d.i.y. lace printed top.

I hope you guys have had the most wonderful week!  I spent friday at Folkfest and it was the absolute best, nothing beats being able to sit outside all day and listen to awesome music while eating super delicious vegetarian food and wearing flower crowns!

Last week I shared this d.i.y for lace printed fabric, and this week I decided to make it into a sweet little top.  If you haven't already noticed I have issues with shirts, mostly stemming from the fact that I don't like pants.  All of my shirts are either stamped/printed/sewn/painted in order to make up for the fact that I'm not wearing a dress. 

I'm really happy with how this little top turned out, its super comfy and really easy, I whipped it up in an afternoon.  It's also pretty simple and a good beginner project.  You could also turn it into a dress by extending the width and length a bit!

1_I took the measurements for this project from a dress I made a few years ago when those super simple sheath dresses were popular.
2_using a rotary cutter and ruler cut out: 4 strips 2 1/2" x 10", 4 strips 2 1/2" x 13", 2 rectangles 23"x 25".  *Note: you can modify these measurements depending on your dress size, I usually wear a small or medium.
3_with right sides together (if it's unpatterned cotton then it doesn't matter) sew the long sides of each pair of the shorter fabric strips together, these are your straps. this project is sewn with a 1/4" seam allowance, on a regular stitch length unless otherwise noted.  remember to backstitch at the beginning and end of each seam!
4_turn inside out and press. you now have two double-sided straps.
5_taking the two pairs of longer strips sew only the short ends of both pairs.  do not turn inside out.
6_take one of  the straps and place between the two layers of one of the pairs of longer strips.  line up against the short seam, so that it is as far to the outside as possible and the short edge of strap is flush with the open edge of the long strap.  repeat with other strap on the opposite edge of long strip. pin and sew along the edge that the end of the straps is on, in the image it is the top edge. 
7_turn inside out and press.
8_repeat with the other pair of long strips, attaching to the opposite end of the straps, turning inside out and pressing at the end so that you now have a kind of square.
9_with wrong sides together line up the two large rectangles, this is the part of my shirt that has the actual lace printing on it. fold in half lengthwise, making sure all edges are even.
10_using a tanktop or dress as a guideline cut out the arm holes.
11_unfold.
12_take one of the bodice pieces (rectangles) and with your sewing machine set on the longest stitch (usually 5 or 6) sew along the top of each piece separately. Gently pull on one of the threads on either end to gather each piece so that the width of the top matches the length of the neckline (the longer strips in the square of straps you just sewed.) for the back I distributed the gathers evenly to make it less poufy, for the front I placed most of the gathers in the centre.
13_with right sides together, pin one of the bodice pieces to the front neckline (they're both the same so you can just pick one!). sew on a normal length stitch.
14_unfold and press seam. repeat with back bodice piece and back neckline.
15_with right sides together line up edges of bodice pieces and sew up each side.  This is a good time to try on your shirt and figure out if the length is correct, I ended up cutting mine a bit shorter to make it less of a dress. press seams open.
16_hem the bottom of your shirt. with it turned inside out turn up the edge 1/4" or so, pressing (ironing) as you go. once you've made it all the way around fold up edge again 1/4" so that it is doubled and the raw edge is tucked in, press and pin as you go. sew as close to the upper folded edge as you can.
17_finish the arm holes by folding, pressing and pinning the same way you did the hem.  This part is a little more difficult because of the curve, so if it's not as even that's alright!
and you're finished! if you can see any of the basting (the super loose stitches from step 12) you can pick them out!

voila! You have a lovely new summer shirt!  As you can see the lace pattern is super subtle, from a distance you can't really tell what it is, but up close you can see it, especially when it's a bit more shady!  It's a nice little extra detail that makes me love this top!  If you decide to try out this project let me know if you have any questions, or if any steps are unclear!  I would love to see your finished projects too!

Also, doing photo shoots near sprinkles is dangerous.  As you can see.  Have a lovely July week! xo, T.

d.i.y. embroidered locket.

June continues to be sunny and wonderful, which is completely awesome and makes life so much happier!  This little craft project is one that I whipped up one rainy evening before the sun decided to come back.  It was super quick and easy, I've had this locket for ages but couldn't figure out what to put in it.  I decided to add some embroidered sweetness, I find hanging little pictures of people around your neck a little odd anyways.

All you need is an old locket, some muslin [or any white cotton fabric for that matter], a needle and embroidery thread.  A wooden hoop to pull the fabric tight in helps a lot but isn't necessary.  First I popped out the two thin, oval metal rings inside the locket [used to hold pictures in place], and traced them onto the fabric in pencil.  Then I lightly sketched out my design, put the fabric in the hoop and stitched away using a back stitch.  You could experiment with all kinds of stitches and thread thicknesses [sometimes I used all six strands for a thicker line, like on the heart, sometimes I just used three] to come up with all kinds of lovely designs!  I think this would make a super sweet, simple gift.

Also, since I've had more of a chance to work on blog entries I've also had more posts, which has made me decide that it is most likely getting pretty annoying having the bloglovin' links continually pop up on facebook. So, although that is the main way people connect to the blog I think I shall stop that for a while. Instead, you can subscribe to posts with bloglovin' [link on right], rss feed [link at bottom of page] or you can simply bookmark it and check back throughout the week! What do you think?

I hope you have the best week! xo.