Tulle Bow Tutorial

So I did a quick pinterest the other day to see if I could find a tutorial on making little tulle bows which could be used as hair clips/brooches/sewn onto headbands etc and to my surprise there was a distinct lack of them. I decided that the internet deserved one so here you go... your very welcome :)

 

You will need: 

• Some tulle or net fabric. I used some 6inch tulle which came on a roll which was left over from our wedding decorations (like this). You will need one piece approx 55inch by 6inch (enough to wrap around a place mat about 6 times) and one piece which is just 3inch by 6inch.

• A regular coffee mug mat

• Scissors

• Matching thread and needle

• A Pin

 Using your coffee mug mat, starting at the back put the tulle about 2/3 of the way across making sure it crosses the middle of the mat. 

Wrap the tulle all the way around the mat until you have 6 layers of tulle covering the front. Making sure once again that the end of the tulle is 2/3 of the way across the back and passing over the center. 

Ensure you have a hold of all the layers and carefully slide the mat out from the middle.

 Pop a pin into the center through all layers to hold it together (the folds want to be to the side and the open edges to the top/bottom). 

 

Using a basic running stitch and matching thread sew through all layers from one open end to the other. 

Pull the thread to gather the bow in the center and wrap the thread around a couple of times. Secure with a little stitched knot. 

Taking your small piece of tulle, and starting at the back wrap it around the middle of the bow 2 or 3 times. Trim any excess making sure the end is at the back and hidden in the middle. 

Using your needle and tread sew a few stitches to secure the loose end down so that it doesn't unravel.

Finally using your scissors you need to carefully cut through the folded edges at the end of the bows so that they poof out nicely. Do this part carefully and trim any stray bits which might end up sticking out. 

And there you have a pretty finished tulle bow. You can pop a bobby pin through the end and wear it in your hair, a brooch for your coat or it can be sewn onto a garment for a bit of upcycling glamour.

I would love to see what you decide to use these for, so if you use this tutorial to make one for yourself leave me a comment with your picture or instagram me @thediyfox

A Flock of Feathery Hens!

Remember me telling you I was going to a hen do? Well do you like my sparkly feather hairpiece? Our Bride to be picked the theme 'Feathers a Corsets' for her evening out, feathers of course being a very appropriate theme for a hen do. Sadly I don't think I even noticed the pun until just now! So being as a can't wear a corset (apparently its frowned upon to squash your growing baby) I thought I should mark the occasion by making every effort to don a feathery hairpiece.

Now these are one of my current favourite things on Etsy at the moment: Feather Ear Cuffs. They are just incredible, the only problem is my favourite are the pink and orange and well they were just going to get lost in my hair.

(Excuse the terrible selfie!) 

To add to that, sadly it turns out I was quiet poor last month, or I spent too much, so I couldn't justify the pennies to buy one for myself and instead I set to trying to make something out of the things I had y'know, just lying about. Armed with a glue gun, two types of black feather, some black felt, and old hair clip and some of my favourite sparkly fabric I managed to knock this little gem up in less than half an hour. 

I started out by cutting a piece of felt and a piece of glitter fabric into a heart shape. Then using the glue gun I glue glue glued the feathers onto the felt piece and then glued the glitter piece to the top making sure the edges were all sealed. The final job was to just spot glue a clip onto the back and voila. 

I am really pleased with how it came out, its a great little fascinator and it made me feel ever so glamorous, which is hard when your pregnant and in a constant feeling of frump. I also love it when a little whimsy project comes together so well. Of course we all know it doesn't always go that way 9/10 those little spur of the moment craft projects normally end up looking like something a 5 year old made, but occasionally you can surprise yourself. 

But that is not the end of it, no. Our lovely Bride to be decided to make everyone a little feathery gift of their own to wear on the night so we could all match. Check out how gorgeous this little feather brooch is. I love the colour and its just so delicate. Simple yet perfect and a great little momento from the evening. She made some with wire and beads, some as hair pins and some as brooches. A very talented young lady she is. 

Have you ever made any feathered accessories, or would you like to tell me all about your spur of the moment successes (or failures)? Please feel free to share the love. 

