How To: Suede Crochet Hook Roll

As promised, here's the "how to" for the crochet hook roll I shared yesterday. This make is easily doable in 1 hour AND is adaptable to any number of uses. Knitting needles, make up brushes, artist pencils/brushes. All you'd need to change are the dimensions. So it's great as a last minute gift if you're pushed for time but want to give something handmade...

I made mine to fit this set of bamboo crochet hooks. I spaced them out roughly as I would envisage them in the finished roll; then measured the length of the hooks and took a rough width measurement across the bottom of the hooks...

I cut my lining piece as follows:
Fabric length = Length of hooks x 2 - 1"
Fabric Width = Rough width measurement + 2-3" extra (I only gave myself 1" extra and barely scraped it! You can trim any excess in a later step. So give yourself enough width to play with)
Fold fabric in half to create a kind of open sided envelope/pouch. (Top right pic) You want the back poking up by about a 1". If you're happy that it looks about the right size against your hooks, use bias to finish the top and bottom raw edges (bottom right pic)...

To sew the compartments:
Sew your first line about 1/2" from one side. Starting from the base of the "envelope", and using your first stitching line as a guide, backstitch at the start of your stitching line; then sew a straight line all the way up and onto your bias bound edge but NOT past it. Backstitch to finish (first pic). Repeat this process until you have enough compartments (To gauge the width of each compartment, I started with the smallest hook(s). I knew each consecutive compartment would need to be incrementally bigger as the size of the hooks increased. So using the previous stitching line as a guide, I just made each compartment slightly bigger than the last; until I had enough for every hook. Middle pic) Then trim any excess along the side to within 1/2" of your last stitching line.
Now bind the raw edges of the sides with bias (last pic)...

Cut your leather/suede to the desired size. You want it to be 2-3"  wider either side of your "envelope" for flaps; and about 1/4" wider top and bottom so the envelope fits neatly in the centre as pictured.
I rounded off the corners of mine (bottom 3 pics)...

Stitch the "envelope" to the wrong side of your suede/leather by cathcing the edge of the bias tape all the way around. If you don't want your stitches to be too obvious on the right side,  make sure your bobbin thread matches the colour of your sued and your top thread matches the colour of your bias tape.
Then cut yourself a tie from your suede/leather; and secure to the right side of one of the flaps with a yummy button...

And there you have it....

It's absolutely worth noting that the suede I used was clothing weight (harvested from a thrifted pair of suede trousers) and therefore buttery soft and easy to work with. When working with suede or leather makes sure you use the right  needles and that your machine can take the increased workload. If in doubt, test on scraps first. I had to adjust my tension to stop the bobbin thread from skipping and making ugly stitches on the right side of the suede. Even sewing the button on was trickier and required a leather needle plus the very rare use (on my part) of a thimble to encourage the needle through the suede. But apart from this, it's a super quick and satisfying make, and I'm super excited to see the recipients' reaction when she opens it!
So why not get thee to a charity shop, find an old leather/suede skirt/jacket/trousers (delete as appropriate) and have a go yourself? Be sure to let me know if you do. Id love to see the results!

Anthropologie Inspired: The Collection Necklace

From one pile of broken jewelry . . . 

. . . to one Anthropologie inspired eclectic necklace . . . 

Inspired by Anthropolgie's Collection necklace ($48)

See more details on my blog.

It's Tunic Tune-Up Time

It started out something like this:

tunic top 'B' made in an Asian-esque print

Now it was too small - pretty much everywhere... I found a scrap of similar fabric with red dots and made side inserts that traveled up into and through the sleeves:

view of red dotted side inserts

But first I removed the sleeves because they were too narrow at the cap.  I then re-cut the cap portion to fit, thereby making the sleeves shorter, but fuller:

view of side insert and under sleeve

To see me wearing this version, check out my post, "In and Out of Focus" at Project Minima.
You'll also find a mini tutorial on making a magazine clutch while you're there...

Thriftilicious Man Makes

After 5 years of loyal service my hubby’s laptop has gone to the Great Gig(abyte) in the Sky…and just what does that have to do with thrifty man makes? Well, as the hubs cannot function without a computer – and he’s not allowed anywhere near mine – the money set aside for his mini-holiday-birthday-extravaganza went straight into a fancy-schmancy-new-computer. I was commanded not to spend any money on b-day gifts – he claimed his froufrou new laptop was more than enough – but come on…everyone needs prezzies to open their birthday! So, I sneakily created these beauties without spending a penny:

8 completely free yet totally awesome gifts that actually brought a wee tear to his eye!

ok...ok...not all of these are clothing & accessory refashions but hey, it's not easy coming up with creations for the 'him' in your life...and 5 out of 8 ain't too shabby!

old jeans to cuffed shorts

family patchwork dolls to cover a stain on a cool vintage shirt

zip-up headphones

family egg-y nest from broken necklace beads & plant wire

a plain shirt fancied-up with a bit o' doodle stitching

wanna make some of your own ? here are all of the how-to's

Tom Binns Inspired Colorful Cameos

Tom Binns necklace ($445)

Tom Binns Earrings  ($365)

Tom Binns Necklace  ($515)

While these pieces are very beautiful, they just don't fit into my budget.  

