Tutorial: How To Make Bunchy Sleeves With Straps

I told you I have a lot of these long sleeved Shade shirts to experiment with!

To begin, use my Bunchy 3/4 Length Sleeve tutorial to bunch up your sleeves (the only things you'll need for this that aren't listed on that tutorial are 2 buttons). I made the sleeves on this one shorter so you will need to cut a bit more than the other tutorial says to. I tried it on and marked to cut just above my elbow. Save the fabric you cut off and use it to make your straps.

When making your straps, make sure they will be long enough to cover length of the bunchy-ness. I cut two 3.5" X 4.5" rectangles, folded them in half, right sides together, so you have two 1.75" X 4.5" rectangles, and sew edges with a 1/8" seam leaving one short side un-sewn.

Now turn your strap right side out and your shirt inside out, lay strap over elastic and pin strap's unfinished edge to sleeve's seam.

Sew a straight line to attach the strap to the seam then flip strap and sew another straight line to hide the unfinished edge.

Now sew your buttonhole on the end of the strap

Hand sew a button just above where the elastic ends.

Button it up (ignore my white chalk marks)!


Try it on and let me know how it turned out!


~Star

Tutorial: How To Make Bunchy 3/4 Length Sleeves

Cute right?! And really easy so don't be scared.

You need:

1/8" wide elastic

Long sleeved shirt

Sewing Machine

Matching Thread

Rotary Mat & Cutter or Scissors

Chalk

The inspiration behind doing this is a shirt that I only got to wear once. The sleeves shrunk in the dryer the first time I washed it. This is what they looked like:

I tried my shirt on and marked to cut it right between my elbow and wrist.I then turned my shirt inside out and used art chalk to mark the crease opposite the sleeve's seam. This is where the elastic will go. Mark where you want it to end - mine stopped 3" from the cut edge.

Fold over about 5/8" and iron. I'll be honest; I didn't iron.

Fold over another 5/8" and pin.

Now, using your chalk mark, place your elastic (I used a 3 & 3/4" long strip on each sleeve) halfway under the fold and pin in place.

Turn shirt right side out and sew about 1/16" from the edge that you folded under (not the edge of your sleeve).

Your stitching should be about 1/2" from the edge of the sleeve like so:

Now stitch a parallel line 1/16" from the stitch line you just made.

Now it looks more professional with the two stitch lines. I know there's a twin needle stitch option but you have to have that specific needle and my machine doesn't have it.

Now to sew your elastic in, start at the two stitch lines and pull your elastic as you sew up the sleeve with a straight stitch. If you want it really bunchy then pull the elastic really tight, otherwise just pull it taught and it will look like mine.

Sew to your stop point that you marked earlier.

Trim any excess elastic and all the threads and you're done!

I can see myself doing this on my little girl's cotton pants when they start to become high-waters and making capris out of them. I love it!

~Star

Pattern: How To Make A Crochet Butterfly

I've had butterflies on my mind lately so I made this little butterfly applique. Here is my pattern:


Using an E hook and worsted weight yarn (I used Red Heart Super Saver), make a magic ring (aka magic circle, disappearing circle, ajustable ring) and leave a 6" tail. All that is, is the circle you make when starting a slip knot but instead of tightening it like you would with a slip knot, you crochet into it. This way you don't have to make a circle out of chains and there's not a big hole left afterwards because when you're done you tighten it.

Once you have your circle ready, do the following:

Row 1:

Chain 1, single crochet 3 times into circle, tighten circle, slip stitch into first single crochet stitch


1st Wing:

Chain 2, double crochet into very first single crochet stitch, chain 2, slip stitch into same single crochet stitch


2nd Wing:

Chain 3, triple crochet 2 times into next single crochet stitch, chain 3, slip stitch into same single crochet stitch


3rd Wing:

Repeat instructions for second wing


4th Wing:
Double crochet into next single crochet stitch, chain 2, slip stitch into same single crochet stitch


Now for the best part! It's the best because instead of weaving the tails in (hate doing that part), we use them to make the body and the antenna. Tie off and cut leaving 6". Take your tail that you just tied off and bring it up the back and hold. Now take your tail from the beginning (the one that's in the middle of the back) and bring it down, under (between the two smaller wings) and up the front. Now tie the two tails together at the top of the butterfly (between the two bigger wings). Now take both strands of yarn and make a knot as if they were one strand right over the knot you just made when you tied them together. Now tie a knot in each strand where you want the antenna to end and snip just above the knot.

I hot glued it to a skinny nylon headband.

You could also glue it to a hairclip or attach it to a hat. Just use a bigger hook for a bigger butterfly. Enjoy! I'm happy to answer any questions or clear anything up that doesn't make sense.

~Star

Labels

Edited to add: These peel after being washed several times so only use on items that won't go through the wash much.

I love a project that is simple and inexpensive and I really think labels add that extra touch that you need on a handmade item. I made some for items I plan to sell and some for gifts and it only cost me ten bucks. Here's the tutorial... enjoy!

~Star

Carseat Canopy

I love making these! I've done a bunch for shower gifts. They don't take long and they're very easy. I think everyone should have one - I love mine and always have people ask about it when I'm out. I made this one for a shower and loved the fabric so much, I decided to make another to sell. Buzz About Baby has the tutorial that I use. This is the first item I've listed for sale in my new Etsy Shop! I make mine reversible by pinning two straps to each side and sewing them on together. Cute huh!?

~Star

Storage Bin

Yay! I've had this project on my to-do list forEVER and I finally did it!

