DIY Beach Cover Up

Hi everyone! I wish I had done this post earlier since summer is almost over but I figured I'd still share it with you. This is meant to be a beach cover up dress, but I might wear it around the house too, since it's soo comfy!

Materials:
- 1.5 yards of fabric (I used Jersey! The amount also varies on how tight/loose you want your cover up to be.)
- Shears
- Needle and thread



 

Steps:

1. Measure your fabric by wrapping it around your body! Then lay it out on the floor and cut! I left an extra half inch just incase, but that's up to you! You can use measuring tape or pins as tools too.








2. Fold your fabric in half and cut an "arm hole" on both sides of your beach cover up!




3. From your extra fabric, cut two strips from it. These are going to be the straps for your beach cover up! There are two ways I tried for a strap detail. You can braid your strap, which will mean you'll need to cut it into three more strips, or.... you can twist it!

 



 4. Now sew on your straps around the "arm holes" you cut out! I did a bunch of stitches to make sure it's sturdy!

 



5. Try on your new beach cover up! Just simply put your arm through one strap, wrap it around from fron to back and pull it onto the other arm. My straps were a little long, so I used some extra fabric and tied the straps together in a racerback shape. Congratualtions on finishing this project!



What I've learned:

- Buy extra fabric, just incase!
- If you want braided straps, cut three thick strips to braid. The tighter the braid the skinnier it gets!
- Don't worry if you're fabric seems short, it's supposed to be open back and it'll be longer once you try it on!




This is probably the easiest "dress" I'll probably ever make. It was so easy that I'll probably make more in different colors and patterns! I hope you guys like this DIY and maybe make one when spring/summer comes around again!


Keep on crafting!


Alison

 

 



Crochet Flowers

Hey guys! A few days ago I posted a Knitted Headband tutorial, and I've been thinking that it looks pretty plain. While I don't plan on bedazzling it or anything, I'm going to add a few flowers to make it a little more...pretty! Here's my attempt at crocheting a very simple flower! If you're knew to crocheting like me, hopefully this will help you. Keep reading to see how it turned out!

Materials:
- Crochet hook (I used a 6.5mm!)
- Yarn
- Scissors






Steps:

1. First, tie your slip knot directly onto your crochet hook. (Check out my Knit Cowl Neck Scarf tutorial for help!)





2. One of the beginners crochet stitches to learn is called the chain stitch, which I will be going through today! Start by taking the working end of your yarn and twirl it over your hook.




3. Pull your hook (with the working yarn tucked in it) under the original loop. This will create another loop/stitch! Keep on going based on the size of the flower you want. This will become the center of your flower! I had eight stitches for this part of my flower! :)

4. When you're ready to attach one end of your chain to the other, basically you do the same thing you've been doing but with an added step! Find a place where you want the two sides to attach and grab one strand of that chain so that you have two loops on your hook. Now do what you've been doing except pull your working yarn through both of the loops! Congrats! You've just made a small circle, and the middle of your flower.

5. With this concept, keep going by making chains and linking them to the center circle. You can make five or six petaled flowers based on the spacing of each link-attachment, and how many stitches your petals have. When you're done, tie the extra strings together on the back and trim them.

Congratulations! You just learned how to make a basic crochet flower!

What I've learned:

- To keep your petals the same size, count the number of stitches you make.
- Try to keep your crochet hook facing you as you work on your flower.
- If you want your petals to have a space in the middle, just all more stitches to each petal link!

I recognize that most crochet flowers are a lot more complicated than the one I'm showing you... but hey! I like that they're flat enough to add to my Knitted Headband. I ended up layering three flowers on the side of my headband and I love it! These are so simple to make and if you've never tried crocheting and want to, I highly recommend this!

Hope you liked this post,


Alison :)

Origami Box

Hello everybody! Today I wanted to share something that I've been doing for years now and that's making Origami Boxes! You can make these in any size and they are great for holding random, smalls things like... office supplies (push pins, staples etc.), bobby pins, jewelry and whatever you can think of! I use them a lot actually when I eat sunflower seeds and peanuts because you can just throw the box away with the shells!

Materials:
- Piece of paper

This is the shortest list of materials ever! I'm going to show a lot of pictures for this post, so check it out!



Steps:

1. Fold your piece of paper in half (the hamburger way!). The open it back up and fold it diagonally, leaving a little bit on the ends (check out the picture). Do this for both sides so you have an "X" in the middle of your paper when you open it up. Now push in along the first crease you made so that you can pinch the 2 sides together.

2. Now push those sides down along the diagonal creases you made. You should have a wide, "house shape" when you're done with this step!

3. Next, fold in each side "wing" towards the center of your "house shape". You'll have four "wings" to fold (two on each side).

4. Great! Now, fold those two flaps at the bottom over so that they are on opposite sides.

5. Open up your Origami Box, and its ready to be used!

What I've learned:

- Describing origami in words gets weird, so I hope the pictures helped!
- Making those creases at the beginning help a lot later on.

I like to make a whole bunch at once, so that they'll be ready whenever you need them! I love storing a whole bunch inside one opened box because it looks neat and they're easy to grab. If you want to try this, just grab an old magazine and go to work while you're on the couch watching TV.  Before you know it, you'll have a whole box filled!

Hope you guys liked this post!


Alison :)

Knitted Headband

Hey there! With fall and winter coming approaching faster than I would like, I thought I might as well get ready for it and make myself a warm, fuzzy headband! If you have already seen my Knit Cowl Neck Scarf post then you'll have a great jump start since I'll be using a lot of the same methods! I hope you try this!

Materials:
- Knitting Needles
- Yarn
- Shears
- Crochet hook

If you're unsure about some of my steps, check out Knit Cowl Neck Scarf post for a better explanation and more pictures! I didn't want to have too much repeated for this post.



Steps:

1. Tie a slip knot onto your knitting needle.              <-----


2. Cast on your yarn onto your needle. This will determine how thick your headband will be. I made ten stitches for mine.                      ----->



3. I decided to practice my knit stitch again (plus it's the only stitching method I know at this point)! I'm not even sure how many rows I knitted but I used the best measuring tool.... my head! Every once in awhile  wrap your "work in progress" headband around your head to see how much more you need to knit. Keep in mind your headband will be pretty stretchy and you don't want it to be too loose.

4. After getting my headband to the right length, I used the yarn (still attached to the ball of yarn) to weave both sides of my headband together. To do this, the crochet hook was the perfect tool! If you don't have a crochet hook, it'll just be more tedious and tricky but you can try and use your knitting needle to poke the yarn through. Just pull the yarn back and forth between both sides to lace your headband together.

And......... You're done! Here's how mine turned out!

What I've learned:

- Try on your headband before lacing up the ends together! I ended up having to undo a few rows because it was too loose.
- Knitting gets easier the more you do it!


I am so glad I made my headband wide enough so that it can cover my ears if it gets cold or windy out! I hope you guys try this out and make your own fuzzy, winter headband. It looks a little plain so stay tuned for a tutorial on Crochet Flowers to add to your headband, and make it even better!

Hope you liked this post!


Alison :)