My love for big fat bracelets is thoroughly documented. So when I found these wooden bracelet forms at my local craft store, I had to have them. The possibilities just made my mind race. I am such a crafty nerd.

Really, you could do anything with these, including just paint them and lacquer them, but I thought this would be a great opportunity to use up a bunch of fabric scraps.

I made two different kinds of bracelets, but for both of them I used an art sealer. You could use mod podge or other decoupage medium, but that tends to dry fairly soft, and is water soluble. This sealer dries much harder, and I won’t have to panic if I wash my hands a little exuberantly.

For the wider bracelets, I cut a scrap piece of fabric wide enough to cover the outside and inside of the bracelet, and long enough to wrap around the outside. I applied a generous coat of the sealer to the bracelet, and stuck the fabric on top, and then applied even more sealer on top.

To cover the inside, snip the sides of the fabric right up to where it meets the bracelet. Cover the bracelet with sealer, fold the fabric pieces in, and cover with more sealer, if you snip far enough and overlap the pieces, you can reduce any puckers or folds on the top of the bracelet. When you finish securing the fabric, cover the whole bracelet with another coat of sealer.

That method would not work for the thinner bracelets. There would just be WAY too much puckering and not enough of a flat part to straighten everything out. So for that, I ripped a piece of fabric about 3/4″ wide and wrapped it around, covering everything with the sealer as I went.

Ripping works really well for this because it’s such a simple way of getting a consistently sized strip. Also, the little bit of fringe only adds to the look. If you make your strip any wider than 3/4″, you’ll probably run into those same puckering problems, so it’s better to err on the thin side.

This is such a simple, cheap project it works great for gifts or for a craft time with older kids. I’ve already had the teenagers from church over and we had a great time making them, and everyone was successful. It might just be the first craft class I’ve ever taught where everyone finished the project and was happy with their results.

You know, it’s really hard to take a picture of your camera when you only have one camera.

For years I’ve been seeing all those cute decorative camera straps floating around the internet, and I had it in the back of my head that I needed to make one some time. I’ve seen some that took apart an existing strap and replaced it with fabric, but I couldn’t bring myself to go that far. I give my camera such a beating, I wanted the security of a big nylon strap and some industrial sewing.

So I decided to make a slipcover.

I tend to hoard scraps of home dec weight fabric, so I pulled out some of my favorites in complementary colors, and sewed enough scraps together to make two pieces:

A back piece measuring 5″ wide x 27″ long
and a front piece measuring 4 1/2″ wide x 27″ long.

Sew each piece into a long tube by matching the long sides, right side together, and sewing with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Turn right side out, and iron the tubes flat with the seam running down the middle of one side.
Fold the raw edges inside the tube, iron down, and sew straight across the end.

Lay your tubes on top of each other, centering the seams against each other, and pin in place. Sew as close as you can steer to the edge of the top piece, down both sides. You may want to reinforce this part, because this is wear the most stress will occur.

Then you just unbuckle your strap from the camera, thread it through the space between the two tubes, and rebuckle the strap.

I think that camera straps are relatively universal in size, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a few measurements with what you’ll be using before relying on my measurements.

I made this pretty much just because it was pretty, but I discovered an added benefit. The home dec cotton I used is really comfortable, and the slip cover cushions my neck from those hard nylon edges. Now I may actually leave it hanging from my neck instead of slung over my shoulder like a purse, banging into everything I pass. I think my camera will be grateful.

My dearest cousin Karen did me such a kindness a while back, that just sending an email was not enough. So I wanted to make a card as stylish and elegant as she is.

I had an idea a while back for a papercut card backed with vellum, and this seemed like the perfect time to make it a reality.

I started by formatting the image I wanted to cut out in a Word document. I drew a text box the size I wanted the window to be, and then I put another text box on top with my words inside. Make sure the second text box has no outline and no fill selected so you can see the one behind it. Then position the second text box so the letters line up on the bottom, joining them to the paper that will be left behind when you cut it all out.

Cut your cardstock to size – mine measured 11″ wide by 4 1/4″ tall, and then I scored it so that when the card was folded it fit inside the 5 1/2″ envelopes I have.

