Beginners Sewing Skirt

Today, I will show you how to sew a skirt. It is very easy, with no pattern needed.

Before you begin, you will need a sewing machine, sewing pins, sewing scissors (make sure you only use your sewing scissors on fabric/thread or else it will ruin the scissors), a safety pin, dual duty all purpose thread, 3/4 of an inch thick elastic, and fabric. My sister and I both made matching skirts, so we bought 4 yards of fabric, and had a little left over. If you are making only one skirt for yourself, just wrap the fabric around your waist in the store, and get around a yard more. The workers at the cutting counter can help you with figuring out the right amount. Also, make sure to get thread that matches your fabric, or if it has multiple colors, pick one that blends in (like white) or compliments all the other colors. You can buy all of these things at your local fabric store, such as Joann's or Hobby Lobby.

First, you'll need to thread your sewing machine by sticking your thread on the knob on top, and pulling the thread in the directions it reads on the machine. You will also need a bobbin, which is the thread you put under/in front of the foot. For instructions on how to set it up, or make a bobbin using the thread you bought and are using for the thread on top, look in your instruction manual for your sewing machine. Keep in mind, making a bobbin can be tricky sometimes, so if you can buy one in addition to your regular thread, I reccomend it.

To begin, take the fabric around your waist, and add six inches, then cut. The fabric comes folded in half, so you can keep it folded while you cut. Just make sure that the fold goes horizontal around your waist.

 

 Once you've cut the fabric, unfold it, and lay it out with the pretty side (right side) facing up. Then you will take one side and fold it in half, so now the original fold is going horizontal across the middle of the fabric, the new fold is vertical on the side, and the pretty sides (right sides) are touching eachother on the inside. Pin the side parallel to the new fold, and sew just that one side together. While sewing, keep the edge of the fabric in line with the line that says "5/8" so it is straight and not on top of the edge. Remember to backstitch at the start and end of each seam. You can do that by holding down the button with the U shaped arrow, then release.

Now, cut to the length you'd like, but leave a little extra fabric, because you can always cut more off after. You should have two openings on the top and bottom. It doesn't matter which is which right now.  Fold over about an inch all the way around the opening on both sides and pin all around. If it is too long now, unpin one side and fold it up a little more, but be sure to only pin 1 inch from the fold. Where the pins are is where the seam should be, so keep the pins straight and be sure to sew in line with them. When pinning and sewing over the side seam, be sure to open the seam so that they are flat on both sides, so the elastic wont get caught in it. If you want, you can iron it open, so that the elastic will go through more swiftly. Leave like 1 and a half inches open around the top, so you can put the elastic in it after. Sew it completely shut on the bottom, because that becomes the hem, or if you are more experienced, you can use a hemming foot, but I don't really know how to do that.

Note: If you use a different size elastic, make the opening just a little bit bigger than the elastic thickness, because you don't want it too small that the elastic won't fit in, but you don't want it so big that it twists. Also, remember you'll need a little bit of space to sew.

Next, cut your elastic to the size of your waist, but you might want it a little tighter so it will stay up easier. Or you could measure a different skirt with an elastic waistband that fits you well. Cut it to the correct length, put a safety pin through one end, then poke it through the hole on the top of the skirt and pull it through the entire circumference by pushing the safety pin and pulling the fabric back so that more of the elastic goes in. Once it gets out the other end, sew both of the ends of elastic together, but first make sure none of it is twisted. Then, sew the hole closed, just like how you sewed around the whole thing before, except only do it for a few inches to close the gap.

Flip it inside out, and you're finished! I really hope you liked this project and be sure to let me know if you made one, too! Also, be sure to like my new Facebook page The I in Creativity

Home State Canvas

Today, we will be making a canvas of your home state! You could also do other things, but I will be demonstrating Florida. I will show examples at the end of other things we've done.

Before you begin, you will need a wood canvas. You will also need mod podge, sparkly scrap booking paper, a full size print out of your state, and paint. We used spray paint, but painting it by hand with acrylic paint will work just as good. Just remember to paint in the same direction of the grains of wood.

Ok, so first, paint your canvas (including the sides) the color you want. I did a light blue color of spray paint. If you use spray paint as well, do it outside with newspaper under it and have an adult help you. Be sure to let it dry completely, and paint/spray multiple coats, if needed.

While it is drying, go inside and find a picture of your state. You can do this by searching on google images, 'state of Florida outline' except substitute Florida with your state. Print it out full size on a regular piece of printer paper. Then cut it out, trace it on THE BACK of the sparkly scrapbook paper, and cut that out. By this step, you should have a sparkly state cutout.

Now, make sure the painted canvas is dry and bring it inside. Put your state on the board to find the spot you like best (do not glue, just place it there), then take it off and apply mod podge all over the wood with all of the glue going in the same direction, and place your state down. Let it dry fully (you can tell this because you will no longer see the glue. It goes on white, but dries clear) then apply another coat of mod podge over the entire wood canvas (including the state). It will seal in the sparkles and prevent the edges from popping up. Do multiple coats of that and be sure to let it all dry.

Now your Home State Canvas is finished! As I mentioned at the beginning, I would also show you ones without a state. Here is one I did of a pineapple. Just find an image and cut it out, then mod podge that original paper onto your painted wood canvas. Happy crafting!

Silhouette

This silhouette is so easy to do, and takes very little time! Let's get started. 

First, you will need a side view photo of your model. Mine was a gift, so I used a picture of my sister's dog. You could do babies, yourself, trees, etc. It's a lot easier than using the flashlight and tracing the shadow, so it's much more handy to do different things. Here's the photo I used.

Next, print out the picture full size on a piece of paper. It can be in black and white, or color ink. Here's where you need to be skilled. The hardest part of this project, is cutting out the picture. You need to cut out whatever your silhouette will be of, so in this case, I will only cut out the dog. I had my sister do it, because she would most likely do a better cutting job, but what we did was cut around the dog, then go back and do all of the tiny details. 

 

After that, take the picture and trace it with pencil onto card stock or a canvas, etc.

Now the final step is to fill in the tracing with black paint. I used the FolkArt brand Metallic Sequin Black acryllic paint.  You will need a small brush for the details and a bigger brush for filling in the middle. I did it by painting the middle first, then taking my little brush around the outline of the picture, doing all of the edges and details. I put on two coats of paint.

That is all to it! I wrote on the bottom corner with a sharpie the dogs name, Jake, the date/ or date of special event like birthdays, and my name.

I hope you enjoy this project! And remember, if you are going to frame it, don't do any details close to the edges of the paper, because we had to trim it to fit. 

^my model sits under the table with me, too!