January 30, 2012: Tear-able T!

When in doubt, rip up a T-shirt!

I was soooo tired on this Monday night but knew I had to do something. Luckily I have this awesome book on hand by Megan Nicolay about transforming T-shirts! Check out Generation T. Also, here is the first video that I saw on Threadbanger Channel onYouTube that caused me to buy her book:



She's cool right? Check out her website for cool crafting ideas and to buy her books if you are interested. From her many ideas, I chose "Back in Action" for this Monday night project. I had a cool navy colored T-shrit that I got at a rummage sale somewhere along the line. I love the fact that it announces "Undercover Police" on the front... fabulous! Even though I find it incredibly cool, I have so many T-shirts that I never get around to wearing it. So I decided to make it into something... more than a T!

Here it is:

Basically I cut the collar out to create a wide neckline. Then I cut the back of the shirt into strips. Then I "laddered" the strips. Laddering is kinda hard to explain in writing... but here's a video that I found that can explain it... (PS... I think it is hysterical and awesome that many instructional videos on YouTube are actually done by... yup... high school-aged kids... again - we need education reform NOW... to have an educational system that actually recognizes and capitalizes on the world that these kids are living in - conclude rant...) Here's the link to the video.

January 10, 2012: T-riffic Wall Decor

This was one of those nights when I felt awful. I wanted to make something new but I really could not spend too much time on it. Thinking back to a recent conversation with a friend, (Beth maybe... was it you?) I was inspired by the idea to use embroidery hoops to turn old fabric into interesting works of art for your wall. A simple internet search lead me to this pintrest site with all kinds of cool ideas! You can find and abundance of embroidery hoops in thrift stores where they sell for about 10 cents - 25 cents a piece.  Needless to say, my project for this night in particular is less than stellar... but I got something done and opened a can of worms for future projects! This one is the back of a 2010 World Cup T-shrit. The front of the shirt was an advertisement for Guinness, which I do enjoy but I never wore the shirt. I cut out the soccer ball and put it on the embroidery hoop. Viola! Not overly involved but it does look pretty cool. Perhaps I will add to it later.

January 9, 2012: Nothing to Waste!

Having long hair all of my life... (well... that is, since I was old enough to make my own decisions about my hair...) I have had an interest in cool ways to wear my hair and fun things to put in my hair. I had some tie dye T-shirt material left over from the scarf from Sunday so I decided to make some headbands. (Nothing to waste! It is always a good idea to keep your scraps! I will show you something fun to do with your scraps in a future post.)  For each headband I used 4 (about) 20 inch T-shirt strands. Specifically, I used 2 brown and 2 tie dye strands for each. The first one is a 4-part round braid (this is the video that I originally learned this braid from... it is with leather but the technique can be used with your hair, T-shirt material, leather, or whatever! http://youtu.be/0afO40tsqAc ) The second one is also a 4-part braid but flat. This braid can be done a couple of ways. The way this one is made is by taking the strand on the left and going (to the right) over, under, over. Then a new strand is on the left... take that one and do the same: over, under, over. Repeat. There are tons of tutorials out there on different kinds of braids so just get the gist of it and then be creative!