How To: Tassel Banner

Hey Peeps!

This post is a "How to" make your own tassel bunting! I wanted to make one of these for my last market but just didn't get time. Since then I've had these two plastic tablecloths sitting in my craft room annoying me so I bit the bullet and made my banner! 

Now I read ALOT of other tassel bunting/banner tutorials which I looked up on Pinterest and alot of them use tissue paper which makes it a little easier when figuring out size etc. Now you can use tissue paper and apply the same techniques but I would imagine you'd have to be more delicate in some steps. Plus because I will want to use mine numerous times and make it 'weather proof' I thought making it with a plastic tablecloth the next best option. 

So sit back...relax...and enjoy! I hope it comes in handy for you one day too!

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HOW TO: TASSEL BANNER

Materials:

Two or more plastic tablecloths (I got mine for $1.80 each at an el cheapo shop)

Scissors

Ruler

Glue (Any glue should be fine for this)

String (I used gardeners twine)

Step 1:

This is what my tablecloths looked like after trying to fold them back up. I give my attempt a 5/10. 

Take your tablecloth and fold it in half andf then in half again. This way it'll give you four layers at a time to work with. Plus your pieces will be more even in the end. From top to bottom measured around 65cm.

Now that you have your nice folded and flat layers you'll want to cut them into big strips. As you can see I have a ruler sitting on the left edge and cut up the dotted line. My pieces were about 32/33/34cm wide. 

Step 2:
Where you have folded your tablecloth there will be  a looped edge. Make sure you cut this open on both ends before continuing. I almost forgot a couple of times!

You should have a nice bunch of four pieces after cutting your first section. Now put this aside and cut up the rest of your tablecloths. 

Step 3:
Take one of your pieces and fold it in half so it is half the LENGTH. This means you'll still have a piece 30-ish cm wide and now about 33cm in height. 

Starting on the edge where the two ends meet cut into your piece. Make sure you stop cutting about an inch away from the folded edge. DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH!

Step 4:
Take your sliced up piece and unfold it so you have the solid piece running down the middle and the tassel pieces either side. 

Now fold this piece in half so the ends are touching. You may need to untangle the tassel pieces as you complete this part.

Now fold it in half again....

Keep going until you have it nicely folded like mine below. 

Step 5:
Now this step can get a little tricky but gets easier with practice. If you are using tissue paper I would warn you now so be very careful!

Your need to twist the middle section nice a tight. I tried to twist mine reasonably tight as they do come undone a little bit in the next couple of steps. If you are using tissue paper I would think it would stay in the twisted form a bit better than the plastic. 

Let the twist loop back on itself and glue this in place. 

I gave mine a little extra twist when I had the glue on as it was easier than trying to get the glue in at the beginning. I also used a little clip to just hold it in place while the glue dried. You could use pegs for this if you don't have any clips. 

Just make sure you don't glue the hole shut otherwise you'll have issues.
 

Here are all my lovely pink tassels made! I could have made more out of the table cloth but I was happy with my 12. 

Step 6:
I made this step up myself as I thought it gives the tassels a finished look and a little extra durability.

The picture below shows one already wrapped but I basically found a strip that was closest to the loop and easy to wrap around the twist join. 

Wrap...wrap...wrap and then secure with some glue. Voila! A beautiful finished tassel ready to be hung!

I noticed after threading on a couple of tassels my string was fraying on the end so I did the old shoelace trick and wrapped some sticky tape around the end. 

In other tutorials I have seen people just thread the tassels on and let them hang freely which would be fine for a birthday party/baby shower etc. But since mine is going to be used outside where it could be windy I have knotted my tassels in place about 15cm apart. 

All done! I can't wait to use it at my next market!

TTFN xx

 

Hoppy Easter!

Easter is one of my fave times of the year.....

Why??

Well I always tell myself to go easy on the chocolate and then of course do the opposite and gobble it all up! A Lindt rabbit has already met its demise and it's only Easter Saturday.... *sigh*

Anyways today I have been making some last minute little bunny softies for my niece and nepheww. I had the rabbit shapes cut out ages ago to make some beanie bags but I didn't like them so instead I have stuffed three, one for each kiddo. The big orange check is for my eldest nephew and the two smaller ones are for the twinnies. The little bunnies are only about 10-15cm tall.

