Made By Lex

Glamorize Your Water Bottle

July 26, 2011 5:09 am

Why use a plain ol’ cup when you can make it so much more glamourous? I think this would also make a GREAT gift! I got a piece of leather that measure the circumference of my water bottle.

I sewed it then slipped it on my bottle. Then I used the rhinestone kit that MJ Trimming sent me. I started glueing the rhinestones down the center in straight lines. I was going for high impact glam.

I just kept on gluing them until I got one solid, sparkly strip!

How great is this water bottle cover?!

I’m keeping this one in mind for gifts. I think it would be a great one!

Tags: DIY, go green, leather, rhinestone, water bottle cover
Posted in other, refashions, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Pajama Pants Anyone?

July 7, 2011 7:36 am

I’m pretty sure if you searched the internet for how to make PJ pants, this idea would be all over the place. So I don’t claim to have invented this idea. But  I still love it, nonetheless. I love using old T’s for things because it’s using what we already have or is already made. It’s a great way to recycle.  So when the girls needed new pj pants, I made these.

Get a T.

Fold it on it’s side.

Trace a pattern on each side of the T with another pair of pj pants.

After cutting two out, sew each leg up the middle then pin the two together and sew them together at the crotch/bum seam (I’m sure that’s a technical term )

Make a waistband the width of the top of the pants. Fold it over.

After attaching, pull the elastic through and close.

You can make quite a few in no time! One thing I’ll do is if the fabric is a little plain I’ll sew a little fun patch of fabric on

(See the fuchsia ones in the middle? If you’re lucky and your child is small enough you can use the arms of a T for the pant legs. It make a natural leg shape. Love it!)

Enjoy!

Tags: children's clothes, DIY, pajama pants, PJ pants tutorial
Posted in children's clothes, other, refashions | 13 Comments »

Bold Leather Flower Belt Tutorial

May 9, 2011 3:08 pm

I’ve been so inspired by these gorgeous belts I’ve seen this year.

marc jacobs

although this is a cuff, it was one of my inspirations

asos

So when I decided to do a belt as a tutorial, I posted it on FB and a reader suggested using recycled leather and I thought it was genius! So in my weekly trip to the thrift store I found this deep eggplant leather skirt.

My first step was taking the skirt apart. You can do it with scissors or a seam ripper.  Then make a template of the belt shape you want to cut out. I made mine as shown out of pattern paper. You can use regular paper, cloth, whatever you have.

Next, lie it out on your leather and trace it.

Cut it out. If you don’t have a sewing machine you can just stop here. This belt will look great even as one piece.

But if you want to do an extra step, you can cut out another piece.

Sew it together, inside out leaving a hold to pull it through. I don’t know if all machines will sew through leather well. Mine does it just fine. Definitely use a leather needle to make it easier.

After pulling the belt right side out, top stitch all the way around.

Now that the base of your belt is made we’ll work on the flower. Cut out a bunch of different petal shapes.

Begin piecing them together, a couple at a time. You can machine stitch them together, like I did. But if you don’ have a machine you can sew it by hand. Or if that intimidates you, there’s always glue

Just add more until you’re happy with the piece.

Then attach it to your belt.

Now, to cover where you stitched it on, get one more petal and sew it as shown.

Then you can flip it over and no stitched show.

For the closure, I added a heavy duty snap that I sewed on.

Here’s the finished result!

I love the way it looks on this simple maxi dress.

Tags: accessories, DIY, leather belt, recycle, refashion, repurpose, tutorial, women's belt
Posted in other, refashions, Uncategorized, women's clothing | 14 Comments »

Hardware Store Necklace Tutorial

April 27, 2011 7:52 am

I was really inspired by a couple of these necklaces that I had seen on the runways this year.

After taking a closer look at them I knew I could make something similar.

Here’s what you’ll need from your local hardware store:

-varying sized washers

-bike chain

-gold metal wire

I also needed extra gold chain. You can use anything you have laying around or get some at the craft store. Also, some ribbon.

First, tie a ribbon to make your bike chain connect.

This will be the strong base of your necklace. Next, get your washers.

Spray them gold on both sides.

Now, attach a piece of your chain to the bike chain and begin stringing the washers by wrapping around them once. Do different spacings, different lengths, all the while attaching the chain back and forth with your gold wire. I just would basically tie it to the bike chain then trim off the excess. You can also use jewelry closures if you prefer.

Keep stringing them until you get the heaviness you want for your look.

 

Look how great the completed project looks!

(my sister, Francesca was here from Arizona so I got a fresh faced model!)

 

This entire project cost me about $7 and took me about 20 minutes. I think if I did another I would use a satin ribbon and make the tie a bow on the back so you could var the length of the necklace. I’ve already worn this twice because it’s so versatile.

Who knew bike chains and washers could be so chic?

This tutorial is also over at MODE Bay Area today along with some other great articles!

And, just a tip- the amazing Harts Fabric is having a home dec sale. Go check it out!

Tags: DIY, hardware store, jewelry, necklace, refashion, tutorial
Posted in jewelry, refashions | 12 Comments »

Embroidered Top Easter Dress Tutorial

April 25, 2011 8:57 am

This was one of my favorite kids dresses that I’ve ever made. It reminded me so  much of Odd Molly ‘s line. I started with this vintage shirt that I got for $1.00 at the thrift store. I saw lots of hidden potential in it.

To make the bodice top I cut a simple front piece and a back piece from the back of the shirt. Keep in mind where the embroidery lays so you can center it accordingly.

Cut the back piece down the middle and attach the two sides to the front.

Make a lining piece and do the exact same thing.

Attach the lining to the bodice top sewing all the way around the top of it.  Don’t sew the back closure part yet. After turning right side out and ironing, here’s what you’ll have:

 

Now slightly gather another piece of fabric, your desired length, and attach to the bodice.

One thing I did was sew in a piece of bias tape to give it a nice extra detail.

Then I sewed on an additional gathered piece along the bottom.

At this point, I added straps.

Then for the back, I added buttons and loops and closed the back seam.

Close the back seam up.

Hem the bottom and you’re good to go!

Now, we were having a little Easter melt down. I know this picture doesn’t scream. “Make me. I’m a fun dress!”. Quite the contrary. But what are you going to do? Candy bribes don’t work because they’ve already had so much candy to eat, hence the meltdown. You get it, don’t you?

But aren’t the colors just lovely? It has such a European flair to it.

I hope you all had a beautiful Easter!

Tags: embriodery, girls dress, kid's dress, refashion, tutorial
Posted in children's clothes, other, refashions | 7 Comments »