DIY Tablet Case

Wow, so it has seriously been over a month?  I could have sworn I'd posted on here at least twice this month, but it must have been one of those "oh, I'm going to..." and then get distracted by something shiny moments.

Oh well!

This is one of my more involved projects, so hang in there!!

 First thing you'll need is some fabric of your choice.  I used some old PJs that were stained and torn and just no longer suited for PJ use.  The pockets came off of a really old pair of shorts and I thought one would look cute on the front.

 You're also going to need scissors and some felt to line the inside.  You want it nice and padded, but this isn't going to show, so if you buy multi-packs, like I do, then this is a great way to get rid of Those Ugly Colors That Never Get Used.

Of course, you'll need thread and needles and, if you choose, some cute patches, bows, buttons, beads, or other fun accessories to stitch onto it to customize it!

 Last but not least, you'll need some cardboard.  I cut a piece the size of the tablet to use when working with the case so that the tablet didn't get scratched when everything was all pinned up.

First, position the decorations onto the pocket and stitch them all in place.  This is way easier to do with the pocket off of the case than on it.

Now, I got really lucky in that these wide-leg capri pajama bottoms were the exact width of the tablet when stretched out, so I just lopped them off about two inches below the length of my tablet cardboard cutout.  I wanted to leave them a bit long to allow for the seam at the bottom and to be sure the top of the tablet would be covered when inserted.  I pinned the pocket where I wanted it to be, then flipped the leg inside-out once I had cut it off.

Once that was done, I pinned the bottom seam, then pinned the ugly felt to it to pad and protect the tablet once it was inside the case.  As you can see, I stitched the pinned pocket in place through both the leg of the pajamas and the felt to secure it all.  Once that was done, I popped a few stitches around the felt edges to hold it in place.  Repeat the pocket-and-felt-securing-process on the other side!  You will want to pop the cardboard tablet cutout in here a few times during the process to make sure you are leaving plenty of room for it to fit easily in the case.

All those scratchy beads and buttons are in there, so aren't you glad you have that silly cardboard cutout now?

Now that the stuffing is done, it is time to stitch up the bottom!  If you didn't have serendipity on your side with the width of the pajama leg, then you would also do the other two long sides at this point, as well.

I looped the fabric seam in over a large needle and then went around it once more for good measure to make sure the stitches were extra sturdy and the pouch could withstand a lot of abuse.  Just make a few stitches and move the needle up and wrap the seam as you go - it prevents tedious pinning and is much easier than I'm making it sound!  This will also help prevent dust and other things from having as many entry points into your case.

Flip that baby rightside-out and you're good!!

Here's the back...I chose to only decorate up one side of the pocket.

...and here is what it looks like with the tablet inside!

Pretty!

<3WW

How to Re-Size a Maxi Skirt

This is much more quick and painless than you think it is going to be.  I thrifted a skirt that was too big and, since we've already been through how to up-size one, I thought it would be good to go the other direction with it!

First you'll need a skirt that is too big and a new piece of elastic.  'New' is flexible.  I hi-jacked this piece from an old pair of skivvies!  SCANDALOUS!

Flip the skirt to the inside of the waist and find the side seam.

Carefully, and being sure to stay between the top and bottom  seams, cut a small hole next to the side seam, then pull out and snip the elastic as well, but don't pull the elastic out of the skirt because we're going to use that to cheat the Craft and Sewing gods.

Take your new piece of elastic and safety in it to one side of your old one, then carefully tuck the pin and the attached pieces of elastic back into the hole.

Then, take the other, non-pinned side of old elastic and, while holding the free tail of the new piece, yank the old elastic through the tube.  This should automatically thread your new piece in as you pull the old one out!  TAKE THAT, SEWING AND CRAFT GODS!

Once you have the elastic threaded through the tube, un-pin and discard the old elastic, then stitch the ends of the new elastic together.  Be sure to go over it several times so that it has a lot of hold.  No one wants a wardrobe malfunction.  We in the real world aren't looking for publicity.

Once that's done, stitch your little hole back closed and that's it!

See?  No difference at all from the outside, only one tiny stitched-up place INSIDE and now we have a new skirt that fits like a dream!  YAAAAY!  :)

<3

WW

Listening to: "Raven" - Mejibray

Bunny Plushie DIY

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!

<3

-WW

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This post is a tutorial for...SURPRISE!  Another felt plushie.  A bunny plushie!