I tried using some ribbon to tie around their necks but it just didn't suit and I was getting frustrated. So instead I cut up a couple of strips of fabric and used that instead! Gives them that cute shabby chic look and finishes them off too. 

We know all bunnies have cute fluffy white tails and these are no exception! Look at their cute little bums. Last minute gifts are better than nothing!

Below I have done part 2 of the beanie/hat stand tutorial. It turned out pretty good and I am more than happy with it. Click HERE for Part 1.

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Mini Tutorial - Part 2

Hat & Beanie Stand

So the last step that we had was covering the ball with white paper and allowing it to dry fully. I left mine to dry overnight and pretty much up until about 2pm the next day as thats when I got time to start working on it again! However it was completely dry in the morning. 

 I only did one layer of white paper but you can see how once it's dry the newspaper is very hard to see. You could leave your ball like this but I do give it a coat of white paint later on. 

The next step is the make a decent sized hole in the ball to sit on your stand. Now my stand had quite a thick pole which I wasn't anticipating before starting this project but you just adapt this bit to suit what you have. You have a thick pole then make a decent sized hole...you have a thin pole then you have to becareful not to make the hole too big.

I started my hole by finding most dodgy part of my paper mache and pushing an old set of scissors into it and twisting it around. I think I made my hole about 5-6cm deep?? Then I used a couple of paint brush ends, going up in size after each one to make the hole bigger. The paper around the hole will start to crinkle and tear but thats ok as mine got 'sucked in' to the hole when I pushed the ball into the stand. 

So...put some glue into the hole. I just used an all rounder craft glue. Then press the ball onto the stand, working your way slowly down by twisting and pushing. You can see in the picture below how I meant the ripped paper got 'sucked' into the hole when I pushed the ball onto the base.

I gave my ball about two light coast of white paint and let that dry. It didn't really look too different to when I started but it just helped the base and ball blend together. 

Here is my glorious stand in action! Doesn't it look pretty!?! I think the white helps make the items pop and stand out. Obviously if it was a white beanie then it might not be as effective.

Here is a close up of the beanie stand with a clip. I should be able to use this for headbands as well. Yippee!

Hope you all have a great Easter and that the Easter bunny is kind to you.

TTFN xx

Busy B....

So I have been a little slack and didn't blog when I said I was going to blog..Ooopssie! But I am here blogging now!

Well BB had the market night and it wasn't too bad sales wise. The bunny clips were the most popular especially since it's leading up to Easter. I even have a cute piccie of Miss Grace (3 weeks old) at her first footy match wearing one of her bunnie clips. 

Isn't she just too cute!?!?

Anywho I've had a packed out weekend so I've got started on quite afew orders today as well as re-living my school days and doing some paper mache. Ah dear...I remember I used to LOVE paper mache at school but not so much now. I'm actually attemping to make a hat/beanie/headband stand which I will discuss below in a mini tutorial. 

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Mini Tutorial - Part 1
Beanie & Hat Stand

After doing research on the interwebs I have come up with a little tutorial of my own on how to make a beanie/hat/headband stand or display for taking photos or for market stalls. My photos are very basic as I didn't take too many photos along the way but I think my instructions will be pretty simple to follow if you'd like to make one too!

Materials (for Part 1):
-Wooden paper towel holder (you could make your own or find something else similar if you want)
-White paint (I just used acrylic el cheapo paint)
-Styrofoam ball (I used 150mm/15cm)
-Newspaper & Plain white paper torn into pieces of various sizes
-Homemade Paper Mache paste (will discuss this below or you could use watered down PVA)
- Old plastic wine cup, glass cup, egg cup etc

To start with I took my wooden stand and checked it for any rough areas. There was some bits that I thought could be smoother so I took a little piece of sandpaper I had handy and gave it a quick rub.

