Dress with Side Ties

 Hello Readers. I love to scroll around the internet and find sewing ideas. There is always more ideas than I can fit in my sewing schedule but it's fun. This dress was handed down to me from my daughter. I loved the light weight cotton. And it was perfect for imitating a dress I had just seen online. 

I used the shoulder ties to make the fun side ties.  

I saw this post from A Bronze Age. It was a full cut loose dress with ties on the sides to give it more shape. It was so cute. 

 

I cut the strings so they were about 8 inches long. Each string had a fun tassel on it. I set them aside for later. I left about 5 inches attached to the dress so that I could still have shoulder straps. 

 

I opened the ends of the shoulder straps. I pressed them with the iron because I need to connect the front and back straps that are still on the dress. 

 

I put the front and back straps together with the right sides facing each other. I sewed across the 2 straps. 

 

I folded the straps back up, tucking the edges in. 

 

I sewed the straps closed along the edge just like the straps were sewn before. They will look like they had always been like that. 

 

I wanted to attach the cut off strings to the sides of the dress. It was a bit big so having side ties would improve the fit is a really fun way. I marked where I wanted the side ties to be attached to the dress. It was about 3 inches from the side seams. 

 

I sewed the straps onto the dress. Then I folded the strap over and sewed it down again. This covers the cut edge and it makes the strap strong. 

 

The side ties were in place. 

  

This was also nice for this dress because the ties don't mess up the pockets. Pockets are worth their weight in gold.  

 

I cut off some of the length, I am pretty short and the dress was just too long on me. I gave the dress a new hem.

 

I also sewed what was left on the dress. It wasn't necessary with the shorter length.

 

I liked the new length and the new fit that the side ties gave the dress. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 
 

 

 

 

Make a Tiny Terrarium

 Hello Readers. I love plants and I really try to give them a good home. I also like to get creative with containers and flower pots. I thought it would be fun to make a small terrarium with some of my plants. It was very easy. Let me show you what I did. 

I used some small cuttings so I could propagate new plants. You can use any small plants you like. This kind of plant set-up requires very little care, attention or water. Perfect for a busy person or someone who isn't very good with plants. (Someone with a bit of a black thumb.) 

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 You will need a container with a lid.  It needs to be clear or mostly clear to let the sunlight in. I am using this glass jar I got from Wal-Mart. It was inexpensive and seemed  really nice and sturdy. 

I washed my jar out just to make sure my new plants would have a nice clean home. It might have been fine but I want my plants to be happy and healthy in their new home. Weird unknown bacteria isn't going to help my plants thrive.

Then I added these beads to the bottom of the jar. If that seems a little weird, it is. What you should add is some type of gravel or small stones made for house plants. It helps with drainage because this container won't drain water from the bottom. It is not supposed to, but the gravel layer helps keep the ecosystem in the jar in a happy state. I could not find any gravel anywhere in town. I live in a small town and my shopping choices are limited, so I had to improvise. 

 

The next and probably most important step is adding soil. These plants need soil to live in. I use this potting mix for my terrarium. It said it had fertilizer and would feed my plants for 6 months. I am not a soil expert but that sounded good to me. 

 

I added about 4-5 inches of soil to my container. It was nice and loose. It covered my beads being used as gravel at the bottom of the jar so that was great. No one will know they are there but you. Shhh, please don't tell anyone.

 

I had a small plant to add to my jar. I gently took it out of the container and tried not to destroy it. I was given some little baby plants at the library, so I am using them and hoping they work. You can use other small plants if you like. Try to use plants with similar water needs. A cactus and a tropical plant might not do well together. They need different amounts of water and come from different climates. 

 

I also had a second very small plant to put in too. 

 

Lastly I added a small succulent and a few it's leaves that hopefully can start new plants. 

 

I made sure the plants were surrounded with soil, and added some water. I did not add too much because there won't be much evaporation if any with this terrarium. 

 

I put the lid on and put the terrarium in a sunny window. I know these plants like sun so they should be happy here. The lid will keep moisture from escaping so I only added about 1/2 cup of water. I can add more if the plants seem dry in a few days but the idea is that the moisture stays in the jar, like a small ecosystem. 

 

A few days later and you can see that a bit of moisture has collected on the inside of the lid. That is exactly what I wanted. That moisture can be absorbed back to the plants as they need it. If the lid was dripping with a lot of water droplets, I would take the lid off for a day or so and let some of the excess moisture evaporate and then close it back up again. If the soil looked really dry and there was no moisture on the lid, I would add a bit more water. 

 

Here's to sunny days and happy plants. I hope you can try this fun plant idea soon. Thanks for reading along. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add Ruffles to a Shirt

 Hello Readers. I wanted to make a fun shirt and used a ruffle to jazz up a simple t-shirt. This was a pretty easy sewing project. A beginner could do this easily. Let me show you how I did it. 

  

Before and after.  

I used the ruffle from this blue and white dress. I had to shorten the dress anyway and saved the ruffle for this project. You can also use a ruffle that is pre-made for you. (Similar here.) I used approximately a yard and a half of ruffle on each side of my shirt. I needed a bit less than that, but that is a good estimate. You will need to adjust the measurement based on the shirt you are using for this project. 

