A Spring Pillow With Buttons

 Hello Readers. Spring is here. The sunshine, the blossoming trees, the flowers... I wanted to make a springtime pillow with bright fun colors to celebrate spring. I don't know how to embroider by hand so I decided to simplify and use my sewing machine and some colorful buttons.

 

Make an easy colorful spring pillow. 

 

I already had this chair from IKEA. I have had it for years and years. The little pillow is from IKEA too. It has a little cover or pillow case. We are going to use that to do our sewing. (Similar pillow cover here.)

 

I took the cover off the pillow. The cover is what I will be sewing my spring flowers on. It will fit in my sewing machine easily. Using a sewing machine will make this a quick project. It is perfect for a beginning sewist or someone just learning how to use a sewing machine because the stitching does NOT need to be perfect at all.
 

I did my sewing at the bottom of the pillow near the zipper closure of the pillow. The zipper made it easy to get one side of the pillow cover under the sewing machine foot.

I sewed straight lines along the bottom of the pillow. That will be the "ground or grass" that out flowers will be growing out of. Then I started sewing shorter lines perpendicular to that "grass" to make my flower stems.

I started with one shade of green to make my grass, flower stems, and leaves. Then I went over those lines of stitching with another shade of green.

When I was done using all the shades of green thread I had on hand, I had 4 different shades of green all sewn on top of each other. I wanted the different shades of green to give it some depth and variation. 

My next step was to sew on the buttons by hand. I used the colors that caught my eye. Any colors that you like are fine. I used the largest buttons I had so they would really pop. Use any buttons you like. (Similar here.) I threaded the needle and stitched through the holes in the button and tied a knot in the inside of the pillow cover.

I used embroidery floss to sew my buttons on my pillow cover. You could also use thread. I sewed the buttons to the pillow and it only took a few minutes. 

My pillow was so fun to make. It was "no stress-just fun sewing". Grab a pillow cover and you can make this fun project. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Revealing Maxi-Dress to Fun Skirt

 Hello Readers. This bright pink maxi dress was so cheerful and perfect for spring. But when they make a maxi dress... it is maximum length. I am short and I could not wear it even with heels. It was also really skimpy on top. What could I do to fix this dress?

Before and after. 

This dress was so skimpy and revealing on top. I could not wear it alone. I put a fun shirt on top. This looked good and I was comfortable but the bodice of the dress was a bit bulky. This dress would be a lot better if I removed the bodice entirely and wore this as a skirt.

 

I started making that happen. This dress had an elastic waistband. That will be the waistband of my new skirt. The bodice was useless to me but the skirt was fabulous. I cut the bodice away from the skirt. This was a knit so it would not fray when it was cut.

 

 I made sure I did not cut the elastic or the casing around it when i cut off the bodice.

 

I also cut about 4 inches from the hem.

 

Then I gave it a new hem so it would look nice and neat.
 

This skirt is super pink and it's more wearable for me than the original dress was. It turned out just right. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

 

 

 

Crop a Button-down

 Hello Readers. I am a little short so long shirts can seem really long. This green shirt was full of fun spring colors but it was so long. At least it seemed that way to me. Maybe it wasn't that short. It really needed to be shorter if I was going to wear it. Let's crop a button-down shirt. 

Before and after. 

The shirt was just too long on me but I liked those colors and stripes. 

I cut off about 8 inches of this shirt. I needed a bit of extra to turn under. 

 

I used my serger on the cut edge of the shirt. This fabric will fray pretty easily. 

 

I turned the edge under and sewed it down. 

 

I obviously had to shorten those pants. The legs were way too long. 

I hemmed the pant legs. easy-peasy. 

 

Everything is a better length for me and by that I mean everything is short! Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

 

Removing Patches

Hello Readers. These cargo pants looked good. They looked great. They has so many pockets. But those red patches... Why? They are so large. So red. So unnecessary. They were not the brand name. These were generic jeans from the thrift store and the red patches said, "JEANS". I didn't love the patches.

Before and after. 

Why is the red patch so big, so red, so disruptive?

 

I decided to remove the patches. I got my seam ripper and started removing the stitches a little at a time. 