I then took my paint brush and my white paint and started covering the wooden stand! The above picture I had already given it one light coat. The paint that I had was thin because it was crappy quality but it didn't bother me. I think overall I gave my stand about 3 coats? I let it dry completely between coats as this makes the paint adhere better. 

Next I am onto the styrofoam ball. I could have left it the way that it was but I thought it looked a little too...hmm what's the word...Raw?? Unfinished?? Something along those lines. So I decided to paper mache it. Glorious glorious paper mache. How I was wrong. 

I started by making a paper mache paste from water and flour. I remember doing this as a kid when making assignments for school. Remember doing the typical exploding volcano assignment?? I think instead of mine exploding it actually opened up and had the different layers of a volcano. Anyway....

If you want to make your own paste then just google paper mache cooking paste. I made mine by boiling about 3 cups of water in a saucepan and then adding in a mixture of 3/4cup plain flour and 3/4cup of water. Mine went really lumpy because I 1)forgot to sift the flour beforehand and 2)not boiling enough water to begin with. So I added some more tap water to my mixture as I left the temperature between high and medium. stir...stir...stir...stir until you are happy and have a reasonably smooth consistancy. Now you have to let it cool. I went off and did some sewing in this time. 

So now I have my pot of 'glue', my ball to cover and my torn up pieces of paper. To start with it's best to let afew piece of paper soak on top of the glue mixture so they get nice and sticky. I also have an old plastic wine cup which I balanced my ball ontop of so it was off the table and easy for me to work with. You could use a glass or egg cup etc.

I find it a little hard to explain how to paper mache as I just winged it basically. Although because you do have a solid base you don't really need a lot of paper layers compared to if you are making a figure or Pinata! So I did one layer of newspaper and then did one layer of white printing paper. I know you can still see the newspaper through it a little bit but it looks better once the paper is dry and plus I'll be painting it too.

Unforunately this is where this tutorial ends for now! The ball is still drying in one spot as it wasn't exposed to the sun or any light when I left it outside. Looks like I might need to finish this off tomorrow now!

Stay tuned for part 2! *Edit* Click HERE for Part 2.

TTFN xx

A bunting baby....

Well it's Friday and like I promised I would try and blog once every week! Since I am only just getting back into the swing of things I have a small project that I've been working on over the last two days. 

Now this is for a friends baby and her baby shower is next weekend. I am lucky enough to know bubbas name however not many have this privilege! So to protect little miss and her mumma & dadda I can't show you the whole finished product...but..... I was able to take pics of bits and pieces as I went along. I'll do a brief mini tutorial explanation below along with some pics! If you want a better view of the piccies just click on them and it'll enlarge. 

Baby Name Bunting - Mini Tutorial

So this is going to be my first mini tut for 2013 as well as my first time making bunting! Woo! I'll list the materials that I used below:
- Fabric for the flags & contrasting fabric for the shapes/letters
- Matching bias binding
- Vliesofix (or you could use Wonder Under, Heat n Bond etc)
- Thin interfacing
- Thread
- Sewing Machine
- Scissors (a rotary cutter would be easier and quicker I discovered)
- Pins

To get the template for the triangle flag shapes I started with a piece of paper that was 7inch width and 6inch in length. You then fold the piece in half long ways so you have a piece which is 3.5inch by 6inch (following??) You then draw a line or you can use a craft knife to draw from the top left corner (where the corners meet but aren't connected) to the bottom right corner (where the fold is). Cut on the line, unfold your piece of paper and voila, you have your little triangle!

1. Here are my two fabrics. The Nursery colours are a pink/purple with a creamy yellow colour so my two fabrics are a cream base for the flags and a patterned purple fabric for the shapes and letters. The walls are the pink/purple so I thought the cream would really pop against them. 

2. You pin your template to your fabric and cut out how many flags you need. My fabric was folded so when I cut out my flags there were two together. I was going to mention how many flags there are in total but I'll keep it a surprise!

3. The letters and hearts I am appliqueing onto the flags so here I traced out my piece onto Vliesofix and then ironed them into the WRONG side of the purple fabric. Please remember if you are doing letters or a particular shape to make sure you reverse it before tracing it into the bonding agent otherwise it will be backwards when you go to iron it onto your piece. 

