Alright people, my first giveaway is officially over! I went to random.org, entered the number of comments, and it picked....






Comment #16!  The winner is...


Congrats June!  (She's also got a blog, Have stamps...... will craft...... )

Thanks everyone!  I will definitely have some more giveaways in the future! 

A few years ago, when the hubby and I lived in Florida (this was pre-kids, so make that 5-ish years...) I bought him a button-up shirt for his work.  The deal was that he had to wear blue or white button-ups, so I thought, "Why not both at the same time?"  And I got him this:

It used to have a pocket...

Apparently when he wore it to work, his boss told him he looked like a picnic basket, aaand the shirt was retired to the closet.  Well, I don't care if I look like a picnic basket, so I decided to turn it into a tank top for myself!





It was actually really easy to do... let me try once again to tell you how I used a sewing machine... eh....


First things first, I chopped the sleeves off.

Then I slipped the shirt on and pinned in the sides so that it fit.

I took off the shirt, flipped it inside out and sewed up the sides where my pins were, trimmed off the excess, flipped it rightside out again, and tried it on to make sure it fit.  It did, much to my amazement!  I was actually proud of myself at that moment- it gave me a little boost in my sewing confidence.

Then I pinned the armholes the way I wanted them... carefully...

Looks a lot like a vest at this point...

...and sewed them.  Not one of my favorite things to sew, those armholes.  Once the arms were taken care of, it was on to the neck.  I pinned the neck down- I went down about two buttons, which actually ended up to be a little to far down, so I had to sew it closed again.  Anyway, I pinned, sewed, and trimmed...




Then I cut a piece of thick white ribbon, gathered one side/sleeve/armhole-front up kind of like a fan, and wrapped the ribbon around it.


To secure it in place, I attached a button (cut from the excess shirt) with a needle and white thread.  Then I did the same thing to the other side.



At this point I tried the shirt on and decided I wanted more of a fitted look to the waist area, so I made some ties for the back.  For the tie fabric, I used one of the sleeves I cut off the shirt.  I trimmed the cuff off of the sleeve, and cut alongside the seam to open the shirt.  Then I cut a rectangle from the longest piece, making sure it was wide enough for two ties.  (Sorry, I didn't measure... )





I cut the fabric in half lengthwise (hot dog style!), folded the pieces in half the same way, and stitched the long side and one short side.  Then I flipped them right-side out (I used a super long wooden skewer to push the corners out- a smore's stick!).

I found the spot on the shirt where I wanted my ties to be, folded the rough edge under and pinned the ties in place.  Then I used my sewing machine to attach them on, doing that pretty x-in-a-box thing (technical term?  not sure.)




That's it!  Sorry I'm not more descriptive when it comes to my sewing things, hopefully I'll get better at that as time goes on, but I hope you kind of get the general idea of how I made my shirt!
 





And sorry for the somewhat moody facial expressions, it was super hot and humid out, and after a gazillion pictures, I was getting slightly uncomfortable! I got more pictures that I liked than I first thought, though...

This round was fun, I got to sew... aaaand I really need some practice at that, by the way. As well as a lesson in sewing machine maintenance... anyone out there know why my machine is running slow? Bah, anyway, click the button above and vote for your favorite...::cough...vote for me...cough:: Just kidding, pick your favorite.  The voting ends Friday!

Oh, and don't forget to enter my first giveaway! The winner is picked on Friday!

Since I recently surpassed 100 followers (holy schnikes, incredible! Thanks so much you guys!), I decided I would have a giveaway to celebrate! Nothing super fancy, just a little something-something I made... which is where the tutorial part comes in. Sooo if you don't win, you can make one! See? A win-win! Alright, first of all, here's the prize that is up for grabs... a domino necklace made by me.  You can choose from:

• a domino
• Mod Podge
• pretty napkin
• drill with 9/16 drill bit
• craft wire
• seed beads
• pendant bail
• brush
• hot glue

Start by cutting out a rectangle larger than the domino, and mod podge it to the backside of the domino.  I recommend using a napkin rather than paper for this one, just because it's much thinner and easier to fold around the edges of the domino.
When the top is dry, mod podge the napkin to the sides.  To do the ends, I folded the napkin like I was wrapping a present.  I didn't do it in this picture, but mod podge the ends of the paper down, too, so everything is nice and flat.

When it's dry, take a piece of craft wire and string a seed bead on about half-way, and bend the wire to keep the bead in place.

Stick the ends of the craft wire through one of the holes in your domino, and bend them in opposite directions at the back.





 Do this for each little hole, and you get:




A whole mess of wires.  No problem, just have to cover them up.  I used some mat paper (thicker than scrapbook paper), but felt would have been great, too.   Trace the domino onto your material of choice and cut just a little smaller.




Grab your glue gun and squeeze on a generous amount, pushing it around to cover the entire back of the domino.  Quickly grab your paper or felt and stick it in place.  Brush on a coat of mod podge, let dry, attach your bail with some more hot glue, and it's finished!





For a pendant like the Pussy Willow Pendant, you'll need:

• a domino
• an image you like (I think mine was from a paint swatch!)
• black paint
• mod podge
• brush
• hot glue
• pendant bail

 This pendant is much simpler to complete.  Start by tracing the domino onto the image you want to use.





Paint your domino with the black paint and let dry.  Once it's dry, mod podge the paper to the flat side of the domino.  When that dries, add another coat.  You can see in the next picture that I used my brush to create some texture in the mod podge.  I used a small brush to brush the podge horizontally, and then pounced the brush on the background.

When that is dry, hot glue your bail onto the back, string it onto your necklace, and that's it!  Easy!





Alright, so go ahead and enter to win!


And Happy 4th of July to you!