DIY Tulle Skirt Tutorial

01.24.13

Tulle Skirt Tutorial

I promised to show you the tulle skirt tutorial from yesterday’s post. I found it very simple to make after my usual trial and error.

You’ll need:

* 6 yards of tulle (if you want 4 layers and the skirt to be knee length)
* 1.5 – 2 yards of lining
* 1.5″ – 2″ width elastic (enough to wrap around waist when stretched)
* Scissors
* Thread
* Pins

1. Cut the tulle into 1.5 yard pieces.
2. Fold one tulle piece in half, and then fold it again. Repeat for all pieces.
Tulle Skirt Tutorial Fold
3. Measure your natural waist. (Make sure to measure accurately so you have enough material to fit around your waist!) Divide your waist in INCHES by 6.28. This will give us a radius.
*RADIUS=WAIST in INCHES/6.28*
4. Cut out your skirt using your waist radius by following the diagram below.
skirt1
5. When you open the tulle, you should end up with a ‘bagel’ shape. The smaller circle will be the skirt’s waist.
6. Repeat the steps above for the lining. (I made my lining a couple inches shorter than the tulle length.)
7. Sew the tulle layers together with a straight stitch.
8. Measure and cut your elastic. Sew the two ends together using a zig-zag stitch.
9. Start by sewing the tulle layers to the wrong side of the elastic band, stretching the elastic as you go. This way when you flip the elastic to the right side, the tulle layers sit on top.
10. Sew the lining over the tulle layers. Hem the lining if it needs it.

And you’re done!

Snowmen French Macaron Recipe

01.21.13

IMG_6373The first time I tried to make French macarons with a friend, we didn’t grind the almonds fine enough and somehow forgot to add the powdered sugar. Needless to say they looked terrible and tasted nothing like a macaron should taste. I don’t take baking failures lightly so I was determine to make them again with success. This time around I watched this video twice but followed this recipe. Since it’s winter, I decided on snowmen and used an edible pen for the face, orange starburst for the nose, and pearlized sprinkles for the buttons!

snowmen1I create a template to make shaping the snowmen a little easier

IMG_6325snowmen3IMG_6344IMG_6346

 

DIY Bow Tie Tutorial

01.15.13

I love it when menswear creeps into women’s fashion, and bow ties are the perfect way to borrow-from-the-boys without sacrificing femininity. Today I’ll show you how to DIY a bow tie in a classic plaid.

animalbowtie

What you’ll need:

  • 2 pieces of 6.5″ x 4″ of fabric
  • a 1″ x 2″ piece of fabric
  • a 1″ pin back
  • Fabric glue or glue gun
  • Needle & thread

IMG_6110Start by pinning together the two larger pieces of fabric and sewing along all four sides.bowtie1Leave enough of a gap that will allow you to turn the bow tie right side out. Hand stich the gap closed.bowtie2Fold the bow tie in half length wise. Fold in half again as we want to get an estimate of the most center point in the bow tie. bowtie3Pinch the center point where the two folds meet, or mark it with a pen. On the opposite side of the bow tie, add a dab of fabric glue and press fold together.bowtie4Starting on one side of the bow tie, add another drop of fabric glue and continue folding and gluing. (I ended up folding two more times on each side.)bowtie5Allow the glued bow tie to dry. Prepare the smaller piece of fabric for the center of the bow tie. I just folded and glued the edges as they were a bit frayed. Wrap the fabric around the center of the bow tie and glue or sew it in place.bowtie6Finally, sew the pin back onto the backside of your bow tie. bowtie7And you’re done! Bill Nye would be so proud!IMG_6236IMG_6262{Top image via MensStyle1, rest of images by Why Don’t You Make Me}