DIY Vintage Hair Bow

You will need:

- A sewing machine or sewing needle
- Thread/scissors
- Fabric glue
- Vintage fabric
- A metal hair barrette (I used 3" french barrette)

I used one of my favorite tiny floral fabrics. A beautiful field of poppies and daisies. Very Liberty of  London I think.

First, cut two pieces of fabric measuring 5.5" x 4.5" - The longer side will be the top and bottom of your bow, so arrange your fabric print so it is upright.

Then, cut another strip of fabric measuring 2" wide x 3.5" long. This will be to go in the center of the bow.

Next, place the two sides of the fabric with right sides facing each other. You want to sew the back side of the fabric - if you can see the bright front of your fabric you don't have it placed correctly.  (see here if you are still confused)

Now sew around the edge, leaving a quarter inch seam margin. On one of the long sides of the fabric, leave a hole about 2" long in the middle of the fabric square. Double stitch on each side of this hole.Trim the corners, without cutting into the stitching.

Your end piece should look like this. Now use the hole in the bottom of the fabric to turn the whole thing inside out. Reach your fingers inside and pull the right side of the fabric through the hole, as if you were turning a t-shirt right side out so you can wear it.

Sew the hole closed by folding in the edges and sewing over the hole.

Now, take the long strip of fabric and with an iron (or your force of will) fold in both sides of the fabric strip so that the reverse side is a nice clean strip about .75" wide of right side printed fabric. Again this is for the center of your bow. After you've made a few, try a little knot-work or try doing the center out of a different matching fabric.  

Next comes the tricky part. Take one of your metal french barrettes or whatever closure you decide to use, and grab your fabric glue.

I didn't photograph the next part so I'm going to try to explain this with just words.

Take your fabric square and pinch it in the middle, fluff it up and arrange it until it's just how you like it.

Now, keeping it pinched, squeeze a little fabric glue over the center and hold it closed for about 30 seconds.

Next, open your barrette and place the bow on top of it where the solid strip of metal is. Dab a bit of fabric glue on the top of your bow, in the center, where you will place your fabric strip. Have your scissors at hand for the next part.

Take your piece of long fabric and with the right side facing up, place the center of it on top of the bow where the fabric glue is. Wrap the ends around the metal, and fabric glue them together, trimming off the excess.

Rub in more fabric glue to keep the edge down and secure the loop. Let it sit for an hour, and voila! a new hair bow.

DIY : 1 Yard Circle Scarf!

About a year ago I bought a pretty stack of fabrics that I fully intended to make lovely circle scarves out of. I started and made one, but the cotton was very thick and it didn't turn out like I had hoped. Most of the other fabrics I bought were lighter and gauzier or silkier than the first. Today, I'm all cooped up in the house by an unexpected (so far!) 8 to 9 inches of snow. They forecasted some some yesterday, but none that I knew of for today! I woke up early, and, in the mood to get some of my crafty craft side going, I decided to tackle making one of these circle scarves, and I thought you might like to tag along.

I started out with a pretty, summery gauzy cotton. Gauze is a light weight, loosely woven and semi-sheer fabric that is perfect for summery accessories and garments. You can find a gauze type fabric at your local Jo-Ann Fabrics in the apparel fabric section, or by searching cotton gauze on Etsy. For a beginner, I don't recommend using anything silky, as it is harder to sew with. You'll also need some mercerized cotton or polyester thread and a sewing machine with a fine/small needle, a pair of pinking shears, and some sewing pins.

To start, lay out your fabric and cut it down the center length-wise, so that you are left with 2 pieces of fabric, both 1 yard in length. Place them on top of each other. If there is a "right side" and a "wrong side" make sure the right sides are facing each other and sew on the wrong side. Sew a straight seam across the short end of the fabric, about 1 inch in from the edge. Make sure to finish your ends by sewing back over them. Then, take your pinking shears and cut off a half inch of the seam, as shown:

Pinking shears help prevent the fabric from fraying, which is especially useful for more delicate fabrics. Jersey fabrics roll in on themselves, so pinking shears aren't necessary for jersey, but other fabrics should be pinked if possible!

Now you will have a very long strip of fabric. There will be one side that is selvedge (the edge that is already pre-finished for you) and one side that is unfinished. Now, if your selvedge has a copyright or name on it, and not just the fabric printed to the edge, you will need to fold over and finish both sides of the scarf. Fold over the sides you need to finish and simply sew with about a quarter inch seam allowance. If you notice your fabric is prone to fraying, you may want to pink the edge before you sew it, or double-roll it before sewing so that you don't end up with lots of little strings hanging from your scarf!

After that's finished, all there is is to join up the two ends and sew them together just like you did for the first set of ends. Make sure you don't twist the fabric, and you are still sewing on the wrong side/same side as your other seam! Pink the edges on that seam as well. Now, you are finished! You have a lovely circle scarf that you can match up with some of your favorite garments!

Check out this awesome graphic on all the different ways you can wear your circle scarf:

source