Have you ever made any feathered accessories, or would you like to tell me all about your spur of the moment successes (or failures)? Please feel free to share the love.

A girl can NEVER get enough glitter!

More Glitter! Is that enough for you? Of course its not, but its a good start!

After making my glitter shoe clips (my tutorial is here) I just had to purchase some more of the fabric and make myself a version in many different colours. My favourite is definitely the light multicoloured ones in the centre of the picture above. They just go with anything and are so bright and sparkly!

My reason for making this is again for our Christmas Craft charity event. Instead of shoe clips I will make them into hair grips and sell them as individuals which means we can hopefully make lots and lots of money with them. This is a great little thing to make as stocking fillers or as small gifts as they are relatively inexpensive and they don't take a long time to do at all. You could also clip them on your Christmas tree, but adorning yourself is much more fun.

I am also off to a hen do tonight so its perfect timing for a very sparkly and girly post hee hee! I am actually really looking forward to this weekend. This afternoon brings a relaxing antenatal pilates class, which will likely be followed by a soak before I get ready to go out and get all glammed up. The theme is 'Corsets and Feathers' and well whilst I can't exactly wear a corset I can of course wear feathers! Then on Sunday it is my little nephews 3rd birthday party! I can't believe he will be 3 already but any excuse for a bit of jelly and ice cream!!!!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend whatever you are up to and try to add a little sparkle if you can x

DIY Glitter Bow Clips Tutorial

Look Look! A tutorial using all of my favourite things: Glitter, Bows and Shoes Clips!!! For me this literally couldn't  get better (well I could have chosen pink, but sometimes its nice to be different). You could make a pair of these bad boys in just a few minutes if you follow my instructions below:

You will need: 

• A sheet of A4 glitter fabric (I got mine from ebay and here)
• Shoe clip blanks (ebay)
• A pair of skissors
• Glue gun

First of all cut out 4 pieces from your glitter fabric. Two pieces measuring 2.5 x 1.5 inches and two pieces measuring 2.5 x 0.5inches (as above)

.1. Fold one of your larger pieces in half along the length with the glitter on the inside.

 

2. Then fold the tops down towards the outside in half again, pinching in the middle (it looks like a bow already... does a little jig). Its a bit like a concertina or fan.

3. Wrap one of the smaller pieces around the bunched up middle, with the ends at the bottom, and secure with a blob from your glue gun.

4. Using the glue gun, glue the shoe clips to the underside of the centre piece as above and your done! I honestly didn't manage this stage once without getting completely stuck to the glue and getting stringy glue gun bits everywhere but the stringy bits come off so its not a problem if this happens to you as well.

You can round of the edges with a pair of skissors at this stage if you would prefer them to be a bit smoother. Personally I don't have a preference as to which is best, they look great either way.  

5. Now repeat with the other two pieces to make a pair and clip em on your favourite pair of shoes... and then make some more because that was so easy and you need a pair of these in every colour and so do all your friends!

 

If you make a pair of these I would love to see them, so leave me a link below. Also, don't forget these would not be limited to shoe clips. You could make brooches, hair clips, all sorts using the same method but different findings so let me know if you come up with any good uses for this template. 

The Craft of Christmas Past

Are you still in the festive spirit? I know I am.

We might be past the official event now, but with a lot of us, including the kids, still on holidays and the chimes of New Year in the not to distant future I thought we could have one more quick post before we start trying to make those resolutions. 

I made a couple of quick items of festive headwear just before the last day of work. A tiny tiny elf hat out of felt (above) which is attached to a hair clip to make it great for wearing at a a jaunty angle. I also made some reindeer antlers on a headband to match my Christmas jumper. The headband is just some fleece antlers stuck on to a headband. I did try to wrap the headband in felt and glue it down but this just didn't work well for me. Instead I decided to wrap it in wool to cover up the mess underneath. This technique would work well for other headband ideas.

I have officially scrapped the Sewing Bee tunic, the instructions in the book are stupid and I have done too much seam ripping to selvidge this now. Instead I am attempting to make myself a pretty new frock for New Years. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan.