DIY T-Shirt Refashion

 

 

Hello, hello!

I've been wanting to show you this t-shirt refashion for quite a while now, even wanted to film a video of me refashioning it, but life laughed out loudly right into my face and here I am today with a plain old post instead. It is a super weekend project!

First let me tell you that I have plenty of plain cotton t-shirts which I usually wear with my crochet (tube) necklaces and for them a plain shirt is just the right thing. However, I got bored with this particular one. Many washings forward it turned from a sweet cookie like pink into this greyish / dusty rose hue, so I thought enough is enough and decided to uplift it. 

I didn't have a particular design for it. I knew I wanted to have a mix of crochet and fabric flowers, so I gathered my lefties. 

This post does not include all the exact patterns for the flowers, but check the ones I am linking below. 

 

Flower + Leaf Patterns

  

Tulle (or fabric / lace ribbon) rosette

Irish flower

Forget me not

Daisy

Mini Flower

Rosette

Crochet Rose

Six-Petalled Flower

Crochet Leaves

Crochet chain

Other (optional) materials: lace, ribbon, tulle, beads / sequins. 

Please note that the shirt should be of sturdy / strong cotton so that it can take the weight of the crochet ensemble, otherwise it will pull it down.  

1. When you have everything ready, design the look. Play and arrange everything you have, work them around until you are satisfied with the look. 
2. Next, pin everything down. First the pieces that will be the foundation. Sew them on. 
3. Then pile the rest on / around it, pin them and sew them. 
 

I could've added more flowers and make it richer, but this time I aimed at a more delicate and softer look, so I am satisfied how it turned out. 

Spring cleaning my closet I selected a couple of other shirts I want to try and refashion them too, but we'll see how that goes (threating life with my fist up!). 

Crochet Calculator

 Free Guadalupe Pattern

Have you had a crochet gift project on mind and wondered if you could get it finished on time? Especially when the holidays are pressing in? 
Well, fret and worry no more, because Love Crochet have the best tool for you!

Let me introduce you to their Crochet Calculator! It's an awesome tool that calculates how long it will take you to crochet projects by entering simple data like your skill level and hours you crochet in a week. Also, I must mention that they have a mind-blowing library of both paid and free patterns you would certainly like to browse through.

You can also find me"there. 

Have fun!

Crochet Top

Place Nationale - Inspiring Brand

 

It was at Anthropologie that I first laid eyes on these gorgeous creations in crochet and white work. Needless to say I was instantly in love. These lovelies popped up in my pinterest feed now and then and I drooled over them, imagining they were mine.  It was quite a while later I decided to pursue a link and discovered the brand behind it!

They are called Place Nationale and this is their story:

"We’re a proud British brand & split our time between the UK and France.
We got our start selling a curated collection of vintage clothes and antique lace fabrics in London's Portobello Market.

Our early collections sold in London were an assembly of antique and vintage laces, and the brand was quickly picked up by international retailers.

To bring Place Nationale to a wider audience we now use this knowledge to develop our own pure cotton fabrics - faithfully reproducing vintage laces and embroidery using traditional skills and techniques.

Our collections remain true to the authenticity & intricacy of vintage fabrics, and to the bohemian romantic 70s look that customers recognize and love about Place Nationale."

I am infinitely in love!

Follow them on instagram if you fell in love too!

Happy Spring!

 

Happy spring guys! 

And it really is spring - not only by the calendar, but by the rising temps, the blossoming and blooming of nature and the inevitable chirping outside my window which really puts me in a special mood and enhances my inspiration.

To mark the day, I made this spring brooch, playing with almost the same color combo as I did for the spring necklace. 

The day has been growing bigger by the minute, but I am still lacking time. How are you doing? Started spring cleaning? I didn't, but I am working on some spring refashioning ideas for the blog. We'll see how that goes.

Instagram Color Love - Monday Inspiration

 

 My current color love on IG.

1 and 6 ipiripinapa 2 crochetedbyaina 
3 fotomaedchen

4 winstonsart and 5 loopsnswoops

3 in 1: Spring Necklace, a Bracelet & a Cuff

 

 

Deep through a thick forest, there is a dirt winding road that ends up at an open green valley embroidered with colorful wild flowers. 

