How do you do? I’m Tilly, I write a blog about sewing over at Tilly and the Buttons. Casey has asked me to write a guest post for her while she takes a well-deserved break. I have to say I was totally chuffed to be asked, as Casey’s blog was the first sewing blog I ever found and has been a constant source of inspiration to me ever since. Thanks, Casey!
The theme for the guest writers this week is Spring. It won’t be floaty dress weather in London for a while yet, but if you’re like me you’ll be itching to bust out that floral fabric already. So I thought I’d show you how to make a fabric necklace to garnish your crossover wardrobe with some colour. This tutorial is easy-peasy and super quick. Hurrah!
You will need: 1) cotton fabric – preferably with a smallish print; 2) polystyrene balls or wooden beads – 1″ diameter or smaller.
1. Cut your fabric. Drape your tape measure around your neck to work out what length you want the necklace to hang, then double that measurement and add 4″ to determine the length of fabric to cut. To determine the width of fabric, first you need to work out the circumference of the ball. Remember pi from maths lessons? Circumference = 3.14159…etc x diameter? This is why you learnt it, so you could make a fabric necklace. (Alternatively you could just wrap your tape measure around the ball, but I am a geek and like maths so humour me here.) My ball is 1″ diameter, so the circumference is 3.14159″ – let’s say 3 1/8″. I’m going to add 1/2″ seam allowance, plus 1/8″ wiggle room for the balls, so I’m cutting the fabric to 3 3/4″.
2. Fold the printed sides of the fabric together along the length. Press or pin if you need to, then stitch along the length according to your seam allowance (I left 1/2″, so am stitching to 1/4″). Press the seams flat. Turn the fabric tube the right way out (you may want to use a tube turner or knitting needle to help you do this).
3. Tie a knot as tight as you can a few inches from the end of the fabric tube. Insert one of the balls, smoosh it down to meet the knot, then tie another knot the other side. Continue doing this until you’ve got as many balls in as you want, leaving a few inches of fabric at the ends for tying.
4. Fold in the raw edges of each end by 1/8″ and stitch. You could slipstitch if you don’t want the stitches to show, but I’m not bothered by that kind of thing so use the machine. (If you run out of fabric, you could also insert some ribbon to the ends before stitching and use them as the ties.)
And here’s two I made earlier! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you make one of these necklaces, I’d love to see it – do leave a comment here or pop over to my blog and show me. Byeeeee!
March 21, 2011 ·
34 lovely thoughts
posted in creativity,misc,sewing,tutorials
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be sure to click the image above to visit the sources of these lovely images!
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful comments on Wednesday’s post about the situation in Japan. It is good to know that so many others are praying and thinking about the Japanese people, and doing what they can to help.
Secondly, this post marks the beginning of a little hiatus for me! My mom flew down Friday afternoon for her annual week-long visit, and we have lots of fun things planned (sewing, thrifting, afternoon tea…). So rather than try and keep myself to a blogging schedule, I am delighted to announce that I have five talented ladies filling in this week. I am so excited and thankful to host them; I hope you’ll enjoy their posts in my absence!
- A very helpful list of fabric terms from the Colette Patterns blog.
- Oh my goodness–aren’t these pompom chicks adorable?!
- Tara touches on the topic of blog bashers (which I think is a really hot topic right now).
- Ever wonder how to use and set jean rivets? Now you can learn how!
- Gertie posted a very thoroughly explained tutorial on the pivot method of dart manipulation.
- These little paperclip bookmarks would be a great scrapbag-buster (and fantastic gifts as well)!
- An overview of nautical-inspired fashions from 1919 to 1941.
Also, be sure to check out the growing list of completed swing dresses; I am quite blown away by the amazing and beautiful frocks that you all created. Give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well-done!!! I know a couple participants commented about my hosting another sew-along in the future, and all I can say is thank you for asking! We’ll see what the year holds in the next few months for me; I’d definitely love to do another, but need to recover a bit from this one first (as do you, I’m sure!). lol.
Wishing you all the best of weekends!!!
