Wednesday 29 June 2016

Lace Cut Off Jean Shorts

Make your upcycled denim jean cut offs a bit fancy with a little lace.
Make your ownLace Trimmed Cut Off Jean Shorts

A super easy upcycle for today.
Cut off's have to be the original clothing refashion idea.
  • Take a pair of Jeans
  • Cut the legs off to make shorts!
This year I've given my new summer cut offs a little lace edging to make them a tiny bit fancy!

It is really easy, I whizzed mine on the sewing machine but you could hand stitch although it would take a little longer.
You need a pair of old jeans that still fit round the waist/hips and some lace. 
Make your ownLace Trimmed Cut Off Jean Shorts
I cut mine off and then took the photo. Try to imagine a pair of jeans - have you done that? Good, because that's what they looked like!

I cut these off pretty much the length I wanted my finished shorts to be. They measured approx 3" from the crotch seam to the cut off edge.
You can make your shorts any length you like.

Turn up a hem on the inside (this is optional, I'm just sharing what I did) and pin the lace to the right side of the leg holes so it overlaps slightly. 
Make your ownLace Trimmed Cut Off Jean Shorts
You loose a little length by turning them hem but then gain it again with the extra lace.
Stitch round where you have pinned, I found if you match you thread to the lace you can hardly see the stitches at all.

I had a little lace left over so I stitched a short length to the top of the pocket too.
Make your ownLace Trimmed Cut Off Jean Shorts
That's it, slightly posh cut off's!
Make your ownLace Trimmed Cut Off Jean Shorts
Now I am only sharing this next photo so you can see the length of my shorts to give you an idea of how yours could look.
This is a real life untouched photo of my bare legs, I'm feeling very exposed showing this! You can even see that the mirror really needs a clean if you look closely - don't look closely, just scroll on please. 
Make your ownLace Trimmed Cut Off Jean Shorts
I'm planning to wear my lace trimmed cut off jean shorts on holiday this year as following a pretty lovely May, the weather here is not conducive to shorts right now. It's June and this morning the heating came on and at about 3.30pm today the weather was doing this:
Something to do with Glastonbury and Wimbledon I guess, nothing guaranteed to make it rain in the UK more than outdoor events!


Make your ownLace Trimmed Cut Off Jean Shorts
The best thing about this project was that a couple of days after I finished them I popped into town to do some shopping and found several very "trendy young people's shops" with shorts just like these in the window. Apparently this is very on trend..and there was me just thinking it was pretty!
You might also be interested in:
Fabric Trimmed Cardigan Refashion
Fabric Trimmed cardigan Refashion
Stripe T Shirt with Floral Trim
Stripe T Shirt with Floral Trim
Check and lace shirt refashion
Check and lace shirt refashion
Too tight at the top hem fix
Too tight at the hem top fix
I'll be linking up to all these great link parties, why not go and have a look!

read more

Wednesday 22 June 2016

Crochet heart

Crocheted hanging heart and flower with links to the free patterns.
crocheted heart scented sachet

Just a very quick share today, I was posting sneaky peeks of this on instagram last week so thought I could share the finished result.
crochet work in progress
This is one of those rare things, something I pinned on pinterest then actually made!

This idea comes straight from one of my most favourite crochet blogs, Attic 24. The super talented Lucy from Attic 24 made these gorgeous little crocheted hearts with pretty roses way back in 2013 and I pinned them, like you do. 
The pattern for the hearts is from a lady called BeaG and is on flicker here. The rose is an Attic 24 pattern here. The links for both patterns are on the original Attic 24 post too. 
crocheted heart scented sachet
I had a few issues getting my heart started, you start at the bottom point and I sort of fudged mine a little so don't look too closely. I also notice mine is not the same rounded, even shape as the original but no matter. I read something the other day saying that apparently knitters of fairisle jumpers used to put mistakes into their work sometimes just to show it was handmade. I don't know if that's true or not but I do embrace the idea that handmade doesn't need to be perfect!
crocheted heart scented sachet
I chose not to add leaves but there is a pattern for a leaf too over on Attic 24 if you want to add them.
crocheted heart scented sachet
The yarn I used is DMC Natura Medium and my hook was a 4mm. This yarn was a freebie in my goodie bag from my trip to the CHSI Stitches show back in February.
DMC just cotton natura yarn
I finally decided what to make with it, or at least some of it, I've used maybe half the red and just a little of the orange on this heart sachet and rose.