I used to judge people with cars full of crap all over the floor and seats but now that I have kids I understand. Hopefully this will keep it all somewhat contained.

Urban Nest has the tutorial. It was a pretty forgiving project and easier than I expected. Let me know if you do one - I'm pretty sure I'll be making more in the future.

~Star

Tutorial: How To Make A Headband Holder

If your baby girl is bald like mine is, you probably have a ton of headbands (especially if you made skinny nylon headbands). This will hold and display quite a few and you can put a bunch inside of it too.

You need:

Large Clorox container (mine held 78 wipes)

Fabric (14"x17" & two 4" diameter circles)

Sewing Machine

Rotary Mat & Cutter or Scissors

Trace your container twice

It's kinda hard to see but I made a dotted cirlce 1/4" outside my traced circle for the seam allowance

Cut your fabric to be 14"x17" and cut your circles on the dotted line

Take your 14"x17" fabric and sew the 17" sides together with a 1/4" seam allowance

Now take a circle and pin it to the tube you just made so the right sides are together and the whole thing is inside-out.

Sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance. This part is tricky so just go slow.

Now turn fabric tube right side out and take the Clorox paper off the container so it won't show through your fabric. Put the container inside the tube of fabric with both openings on top.Without pinning, sew the remaining circle to the unfinished edge. Use a 1/4" seam allowance and sew right sides together. It won't let you sew all the way around so go as far as you can then take it out. You should only have a little opening left afterwards. This needs to be hand-sewn shut.
Um. I'm not hand-sewing anything because it looks just fine to me! But don't follow my bad example and leave it unfinished.

Tada! You could use whatever container you have lying around you just have to measure it and add 1/4" seam allowances to EVERY edge that will be sewn.

I'd love to see yours!

~Star

My New Sewing & Craft Table

How cool is this!? I just ordered it online and can't wait to get it. I can finally clear my machine and supplies off my kitchen table!

~Star

Tutorial: How To Make A Button-Up Cuff

Add some adorable button-up cuffs to your favorite long sleeved tee. I love Shade shirts (thanks Costco for selling them CHEAP!) and I have a ton of them so I used one for this tutorial and it worked great. As always let me know if you have any questions.

You will need:
Less than 1/8 yard fabric (my shirt was white and I choose a print fabric that shows through so I also used two 6"x2" strips of white ribbon to fix that problem)
Long Sleeved Shirt (with no cuffs)
Buttons
Sewing Machine
Rotary Mat & Cutter or Scissors

I will use my measurements for this tutorial but you can adjust to your liking. I used ¼” seam allowance unless otherwise stated.

Cut out eight 2x6 rectangles from your fabric. I only cut out six rectangles from my fabric and then used two more rectangles that were all white (my ribbon) to make eight.

Take two rectangles and sew them right sides together along 3 edges leaving one long edge un-sewn. Repeat with remaining rectangles. If you have 2 rectangles of a different color like I did, sew each of them to one rectangle of printed fabric, right sides together.
Now you have four STRIPS. Phew, now I can stop saying “rectangle”! Turn all 4 strips right side out and press. Set aside.

Press the ends of your shirt sleeves to make cutting easier. Mark shirt cuffs with “Left” and “Right” as if you are wearing the shirt (with your right arm being the right sleeve and so on). Cut off 5” from each sleeve to make your cuffs.

Turn each cuff inside out and carefully rip the side seams open with your seam ripper.

Press open un-stitched seams so they are completely flat and pull off all the loose threads. Lay down cuffs with wrong sides facing down, right side facing up and finished edges farthest away from you. Place a strip on both sides of each cuff with all the unfinished edges together. If the strip isn’t exactly the same length as the cuff, just make sure the finished edge of cuff is lined up together with the strips as these will show on the finished product. If you have two strips that have two different colors, place those two with the non-printed side facing up on the right side of right cuff and left side of left cuff. Starting at the top corners, pin & sew along all 4 unfinished, long edges. The top corners need to be pretty because they will show in the end. Lay cuffs back down just like before with wrong sides facing down, right side facing up and finished edges farthest away from you.

RIGHT CUFF:
Open up strip on the right side and fold over all the way to the opposite side of the cuff. Press with the seam facing out to the side, not up like the the fabric will want to do. Top-stitch strip 1/8” from edge directly onto your cuff all the way around the strip then sew buttonholes to each of these strips. Refer to your machine’s user manual if you need help doing the buttonholes.

Open up remaining strip and press so that the unfinished edges on the inside of seam are directly under the strip. Top-stitch on the right side of the strip 1/8” from edge. Make sure to catch the bulky overlap (the unfinished edges that you just pressed under) as you sew. Go all the way around the strip, but make sure you don’t sew it onto your cuff like you did with the first strip.

Bring your two strips together right sides out with the buttonhole strip on top and mark the other strip where you need to sew your buttons. Hand or machine-sew buttons to each blank strip and button up each of your cuffs.

Now check for your mark of “Left” or “Right”, turn your cuff inside out and put it around your sleeve (sleeve should be right side out) with all unfinished edges together. VERY IMPORTANT: When lining them up, make sure the right (as in *wrong and right*) side of your cuff’s opening slit is 180 degrees from your sleeve’s side seam and pin.

Sew the cuff to the sleeve along the unfinished edges (use as small of a seam allowance as possible - ¼” at most as to avoid shortening your sleeves any more than you need to.

LEFT CUFF:
Repeat instructions for right cuff except start out opening up strip on the left side. It should be a mirror image of your right cuff.

I hope you love it as much as me! Please link me if you post about this, thanks!

~Star