 

I cut the sides of my shirt open. I needed the sides open so I could attach the ruffle to the shirt on each side with my sewing machine or serger. 

 

I cut the sleeves and shoulder seams off too. I made sure my ruffle pieces were a bit longer than my t-shirt so I could sew the ruffles and shirt together and have enough extra length in the ruffle to hem it to match the length of the shirt. An extra inch to make a hem will do nicely.

 

I used my serger to sew the ruffles on the sides of the shirt. You can also used a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine. A serger and a zigzag stitch will give and stretch a little bit so they are both great for knits like this t-shirt. I sewed my ruffle to my shirt, with the right sides facing each other, from the bottom of the shirt front, up the shirt, over the shoulder, and down the back of the shirt. I did this on both sides. 

 

It looked kind of like this. I liked the shirt in general but this is the time to match the length of the ruffles and the shirt. You might have a long tunic or a more cropped length. You can fold the edge of the ruffle under twice and stitch it down. 

  

I turned the edge of my ruffle under and made a small hem at the bottom. I used my basic sewing machine and a straight stitch to sew this. 

 

When the ruffle and the shirt are the same length, it will be even all the way along the bottom when you lay it out like this. The ruffle will hang down a bit when you wear it and have some movement when you move. It's really lovely.

 

This shirt needs sides and sleeves. I spread out the shirt and made sure all the edges were even, then I pinned the ruffle in the middle, where I wanted the new side seam. I sewed a straight seam on the outside of the shirt, on the ruffle, connecting the front side of the ruffle and the back side of the ruffle. It was hard to see in the pictures, so I put the tools on top of the seam. This seam ends about 5-6 inches from the top, that makes the "sleeve".

 

I tucked the shirt in here but it can be worn out too. I love how it turned out. Adding the ruffle adds to the size of the shirt and makes it more roomy too. Who doesn't love more room? Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shortened by a Tier

 Hello Readers. Look at this beautiful dress. I got this at a clothes swap or a thrift store... I can't remember where to be honest. It doesn't matter. I loved the dress, it is the lightest cotton. It even has a light cotton lining, perfect for summer. What more could I want? Well, I want to walk. And I want to walk without tripping and falling. This dress was just too long. That's an easy fix. 

Sometimes we need to shorten things.   

I thought this dress was so pretty, I just loved it. But I also like to walk about without falling.

Let's get right to it. I cut off the bottom tier. I cut off the entire lowest tier because I didn't want half a tier. That would look weird next to the rest of the tiers. I thought I should remove one full tier. I saved that bottom tier for another project.

 

I ironed the new hem before sewing to make sure it was nice and neat.

  

I turned the edge under twice and made a new hem. I used my sewing machine and a straight stitch to make this hem.

 

I also shortened the lining because it needed to be shorter now that the dress was shorter. 

 

The lining was not going to be seen but I didn't want it to fray or be messy. I used my serger all along the bottom edge of the lining. That is all it needed to stay neat under the skirt.

 

I liked the shorter length. 

 

The skirt is still super twirly! Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover Those Outlets

 Hello Readers. We all like our home to look as nice as possible. Sometimes the functional items in the house are not that cute. Like my kitchen outlets. They seem like they should blend in more. Or could they just disappear? (But, I'm going to want them later. I am really attached to my electricity.) Let's hide them and make the kitchen cuter all at the same time. 

 Ugly outlet./Easy Solution. 

 I am not against modern inventions like electricity. I don't want to live by candle light at night. I just don't always use all these outlets and they don't look fabulous. I can fix that though. Let's hang some art!

I scrounged up a couple outlet covers that we used when our kids were young. They keep kids from sticking their tiny little fingers into the outlet and getting electrocuted. 

I had a couple but you can buy them almost anywhere. You could probably get 1 or 2 from a friend with kids. They probably have a few in a drawer somewhere like me. 

 I also needed a picture frame. Or two. (Similar here.) I used 5x7 size frames so that they would be large enough to cover the entire outlet. You will need 1 frame per outlet you want to cover. I used 2 frames that matched so the kitchen would have a uniform look. You can use any frame or frames that you like. 

  I used this cute little greeting card as the "art" for my frame. You could use anything you like, postcards, greeting cards, pictures of you and your family cooking or eating a holiday meal would be fun too. 

 I put the card in the frame and used the metal closures to keep the card in just like you would a photograph. I grabbed my hot glue gun to attach the frame to the outlet cover. The plastic outlet cover will stay fixed on the back of the picture frame and the frame itself will "hang" from the outlet cover when it is plugged in the outlet. 

 I used a good size squirt of hot glue on the back of my picture frame. It holds well and dries quick. It is super hot though. Be careful. 

  I pressed the plastic outlet cover onto the hot glue and held it in place while it dried. This only took a few minutes. It dries so quick, I love using hot glue.

When the glue was totally dry, I was able to "plug in" my photo frame. It fits in the outlet and covers the outlet cove and looks much cuter. This is a great way to hang art without putting nails in the wall. Sometimes renters are not permitted to damage the walls in any way.

The best part is that I can take the picture down if I want to use that outlet. I only need some of these outlets if I am cooking for a crowd or setting up a buffet meal on that counter top. Until then, I can see my cute picture. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.