I took this screenprinting test-shirt and refashioned it into a cute racerback using 99-cent doilies from Joann’s. I recommend using these inexpensive doilies to practice before using your pretty, vintage handmade doilies from the antique store. Although, admittedly they would look much better.

Here’s how I made it:

Materials:

Tee shirt

Tank top (to use as a pattern)

Doilies

Standard sewing stuff

Copy Tank Top pattern
First, I just laid a plain white tank top over my tee shirt, pinned it to keep it from sliding around and traced around it with a Sharpie to copy the pattern.

Cut around the marked lines leaving a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Lay the doilies out in a pattern you like. Make sure that the doilies overlap enough to give the shirt stability.

Attach the doilies to eachother. Sew the doilies to eachother (NOT TO THE SHIRT) where they overlap. I recommend using a button stitch (individual stitch that is repeated several times in the same spot). Tie each stitch off and then start at another point rather than trying to do blanket stitch which would cause the doilies to bunch up.

Cut the shirt open at the shoulders. This will allow you to get the shirt into your sewing machine and sew around the doilies a bit easier.

Pin the strung-together doilies onto the back of the tee to hold them place.

Sew the top and bottom of the larger doily piece. Sew as if the doilies were one big, oddly shaped doily (don’t sew each individual doily). I used a zig-zag stitch to secure it really well. Leave the sides (where the sleeves are) open.

Here’s what the back of the shirt looks like when you are done sewing. **Note that I sewed only at the top and bottom. Not in the middle and not down the sides.

Cut away the fabric behind the doilies. Insert your scissors in-between the doilies and the t-shirt and cut away the excess fabric.

Sew the shoulder seams back together. Reattach at the shoulders by turning the shirt inside out, pinning and sewing.

Finish arm holes. Fold the arm hole seams in about 1/2-inch, pin and sew using a zig-zag stitch. You can choose to fold the the doilies back or not. Just don’t trim the doilies or they will unravel.

Try it on! You may need to make adjustments by pinching and pinning (and sewing) the underarm area. Once you have sewed it so that it fits to your liking you can wear loud and proud!

BTW- Here is the inspiration for this shirt which I cannot afford nor do they make my size. So what’s a girl to do!? Oh yeah, Do-it-Myself!

I was very inspired by these embroidered shoes. They are so cute. I decided to try to make a version of my own. I went to the thrift store and got some inexpensive prom pumps. Then I got some embroidered patches from the craft store and glued them to the shoes. Cute huh? Now if only they fit! Apparently a size 9 in the 70’s and 80’s was much smaller than it is now! Darnit!

Okay, so now, what to do with the scrap foam leftover from the laptop bag? I decided I would make foam beads that would also allow me to use up some scrap fabric. It’s not really necessary to use foam, these beads could be stuffed with polyester fill or even more scraps of fabric. Anway, here is my process:

Materials:

Scrap foam

Scrap fabric

Ribbon

Stencils – I just used an xacto knife to cut mine out of cardstock

Usual sewing supplies

Step 1

Trace stencil onto foam and cut out.

Step 2
Trace onto the wrong side of the fabric using a washable marker. Mark where you want the opening to be. You will have to handsew this part. It’s a good idea to leave the opening where you want the ribbon to be attached. If you do, skip the next step. It’s also a good idea to cut a manageable square out of the fabric at this point.

Step 3

Bundle up your ribbon inside the shape and pin in-between fabrics. A rubber band works great for bundling up the ribbon. You just want to make sure that you don’t sew the ribbon anywhere except at the connection point.

Step 4

Sew around the shape making sure to leave an opening and doubling over your sewing at the beginning and end to make sure it doesn’t come unraveled at the opening.

Step 5

After sewing, trim around the sewing with pinking shears. If you don’t have pinking shears use your scissors to cut triangles out around the shape, this helps to reduce bulk.

Step 6

Turn the shape inside out. Insert the foam shape by rolling it up. Adjust the foam inside the fabric. Then, hand sew the opening closed folding the edges in.

If you left an opening where you wanted the ribbon to go, you will have sew the ribbon in while fold the edges in.

Here’s some more foam fabric pendants.

!

First outline a design onto fabric and cut it out. I downloaded this pattern from: www.makingfriends.com. A web search will give you many patterns to choose from. It’s a good idea to start off with a simple pattern like this one. Then, it can be altered and the eye positions moved or sized.

Next, spray the fabric with a fabric stiffener until well saturated.

Then, position the mask onto a plastic mask form until it dries. I used tape balls to flare the edges out.

When dry, you can embellish with acrylic paints, fabric fabric paint, glitter, sequins, feathers, ribbon, buttons or whatever you like.

Finally, glue or sew ribbon onto the edges. Or paint a wooden dowel and attach with a fabric strip.