DIY Whimsy Dress:Tulle and Ruffles! {The Ups and Downs}

I am not a seamstress. I can sew. A little. Sometimes I get ambitions and think that I can make really fun, whimsical things for my daughters. 

Sometimes I can. Other times . . .i wing it.

This is my story:

I splurged on some ruffle fabric for my two year-old's birthday. It is a little pricy, but when you consider the fact that someone else has taken the time to make ruffles for you, the price might be worth it. It runs about $15-$20. I got it from Ruffle Fabric(.com) 

(and this is NOT a sponsored post)

This is what you need:

Sewing Machine

3 yards of tulle

1 yard of  Ruffle Fabric

For necklace:

elastic, tulle, glue gun and decorative brad, matches, candle

What I like about tulle and ruffle fabric . . . no hemming!

Using my daughter's measurements, I cut the fabric 15 in in length and 6 in in width.

THIS WAS PART ONE OF MY MISTAKE:  My little dog, Maddie tried to tell me that since the ruffle fabric stretches, I could subtract 3 inches so that it would fit snugly around my toddler and not fall down , but I never have been good at speaking dog, so I didn't listen.

 Doesn't the fabric just look fun already!

 The I cut the tulle to the length I wanted, 26 in long in 5 in strips. You can actually use more or less tulle depending on how full and fluffy you want the "skirt part."

 

 This is the part 2 of my mistake.I pinned all the tulle to the base of the ruffle fabric and did not allow for any stretch. Meaning, even the the tulle fabric stretches, once you sew the tulle in, place it ceases to stretch. I should have allowed for 2 small slits. Once the dress was on, the slits would be invisible, but would allow for stretch. Or maybe one of you reading this will; have another solution you"l want to share with me.
Maybe I could have tapered the top so that is was more of an A-line, the top could have been snug and the tulle wouldn't have been tight . . .
Anyway, it wasn't so bad, but it won't grow with my girl for very long . . .
unless, I cut some small slits in the tulle now . . .

 Anyhow . . . I sewed the tulle to the ruffle fabric and then sewed up the sides of the bodice of

 ruffle fabric and got this:

 For the tulle flower head piece, I cut 8 circular pieces of tulle and burnt the edges using a candle in a well ventilated area. Do not inhale this stuff. It is nasty. I stuck a decorative brad through the middle and hot glued it to a piece of elastic that was measured to fir my 2 year old's blond, curly head.

It was fun . . .
Happy Crafting
XOXO,
 Amy!

Tulle Pom Pom Topiary DIY

I really don't need an excuse. I love to make pretty things. I love to create and since we have one more family birthday party coming up, I feel like I had good reason to make these beauties. 

 I made the tulle pom poms using the tutorial I found here. However, I did modify the project a bit to make my pom pom a little bit larger. I used to 8 in paper plates as my template to wrap the tulle around.

 and they turned out like this:

To finish the look, I filled three tins with rice, tied a hot pink ribbon around the center and then hot glued the pom pom onto the top of wooden skewers.

The fun thing about this little project is that you can modify the colors to match the color scheme of any party! And all of the supplies are relatively inexpensive. Just go to your local dollar store and look around!

Happy Crafting!
XOXO,
 Amy

Applicious Centerpiece!

I take my two oldest kids to school every morning and since my mother-in-law is their principal my two youngest kids and I stop by her office before we leave every morning to get a yummy piece of candy. On our way through the teacher's lounge to her office I stumbled upon some of the cutest centerpieces!

Look!

How adorable and how SIMPLE! She simply pinned those cute little flowers into the tops of those apples, put the apple on a candle stick, tied a bow out of tulle and then sprinkled some lemon heads at the base on top of a lime green plastic table runner.

I want to pin some flowers to the base of this pumpkin too:)

What a cute idea . . . my sister-in-laws mother, Suzette, was responsible for this stylish center piece:)

So cute! Who says you can't learn something at school?!

Happy Crafting!

xoxo, Amy

DIY No-Sew Tutu

These tutus are so simple an quick!! You just need 2 things and a hour of time.
The materials listed will give you a infant/toddler sized tutu.
If you have an older child, just buy a couple more yards of tulle.

What You'll Need:
*5 yards of tulle
[I used the stuff that comes on the bolt since its cheaper,
but you can use the rolled stuff from wedding decor if you'd like.]
*Elastic
[Same measurement as waist]
*Small Piece Of Ribbon or Fabric
[Literally 1 inch is plenty]



First, line up the ends of the ribbon on top of the ribbon piece or fabric
and sew over the piece several times so they are secure.
I put the ribbon down first then held one end of the elastic in place,
then lowered the needle into it; next I put the other end down and
sewed over the 2 ends, then back stitched.
I did this 3 or 4 times.

I only used 1 color of tulle since I wanted a skirt that would make my baby's
crystal blue eyes pop. If you are using more than one color,
make sure it adds up to 5 yards total. Next I took the tulle and cut it
down the middle on the crease from the bolt.
Then I folded it in half several times along the 5 yards.
So the first fold you'll have 2 1/2 yards, then 1 1/4 yards,
then just over 1/2 yard then just over 1/4 yard. Basically, I kept folding until the tulle was about 4-6 inches wide.

Hold the tulle down and cut all the way through every 3-4 inches across
until you have cut all of it.

