EGL Hair Falls

These hairfalls are just amazing. They are deffinately on my list of things to do. Created by CatLadySarah.





Ingredients:
1 waist-length Wal-Mart Halloween wig
some loose jumbo braid Kanekalon (like this)
foam hair rollers (medium size)
pot of boiling water
old t-shirt
french-style barrette clips (4)
hot glue
needle & thread

First, I skinned the wig by seam-ripping the tracks of hair away from the base:


Then, I cut the hair into inch-wide strips, and wrapped them around foam rollers. For the loose Kanekalon, I just wrapped about an inch-thick strip of hair around rollers. I don't have a freakin' clue what happened to my picture of this, but if you've ever put your hair up for spiral curls, you can imagine the idea. Just start by getting the end damp and sticking it down on the curler, then wrapping around and around while keeping the hair relatively flat and even.

After this, I dropped the rollers into boiling water for about thirty seconds, and scooped them out with a slotted spoon. After letting them drain and cool off in a colander, I laid them all out on a towel to dry thoroughly.

Once unrolled, they looked like this:



They weren't terribly even, but that didn't matter much in the end.

Next, I cut out round-ish pieces of t-shirt fabric, about five inches in diameter. To these, I sewed rows of curls, running a row of small, straight stitches through the middles:



When that was done, I hemmed the borders of the shirt material, pulling the excess fabric in so that you wouldn't see it under the curls.

Next, I glued clips to the back, one for the top and one for the bottom:



This way, the wearer puts her (his?) hair up in two buns on the top-sides of the head, and the fabric part of the falls acts as a bun-cover, with a clip securing the fall to the scalp above and below.

Back:



(Yeah, I needed to clean up my undershave in that picture...)

Ta-da! Floofy custom dolly hair for less than ten bucks. Using all Kanekalon, it would have been even cheaper than that. I had a wig around, though, so it was more cost-effective and efficient this way.

Pretty Petticoat

This lovely petticoat was created by Imogen Dall.

I've always loved petticoats but have strayed away from sewing my own because I heard that tulle is a nightmare to wrestle into your machine. BUT THESE WERE LIES!! I found it extremely easy to sew tulle, especially because I picked a very soft kind. In fact, I found it far easier to gather and sew tulle than many other fabrics!

Anyway, here's my finished petticoat:





Feeling inspired to make one? Here's the basics...

1. First, create yourself a basic a-line skirt with a separate waistband attached. You will fill the waistband with elastic but don't put the elastic in yet!! I only had one metre of fabric, so I had to make this very ugly skirt with godets, but it doesn't matter too much since you won't really see it.



2. Now cut a layer of tulle that is slightly longer than your skirt and hand-sew the top edge together. I used a 3-metre length of tulle, which is probably the minimum. Once you've hand-sewed all the way across, pull the thread so the tulle starts to gather. It will take some time to evenly gather the tulle. Once you have gathered it, pin it along the top of your skirt, ready to sew.



3. Once your tulle is pinned (trust me, this takes longer than you may think!) sew it onto your skirt. Make sure to fold over the top edge so it's nice and neat. ^_^



4. If you need to, hem the bottom of the tulle (I used the actual edge of the tulle to eliminate this.) Now thread your elastic through the waistband and your done! If you like, sew a long strip of fabric and fashion it into a bow. I just use a safety-pin to attach it so it's not permanent.




5. For a more traditional look (and added poofiness), you could add another half layer of tulle to your petticoat. I was going to do this, as well as add lace around the bottom, but I decided against it in the end. I think the simplicity is cute and it means I can also wear it on its own.

Dream Web

This cool Dragon Treasure Dream Web was dreamed up by Brenda of Howling Caterpillars.

Parts List:
Fabric
Brass Hoop
Hemp Thread
Pony Beads
Dragon Charm I-Ching coin
Feathers
Scissors/Glue Gun/Glue Sticks



Tutorial

Cut Fabric into approximately 1 inch strips. Glue end of strip onto Brass Hoop.



Start wrapping Fabric strip around Hoop, pulling tightly until Hoop is completely covered.



Any unused Fabric can be set aside until later to be used for the hanging pieces.
Cut and glue the end of the Fabric strip. Tie the end of the Hemp to the Fabric covered Hoop and glue. Start the first round of weaving.



Pull the weaving tightly so that it will support the weight of the Beads.
Thread the Beads onto the Hemp.



