{DIY} No-Sew "Ribbons and Bows" Holiday Shirt

So there's no better time to make holiday shirts for your kids, than the day of the party right?  Perhaps I'm the ultimate procrastinator, or perhaps I like to live life one day at a time, but I woke up this morning realizing the girls didn't have any cute party shirts to wear to Daddy's Work Christmas party....at 2:30...hmmmmm.... I always love the idea of embellishing t-shirts, but a really hate sewing anything onto jersey knit.  Even with stabilizer, I feel like it bunches up and starts to looks really funky.  BUT I didn't want to use glue either...so I fished around in my supplies and came up with some magical Stitch Witchery.  If you have any aversion to sewing, this product can be a lifesaver!  So here's my no-sew tutorial for the

Ribbons and Bows Holiday Shirt

Here's what you'll need:

Stitch Witchery
Iron

Various Ribbons

Scissorrs

A plain T-shirt or onesie (or both!)

Step 1:  Begin by tying your bows.  I used 3 on the shirt, and 2 on the onesie.  

Here's the best way to tie perfect little bows:

-Make two loops with about 2" of ribbon between them

-Cross one loop over the other

-Pull it through and tight

-Adjust the length and size of your bow

Step 2: Lay out the ribbon on your shirt.  Cut some pieces of Stitch Witchery to the length of your long ribbons. 

I then cut my S.W. (Stitch Witchery) in half, lengthwise because it was thicker than my ribbon.  You can of course buy S. W. that is the right size for your ribbon, but that would've made things way too easy ;)
Step 3:  Simply follow the directions on the S. W. box - fusing the ribbon to the shirt using the heat of the iron.  Tuck under the ends 1/4" before you press it down, so you won't have any raw edges showing. 

Then add a small piece of S.W. to at the bottom of the ribbon and cover it with a bow. 

Press again to fuse the bow to the shirt.  Continue this process until all of your ribbon is on the shirt.  Put a dab of Fraycheck or clear nail polish on the ends of your bows so they won't unravel.
(turn the shirt inside out when you wash it)
Enjoy your holiday season sporting these sweet little T's!!

Happy Crafting!!
xoxo
jessica

{DIY} Anthro Knock Off: Sweet Blossom Hairclip

With Valentine's Day right around the corner we needed a great big pink hair clip!

I headed to Anthropologie to see what I could find for inspiration, and I found this lovely hair clip, with the staggering price tag of $47.  

It's sooooo easy to make your own, and I had everything I needed so it cost me $0.

Here's the original:

 

Here's my knockoff:

I actually cut up an old silky scarf that had found it's way into Charlotte's dress up box.

It worked perfectly, and I think will become a little more frayed, like the original, as she wears it.

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

Step 1 - Snip Snip: 

Cut 3 strips of material 2" x 20", and heat up your hot glue gun.

  Step 2 - Zig and Zag:

Set your zig zag stitch so that it is longer (more space in between each stitch), and zig zag one edge of each strip.  This is basically to keep it from fraying too much, but allowing it to fray a little.

Step 3 - Gather it up:

Now set your regular stitch to as long as it will go (mine's at setting 5) and sew along the other side.  Gather this edge.  Now you have kind of an old school scrunchie thing.

Repeat this process with the other two strips of fabric.

Step 4 - Fun with your glue gun

Begin gluing these strips onto the felt circle. 

Just start at one edge and glue it back and forth to make it look like a flower.

I used the hair clip to kind of poke it down in the center so I wouldn't burn my finger.

When you have glued all three, it should look like this:

You may need to keep gluing pieces down here and there until you are happy with the way it looks.

Lastly glue the hair clip onto the back of the felt circle and let it dry.

Clip your sweetie's hair back and give her a kiss!

have a great day!

xoxo

jessica

A Bow Fit for a Princess

So my family lives in Orlando, and so far we haven't done anything Disney with Charlotte.  However her 3rd birthday is right around the corner so tonight we are going to have dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, the stepmother and stepsisters!  Say what you will about princessesy things - I love it!  Needless to say, Charlotte had to have a new outfit.  The dress is actually still under construction as I'm writing this (although that is a swatch of the fabric in the picture),

but I did get the bow finished last night.

I'm not an extraordinary bow maker, but I thought it turned out quite lovely and will hopefully look great with the dress - I'll show you the full outfit Monday :)

Here's a quick little tut for how I did it:

(I found all of those things at Joanns.)

Step 1: I measured my base ribbon out to 28", then put a little mark every 7 inches.

Fold the ribbon so that the first two marks line up:

Step 2:  Loop around the right side so that the next mark lines up in the center as well.  Then make another loop around the left side - continuing lining up the marks. 

Step 3: Once you have 2 loops on each side, tie a ribbon very tightly around the center - cinching it tightly.

Step 4:  Fluff out the loops on each side.  Then I added the sparkly "ribbon" by placing a small dab of hot glue in the center of the bow - gluing one end of the ribbon.  I then let it follow the base ribbon - just securing it in the center on the front and back as I went.

Step 5:  Then I tied the teal ribbon around the center of the bow to conceal the thread and hot glue.  I then glued the button in the center of the teal ribbon.  I decided it need a little more glam, so I glued some little sparkly tails onto the back.  Then I just glued the clip onto the back - ta-da! 

A bow Cinderella would certainly approve of. 

Happy weekend!

xoxo

Jessica