It has been my intention for a long, long time to do occasional fashion-y posts with some practical "hands-on" ideas, tutorials or inspirations to help us stretch and add variety to our wardrobes, while keeping up with pretty trends. Now that my sewing room has finally been "remodeled" I'm looking forward to doing just that over the next few months. I've got some bags of clothes that I plan to make over and "re-fashion" and hopefully you'll see some great projects over Secondhand Fashion Week.
Yesterday, being struck with some inspiration and an hour to kill, I made up a "conversation choker" for St. Patrick's Day and took photos so that I could show you how to make your own. It's a fun and very simple project (requires very little sewing - mostly just a glue gun) and the main rosette technique can be used many different ways (on belts, hair pieces, or as a brooch).
Are you ready to get started? I'll try my best to keep the instructions as simple as possible.
1 - I started by using my machine to embroider IRISH on a small piece of linen (perfect for the holiday! ;). You can do this with paint, markers or any other sort of writing tool that is specially designed for fabric. Put whatever you want on the fabric, as long as it will fit on the button you will be covering. You could also leave this piece blank, or use a decorative or printed fabric.
2 - Using your button as a guide (mine was 1" wide) cut the fabric into a circle, making it about twice the size of the button.
3 - Center the button face downward on the back or wrong side of your fabric and apply hot glue to the back of the button. Fold in the edges of the fabric. When you are finished, your button should look like the image above/right.
4 - Cut a 14" by 2 1/2" wide strip of contrasting fabric (I used a nice old prom dress :). Fold the strip in half lengthwise (so it's only half as wide) with the wrong sides of the fabric together (you'll need to press it with the iron so it will stay this way). Sew a basting/gathering stitch 1/8" from the long "raw" (aka unfinished) edge of the fabric.
5 - Pull on the top thread at each end of the basting to gather your fabric strip. As I had guessed on what would be the right length for the strip, I just gathered it up until it had naturally formed a nice circular rosette. Then I folded under the raw edges, glued them in place and trimmed off any extra fabric. (See above right photo for the wrong side of the rosette.)
Ta da! There you have it! A fabulous choker that is sure to strike up a conversation. (I mean... how can you not talk about it, especially if it says IRISH in bold, green letters? ;) Remember, you can use the rosette technique on lots of other projects. And if the choker makes you feel too much like a prize-winning animal at a county fair, you can always double it up and wear it as a wrist-band. ;)
Please leave a comment and give me some feedback on this tutorial. I really would like to know if I was too wordy or not clear enough in my instructions. I definitely want to do more of these DIY (Do It Yourself for those who are wondering) fashion-y posts, but I want to get your opinions. If you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know!
Does anyone have their outfit picked out for St. Patrick's Day? I'll try and get some shots of mine if tomorrow, if I have time. I'm also planning on taking some photos of the Edwardian dress I made for my play and will also have those up for you over the next week or two (I left it in the back of my dad's car and keep forgetting to take it out - lol :P ).
Don't forget that Secondhand Fashion Week is less than two weeks away! Be sure to spread the word... I'm hoping we'll have a great turnout. :)
May God bless your day...
4 - Cut a 14" by 2 1/2" wide strip of contrasting fabric (I used a nice old prom dress :). Fold the strip in half lengthwise (so it's only half as wide) with the wrong sides of the fabric together (you'll need to press it with the iron so it will stay this way). Sew a basting/gathering stitch 1/8" from the long "raw" (aka unfinished) edge of the fabric.
5 - Pull on the top thread at each end of the basting to gather your fabric strip. As I had guessed on what would be the right length for the strip, I just gathered it up until it had naturally formed a nice circular rosette. Then I folded under the raw edges, glued them in place and trimmed off any extra fabric. (See above right photo for the wrong side of the rosette.)
6 - Finish it off by gluing the fabric-covered button in the center of the rosette. Make sure you do this on the right/neat side of the rosette - this is what people will see - and any gathering stitches are concealed.
7 - Cut a second 2 1/2" wide by however-long-you-want strip of fabric (this will be the "choker" piece and go around your neck). Fold it in half lengthwise (press it with the iron) with the right sides together (so you can only see the back/wrong side of the fabric). Sew a seam (1/4" from the raw edge) across one end and down the length - leaving one end open. In the above/right picture, you can see that I have clipped the corners on a diagonal. This makes them nice and neat for the next step.
8 - Turn the strip right-side out so that you have a nice finished tube of fabric with only one little raw edge left open. (Turning it can be a bit tricky when the tube is narrow - don't be frustrated if it takes a little while.) At this point, I did a decorative machine stitch (that looks like shamrocks) all down the center of the strip, but you can definitely leave it plain as well. Press the strip with the iron so it's neat and flat.
9 - Fold the last unfinished end of the strip under and glue it down securely on the back of your rosette (above/left). Then take two small squares of velcro and glue them to each end of the strip (above/right), as a way to "clasp" the choker.
Ta da! There you have it! A fabulous choker that is sure to strike up a conversation. (I mean... how can you not talk about it, especially if it says IRISH in bold, green letters? ;) Remember, you can use the rosette technique on lots of other projects. And if the choker makes you feel too much like a prize-winning animal at a county fair, you can always double it up and wear it as a wrist-band. ;)
Please leave a comment and give me some feedback on this tutorial. I really would like to know if I was too wordy or not clear enough in my instructions. I definitely want to do more of these DIY (Do It Yourself for those who are wondering) fashion-y posts, but I want to get your opinions. If you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know!__________________________________________
Does anyone have their outfit picked out for St. Patrick's Day? I'll try and get some shots of mine if tomorrow, if I have time. I'm also planning on taking some photos of the Edwardian dress I made for my play and will also have those up for you over the next week or two (I left it in the back of my dad's car and keep forgetting to take it out - lol :P ).
Don't forget that Secondhand Fashion Week is less than two weeks away! Be sure to spread the word... I'm hoping we'll have a great turnout. :)
May God bless your day...
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