Pokey Rings... That are pretty ugly.

I made some little rings with the girl.   We got a free issue of Family Fun and saw this article and decided to try it. 

 I painstakingly cut out little flower forms from felt.  (Should I insert another f word here?) My color selection of felt was somewhat limited.   I got out my collection of buttons from every item of clothing that has come into the house in 9 years.  I ended up making the rings while she strung EVERY single button onto pipe cleaners.  She said they were book marks.  I like hers better.

Bookmark number 4.

The pipe cleaner bands on the rings are itchy and can be kind of dangerous - pokey metal and all.

Pottery Barn, How I love this Win!

So, you know how I was feeling all crappy about my storage in my sewing room?  Let me refresh your memory...  It is ugly, and it still is ugly.  It is $50 bucks worth of ugly - from Target.

But, at least I didn't pay $379 for it.

At Pottery Barn.  I suppose if I took some time to actually organize the contents and put stuff into good looking boxes, mine might look like $379, instead of looking like $50 or 50 cents. 

The 10 Minute T-Shirt Makeover - uh, it's that good!

I just need to rant a minute before I start.  I think that some bitches who crafty blog are setting up craftees like myself up for failure.  I think that they sometimes put in obtuse directions or wrong measurements on purpose.  I just had to get that out there.  Bitches.

Anyways, I promise to try to make my directions clear.

Here is the image from the t-shirt book.  I thought it would look okay - but I didn't want a boatneck, I wanted a v-neck.  (Boatnecks make me look BROAD - but if you are a tiny-topper, you may want to try a boatneck.)

Here is the T-Shirt before.  I got mine at Target for $2. 

Here are the directions from the book.

Here is how I did it.
  I laid out my T-shirt and then folded it in half on the floor.

Sorry, some of my pictures are blurry - but I am about as good at photos as I am at crafting.  Thank god for the freedom of digital to take 400 pics and keep the one that's decent.  (I was too lazy to take more than one of this.  Sorry.)

Cut off sleeves.  (Yes, both at once!  That way, they match!)  If you want to make the sleeve into a super cool hat - yes, this is the source!

Okay, this step may be odd.  I folded the T-shirt in half in a different way so that the front center of the T-shirt became the fold you see on the left and the back center of the t-shirt is the fold on the right.  I did this so that when I cut out the v-neck the back wasn't a v-neck too.  (Too Drafty!)  Also, some little people might take the cutting and turn into a dickey.  I NEVER thought that ANYONE in my immediate family would wear a dickey.  Needless to say, I haven't the heart to tell her that wearing a dickey isn't cool.  She's four.  Someday she'll figure it out.  (Should I say dickey again?  I can't believe an article of clothing is called a dickey, although it is kind of a fitting name for it.)

I guess that if anyone could soften my heart to wearing this article of clothing, it's her.  We went to Target and the library with her wearing it - which teenage me would have been horrified, but I thought was hilarious.

Then, as you can see, I did a super careful job cutting off the band at the bottom.  I cut the band into two equal pieces.  When I was deciding where to sew the pieces onto sides of the shirt I made sure to test it to find the smallest part around.  (What good would it do to hog tie my fat gut!)

I sewed the pieces on and VIOLA!  A project that took about 7 minutes and turned out pretty decent.

And unlike all those snooty bloggers, if you want to make this and then sell it - be my guest.  Even though I like it, I don't think I'd pay more than, hmmm, about $2 for it. (I think the shitty job I did cutting around the neckline is a cautionary tale.  Let it take 8 minutes, as opposed to 6.)

I Know Why People Gamble....

Hey!  I hope you are sitting...  I don't know why I tried another design from that horrid book - but I did.  (Okay, I probably tried again because I had a colored T-shirt that was pretty much useless, since I don't go to the gym.)
And it worked!  I really like my t-shirt creation.  I took my normal boxy t-shirt.  I folded it in half, so that it would be symmetrical.  I cut a v-neck and some feminine sleeves.  I cut just above the seam on the bottom.  I used the bottom strip, cut in half, sewed it onto the sides of my t-shirt and voila!  Something I would wear out of the house - AND something I won't beat myself up over if I spill bleach on it while cleaning!  The ever elusive 15 minute project that turns out right!  YAY!  I may even be forced to get ANOTHER t-shirt and do a tutorial!

The hat made from the sleeve is all icing, baby!  All icing!