Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Our Crafty Readers Share Their Cool Ideas

One of our crafty readers, Emily- of Santa barbara California, was inspired by those plastic bag skirts that we like to make. She made an incredible dress from a vintage plastic table cloth and some black electrician's tape. She also made a beautiful necklace from buttons and thread. Below are some pictures and instructions for you on how she did it.


here are Emily's instructions: Thanks Emily!

Dress materials:
vintage dress pattern
vintage plastic lace tablecloth
black vinyl electricians tape
hooks and eyes

place pattern on lace in the usual way that one would lay out a pattern. cut out pieces. I cut off the seam allowances around the neck and armholes and only left them on the sides and back. Stitch the dress together on a sewing machine using a long stitch. Where the lace is lacey you may have to insert tissue paper between the seams in order to not have to deal with the holes in the lace. When dress is stitched together turn right side out. I topstitched the bust and back darts with doubled black thread by hand. The armholes, neck and back were done by placing one half the width of the tape on the right side of dress and fold over to back, matching edges of tape on right and back sides. I then top stitched the tape by hand using a doubled black thread. It's too hard to use the machine because the tape is sticky and causes the needle to gum up and the thread to break. I made the flower out of a strip of lace about 18 inches long. I did a long
running stitch by hand and then pulled it to shape the bloom. Then I stitched the running stitched edge together in places to reinforce the bloom shape. I then stitched the bloom onto the dress using doubled black thread and a large plastic button (on the inside of the dress I added a small circle of the plastic so that when I sewed into the plastic it would be stronger.. The bloom is edged in a running stitch using a doubled black thread. I called the dress "Notta Balenciaga".

NECKPIECE INSTRUCTIONS
materials: plastic buttons
linen thread - 6 strand
wash away interfacing

cut piece of interfacing the size and shape of finished neckpiece adding two inches extra all around for ease of handling.

useing plain thread stitch the buttons onto the interfacting in the desired pattern.

With linen thread, on each button, go up through underside of button to front and down in it's next hole to back. leave a tail of three inches or so on each side of the holes. after each six or buttons, tie the linen thread to adjacent buttons on as many sides as possible. This makes a linen web like structure on the back side. Proceed until all buttons have been linked together in this way.

rinse out disolvable interfacing in mildly warm water. allow neckpiece to dry thoroughly. when dry, separate linen thread into individual strands and fan out around buttons to your taste.

wear and enjoy!
About me: self taught, crafty from birth, age 62, woman, mother and grandmother of 3.
Emily