Easy Luna Lovegood Costume - Fantastic beasts

IT'S FANTASTIC BEAST'S AND WHERE TO FIND THEM WEEK!

So me and the crew have got tickets for the midnight premier and we have decided to dress up.
As i have decided to go as Luna but have very little funds at the moment I have made these glasses out of card to put over my own glasses. Aswell as drew some radishes to stick on my earings (debating weaher to die my hair blonde.i have been thinking about  it anyway but I am too much of a chicken)

So i will just wear them a shirt,grey cardigan and a black skirt.

Now thats how you do a costume on a student budget ;)

Dobby ears

So halloween (as well as pub crawls) approach this month!
With a Harry Potter theme going and very little time and money decided to whip together this Dobby outfit.
(sorry the pictures are not aesthetically pleasing/ Pinterest like the lighting is not magnificent in this flat nor do I currently posses the equipment)

You will need:

•  2 xA4 nude? light pink? card (60p - paperchase)
• 1 A4 card (any colour it is for a template)
• 1 hairband (£1- poundland)
• glue gun
• scissors
• pencil
• pen
• sellotape

1. On the plain card copy the template (will be linked at somepoint), draw your practice Dobby ear, and cut it out. 

2. Try folding it and sticking it together to see if it makes desired shape

3. draw round the template onto both of the coloured pieces of card

4.cut along lines and fold in. Stick with sellotape / glue gun

7. Using the glue gun secure the side flaps of the ear onto the headband by folding it over 2 times.

8. Draw the inner ear design on with a pen

the only full photo I actually found of the outfit

How to make a pencil case

What you will need:

• Thread to match your fabric + thread for basting
• normal zip 12inches/30cm
• scissors
• taylor's chalk
• sewing machine (or hand)
• 40cm of fabric

Pattern for pencil case: - Drawing is not precise does not fit onto A4 paper,

                                     -  Every corner is a 90 degree angel.

                                     - 1cm seam allowance calculated into it

if you are unsure in any of the instructions don't be afraid to comment below!

1. Fold your fabric in half.place the pattern face up onto the right side of the fabric (the side you would like to have on the outside of your pencil case. next to the fold as shown. This way you will cut 2 patterns. one will be the outside and one will be the lining. 

Do not cut them apart!

2. if you place it with pattern rolling down wards. the pattern will end up horizontal on finished piece or vice versa as the picture further shows.

3. So when you fold it out it should look something like this.

4. Turn it over so that the inside is facing upwards (demonstrated by white colour in the picture) then fold the two edges down 1cm. Then iron it so that it stays there.

5. Fold the lining and the outer fabric back onto each other with the Inside fabric (white) on the inside and the coloured part facing out. Then baste (large stitch by hand) the two sides shown by the red lines on the picture.

6. Now onto the zip.

The zip will be slightly too long for the fabric. What you need to do is measure out 2.5cm from the end of the zipper (not from the handle side) and mark it. Using thread and needle stitch across the zipper teeth creating a new end. Then 1 cm from this cut of the leftover end.

7. Place the zip in between the two fabrics on the straight edge. Put the fabric right on the zipper teeth ends.then using a zipper foot stitch close to the teeth (don't go over the teeth or you won't be able to unzip it) make sure it stitched both fabrics. 

8.Do the same with the other side of the fabric. It makes it easier if you unzip the zip. Make sure it is in between the two fabrics and next to the zipper teeth. Then stitch.

turn inside out.

Baste the remaining unbasted edges of lining and outside fabric together. as shown with the red lines on the picture.

with the patterned sides together put bottom edges and tops together (dots together with the zipper) and then sew this together.

At the end put the notches together and sew these together.

Turn the pencil case inside out again

Tadaaaa you have a finished pencil case!!!

(I know the drawings are just fabulous, I forgot to take pictures while making this.)

Wonder Woman halloween costume

Being back at uni has left me with an unbelievably large amount of coursework and very little time to do crafty things (also a very limited things to make crafts with) and unfortunately most of my work is due just after halloween I have little to no time to organise party's or make costumes so I thought I would do a throw back post to my last years costume; Wonder Woman!

I was working on a student budget last year as well so I do not remember spending more than 7 pounds on this costume.