You're in shock, aren't you?

Yes, I'm on a plushie kick.

First, figure out what basic shape you want your bunny to be, then draw it onto the felt and cut it out of your desired color and don't forget to use two layers so you have a front and a back.  I wanted my bunny to have an abnormally large head.

Using one of your body-pieces, lay it on your sheet foam and cut around it so you have a roughly bunny-like sheet foam shape, then sandwich them all together.

Play around with face parts and figure out how you want your bunny to look.  This look really creeped me out, so I went with this one instead:

Once you get the look you want, either stitch or glue on all the pieces.  I glued most of them, but stitched the tiny white pieces and the sequins for his dreamy little eye glimmers on with thread because hot glue and felt tend to be a hard combination to control at times, and I absolutely loathe a project with hot glue bubbles and strings sticking out all over the place, so if its something tiny where I'm afraid I won't be spot-on in my application, I use another method.

Sandwich it all together, stitch it up, and now you have yourself a bunny plushie.

A cute little happy one without the creepy "I'll-come-alive-and-kill-you-in-your-sleep" teeth.

Unless its a gift for someone you secretly hate and you want them to be peeking out at the evil thing from under their blankie at night and trembling in terror - then use the creepy face for him.  This was for my niece and I love her and don't want to creep her out, so I made him all cute and friendly.  :)

<3
The Wookie Wifey

Hearthstone Plushie DIY

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!

<3

-WW

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This is one of my favorite projects still, even as simple as it is.  :)  It is just one of those things that gives me a happy every time I see it!

Isn't it obvious I just HAD to do this?  I mean, come on.  Its cute.  And home is where the hearthstone is, after all.  Which is usually either Undercity or Orgrimmar.

This was easy, but if you're confused on a few of the plushie steps, I've made a few already so you can check out this one if you need more clarification since its tutorial is pretty in-depth.  :)  Above, the hearthstone I made is pictured with Lurky, whom the Wookie got me from the Blizz store because he loves me and he's awesome.  (Not sponsored, duh, I'm just a WoW nerd.)

Since I didn't have any grey felt, I used white.  As usual of my plushies so far, I only have that sheet foam you see up there, so the stitching is on the outside because that stuff is nearly impossible for the inside-out-stitch-then-flip-and-stuff method.  Admittedly, though, the stitched-together-DIY look is rather starting to grow on me.

Back to business, cut out your two hearthstone shapes - I drew it on the felt in my awesome off-brand yellow sharpie (its hard to tell because is so cheap the print is fuzzy, but I think its technically a "Shoupie" or some shit and I have no idea why I find that so entertaining.), then cut them out.  Same with the swirl.  Three cheers for super easy patterns!

Once you have the hearthstone shapes, lay one on top of the foam sheet, then trim the foam around it to get your stuffing.  If it is the same size as your felt or even a teeny bit bigger, that's okay, you can just squish it in as you sew and it will be fluffier, just make sure it's not WAY too big or else it will try to fold and curl up and then you'll have a lumpy hearthstone.

Stack 'em and stitch 'em.  I used white embroidery floss, then just glued the swirl onto the front with hot glue because I wanted the swirl to be flat instead of all stitch-y,  but its whatever you prefer.

DONE!  Set it with your favorite innkeeper and there ya go!  I'm going to Azeroth now, I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

<3
The (totally nerdy) Wookie Wifey

Felt Kitty Plushie DIY

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!

<3

-WW

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This is the longest tutorial I have ever done by far, but it was worth the adventure and the effort because the result is undeniably adorable.

I'd been seeing hand-made felt plushies all over the web and really wanted to try one, but my sewing skills are meager at best.  I decided to take a stab at it anyway, and I'm glad I did because she's pretty cute.  I didn't follow a pattern or anything, and its all by hand since I neither own, nor can operate a sewing machine, but here's how I made her.

First, I cut out her shapes.  I figured that big piece would be a good basic body shape, so I drew it out on the felt with a sharpie then cut it out of two layers so I had two of those.  Then, I cut out the eyes, ears, nose, tail pieces (not pictured since it didn't occur to my dumb ass until several minutes later that she'd need one) and the 4 little triangular arm pieces.  I drew out the arms, but the rest I just free-handed with the scissors...Free cut?...Free scissored?...Free snipped?

Anyway.

I picked the piece I wanted to be the front and stitched on her eyes and nose and embroidered any details I wanted.

