DIY T-Shirt Bracelet #1

Alright, this will be my first post that I've really worked to edit the pictures I'm using. I was also sure to photograph every step along the way so I could write the tutorial for this one. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this blogging thing!!

I've seen tons of these t-shirt bracelets around the web, and I wanted to try to do some of my own. I had this old t-shirt that I've been meaning to do something with, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity! The shirt was a white t-shirt that I had tie-dyed a few years back, then developed holes and was just un-wearable.

This is the braided version of the t-shirt bracelet I made. If you'd like to see the other version, you can do so here.

I had already started cutting it up by the time I took this picture, but you can see what I've done. First, I cut the bottom hem off. Then I used my rotary cutter and made strips that were about 1/2 - 1 inch wide across the bottom of the shirt. I cut these at the side so they would be a long strip instead of a circle. Then I stretched the strips out to make them curl more. Below is one of the strips all stretched out. They were about 4 ft long, which is about how long yours should be if you're going to try to make them how I did. If yours are shorter, you will have to connect your strips somehow.

The first sort I made was the braided one shown in the photo at the top of the page. I took two of the strips and matched up the ends, then folded them both in half.

Then I turned it around to get to the loopy bit. Now you'll need to have some way to hold the strips here and keep a small portion of the loop. I just grabbed a hair clip. Now you should have 4 strands hanging down, two on each side. Since my fabric strips were tie-dye, it didnt really matter how I had them arranged. You could do this using two different colors or something though, in which case you might want to have both of the same color on the same side. Or mix them up to give it a different look. Its up to you!

Now comes the fun part. First, cross the two strands that are on the right, over the strands that are on the left. Look them UNDER the left strands and then back OVER the right ones. The photos probably explain it better than I can do it in words.

Then pull it tight, and repeat for the other side, crossing the left strands over and around the right strands.

Keep doing this, alternating sides, until you have a chain long enough to go around your wrist. Keep in mind that it WILL stretch, sometimes a lot depending on the type of fabric you're using, so try wrapping it around your wrist every now and then to test it.

Now you're going to tie the ends together to close it off. Now this part can be kind of tricky, and I dont really have any right or wrong way to suggest doing this. I'm sure I did it totally differently for the couple I made. Just find some way to tie the loose ends you're left with to the loop at the other end.

I dont have a photo of this part, but then just cut off the extra length of the strands. I actually went even further as to hot glue the ends of the strands down to re-enforce the tie and ensure it wouldnt unravel. Depending on how well you tied them off, this step is optional.

And thats all there is to it! Enjoy your new bracelet! I love that they're soft and dont clank around like most bracelets.

I actually had lots of these strips from the shirt (and quite a lot of the shirt left-over!). With the excess strips, I tried out another version of the t-shirt bracelet as well. I'll post a tutorial for that one next time! If you use my tutorial, please link up to this post!

If you try this out, leave a comment to let me know how it goes. I'd love to see pictures of your creations! This bracelet has endless possibilities with different sorts of fabric, different color combinations, ect!

If you have any suggestions for what to do with the rest of the t-shirt fabric, please leave a comment!

Happy (Belated) Halloween!!

Image courtesy of [digitalart] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! Its one of my favorite holidays. I didnt really get to decorate this year because my roommates dont share my love for the holiday, which was really sad. Plus I dont really live in an area that gets trick-or-treaters. However, to make up for it, I did something I've always wanted to do. I made my own costume!

This guy to the left here, this is Link, from the Legend of Zelda franchise. He was my inspiration for this costume. LoZ has always been my absolute favorite video game franchise, so I decided to honor it this year by going as Link.

And this blue ball with wings to the right? Thats Navi, Link's fairy companion. I decided that my boyfriend would go as her to complete the image. :)

Break out the trunk-o-junk, my crammed full, completely unorganized crafting supplies storage!

To start off, I got this XXL green t-shirt for like $5. I'd use this as the base for the costume.

 I laid a dress and t-shirt that had similar fit to what I wanted down on top of the shirt to see how it would be laid out.

 I traced the outline of the dress/shirt with chalk and removed them. I actually traced about 1/2 an inch outside the clothes to leave seam allowances.

Then I cut it out! I cut through both sides using a rotary cutter. I left the bottom hem intact and most of the top edge.

Patches was super helpful, as usual.

Then I cut the neckline. This part I had some issues with. I started out trying to make a neckline like you can see in the image of Link back there at the top, which was sort of squared off with a V in the middle. Well, I cut too far and it was no longer fitting properly. So I had to take another bit of extra fabric that had been cut off earlier and sewed the whole thing on where I had cut off before. I decided to make that side the back so that it wouldnt be so obvious, and just made the back, now the front, into a simple V.

I turned it inside out, sewed up the side-seams, and closed off the bit of the sleeves that was left open. I also hemmed the sleeves because they werent looking quite right as is. Of course, I managed to sew one of them the wrong way out, and had to rip the seams and re-do it.

Hey, these things happen!

I took the leftover bit from the shirt, you can see the sleeve here, to make the hat. It was pretty easy, where the little triangular bit coming off the top of the sleeve is I just sewed that down, and closed up the whole other side, making it taper down to a point at the bottom. The end result is in the photo below. It wasnt perfect, but it would do without having to buy more fabric.

Luckily, the hole of the sleeve fit my head perfectly!

And then it was time to accessorize! Specifically, accessorize for cheap! You can see to the left the iconic Hylian Shield that Link carries to battle, and I wanted to capture the feel of that. However, these things are very expensive if you're going for cosplay quality.

Well, I wasnt going for cosplay quality. I made my Hylian shield out of cardboard. Then I cut the shape out of printer paper and drew on the design. As for holding it, I wanted to keep it simple. I just hot-glued another bit of cardboard to the back so it would fit in my hand.

I had two brown belts to use like Link has, one around my waist, and one around my back. They also functioned to make the rather bland green tunic/dress a bit more interesting. I didnt have a sword to strap to the belt around my back, but it worked anyway. Then I threw on some white sweatpants and my black (would have preferred brown, but black is what I had) boots and was ready to go! I also had some brown leather gloves I planned on wearing, but I ended up forgetting them when I left for the party. It was a bit too warm out for them anyway.

The boyfriend's costume was much simpler in some ways, and more complex in others. It actually probably took me the longest out of everything else, but it wasnt exceedingly complicated. I drew some wings roughly the same shape as Navi's, with two bigger ones on top and smaller ones on bottom. Then I traced these out onto printer paper and colored them light blue with colored pencil. I did 8 total, for each side of each wing. Since the top parts were larger than the paper, I had to do it in pieces. It worked out OK though, you cant even really see the seams in the picture I took, so they must not have been too noticeable. Then I glued all the paper bits onto their respective sides of the wings.

Then I cut out a little square of cardboard and hot-glued the wings to it in the proper shape. To keep it on him, I hot-glued some elastic straps to the "inside" of the cardboard square. He just wore a blue-ish shirt and blue-jeans to complete the look. (Tried to convince him to let me spray his hair blue, but he wasnt going for it. Loser!)

 And here it is all put together! The boyfriend's making quite the face.. You'd almost think he didnt like being a little blue fairy! Humph. But he played along for my sake. :)


What did you do for Halloween? Make any cool costumes? Or fun Halloween-y recipes or decorations? Please share, I'd love to hear about it!