DIY: hair ties

I first bought my first "emijay" hair ties in November 2011, before I left on a trip to Jamaica. I made my first DIY ones back in August 2012, and now I have elastic stocked up, so that I can make a few more on days I am home sick. Today I am home sick, and so I finally decided to do a post on them. Not only do I love the colors of the hair ties, but I love that they don't tug at my hair and damage it. also, they look pretty cute on your wrists when you aren't wearing them in your hair.

I purchased a few yards of fold over elastic (which can be purchased at a fabric store). one yard will produce three hair ties. cut the elastic into 12 inch strips and knot the ends (and trim the ends after doing so if you so desire). I got regular fold over elastic, glitter, and velvet.

The process is quite easy, just hold the two ends of the elastic together and wrap them around one finger. Pull the two ends through the loop. It is just like tying the end of a balloon! To stop the fabric from fraying, slightly burn the edges with a lighter. It is an extremely easy DIY & way way way cheaper than buying them at a boutique.

Enjoy!

xoxo,

aLl

DIY Frat Shirt

Hi everyone!
So I have been obsessed with Pinterest since I first made one over a year ago. Once I started seeing these mixed-match shirts & pockets, I fell in love. And once the shirts starting popping up, I found a link to the site. The frat collection. I have recently bought a few frat collection shirts, but kept thinking to myself about how much cheaper it would be to make my own. The other day, I went to JoAnns fabric store and bought the fabric & shirts. All for about $7. Tonight I had my boyfriend's mother help me measure the pocket and sew it on. Here are the directions:

1.) Buy the shirt & fabric. (You don't need much) I bought half a yard.

2.) Iron the shirt & the fabric.

3.) Find a shirt that already has a pocket, and take some cardstock and measure around the pocket leaving about a 1/2" extra on all sides.

4.) Take the cardstock & put it over the fabric and cut around the paper. Fold over the 1/2" on all sides and iron down, this helps the sewing process. You want to have an overlap of fabric to fold over, so the edges are clean and near.

5.) Once you have the pocket cut out and have ironed the edges over, take some pins and pin the pocket on the shirt wherever you like. I put the shirt on and looked in the mirror and pinned the pocket on that way. It might not be right the first time, I think I moved the pocket a good 3 times before it was in the perfect spot.


6.) Then use your choice of thread & sew the pocket on your shirt. Since my pocket was mint green, I used mint green thread.

7.) Once you have sewn on the pocket, you now have a super cute & super cheap DIY version of a frat collection shirt.


Here are the pictures of the process & the final product! It was extremely easy to make and only took about 20-30 minutes.

GOODLUCK!

aLl