4. Although other tutorials say you don't need any sort of interfacing I used some behind the applique only as this gives me a nicer finish. 

5. I have ironed all of my pieces into the flags and they are ready to be appliqued!

6. I chose a lighter purple colour for my applique thread. Since this is going into a baby's room I thought it would give it a softer touch rather than being bold or bright.

7. I applique with a simple zigzag stitch and I just change the settings to whatever I am making. I just stuck with my normal settings for this one. You can still see the interfacing behind the heart in this pic. Once all the threads are knotted and cut then I trim around the interfacing leaving only a tiny little edge which is barely noticeable. 

8. Pin your two pieces of your flag together with RIGHT SIDES facing in. If you are using a plain colour like I am for the flag then the right/wrong sides are generally the same. Sew down the two sides of the flag with a 1/4 seam but leave the top open! Remember you need to turn the flag right side out. Alternatively you could pin your flag pieces WRONG SIDES facing in and sew around the edges giving your flags a more raw look. 

9. Before you turn your flag inside out remember to trim the tip off the bottom so that you get a nice pointy finish. Be careful though, don't cut any threads! 

Now turn your flag right side out and push out your nice little point with something like a dowel, pencil end, paint brush?? I used a manicure stick thing that pushes down your cuticles. Iron your seams down nice and flat. The flags are now starting to take shape!

10.  Trim the little pokey bits off the top of your flag to make them nice and straight again. Take your bias binding and slide your flags into the fold, pinning them in place. My bias binding didn't come pre-folded so if yours is the same then you need to iron it in half before hand.
 How far apart do you put the flags?? That's really up to your personal preference. I like mine touching under the bias so they have about a 5mm or so gap between them that's visible.

11. Sew your bias binding from end to end. I gave mine a 1/4 seam which I though worked well but you can do something different if you want. Maybe even two rows of sewing or a decorative stitch?

12. This is just an additional step I did to finish off the edges of the bias binding. I folded the ends over about 1cm (10mm) and did a zig zag stitch to hold it. I thought that this gives the ends of the bias a nice finish plus the zigzag matches in with the applique. 

13. Your bunting should now be finished! Give it a quick iron, find somewhere to hang it and then admire your crafty work. I admired mine that's for sure! But like I said I can't reveal the whole thing until bubs has been born so that will be in about another month or so. I'll add a link to the bottom of this post to the new post with the full bunting!

Hope that wasn't too confusing for anyone trying to follow my steps.

If you are a beginner then I would suggest leaving out the applique steps for now and maybe making the flags out of different but coordinating fabrics for an effective look.

TTFN xx

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Well BB released a new Christmas design this year, a Reindeer....Rudolf to be exact! They have been so so popular but they are rather cute so I don't blame anyone either. Tempted to make myself one actually.

Due to this design being a bit more complicated than my others I had to put up the price to cover the extra time spent sewing and cutting and knotting and gluing etc etc. But I have also put together a quick pictorial showing the work that goes into one little rudolf the reindeer top!

I don't have a picture of this but all of my designs are...my designs! I look for pictures on the net and change them and adapt them to being made into an applique. Sometimes I even have to have different sizes of the design which is what I've had to do with this reindeer one.

So to begin the process I get my design and trace the pieces onto some bonding paper. Once all the pieces are roughly cut out I then iron (glue) them into the material that I want for each piece. In this case I had two antlers, a head and a nose. Once the pieces are cooled and bonded then I cut around each one.

For the reindeer I then iron the nose onto the head and sew around it. I tend to use a zigzag stitch instead of a straight stitch like some other businesses do. This is mainly because it will stop the pieces from fraying and give them a bit more 'wearing' durability. 

I then get my top and put all the pieces where I want them, making sure they are as even as possible before ironing (gluing) them in place. I even go to the point of measuring points to check they are the same distance on both sides. This is probably one of the reasons my tops take so long to make. I like to be precise!

All of my tops also come with interfacing on the back. Why?? Well I feel that this holds the shape of the design a bit better and again gives the top a bit more durability. So with this step I have to estimate a good size that will cover all parts of the design. I usually hold up the template to get an accurate "estimate".

