Another great turorial from Jetdesigns. This tutorial shows how to create a rosette chain using jump rings. This looks so easy, and yet, such a nice design.

Wire Wrapped Cluster Ring Turorial

I've been looking for tutorials for wire wrapped rings. I attempted a couple without a tutorial, and they need a little work. I found this tutorial on YouTube. This is a nice easy to follow instructable from JetDesigns showing how to make a wire wrapped cluster ring. I tried to post a link to her website, but it looks like the link may be dead.

List of Swimsuit Tutorials

I'm thinking of making my own swimsuit this year. I've already purchased one, but since all of my old ones are too big this year, I figure I'll need a few more. This is a collection of the tutorials and patterns that I've found for DIY swimsuits.

Tie One On: DIY Swimsuits, at MarthaStewart.com.

Rockabilly Summer Swimsuit from Threadbanger.com.

T-shirt Bikini from Threadbanger.com. You'll find the tutorial in the second half of the video at 5min.com.

Bikini Top and Micro Mini Swim Skirt also at 5min.com

Free Swimsuit pattern from BurdaStyle.com.

Swimsuit from Cutting Edge Stitches & Seams.

Bow-tie Bikini from Weekend Designer.

T-shirt into a one piece from GiannyL on Instructables.com.