Saturday, July 14, 2012

Do It Yourself - Do It Together

Lookie, I did braids today!


It's also something I did on my birthday weekend when we went to the aquarium. It's easy and pretty and gets my hair away from my neck and shoulders on hot days. It's certainly a nice alternative to the basic pony tail. I am going to try my hand at some swirly french braids here soon.

A while back, around the time I started this blog, I had the idea of creating a DIY Group, where people came together and spent time doing different types of projects, mainly focusing on clothing and accessories. Like clothing alterations, sewing, making hair accessories or bags. I talked to people about it here and there and for a while it just stayed an idea that had yet to be realized. I thought it would be a fun and easy way to both meet new people and get motivated to do DIY projects.

Today we had our very first meeting! There's currently three members and maybe some other interested people who are going to attend some meetings here and there. The meeting today was held at my place. I get excited when I have social activities at my house, it gives me a reason to clean up and buy snacks. I bought fancy cookies and m&m's, and cooked some garlic bread and pizza bites.



the work area.



I got to spend some time with a couple of very nice people, Liz [who you've seen before] and Sara. You'll get to read more about both of these girls in future posts. Liz turned out to be the most productive out of the three of us. She made two things! We decided that for each meeting we'll focus on one particular theme. Today's theme was Hair Accessories.


 First she made this cool Turban headband. It looks really good on her.


 I really like the picture below. She's petting our silly dog Sage. Everyone loves Sage. She can't help being lovable.


Second, Liz made a feather hair clip. She did it really fast and she made it look awesome. I would have taken a whole lot longer. I'm extra slow because I take a lot of time to think about my next move. For this clip she used a plain medal clip as the base, then hot glued feathers and a that big gold thing on a felt back and glued it all onto the clip. It's a pretty basic procedure. The hard part is deciding which feathers to use and how to place them, one by one. Oh, and it sucks a little when you burn your fingers with hot glue.


Below is what I made. I didn't make the white lace part, but what I did do was create a base for an interchangeable feather or whatever headband. Originally the lace bit was a belt. I cut it into smaller pieces so I could then make multiple headbands from it. Once a piece is cut I sew off the ends so they don't fray, then sew elastic pieces onto each end and then sew black ribbon pieces onto the elastic pieces so it can be tied at the back of the head. The elastic is there so it can stretch a little. The elastic that I used was from an ultra skinny, black dollar store headband. Once it's done it can be worn as is or feather clips or charms or whatever can be put on them for added decoration. I plan to make a clip out of beads. If I actually achieve this I'll make sure to show you!



Sara did something a little more intricate so she didn't quite finish, but what she plans to do is to cut out this embroidery on felt into the shape of a feather and then glue it either on a clip or directly onto a pre-made headband. I'm very interested in how the finished piece will look. I hope to be able to share it on here!


Close up of the nearly finished embroidering...



If you enjoy DIY and do projects once in a while involving clothing or accessories, I would love for you to share photos of the process, as well as a little tutorial. All you would have to do is email me the photos and whatever you want to say about it... anniesplace85@yahoo.com.

Thanks for reading!

- MaryAnne

1 comment:

Thank you for your comment!