PROJECT: Jersey Circular Scarfs

These scarves are an easy, fun and very stylish craft for any level seamstress to try. This project was extra special for me because I had a craft date with my childhood friend, Alyssa, to make these. Like me, Alyssa loves crafting, she has her own etsy shop where she sells adorable hair accessories, and a blog, mice & birds, where she shares her life-loving adventures.

Here is Alyssa fashioning the one of the finished scarves


And here we both are wearing the scarves in a classic "friends take a photo in the bathroom mirror" photo.

Now for the tutorial!

Well you can make this scarf with whatever amount of fabric you wish, making it long and skinny or short and fat, or whatever dimensions you desire. It is all the same construction which is basically an endless tube of fabric. However I will share what dimensions of fabric we used. For our first attempt, the dark green scarf, this was a much thinner, stretchier jersey and the starting piece measured 29" wide by 77" long. For the orange and white stripe (or creamsicle fabric as we called it) it was a much thicker jersey knit and we wanted the scarf to be much longer and fuller than the first. The measurements of the starting creamsicle fabric was 34" wide by 90" long.

Note: I find that the stretcher a fabric is, the harder it is to work with. This really stretchy jersey was harder to measure and cut and harder so sew up the edges evenly. Fortunately since you are making a big continuous tube you do not have to worry as much about your seams being exact!

The first step is to fold the fabric long ways (hot dog style) with right sides together and sew up the long end. You will now have a long tube of fabric with open endings.

Here is creamisicle scarf in the big long tube stage

Here you can see the open ends after this step

Next turn the scarf right side out and match the two open tube ends together. Do this by lining up the seams, right sides facing. Now sew around the circumference of the tube ends. You will not be able to sew completely around, so leave the last few inches and sew these up by turning raw edges in and sewing by hand.

The above picture shows the two tube ends lined up and ready to sew.

Sorry I do not have a good photo of closing up the remaining opening, but it is very similar to closing the remaining opening on a pillowcase. And after this is complete the scarf is done!

The project is really easy and it probably takes a little longer to complete when working with a friend, but can be much more fun that way!

Here are our sewing machines, which of course are now buddies, and another photo of us enjoying our new scarves.

Click here to read Alyssa's blog entry on crafting with friends.

Will you try these scarves yourself? They would make wonderful Christmas gifts! I would also like to know, do any of you have crafting friends whom you do projects with? I would love to hear form you in comments below.

Staying warm and stylish in my new scarf,

*Bonnybee

Giveaway on Wild and Precious!

This week one of my Leather Beaded Wrap Bracelets is being given away on my friend Blair's awesome blog, Wild and Precious!


So make sure to stop by, check out her blog, and follow the instructions on how to win this bracelet!

Also I have many more of this style of bracelet in my etsy shop so I invite you to browse there as well!




I spent last night sewing, so check back soon to see what was made!

*Bonnybee

PROJECT: Pedestrian Book Bag

I was recently commissioned to do a custom piece for a very important client, my father. Other than being a stellar dad, he is also a published author, blogger and a life long lover of books. He also takes public transportation to work in Atlanta and came up with this idea while dodging traffic on the way to the MARTA station.

He requested a tote bag that would not only be functional (durable fabric, crossbody strap and zipper to prevent spillage on the train), but also make a social statement. He wanted the bag to read "Thanks for not running me over" and be in bright, street sign like colors. This message could be read in a sarcastic tone for those drivers who almost run him over while crossing the street, or in a sincere tone for those who respect his right of way.

I am going to show you how I made this creation come to life. It actually proved to be quite a time consuming project because as I am not sure my dad realized, I do not have the means to make my own screen print! Thus my other options were fabric paint or pen (which I think can look amateur and not end up lasting) or what I chose, which was hand embroidering or appliqueing on all 25 letters.

To grab your attention, here is the finished product.

Now for the tutorial!

This is really just a basic tote with a lot of applique and embroidery detail (Thus you can easily change the details to suit your taste)

First I started off with 4 pieces (2 for outside and 2 for lining) of bright orange ripstop nylon. I wanted a fabric that was bright, to catch the attention of the drivers, and durable so any mess form the MARTA could be easily wiped off. My starting pieces were 14" x 16" and I bought 50" of some black canvas strap. For the decoration I used black wax linen thread (because I found this in the closet before I found embroidery thread) and black vinyl.


The first task was to decorate the front of the bag. I hand sketched and cut out the appliques for "THANKS", the car, and the dodging pedestrian. I suppose a more perfectionist designer could easily print some stencils out and trace the patterns, but I knew what I wanted it to look like and thought I would try free handing it first. I sewed all the appliques on with a zigzag stitch on my sewing machine.


