Accessories: January 2013 Archives
Materials
Eco-Felt (about 1/8 to ¼ of a yard depending on the size of you bib)
Lace (scrape piece, you can even use several pieces)
A piece of Organza at least 20'' long and 3'' wide for ruffle
Floral Stones (available in most big box stores like Target, Wal-mart, Garden Ridge, maybe even the Dollar Store)
One Chain (You can recycle an old or broken necklace like I did)
Glue Gun
Instructions:
Fold a sheet of paper in half and draw out half of your necklace shape on the fold of the paper. I used the bottoms of various glasses to create my 3 circular shapes. Once you have a shape that you dig cut it out on the fold and open it up. That is your pattern for your felt.
Trace your pattern onto your felt and cut out 2 pieces. Set one aside. Fold your ruffle in half and on your remaining piece of felt pin your ruffle onto the wrong side of your felt. I placed mine in a very loose fashion, just sort of tucking here and smoothing there. It is not gathered just sort of tucked in places especially where 2 circles meet. It doesn't need to be perfect. Stitch in place
Add your piece of lace over the right side of your felt and stitch around the edge of your felt using a thread that matches your lace (then if your stitches are off it won't be noticeable). Trim your lace to the edge of the felt; it will curl up a bit making your felt visible.
Next, layout your stones in a pattern you like. You can experiment here with different colors and designs. These stones really catch the light, add color and weight to help your necklace hang well (if it is too light it will flop around and look unfinished). Once you have your pattern glue down your stones using your glue gun (Don't worry about glue strings you can pick them off later).
Figure out the length of chain you need (I pinned my chain onto my second piece of felt and slipped it on and then adjust the length). Hand tack the chain onto your felt and then glue your 2 pieces of felt together, sandwiching your chain and ruffle in the middle.
This necklace looks great with a blazer or over a casual sweater. I love it with my little black dress and a plain white tee. It is my new go-to accessory.
Glitter Twig: To make these clips you will need some small twigs, one package of Martha Stewart Glitter Glue and 2 small hair clips. My inspiration came from this picture I saw in a magazine last year. I loved them instantly and when I heard about our glitter glue I knew it was just the right medium I needed to create my own Twig Hair Clip.
The trick to this hair clip is finding twigs that interest you. Once you have your twigs, clip them into 1'' sections. Cover the twig entirely with 2 coats of glitter glue, allowing time to dry between coats. Once the glue is dry affix the twigs to your hair clips using your glue gun.
Pom Pom: These clips may be the easiest of the 3. I used our extra small pom pom makers to create these 2 pom poms from sock weight yarn and glued them on with a glue gun. Bam! So easy. The difficult part is choosing your yarn colors. I used a Snap clip for one and a Pinch clip for the other. I prefer the snap clips for decorating pony tails and buns and pinch clips for keeping hair out of the face.
Tassel: To make each of my Tassel Hair Clips you will need 2 skeins of embroidery floss (color A and color B). Wrap the floss around your index and ring finger held together about 10 times; you don't want it to be very thick. You can follow my Tassel making instructions here. Once your tassel is made, glue it using your glue gun to the end of your hair clip (you can find more hair accessories for your tassels in our store).
Quick tip for Pom Poms and Tassels: If you want a fun pom pom go for a yarn that runs to the fuzzy side. The fuzzier the yarn that you use for your pom pom the more it will hold the round ball shape and hide the tie holding it together. A smooth yarn tends to be floppy and show the tie, but the fuzzy yarn strands stand straight-out and hold a great ball shape, so look to wools and wool blends.
Tassels are the opposite; you want your strands to be smooth so they hang straight down and have a slight sheen. A fuzzy yarn in tassels will give it a tangled look. An ideal tassel can fall right back into shape after any movement and not require combing.
Tassels have hit it big this season, though not as big as the chevron or pom-pom, I think they will grow in popularity even more in 2013. Like Pom poms making your own tassels is the key to a hot look this season. Making your own ensures no one else will have your look, color or texture. Tassels are very versatile which is why they are so hot right now. Their many uses includes necklaces, bracelets, earrings, curtain tie backs, trim, blanket fringe and pillow tassels just to name a few.
To make your tassel select your yarn and cut a piece 8-10'' long and lay it perpendicular to the direction you will be wrapping your yarn (see pictures for examples); this will be your tie. Begin wrapping your yarn around your tool and continue until you have half the thickness of the tassel you want (then wrap a little more just to be sure). Clip your yarn off the skein opposite of your tie and then knot your tie around all your wrapped yarn and knot if again. Slide the tassel off your tool and cut the yarn directly opposite of your tie. Pull on the tie and grab all the yarn about ¾'' to 1'' below the tie and begin wrapping your tassel with your yarn (or other if you choose). Wrap until you get the look you desire and knot of your yarn and clip a long tail. Thread a tapestry needle with your tail and feed the needle into your tassel and down to disguise your knot and tail. Trim your ends and use your tassel.
My New Year's Resolution is to glam up my wardrobe a little bit. I am not talking about changing diapers in 4'' heels but I would like to break the "mom mould" just a little. This makes me feel good and means I always have a project to work on. Most of my glam projects are inspired by pricey versions from my favorite stores so I feel better by saving money and adding some pretty to my closet.
I decided my first glam project would be a clutch for a date night I have coming up so I choose Noodlehead's Gathered Clutch (you may remember this blog from my Bike Basket Project). I have always loved Dupioni Silk and knew it would be my main material for my glam clutch. I love our selection of colors and elected for a caramel brown. Dupioni Silk can be pricey when used in apparel and home décor projects by using it in a small project like this clutch you can save money while indulging in silk. It also makes a very luxurious gift for friends, hostesses or teachers.
As Noodlehead's tutorial mentions this is an easy project though it looks so posh that you may think it difficult. Anna is right again when she discusses how the most difficult part of this project is picking out the fabric. Since I had already chosen a jewel-toned silk for my exterior I decided the perfect compliment would be the jewel-toned Denyse Schmidt quilting cotton collection that I used for Create Kids Couture Millie Schoolhouse Skirt. This collection has the same brown tone but also some brighter yellows and pinks to really pop against the brown. What I was most excited about, however, was Anna's zipper technique. She covers the ends of the zipper in fabric and sews them in a certain way that gives the zipper a very finished look without the weird pucker that seems to occur in zipper pouches. Be warned to not go by the pictures in the tutorial. You want the zipper to be 1'' shorter that the width of the clutch. This means that the zipper width on each end will be ½'' shorter than the clutch. You will not sew over the zipper ends just right next to them. I got a bit confused by this but eventually worked it out. I modified this clutch very little because I wasn't really set on what I would use it for besides the occasional (I cannot stress occasional enough) date night. So I decided on eliminating the interior pockets because I have never used interior pockets on any bag with the exception of my diaper bag. It must be said that I loved making this bag from start to finish. There was just enough cutting to not drive me crazy and at each step the clutch became prettier and prettier. I also ran out of fusible interfacing so I ironed on some Heat n Bond to some canvas to make my own fusible interfacing.
I also planned some modifications for the future:
· Add gathers to both sides
· Increase size to fit my Kindle
· Add wrist strap with a snap so I can snap it to my diaper bag strap to make it easier to find in the blank hole that is my diaper bag
· Make more because they are so fun and cute.
This is now my go-to friend gift because I can't think of anyone who wouldn't love it made in the right fabrics. It works for any age and the size is easily adjusted for other uses. You can omit the zipper and turn it into a tote bag, enlarge it for a diaper clutch or monogram the front band.