Now you should have a bunch of strips like this.

Its hard to see the tulle when its just one layer, so I'll use this ribbon to
show you how to tie the tulle to the elastic.
Fold it in half and put the fold under the elastic.

Take the ends and wrap over the elastic then pull through the fold.

Pull tight. Now repeat for every piece.

It should look like this when you're all done.

I've seen hair bands made in a similar fashion.

To make one of those, just grab some coordinating ribbon and attach in the same fashion.

Fabric Flowers - 2 more styles ~ Tangled & Pinwheel

TANGLED FLOWER
[LOTUS or ROSE STYLE]

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

*Scraps of Fabric

*Scraps of Tulle (diamond & the bigger mesh stuff)

*3 Different size circles to trace
(I used a jar, and the top & bottom of a vitamin jar.
My flower is 3 inches without the tulle)

*Scissors

*Needle & Thread

*Small Piece of Felt

*Hair clip, Pin Backing, or Headband

*Buttons, Beads, Rhinestones or some other blingy for the center

*Hot Glue Gun & Glue



First, you'll need to trace 6 circles of each size onto your fabric.
[18 total]

And, cut 6 squares of tulle slightly larger than each of the 3 sizes of circles. [18 total]
Also, cut 6 squares of the large mesh tulle slightly larger than your largest circle.

You will need to repeat these next few steps for each petal. Starting with the large circles. If using tulle, place the it on the right side of the fabric, like this:

Next, fold the 2 pieces of fabric in half, making sure that the edges of the circle match up,
like this:

Fold in half again, lining up all 4 edges of the circle, like this:

Now, take you thread and double it up on the needle by threading it
then tying both ends together. Fasten to open end of the quarter circle.
Baste stitch by hand along the edge, like this:

Once you get to the other end, pull the thread tight to create a ruffle type effect,
and do not tie off thread, like this:

I know its kind of hard to see in that last picture, so sorry!
It was a little hard with the glare from the shinny fabric + tulle,
but I think you can still get it.

After you finish one petal, you'll start over with the next one using
the same thread as the petal before.
Here is what it would look like if it were a 5 petal flower:

When you have all 6 petals of the large size on the thread,
pull it tight & hold tightly with your fingers.
On the back side of the flower, run your thread through
the first & last petals where they meet a couple of time, then fasten off.
Like this:

This next step is unique to the bottom layer only.
Take your large mesh tulle and fold it in half on its diagonal so it becomes a triangle.

Fold it in half again. . .

And one more time. . .

Now, place it behind a petal, with the point in the center and sew on. I decided that maybe the next flower I make like this I'll only put like 2 pieces of tulle on in between petals, because its cute and looks more, ummmm mature that way ;) But, since this is for my 9 year old, the more princess I could make it, the better. Anyways, if you want to attach it all the way around, just repeat until you get to the beginning again then fasten off and cut thread off.

Here is what it looks like from the front with all the tulle in the back.
I cut the excess diamond tulle from the petals before I
sewed the large mesh tulle to the back.

Now, repeat the steps for the petals for the medium size circles.
When you finish, tie off but don't cut thread. Lay them on top of the bottom layer,
and stagger the petals. From behind this layer, stitch the 2 layers together.
I did a sort of blind stitch, where I attached the top layer fabric [not tulle]
from the large petals to the bottom layer of fabric of the medium petals as close
to the base as I could get. I fastened it off and cut the thread when I got
back to the beginning. I suppose that you could hot glue them together,
but I thought it be too bulky so I chose to sew.

Ok, if you understood that last round of mumbo-jumbo,
you have to repeat it for the small petals layer. Attach it to the medium petals
the same way you chose for the 1st layers.
It should look like this when you have all 3 layers attached.

For the center of my flower, I took about 8 inches or so of the
purple fabric that was left over and made a mini rolled rose.
For those of you who do better with reading directions here is a link
to written directions. They have a ton of pictures up, but it was late a night
when I found this a few months ago & I just needed to see someone do it.
So I searched for a video, and I found this.
They're both the same method, I just needed to see it done. ;)
If you plan to wash the flower at anytime, use a fabric glue, not hot glue!

After I sewed to rolled rose to the center I hot glued the rhinestone to the center of it.

***

PINWHEEL FLOWER

Ok you'll need all the same supplies for this Pinwheel Flower as you did for the
Tangled Flower. I've made them with no tulle and they still look cute, so go with
what looks best for your hair accessory stash!


You'll need to cut 5 circles (all the same size) of each fabric & 5 squares
of the same size for your tulle. You should end up with a total of 20 pieces. You can go up to about 25, but then it starts to be too many pieces.

Once you have all of your circles cut, you'll fold them the same way as the Tangled flower. Insert the needle through the point of the quarter circle and repeat in the pattern you've laid out. For the tulle portions of this flower, I folded it the same way that I did for the tulle on the back of the Tangled flower. Once you have all your piece on the thread, pull it tight & arrange in a circle. Hold it very tightly & thread the needle through the back of the first few petals to secure it, then fasten it off.

I used beads in the center of this flower, but you can pick your own centers.
After you add the center, hot glue the flower to a small piece of felt, trim & attach to clip, pin or headband like in this tutorial. If I attach a clip I like to run a small piece of felt perpendicular to the clip & glue it so it is more secure.