One organised studio = one super quick DIY skirt!

I love the floral skirts that are gracing the pages of fashion mags this season so I thought I’d make my own!

This skirt was made in 3 hours. I found the fabric at Lindcraft for $14 per metre and I only needed about 80cm. Essentially, it’s just a rectangle with shirring for the waistband with a tie!

Supplies:
Material (my fabric was 145cm wide so I only needed just under a metre)
Shirring elastic
Lightweight interfacing
Cotton

Simple steps

1) Measure the size of your waist and double it to get the fabric width you are going to use (I used an existing skirt to figure out my size)
2) I wanted a waist band that would sit up so I interfaced 10cm for the waist band
3) Wind the shirring elastic onto the bobbin
4) Shirr 4 rows of elastic where you want the waist to pull in
5) Sew up the back seam which should give you a circle and let your skirt take shape
6) Make a tie – mine was 6 cm wide. I gave the tie ends mitered edges and I finished with a top stitch.
7) Hem to desired length
FINITO!

P.s. On Saturday I found a perfect storage unit for all my crafting supplies at Bunnings ($190) – for more info check out my facebook fan page…..

DIY Christmas Decorations

With December just over a week away I thought I’d better get cracking on some Christmas decorations. Inspired by the origami I saw on a recent holiday to Japan, I thought I’d start by making a quick garland of 3D stars.

I trialled a few different types of paper and ribbon but found that the sheet of Cristina Re reversible paper I had lying around had the best paper weight to produce sharp points on the star.

This video taught me how to weave/fold a 3d star and I used strips of paper about 1.2cm wide by about 50cm long.

One sheet of Cristina Re paper made about 13 stars. Clear fishing line was used to string the stars together after puncturing a whole in each star with a sewing needle.

After practicing with a couple of stars, it only took about 5 minutes to make a star from cutting the strips to completing the last point.

If you like the stars but don’t want a garland then you could easily turn a single star into a tree bauble or use them to decorate gift wrapping.

I hope you enjoy this quick Christmas project!

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How to combat post-holiday blues - make a dress!

I'm back from holidays and reality has certainly kicked into gear. The memories of our 6 week adventure have already given way to the mundane tasks of everyday life!

To combat my post-holiday blues I've thrown myself into sewing and anything crafty. This weekend I finished my first fashion project that didn't involve following a pattern!

I drafted the pattern (with the help of my sewing teacher Letty) from a picture I found of a Sportmax dress using a simple t-shirt template as the base. I had the silk and cotton lying around (fantastic to finally find a use from them!) and after a few mistakes and amendments... here it is! I think it turned out ok for a first attempt? What do you think? Here's the orignal sportmax dress