What you will need:

• A red shirt (primark cheap so it wont hurt to ruin)
• A big sheet of gold card
• red paper
• a belt or some string
• selotape
• gold paint (textile if you can but i used normal paint, it wont last that long)
• some measuring tape
• black textile pen/normal thick pen
• a spotted blue skirt (i already owned one, a reason i chose this outfit)
• hairband (optional)

1. Right what you need to start with is drawing her sign on the red t-shirt. If you can print it out on an A4 piece of paper, cut it out and then draw round it on the shirt. Paint it with the gold paint and then wait to dry. Then using the black pen mark in the rest of the wonder woman symbol.

2. Make the cuffs, Belt and tiara. Measure round your wrists, waist and forehead,leave maybe an extra cm on the bracelets so you can easily slip it off. Cut it out of the gold card and cut out little red stars to stick onto it.

3. I stuck the cut out belt onto a piece of string using selotape but you can just aswell add it to a belt and then take it off after he event.



4. Selotape the ends of the bracelet,tiara together (possibly stick the tiara to a headband if it doesn't stay together.

5. simply slip into some boots, do your hair makeup and your done!

DIY Envelope Clutch

DIY Envelope Clutch - Swellmayde

Made these really cute envelope clutches. I found the pattern on swellmayde. I decided to make mine smaller and also sew a chain on it just in case and of course embroider one of them

DIY collar necklace

DIY Collar necklace - The House that Lars built

So I used the template from here a made a bunch of these cute tie on collars in all sorts of colours and with different types of ribbons to use to tie.

Word of warning if you plan to make it beaded like the one  I made be prepared for hours of beading and lots of beads!

Simple is sometimes better ( I suggest you try out their embroided one it looks really cute)

How to make a Tulle skirt

As Tulle skirts are back in fashion and I alway have ballerina envy I made a 4 layered tulle skirt and here's how to make it!
*also read instructions first because I made the mistake of not reading one of the instructions i found online and it turned out I did not understand half of what they wrote so I figured out the pattern instead
**material lengths given are optional, depending on the length you wish to have,your waist size and how many layers you wish to make

Materials:

• 6 m tulle fabric  (I bought 7m as I wanted a lot of underskirts but didn't end up using it all)
• 1,5m lining fabric
• scissors
• tape measure
• pins
• thread (in the colour of your tulle)
• medium elastic or large 
• ribbon (optional) and thread in the colour of your ribbon 

1. Start of by first measuring your waist and the length you wish your skirt to be.
mine was: waist:75cm (add a few extra cm depending how gathered you want it) and length 59cm. (Its wise to add an extra 5 cm as it will be used for the elastic)

2. (cut up the material for the different skirt parts, i cut every 1.50m) Fold your material first in half width then length wise

3.With a simple calculation you can work out the radius for your waist line: Waist measurement  divided by (2x3.14) so 75/6.28 =11.94cm rounded up to 12cm (if you want the skirt to be really gathered add a few more cm's to the waist)

4. Now in the corner where the 2 folded edges meet, measure out the radius, use pins to mark the line, to help you could tie a string to a pen to help draw the curve onto the material.

5. Do the same with the outer line, from where your drew the waist line measure out the length of the skirt. all in all from the corner of the fabric I measured 71cm (12cm+59cm)

6. Now cut neatly along the lines to get something like this

7. Repeat from 1 depending on how many layers you want as well as with your inner lining

8. pin all the layers together

9. With a larger stitch, sew the 4 layers together about 1cm from the edge. Once down grab one thread from one side and start pulling to gather the material to your original waist size, if you cut the waste you have more to gather and if you cut it exactly,you can only gather slightly to not make the skirt too small

10. measure your elastic waistband (stretch it out) and then sew the ends together then pin it loosely to the inside of the skirt waist, place it just below the gathered stitch. Sew the bottom of the band first. Remember to stretch it while sewing!