Then back to some more sewing! I first sew around the antlers which are the trickiest due to the many curves and sharp turns. I am slowly getting the hang of them though! I then triple knot the threads at each end for security. Then I start sewing the head!

Once that is all done and dusted I have to cut away the excess interfacing at the back. This is a very careful and slow step as I have to becareful not to accidently cut through the top as well. I have done this before and it's not fun putting in all the hard work only to have to throw it away!

Ta-Da! We have a lovely little reindeer head with it's antlers and nose.

Next I have to lightly glue on the eyes to make sure they are nice and even and I am happy with the way they are sitting. Sew them on! I use three threads to sew on the eyes for extra security. Next the bows have to be made (by me) and heat sealed the edges and then sewn onto the reindeer. Doesn't she look pretty??

Some people choose to stop at this step and have a cute little reindeer singlet...BUT...to make it even more girly and pretty and dainty I add some little lace cap sleeves. So I cute the lace, line it up on the sleeves, pin it and then sew it! I am very anal about getting the two sides pretty even but lace is rather forgiving due to it's ruffle-ness (is that a word? Is now!) and I can get away with it if it's a mm or two different.

Now we have a beauuuutiful girly reindeer top complete with a cute bow and frilly lacey sleeves! Perfect for a hot aussie christmas day. 

Doily Dying...Take 2!

So after my last failure with trying to die the doily with food dye, I found a stall at one of the craft shows thats sells dyes aimed at laces etc. Not only will it be great to dye or tie dye my elastic for my headbands but I thought it'll be awesome for my doilies too! Below I have taken you through the process of my first attempt using OzeCraft Dyes.

These are my doilies before doing anything to them. I had cut them from a larger doily and ended up with heaps! I put fray check along the cut edges just incase there was a chance of them coming undone.


These are my OzeCraft Dyes that I got from Starr Laces & Ribbons at one of the craft shows. There is a whole big range of colours but the ones I got are; Turquoise, Regency Rose, Victorian Plum and Violet.

You can use the dyes straight out of the bottle but they are rather strong and it's easier to start with less and add more after. So I decided to dilute the dye with some water. I used a normal old medicine measuring cup and diluted each colour with 10ml of water.


But what do you mix the water and dye in?? Well the lovely lady at the stall told me to use an ice cube tray if you don't want to do a big batch of colour. Since this is my first time using these dyes I thought I would go with the small and simple approach and use the ice cube tray. You can't see the water but I have 4 x 10ml cubes.

Since I am not an owner of an eye dropper I had to figure out a way to get an even measurement of the dye. *Light bulb turns on* Does anyone remember the whole finger ontop of the straw to hold your drink in it trick?? Well I made a little mark on the straw end and used it as my 'eye dropper'.


Here is a little before and after to get a better visual effect on what I was talking about before. If you don't know the straw trick you simply dip the straw into the liquid (dye) to the line and then put ur finger over the open end which will then hold the liquid in the straw when you pull it out. To drop the dye just let go of the end and it should fall out. I also swizzled the straw around in the water to get all the dye out...


This is what my water looked like after doing two lots of my straw measurement. Nice and bright!
This is my little note to remind myself what I did to get what colour. If I want a lighter colour next time I know to add more water and vice versa. The 'straw line' means the line on the straw is 9-10mm from the end.


Then just dip your brush in the dye and start dabbing it on the doily. It soaks into the fibres and spreads out but I covered all the doily in the dye solution to get an even coverage. Also my nails match the pain brush! Ha!


Here is the end result! I LOVE them! Top two are Turquoise and Victorian Plum (I could use less water in this one next time). The bottom two are Violet and Regency Rose. I like the lightness of the regency rose but I want to try it with less water next time too.


Since I still had some solution left over (but not alot!) I thought I would test out doing two tone doilies. I must say I am more than impressed and can't wait to get some more of these dyes!


Oh...I also had some beaded bling for my new USB that is dedicated entirely to BB. A whole 16GB!

Do you guys like the dyes as much as I do??