The air is laden with invigorating fragrances and the silence is decorated by the nature's unique orchestra composed of buzzing bees and insects and the chirping and singing of birds.  There you find me taking all these in, soaking them up. 

I love taking long walks in nature, exploring and discovering with all my senses wide open and finally I take photos, fearing that these images might fade out in time. 

When searching for inspiration for my work, I invoke images similar to the opening one of this post, which was used to create this.

I am happy to show you my newest piece - a necklace which turns into a bracelet and a cuff. 

The tube necklace turns into a bracelet, but I didn't take a picture of it for this post. I am planning a video with Eva as to show you how it transforms.

I am working on several more in different colors and cannot wait to show them all!

Insta love: Anacardia Dolls

 

It was one of these embroidery loop art creations by Ana that caught my eye! I simply adore 3D embroidery hoop creations, especially those that are not retained into the constraining hoop-y walls.

What scarce information I found about Ana is the one on her blog, which sadly she does not keep any more and where she writes:

"I am Ana Carolina. In my childhood I loved the toys that we could  do with simple things. My favorite dolls were small sticks that we dressed with feathers and flowers that stood by my grandfather's farm ground. This memory is very present, I'm still playing ... I think of my dolls and drawings as a piece of childhood."

Find more of her work on her instagram.

 

Granny Square Baby Sweaters

 

Happy 8th of March ladies! Stay strong in this rough world!

Today I am showing you a small peek of my baby sweaters I made using the granny stripe stitch and my most favourite flowers. I chose a rose for the red one and an anemone for the purple one.

There are some with long sleeves in the make. What can I say... I am in love with these.

 

Neverending Macrame Possibilities: Macrame Tops

 

Having originated from 13th century Arab weavers who used this technique of knotting the excess of thread and yarn along the edges of hand-loomed fabrics into decorative fringes on bath towels, shawls and veils, macramé found its way to Spain through the Moorish conquest and slowly spread throughout Europe. 

Macrame had its peak in Victorian times where it was used for both the home and the garments and though the craze subsided for a time, it regained its popularity in the 70' only to fade away during the 80's. 

The trend of household items in the past several years has been holding quite well and has also spread to include jewelry accessories and garments. 

To illustrate the affluent possibilities macrame offers, I have selected a handful of eye-catching designs of tops hoping to spruce up inspiration. I have never really tried macrame seriously, although I had a colleague at work who had it mastered and had showed me a couple of knots. 

Have you tried macrame? What have you made?

The credits for all respective images used in this post can be found on my pinterest board here. 

Lace Roses Necklace

Happy Monday guys! 

May this week be tender with us, treat us well and let us reach the weekend without any major stresses :)

Today, instead of an inspirational Monday post, I am shifting things a bit and showing you this lovely and delicate necklace I made a while ago. I showed it first when I talked about this interview of mine, but at the time it was still not done, that is to say it was not beaded as was originally imagined. 

So fast forward many suns (and moons), et voila!  

The lace dictated the beading so I used cylinder and seed beads for the flower accompanying circles and the sides - although the ones on the left are almost invisible in the picture and some pearl beads for the flowers. I hope it finds a good home.

It is listed here. 

What I Have Pinned Lately #16

 

Today's pin sharing session is quite short and mostly about grannies.  Being known as a sucker for crocheted granny squares modified into various clothing or decorative items, I can't nonchalantly pass a granny to save my life. 

So you can understand the excitement I felt when I saw ibiza's girl granny sweater. Isn't it divine? And she always manages to get the best color combinations!

 

Next is this lovely Peach Dream Jacket (their name - I'd have used a cardi for this one) worked in a square using a lace pattern.

 

  

St.Patty's Day is coming up, so Kathryn has rounded up some lovely (and free!) shamrock patterns in a square you might want to make for the day, and she was kind to include mine too.

 My Shamrock Tutorial

 

Marjan has shared the pattern for an amazing coaster. Visit to see what a great garland she's made with these lovelies! 

And to spice things up at the end - these gorgeous, floral pom-poms by Honestly WTF.