I used a little bit of regular toy stuffing to fill my sachet and I added a little piece of cotton in the centre with a few drops of essential oil on it. It smells amazing, but I want to keep this as a gift for someone later in the year so now it's in a sealed plastic bag with a bit of tissue with a few more drops of the essential oil. That way it should smell lovely for a good long while.
crocheted heart scented sachet
This finished heart is roughly 6" (15cm) tall, that's making it with this medium yarn which is apparently  an aran weight, and using a 4mm crochet hook. This would be a fantastic stash buster project, you could make a whole load to use up all your leftovers, but of course the finished size will vary depending on your yarn and hook. 
Enjoy!
You might also be interested in:
Rainbow Heart Garland
Rainbow Heart Garland
12 Ideas for Novelty Yarns
12 ideas for novelty yarns
Mini Minion, Tiny Ted and Beautiful Bows
Mini Minion, Tiny Ted and Beautiful Bows
Grey and Bright Crochet Flowers
Grey and Bright Crochet Flowers
I'll be linking up at these great link parties

read more

Thursday 16 June 2016

Owl Post

A collection of 18 Owl themed craft ideas and projects.
Owls were everywhere a little while ago, it seemed they were on everything! Never one to be a strict follower of fashion and trends I'm proud to say I still love owls.
So when I was trawling through some old photos the other day and found quite a few handmade owl based things I thought I could collect them up with some other lovely Owl crafts from 'tinternet into an "Owl post" (Awh, see what I did there Harry Potter fans!)
Picture from Pottermore

Let's start with a bit of a long story, I'll try to keep it brief. Long before my own blogging days I read lots of lovely blogs, one of which, You Go Girl I'd come across one day when looking for doodle embroidery ideas. Now it was there that I saw these super cute felt creatures, included an Owl. There was a link to another blog Juicy Bits where you can get a free pattern for a similar felt owl - are you still with me?!
I combined the pattern from Juicy Bits with the embroidery ideas from You go Girl and made a few felt Owls.
Then using the same pattern shapes I made a paper pieced card to match.
I love how this came out, I need to make this one again soon!

Paperchase had a lovely owl wrapping paper at the height of the owl fashion mania and I used it for more card making.
I just stuck one owl to card, cut it out and fixed it with foam pads over another Owl. Then just added googly eyes to finish it off - love googly eyes! The letters are from old coloured envelopes and are punched using my lovely Quickcuts Squeeze die cutter.
Here I've just added another "wrapping paper on card" owl on a really simple gatefold card.

I found this (at least) 10 year old toilet paper tube owl our daughter has kept because her cousin made it for her. It is a little bit faded!
You can find tutorials to make similar ones here and here.

This lovely felt needlecase is something I have inherited from my Mum. Now I didn't actually know if she made it or was given it but I do know she loved it and so do I.
I remember seeing her using it when I was little and I still use it all the time.

I might try to take a pattern from it sometime and see if I can recreate it.

A couple of years ago I made our daughter this cushion using this brilliant granny square tutorial from Repeat Crafter Me.

I'd also used the same basic owl pattern from the granny square but used a much smaller hook and made this little brooch.

Now here is a parliament* of lovely Owl based crafts I've found to inspire you a little more!

These cute pinecone and felt owls from Lia Griffith are a kids craft really but I think it would be perfectly acceptable for grown ups to make them too, don't you?


If you have a friend who sews wouldn't they love an owl sewing buddy? Or maybe you just need to make one for yourself. The pattern is free and there is a step by step photo tutorial too from The Modern Tomato.

Monroe from Sew Crafty Crochet adapted her favourite owl cushion pattern and made this lovely Owl from old denim jeans this Earth day.

Something for you knitters now, how cute are these owl gloves? It's from Julie is Coco and Cocoa and she has patterns for a matching hat and scarf too.


How about getting your upcycling on and making this wood slice owl from House of Hawthornes? Because they are made from mostly recycled bits and pieces I imagine every one would have it's own unique look and personality.


These free printable chocolate bar wrappers from Lisa Storms are so sweet! They designed for Mini Hershey bars but I'm sure it would be easy enough to find a chocolate bar that would fit wherever you live in the world, or just tweak the printing size to make them fit your favourite treat.


The idea of making owl pancakes seems like a holiday thing to me, I can't imagine ever having had time on a school morning! But a chilled out weekend or holiday morning ... so much fun to make and eat!
The recipe, tips and even a short video on how to put it all together are on Simple as That.

Have you ever tried loom knitting? I have to confess I haven't other than using what we used to call a French knitting dolly to make necklaces, bracelets and spiral placemats when I was a kid. I believe it's the same sort of method but it's possible to get much more impressive results. Just take this Owl for example from Loom Lore.
They have loads of useful information to help you get started with loom knitting too if you fancy having a go.

These button owls from Learn Create Love have been made into magnets, what a lovely kids holiday project.

This is fun little fella to make! There is a pattern and full instructions on Rustic Honey
I'm thinking how lovely he would be part stuffed with gravel or rice and used as a door stop.

Amigurumi crochet is often just so darn cute and it doesn't get much cuter than this sweet little owl from Kristi Tullus
A free pattern and super clear step by step photos, my favourite kind of tutorial!

Have you become hooked on the colouring in craze or fancy having a go? Or maybe you are looking for the kids to do on a rainy afternoon, check out these lovely free owl printable pages from Dabbles and Babbles.

So there you have it, an owl post! Are you a fan of these wise old birds? 
* a whole load of owls together is a parliament apparently, I looked it up and that's what Mr Google said so it must be true...
You might also be interested in:
Rainbow Heart Garland
Rainbow Heart Garland
12 Ideas for Novelty Yarns
12 ideas for novelty yarns
Recycled gift wrap ideas
Recycled gift wrap ideas
Grey and Bright Crochet Flowers
Grey and Bright Crochet Flowers
I'll be linking up at these great link parties

read more