Next I did the smaller text by drawing it out with a pencil, then embroidering it on by hand using wax linen, an embroidery hoop, and a lot of care. I liked the dotted line look but next time might try a thicker line so it stands out even more.


Now, after more than an hour of hard work, it was time to construct the bag. Using the basic zipper technique I explained when doing cosmetic bags, I layered the fabric with edges lined up as follows: outer front of bag face up, zipper face down and inner fabric face down. (Obviously if you are using 4 identical pieces of material all you need to worry about is that your pretty embellishments are facing the right way). Next using a zipper foot, I sewed these three pieces together.


I repeated this step for the other side of the zipper. Again if this is a little confusing, check out my other cosmetic bag tutorials for more zipper explanations. After that I top stitched along the zipper.

I made sure to unzip the zipper halfway. Then it was time to turn both sides right sides facing each other and sew all around the outside, leaving a few inches not sewn in the lining to then turn the bag right side out.


I turned the bag right side out, sewed up the hole in the lining, and pushed out the corners. Lastly it was time to add the strap.


I finished off the raw edges of the strap with some more vinyl then sewed these onto the outside of the bag.

And this is how it turned out!


Here are some more photos of the happy client sporting his new bag.







To read his own personal review of the bag, visit the Bookshopper's blog!

What do you guys think? Did this project inspire you to sew or to read?

*Bonnybee

PROJECT: Halloween Accessories

Getting dressed up for Halloween is one of my favorite things to do all year. I love making my own costumes. However, last weekend I was not sure if I would be going to a costume party so I was afraid that this year, my costume ideas were going to remain in my imagination. However my boyfriend and I decided Saturday, October 30th, to go out that night so I need two costumes quick!

Below you can see what we came up with --- A Shotgun Wedding.


As I am sure most of you know a shotgun wedding consists of a bride and a groom who are forced to get married due to an unplanned pregnancy. I thought going as this would be a fun costume which would get lots of laughs. And I was right!

We had most of the components of the costumes already lying around. The groom wore a dress shirt and a black dress jacket and decided to stay with jeans to make it look even more rushed. I wore a long white lacy dress I owned and stuffed a fleece blanket under it to act as my "bun in the oven". We added a few other touches like rings and a bouquet and then I made a few accessories to complete the outfit. Here I will show you how I made a quick veil for the bride and a bow tie for the groom.

Bow Tie

For my groomie I used some black linen look-a-like fabric and did some research by reading this great bow tie tutorial from PrudentBaby.com. They do a great job of explaining several different patterns but below I will show you my interpretation.

The first step was to cut out my pattern pieces. These bow ties are made by making a long tube then folding it in half and cinching the center to make a bow (you are not actually tying a bow).


I cut two pieces of my fabric which measured 12.5 inches (2 times my desired final width plus seam allowances) by 3.5 inches (my desired final height plus seam allowances). I also cut a 3in x 6in (desired final dimensions of bow tie) piece of fusible interfacing to add structure and a 2in x 3in rectangle to serve as the cinching piece later.

Next I ironed the fusible interfacing to the center of one my fabric pieces.


I then pinned the two fabric pieces right sides together and sewed around 3 of the sides (leaving one of the short sides open).

Next I turned the piece right side out and pushed out the corners. Then I sewed up the open end, first tucking under the raw edges.

Now I had a nicely sewn strap. I folded it in two, putting the short sides together and sewed along these sides. That made a loop of fabric which I folded flat with the seam at the back center of the piece. I ironed this flat.



Next it was time to make the center loop to cinch this rectangle so it would make a bow tie.

I did this by taking the 2in x 3in rectangle and folding it long ways with the raw edges touching each other. Then folded again so no raw edges were exposed. (Sorry because of the black fabric this is kind of hard to see)


I pressed this.
Next I turned this little strap into a loop by folding it right sides facing and made a circle big enough to fit around my bow tie but small enough that it would squeeze it in the center. I sewed where the pin is shown above to make the circle then cut off the excess and turned it right side out.

Above you can see my little "cinching tube" and my rectangle about to be transformed into a bow tie.


I folded the rectangle accordion-style length ways and slid the tube to the center of the rectangle.