So I created my own  - - - >

This is so easy to do.  All you need is a cameo, some nail polish, and a chain or bead necklace.

This was one of mine before painting.
Paint the cameo with nailpolish colors of your choice.  I used a toothpick to help get the nailpolish in the little nooks and crannies.
Attach to a chain or beads and your necklace is ready to go!

See more photos on my blog.

Top refashion and shorts preview

Yay, I finally did it, after being off for so long!
I worked a bit on a senseless top and possibly turned it in a wearable and cute one:

Please check out my entry to read more and tell me what you think of it, ok?
And I took care of a pair of jeans too, still working on these though:
Have a nice week everyone!!

Shirt Dress Refashion + An Easy Boxy Sleeve Fix

This dress was a $1 garage sale find - bought mainly because I liked the color.

A few snips and new hems and here's my dress now:

Something I'm much more likely to wear~

I removed the sleeves and shoulder doo-dads.  Re-hemmed the sleeve openings and then chopped off about 6 inches and hemmed the bottom.

But I was still left with really boxy shoulder/sleeves.

Luckily there's a really easy fix for that

Before and After

See my blog for a quick tutorial for this shoulder fix

Original Jeans Hem : A Hulibug tutorial!

Hiya! I've been doing lots of jeans at work now that winter is here so thought I'd take some pics to show you how to shorten your jeans keeping the original hem. There are 3 different ways I know of doing this but today I will show you the"binding" method:

Start by measuring where you want your new hem to finish & mark with tailors chalk then cut off:

Trim away excess denim leaving a 1cm seam allowance above the stitching line:

Now unpick the stitching:

Then attach the hem to the jeans, right sides facing, matching both side seams perfectly. Sew around hem close to original stitching line:

Press the seam down. Now thread your machine with a close matching denim thread. Fold hem under covering raw edges inside the seam & edge stitch the whole way around. When sewing jeans we don't back-tack instead follow through the starting 6-7 stitches:

And the finished hem looks like this :

Tips: This works best on non-stretch, straight leg jeans so it will have the same measurement around the hem & where you will be re-attaching it! Use a heavey duty needle & denim thread for the best look! Any questions please ask away & I'll do my best to answer :)
And heres what I've started making from all the cutoffs from jeans that I hem normally, I guess working as a seamstress has it's perks for an avid refashioner like me:

Inspired by this tutorial but made alil differently ;) More pics over at  hulibug

DIY Shoe Accessories

Shoes are wonderful, aren't they?  But after a while, even the best pair of shoes can use a pick me up.  I came up with a clever way to give your shoes an extra oomph.

Before:

And after:

I would post the how to if I weren't so pressed for time.  Visit my blog if you are interested in the tutorial.

Lace Covered Sunglasses

I have a really fun and silly project for everyone today!  Behold the before picture!

I bought these sunglasses at the dollar store for one whole dollar.  I glued a piece of lace to the lens.

I trimmed the lace around the lens as closely to the frame as I could.  I then used my thumbnail to tuck the lace into the crease between the lens and the frame.  Do the same with the other lens and you have some nifty sunglasses!

You can see out of these but I do not recommend participating in any sort of activity while wearing them! 

Visit my blog for more details and pictures!

Pocket Bag...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way...

This little bag is SO easy to make and requires very little fabric. The bag itself is made from an old jacket. Make it with a long strap to wear across the body, or shorten the strap to wear as a shoulder bag. Depending on the fabric you use, the Pocket Bag could be made for either an adult, a teenager or a child. 

You can find the full tutorial to make the Pocket Bag here.

... Pam

Recycled Bracelet Part Two

So, I'm really into this next bracelet I made.  As you might remember, I bought some barrettes and after some creative shearing, was left with this piece of plastic which was destined for the waste bin. 

I painted the plastic which took two coats.  Next, I wrapped the brown string around the plastic in a pleasing pattern.  I liked how it turned out so tribal.  I glued a piece of string to the back of one end of the plastic and wrapped more string around it to reinforce it.  Lastly, I sewed a button on the other end so I could fasten the bracelet by wrapping the string around it.  

 I can't keep a goofy grin off of my face every time I think about how I made this bracelet out of a piece of 'trash'.

Visit my blog for more pictures and details.