Then, its time to sew up all her little extremities.  I cut out two teeny little pieces of foam, squished them between the arm pieces, and stitched all the way around.  I originally wanted to sew her inside out then flip her right-side out and stuff her, but that wouldn't work as the only stuffing I had was this sheet foam stuff.  I told you, I don't sew.

Once i had the arms done, I cut two little slits in her body where I wanted them to go, then gently pulled the skinny ends of the arms through the holes.

Once they were through, I pinched them together and stitched them on from the inside.  You can also see here, that I flipped the piece of felt so that the sharpie outlines go on the inside...Good thing to keep track of.

Now, for the tail.  I wanted the tail to be bendable, so I folded up a pipe cleaner to go in it.  I bent it to the basic shape, making the end that would attach to her bum thicker by folding the pipe more there, and twisted the ends of the pipe cleaner into itself so it would poke through the felt.

Then, I stitched one side of the tail together, went about half way down the other side, then put the pipe cleaner in.  Then, holding the pipe cleaner between the felt, I stitched it up the rest of the way around.

Now, to attach the tail, take the back piece of your  kitty and snip a little vertical slit where you want her tail to sit.

Stuff it through and stitch it on the way you did the arms.  You'll just have to go for it since this, sadly, is the best picture I came up with.  Fail.

Next, put the pieces together, cut a piece of foam that is only slightly smaller than your animal but in roughly the same shape, stack them together sandwich-style, and begin stitching all the way around.  Don't forget to add the ears in when you get to the place on the head where you want them.  Just add them to the sandwich, pin them in place if you want, and just keep sewing.

Done!

Now, Kitty from all angles!  I added some of my old earrings to her...

And an old skull charm.  Eventually I'll replace the embroidery thread collar with a ribbon one, but I don't have any ribbon.  I'm a horrible, broke crafter.

From the back...

And one more just for fun.  I completely on accident made her tail just long enough that it causes her to stand on her own, which is a real added bonus.

Let me know if you make one of your own, I'd love to see it!  I also made a 6-zombie mini-horde of felt zombie plushies for the Wookie, but I'll save those photos for the one of the next snapshot posts I decide to do...Give you something to look forward to and all.  :)

<3
The Wookie Wifey

Braided Denim Rug Tutorial

I actually hated this and took it apart as soon as I was done.

The Wookie was stoked because he wanted the denim rope before I'd turned it into a rug, so it was still a good thing.  It came out the way it was supposed to, but I just didn't care for it once I was seeing it in person, so I figured I'd go ahead and post it because, chances are, someone out there will like it!  If that's you, then here's how ya make one:

First, you need old jeans.  It took about 4 pair to make this rug, if I remember correctly.  Keep in mind most of them were mine and I have crazy long legs and have to buy a 37" inseam, so you may need to adjust!

After that, you need to cut the legs of the jeans into strips length-wise that are about an inch to an inch and a half thick, but I neglected to take pictures of that.

 Next, begin braiding all those pieces together.  I found it was easiest to hold the tops of three strips together, stitch them all at the top, then braid from there.

 After a while, you'll get to a point where you reach the end of the strips you've started with, so it is time to sew on more.  I wanted to sew as I went instead of sewing them all together and dealing with this huuuuuuge strip of fabric.

 I pinned my braid so it wouldn't unravel, then stitched more lengths of denim to the ends of the ones already braided.

Then, it is keep braiding and stitching....

....and braiding and stitching...

NOW we've gotten somewhere.  Somewhere blurry, but still somewhere.

Now that you have a massive braided denim rope, it is time to turn it into a rug.  Lay the end flat on a surface and loop it over a few inches as shown.  This will be your starting point.  I wanted (well, thought I wanted) a round rug, so I made mine small, but if you want an oval one, just make your starting point longer.

Flip it over and begin stitching it together.  It doesn't have to be pretty as this will be the bottom.

Begin curling it around itself, holding it flat, and stitching as you go.

Keep going.  Now, around this part is when I realized this wasn't going to look how I wanted it to, so from this point on, I sort of just pinned it together so you could see the end result, but the process is the same.  Roll and stitch, roll and stitch, then tuck the ends under and stitch them down to finish it off.

This is what you would end up with, only minus the small gaps you can see that are showing since it is only pinned.  I'm standing on it for scale.

So, if the braided rag rug is your thing, then there's how to do it!  I wasn't crazy about it, but the Wookie is quite happy with his rope.

<3

WW