I adjusted it a little to make it look pretty and I had a bow tie! This took me less than 15 minutes and it looked great. The tutorial I linked to above tells you how to make adjustable straps to attach these two but since mine was for a costume anyways, I just safety pinned it on my groom. I really like the idea of these for more than just costumes. Making them in the spring time with paisley or gingham prints could be really cute for little boys' church outfits (or if you go to college in the south like I did, they could be worn by any fraternity boy you know!). In the mean time this little black bow tie is going to be worn by my dog, Wrigley, anytime he is feeling fancy!

Veil

To complete my bridal look I wanted to make a quick and very inexpensive veil. I bought half a yard of ivory tulle ($1.25) at the fabric store and used a headband I made previously.






In case you like this headband, I sell one just like this, plus many others, in my etsy store! These come without veils of course :)






Next I folded the tulle in half (I wanted to be able to fold the front half in front of my face for a legitimate veil) and trimmed it to the length I wanted.



Lastly I hand sewed the folded edge of the tulle to the headband. I used big loose stitches because I wanted to be able to remove the tulle at the end of the night. This veil was super easy and took me less than 10 minutes. So, in less than 30 minutes total, our costumes were accessorized and complete!

We had a blast but I did scare a good amount of people who thought I was really pregnant. Apparently the fleece blanket was a little too realistic looking. I would love to hear about what some of you dressed up as for Halloween. Did you do anything crafty for your costume? Comments are very much welcome below.

Coming very soon are more fun blog entries to show what crafty things I have been up to. Just yesterday I got back in the pottery studio after being gone for far too long. I made several coffee mugs and am now thinking of what my next projects will be. I am thinking hand decorated plates, beer steins and some funky tea cups and saucers! I will make sure to share whatever comes out of the kiln.

In the meantime, happy crafting!

*Bonnybee

PROJECT: Tee Shirt Headbands

The next project I want to share with y'all is a great way to repurpose some of your old tee shirts. I love making things out of old tee shirts because I have so many of them and there are so many different colors and designs that can be used from them. Below is a picture of the project I am going to walk you through, a tee shirt headband, modeled by my friend Diana.


Here is a photo of just a headband:


Now I will walk you through a tutorial of this easy project. First is to cut strips of a tee shirt. I have a huge collection of old tee shirts for this so I chose a combination of 5 colors and cut one inch strips off the bottom of the tee shirt. I wanted to do a bunch of these headbands so I went ahead and cut oodles of strips (this is a time where the cutting mat and rotary cutter are AMAZING!!!) --


I took one strip each of the 5 colors I wanted to work with and cut the loop once (the strip of tee shirt will be in a loop if you cut it off the bottom of the tee shirt in one piece). Now you have 5 long strips, each one inch wide. Next I layered these all on top of one another and sewed across one end to hold them together while I braided them.


To braid the strips together I did a 5 strand braid which is really easy once you get it. I clipped the piece to a book with a binder clip to secure it while braiding, but you could use whatever you wish to do this. First you lay all 5 strips apart then take the outermost strip on one side and bring it in going over the first strip and under the next strip and leave it now in the middle of all the strips. Repeat this step from the other side.




In the above photo you can see better how the braiding is done. The light blue strip was on the outermost left side so I brought it into the center by going over the dark blue strip and under the dark green strip then left it in the middle. The next step would be to bring the gray in from the right by going over the white strip and them under the light blue strip. Then return to the left side again.

Continue braiding until your headband reaches the desired length. I make mind about 16/17 inches because they have some stretch and I also add an elastic piece at the bottom so they can fit many sizes.


I sewed again at the end of the headband to hold the strips together.


Now it was time to add the ending pieces. I used black hair elastics (half of one for each headband) and some black ribbon.

I cut enough ribbon to wrap around the end of the headband then placed it under the headband with the hair elastic on top of this. I used a dot of hot glue to secure this and wrapped the remaining ribbon around the end.

I did this for the other side also, using the other end of the elastic. I then hand sewed over the ends to make sure they were nice and secure since they would get a lot of tugging later.

Here is the finished product



Also here are some photos of me sporting some of the other headbands I made that day




This idea was originally planted in my head by this awesome shop on Etsy which sells 5 strand headbands. However theirs are made out of painted fabric and suede and have different closures.

Theif and Bandit on Etsy

If you like my version with the tee shirt fabric and aren't crafty or do not have the time/supplies for this project, I have made them for sale in a new etsy store, CreationsByBonnybee!


I started this store in addition to my jewelry shop, Bonnybee Designs, to sell other handmade goods people might like, particularly ones seen made on this blog! So if you like it, but can't make it, buy it!

Thank you all for following and I would love to hear from you in comments below...Do you like this project? Are you going to try it? Do you make headbands of another variety yourself?

Happy Crafting,

*Bonnybee