Keep pulling the weaving tight as you go. Go all the way around the Hoop until you get to the centre. Add Dragon Charm. You may have to loop Hemp trough it twice for it to lay flat. Tie Hemp off with a knot and glue.



Cut 4 more strips from the Fabric: 3 for the hanging pieces and 1 for the hanging loop.



You can use the leftover from the wrapping for this, if there's enough left over.
Place the strips at each quarter of the Hoop. Glue to the hoop leaving a long dangling piece of Fabric strip.



Knot or loop the hanging loop for the top.



Thread the Pony Beads onto the fabric strip.



Add a line of glue in the "tunnel" created by the Pony Beads.
Add Feathers and push Pony Beads down to cover the Fabric ends and the Feather quills. Add I Ching Coin and the Dragon Treasure DreamWeb is complete.

Super Thrifty Garter Belt

This sexy garter belt was created by Ixtli. This tutorial is for personal use only and should not be used to create goods for sale.

The Finished Product:


The Tutorial

Materials needed:

4 bra adjusters
4 garter belt tabs
Elastic
Stretch lace
about 1/4 - 1/2 yard of fabric

Depending on the elasticity of the fabric is how big your pattern is going to be. Measure your waist (or lower waist, depending on where you want it to sit) and hips, adjust this measurements to the elasticity by taking out a few inches of your final measurements. Because this garter belt holds its place only with the elasticity of fabric and waist elastic. A good idea is to take the same measurements from a pair of undies that fit just right.
If your garter belt turns out a bit smaller (as this one did) you can just add an extra piece of fabric or lace to the front or back.

Your basic design is going to be 2 triangles, where they meet will be the front and back.
1.- Tape two sheet of paper and trace out your triangle. I made mine 14 inches (I think it could've gone longer). The sides one is 10.5 inches and 8.5 inches.



These are the supplies you'll need, the waist I used the transparent elastic and with the hanging tabs I used the black elastic.



Once you have your triangle traced out, pin it onto your fabric (doubled). Feel free to use plenty of pins, as these thin fabrics tend to slip around alot.



When you cut make sure and leave seam allowance on top and top corners where the triangles are to be joined.



This is what you'll end up with:



Now you'll need to get your elastic lace. I upcycled from a pair of underwear that was too small. Anyways, I cut it and made two strip out of each panel.





Fabric and lace laid out:



Stitch the lace over the fabric with a zigzag stitch or if you have a serger, well, lucky you :) Anyways, I used the zig zag stitch to allow room to stretch, I also reinforced the stitches by running it twice through.



Don't sew over the lace-over-lace ends just yet.





Position the fabric so it sews straight down the middle of the lace:



When I got to the end, I just turned it around and sewed through to reinforce it:



You are left with these overlapping pieces, now you can cut them off and end up with a finished pointy piece.





Now we can add the elastic to the waist. I did this each panel individually. Don't ask me why, it just seemed easier. I folded the fabric over the elastic and with one hand held the fabric while also stretching (so it sewed it stretched)



I made sure not to cut the elastic and just used as I needed to sew, THEN, cut it off, don't want to end up with too small a piece of elastic.



Ok, after both panels have the elastic sewn and trims cut off, you can go ahead and join both triangle panels:



Ok, now its starting to look like a garter belt Where the panels meet are the front and back of your garter belt.



Now is the time to try it on. If it is too loose, you can take in a bit, if its too small you can add an extra piece of fabric or lace.
I didn't pay attention to the elasticity of the fabric and was working with it vertically, so I pretty much ended up with a non stretch fabric. I added a rather large piece of doubled stretch lace to make up for it. IT still looks ok, but not exactly how I wanted it. I added the extra lace to the back.



Once you have the garter belt size all set, its time to add the elastic with tabs for the stockings. Put the garter belt on, and kinda get an idea of where you want to position the elastic, remember one goes on front and one on back. I purchased the garter belt tabs and bra strap adjusters at JoAnn's (sewing notions sections) I used the bra strap adjusters to give me more freedom to adjust as needed, I am sure you can just upcycle them from an old bra. The only tabs I found are white and metal (so generic) but they are removable, so I can always replace them once I find some nicer ones.



My machine wouldn't sew the elastic, it kept tangleling it up, I didn't feel like tinkering with it so I sewed them by hand. I sewed the elastic on two spots, where the fabric and lace are sewn together and also at the edge of the lace. This gives it more stability and it won't pull at just one spot.





My work table was my washer machine