Position your printout where you want to make your cuts, and tape everything down sturdily.

Cut the window out with a sharp exacto knife, being careful you don’t cut through the letters. Those have to stay behind.

Glue a piece of vellum behind the cutout. I had this piece of vellum with silver embossed starts on it I really liked, but I think it would be fun to make a stained glass effect with different colors of vellum.

I typically don’t like making handmade cards. They’re often just as much work as a full scrapbook page and it’s something that is so transitory. This one was simple enough that I won’t feel bad when the inevitable happens and Karen throws it away, but it’s special enough that I think it will tell Karen I think she’s special too.

At one of those everything on super clearance sales, I bought this blousey navy dress that was missing the belt that went with it. This dress was literally 4$ and will be one of those things that can be worn all through a pregnancy and beyond (should that day ever come back around) so I snapped it up and ran.

I needed something nice to wear to that conference, and I needed to give this dress a belt, so I went a little overboard with the options.

The first thing I sewed was just a satin ribbon belt. I had a big long length of satin, so I cut it long enough to fit around my waist with plenty left over for a tie, sewed it into a tube, turned it inside out and sewed the ends closed. Really simple, and it made this simple jersey dress kind of fancy.

But I had so much more fabric, I had to keep going.

This belt is made from some of the home decor weight Amy Butler fabric. I cut it to fit my waist, and then twice as wide as I wanted the finished belt, and ironed on some stiff interfacing. Then I sewed the right sides together to form a tube, turned it right side out, folded the raw edges in on each edge and sewed all the way around as close to the edge as I could get. This is the method I followed for every belt.

Then I added some big silver snaps as closures.

I’ve had this fabric in my stash for ages and ages and the colors just worked perfectly. It’s more home dec weight fabric, and by now I can’t even remember what I had in mind when I bought it.

I whipped up some covered buttons and positioned the button holes so it would fit me snugly, but not tightly.

With the success and ease of those belts, I decided to be a little more adventurous and try to replicate another belt I owned.

This picture cracks me up. I was trying to smooth out my skirt before the timer went off and I ended up looking all super posey. Maybe that’s the secret to my whole modeling dilemma. I need to take pictures by accident.

Anyway, I’ve had this awesome faux snakeskin fabric for years and years and I’ve been rationing it for only the perfect project. I bought this other belt where one end kind of folds under the other end, so I bought a unique closure and tried to replicate it.

I started by making the belt part just like every other kind. Cut, interface, make a tube, sew around the edges. Then I cut two more pieces of fabric and sewed them into tubes thin enough to fit through the closures. My fabric pieces measured about 6 1/2″ x 2 1/2″.

Thread one end through the closure and sew securely. Sew the other end securely to the belt. Repeat for the other side.

I got the placement of the closure right just by trying it on and then pinning it in place. Then when you put it on, you overlap the ends of the belt on top of each other, and then bring the closure tabs together. The construction couldn’t be simpler, even though the description isn’t.

I don’t know why I haven’t seen more homemade belt tutorials. They’re so easy they’re addictive. I’m going to wear this dress down to the threads before I put a dent in my new belt rotation.

In the early 80’s my mom used to wear a headscarf all the time. I guess it was just a trend, maybe one she hung on to a little longer than advisable, but it was one of those things that imprinted on me as a classy grown up thing to do.

Now, I’m just grateful that I can occasionally go one more day between showers without looking like a total greaseball. That extra half hour is precious some days.

You’ll need two pieces of fabric. Cut one piece for the ties to measure 3″ x 34″. For the scarf part, cut a piece of fabric to 15″ x 15″ and then cut it diagonally across the middle. Hem both short edges of the scarf fabric.

Pin the center of the scarf fabric to the center of the tie fabric, right sides together, and sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Iron the seam towards the tie fabric, then continue to iron 1/4″ of the tie fabric towards the wrong side.

Iron a 1/4″ of the other side of the tie fabric towards the wrong side.

Fold the tie fabric in half by matching the 1/4″ edges you ironed. Sew as close to the edge as you can steer. Sew across the bottom of the ties as well to completely close them.

This is a project you can crank out so fast, and one that uses so little yardage, it’s tempting to make one in every color. I may never need to wash my hair again.