 

This was a slow messy process. 

 

It was messy but it wasn't difficult or complicated.
 

Removing all this red stitching took quite a while. This red lint was everywhere. But I finally finished.

 

I was really happy to have the patches gone and to have some plain black pants with so many pockets. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

Men's Tie to Headband

 Hello Readers. I made a fun head band to match my purple pants. Let me show you how easy it was. All you will need is a plastic headband, a man's necktie, glue, and scissors. You might have all those items sitting around your house right now.

Necktie to headband.

 

I found these fabulous purple corduroy pants at a thrift store. I could not resist the fun color. And they were only 50 cents. 

 

I wanted something to match that wonderful purple color. I had this tie and I guess I could have worn it around my neck but that just doesn't seem comfortable. (My heart goes out to all the men who have to wear a tie for work. It seems awful.) I decided to use the tie to make something else.

 

I wanted to make a headband so I used one of these plastic headbands as my base. These were really inexpensive but the colors were very neutral and very ho-hum. That was OK because I was going to cover the headband anyway. Use any narrow headband you have on-hand.

 

Neckties come in every color and design imaginable so there is always something you can coordinate with. Raid a man's closet and steal a tie, he won't mind. I wanted to use only the narrow side of the tie. I held them together just to see how much tie I needed to fully cover the headband.
 

I cut off some of the excess to get it out of the way. It would make it easier to work with. I made sure there was about an inch of extra tie hanging over the edge of the headband. I just wanted a bit of extra tie to ensure the plastic headband won't show at all when I am done. Don't worry about that cut edge. I will fix that in a minute.

I got out my trusty glue gun. (Be careful. It is so hot. It will burn your fingers if you get hot glue on them.) The back of the tie had a seam that was directly in the center. That seem was a guide as to where I will  my glue. 

I started gluing the finished end of the tie to the headband. The end of the tie that had the small triangular end was a good place to start gluing.

I added small squirts of glue on the tie and pressed the headband into the glue while it set. I kept adding glue and holding the headband to the glue along the headband. 

When I got to the cut end of the tie, I wanted hide the cut edge. I squirted some glue into the middle of the tie and tucked the edges into the middle of the tie. The glue would hold the cut edges inside the tie and keep the cut edge from fraying and falling apart.

The tie looked really nice and smooth over the top of the headband. The plastic is hidden well and all that is visible is the beautiful silk fabric of the tie. 

I liked the pop of bright purple that coordinates with the purple color of the corduroy pants. It keeps my hair in place too. That is always a plus. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

 

 

Add More Coverage

 Hello Readers. Sometimes I find fun items at a thrift store but they don't always fit my style exactly. This sparkly sequin top was like that. I like sparkle and shine as much as anyone. But, these thin straps were a bit too narrow and the v-neck was a bit revealing for me. (Like what bra would I wear with this???) I had an idea to fix this problem. And there is NO SEWING NEEDED!

 Before and after. 

 I know this is a spaghetti strap top but spaghetti straps don't suit me very well. I wouldn't want to wear it by itself. (If you want to wear it alone go for it. It is cute, it's just not for me.You should wear what you like.)

 

What if we pretend it is more like a vest. Like a sweater vest. It could be worn on top of something else to add more coverage. It could go on top of this black blouse. The blouse has a bit of sheen and is a bit dressy already. It would be a really fun match to the sequin top. 

Wearing the sequin top over the blouse is just as dressy but I can wear a regular bra with it. (Yay!) And it is better for chilly weather as well. I want to dress up, be sparkly, and be warm enough too.

I tried this idea with this cream colored sequin top too. (Similar here.) It was a gorgeous little top but it was also cropped and would probably reveal too much stomach for me. (I have 3 kids, my stretched out belly button is my own business.)

 

 I could put the sequin top over a dressy button-down top like this. It was in a similar color to the sequin top. It would add coverage without losing or hiding the sparkle of this fun sequin top. (Similar button-down here.)

 

 I really liked these two tops layered together. I would love to wear this combo to a party, dinner date, grocery store, wherever. Of course, everyone can wear what they like so use this idea if and when it works for you. Thanks for reading along, now go wear something fun.