March 20, 2011 ·
19 lovely thoughts
posted in links
· tags: weekly inspiration
I have to admit, I feel a bit awkward posting about foods that are still out-of-season for most of you. But really–I can’t help that Florida obviously doesn’t like to conform to “seasons” the way I’m accustomed to! lol. We are currently in the midst of the abundance of strawberry season here in Florida. Driving just a bit out of town into the farmland that surrounds us, we’ve been eagerly watching as the endless fields of strawberry plants show more and more ripened berries each week. Last weekend I bought our first 2-pound box of the year, and it didn’t take long for us to decimate at least a pound of those. (Mostly me… I can’t help snacking on them!)
A recent trip to Ikea where I found a set of popsicle molds meant that I had another use for the remaining strawberries (especially since Sailor Husband is always on the lookout for new dessert-things to have in the house). I’ve made this recipe both with frozen strawberries (leftover from my smoothie-making binge earlier this year) and now the fresh ones. Have to say, the fresh definitely beat out frozen! They are very tasty, even though I skipped the Greek-style yogurt and just used what I had in the house (regular, vanilla-flavored yogurt).
Of course, this has started all sorts of ideas rolling around in my head for more frozen, warm-weather treats! All the flavor combinations we could try… I’m especially keen to try and replicate the melon and sea salt popsicle I get every time we go to the farmer’s market (sadly, the vendor doesn’t have a storefront. Which might be a good thing because I’d probably end up eating more popsicles than is healthy for a person!). So far I haven’t found anything recipe-wise online, but I’m thinking I’ll just wing it once honeydew melons are in season.
Have you made homemade popsicles before? What is your favorite flavor of popsicle–anything “unusual”?
March 18, 2011 ·
41 lovely thoughts
posted in in the kitchen
· tags: dessert, in the kitchen, springtime, summertime
Today is the day, sew-alongers! I am so, so excited that we’ve officially completed this sew-along together. It was such a fantastic experience for me, and I loved that I was able to work on a project with others and get to know many of you just a bit better through our collective sewing. I do hope you had fun with this, if you participated, and you’re pleased with your final dress! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to contribute your dress to the link list (which will be open indefinitely, so don’t worry if you’re not done with your version yet!). So without further ado, here is my version:
[ are you ready to celebrate? alas, I forgot to pick up a party hat last time I was out... ]
The only downside with these photos is that they weren’t taken at the romantic, waterside location I had envisioned in my head since I bought this fabric. Alas, my resident photographer (aka Sailor Husband) was unavailable, so it was just me and my trusty tripod. Seeing these pictures, I’m really glad that I refit the pattern during the sew-along; I feel like the fit is more spot-on than the previous versions.
[ for the curious, the shoes are the Remix Rita heels; a Christmas gift from my in-laws. ]
[ more pictures here. ]
Instead of a button or brooch at the neckline, I decided to make a fabric flower from the book I reviewed last week. Isn’t it fun? I thought it would be a rather whimsical little addition to the frock and add a bit of texture to the neckline. Plus it’s very 40s to use all the last bits of scraps to make a smart accessory, right? (The BurdaStyle website has a link to download this flower pattern if you’re interested.) The only problem is that the lightweight silk is a bit floppy, so I think I might add a bit of fabric starch to stiffen the petals a bit.
[ details: fabric flower made from scraps of leftover silk. how very 1940s to use all the scraps! ]
[details: vintage white ceramic belt buckle embellishing the self-fabric belt. ]
I think that pretty much rounds this up. I don’t really have much else to say about this dress since I’ve already rambled on in the sewing posts (which if you missed any, they’ll all be archived here). Thank you again to everyone who participated in this sew-along–and be sure to add a link to your finished dress below!
Swing Dress Party!
Ready to show off your new Swing Dress? Just enter your blog post/photo url in the form below (please only one link, per version of the dress. So if you’ve made more than one, you can submit one link per dress.), click submit and add your dress into the virtual party! Be sure to check out everyone else’s versions as well… Can’t wait to see yours!
Note: Due to an ongoing spam problem with the link widget I originally used in this post, I unfortunately had to disable it. Please visit the Flickr group to see some of the finished dresses participants made!
March 17, 2011 ·
61 lovely thoughts
posted in sewing
· tags: 2011 sewing, sense and sensibility patterns, sewing, swing dress sew-along