11. Fold over the material above the gathered stitch to hide and stitch it down, while still stretching the material

Tadaaa its done!
Here's how to sew a ribbon on but that is completely optional

How to sew the ribbon:


When picking the ribbon keep in mind how much you want for the bow at the back, it's always easier to make it shorter at the end then chopping it all of earlier. Also bear in mind when attaching it, it will not stretch with the elastic and so make it harder to get into the skirt this is why I only sewed the front half on and left the rest loose

1. fold the ribbon in half to determine the middle then pin it to the front middle of your skirt.

2. Stick another 2 pins on each other sides to show where you want to stop sewing and leave it loose to be able to tie.

3.Sew the top and bottom edges on from either inside or out (I choses outside so i could see if my stitches were nice and straight)







In the end it makes a very cool skirt

Skirt update

SO small tulle skirt update, Basically done (Woop!) but this is where adjustments come in which I myself have to figure out. A nude coloured pencil skirt still has to be added as an under layer so it isn't see-through and of course at the moment when I spin it all goes very Marilyn Monroe. The waistband isn't tight enough but otherwise i wouldn't be able to get it on without having to put a zipper on it. So I plan to get a pretty ribbon to sew on half way but eave tie-able into a bow on the back. Which will also help hide the imperfections of my stitching so win-win. Ah it will be so unbelievably girly and 5 year oldish but I love was having waaay to much fun spinning in it. 

note to self: get a pair of nice comfy high heels for it and just anyway I feel like I should own a pair of heels being um older and tiny and everything...

ugh such a cheesy selfie and i still take them (because I'm awesome!) 

how to make a chest

here's a simple way of making a chest.

you will need: 

• 
  
• Cardboard - box and cardboard
• scissors
• glue gun/glue
• pens

• paint

demonstration of flaps

1.Measure out the plain cardboard sheet so it is the same in length as the shoebox or cardboard box you are using. Luckily mine already had indentations in it so it was easy to fold into a nice top shape i wanted. If not lightly run a pair of scissors on the line you want to crease to make it easier.  Also leave little flaps where you will be able to join the two together and hold together the top.

2. once you have the shape of the top. measure out the sides and cut appropriate sized and shaped cardboard forms. Gluing the sides on was the trickiest part as the flaps kept coming apart when drying. Apply a heavy wait onto it.

3. Once its dry see if it still fits onto the box if not do the final adjustments now before you paint. The top of mine was to big so i had to trim it a bit. Also decide if you whant the top and the box to join together. If yes glue to small flaps on one side to the inside of the box. If you just want to beable to lift of the top then you can cut the flaps of. And TADAM! you're ready to decorate!

i was rushing and didn't have enough time to wait for the glue to dry so i unfortunately had to use masking tape to hold it together

How to make wands

This is a simple way to make wands. I heard this from a friend who saw it somewhere so it isn't my idea

you will need:

• Chopsticks
• aquvarell paint (brown,black)    
• gluegun
• beads

1. Heat up your glue gun, and cover the parts of your chopstick that you wish to use as the handle, you can use all sorts of patterns where you wish the wood to come out a bit, if you wish when its cooled a bit you can use your hands to shape it. Also you can add beads of different sizes to add a bit of character to the wand.




2. once the glues set you can start to paint them. then leave them to dry. I added another layer so the glue was completely covered.


3. And then you're basically done! now you can do some extra tinkering. for example i added the gold streak at the end when trying to make Hermione's wand.

geek themed present idea

So we had secret santa a little while ago and I had the luck of getting someone who greatly enjoys harry potter,lord of the rings,poirot and all those stuff so I decided to base the whole present idea on along those lines

firstly I wraped a shoe box up in parcel paper then write the address (changing harry potter to his name)

and the wrote our under the staircase,private drive...etc.

i got a cute notebook that was kinda poirot themed and a ticket for the hobbit which i decorated the envelope

I also backed a batch of lembas bread, searching threw many a recipes, they didn't turn out too good and it really just tasted like sweet bread (not what the recipe wrote it would turn out to be) I wraped those in green paper (by this time i did not have much time to decorate gratly)

and then added some Cadberry chocolates quite rare over here :)

quick DIY christmas decorations

So i made some really quick decorations today but they turned out quite cute so i'll put the pictures here and i thing you can use your creativity if you want to make them

 (of course if you need help comment below and I'll upload the instructions)

the snow flakes are from Usbornes Christmas decorations -to cut fold and stick book