Tuesday Tutorial: Wet Dog Hood to Black Bear Hood, Replacing a Fur Hood

Here's a simple tutorial on how I went from wet dog hood to furry black bear hood. I am just kidding, this is all fake fur, no animals were killed in the making of this tutorial!  

I sported this wet dog hood all of last year, since my hubby put it in the dryer after a wash. It used to be nice and fluffy but after the dryer washing, not so much. It wasn't a big deal last year because I was wearing hats, but this year, I have been employing my hood for warmth to avoid hat hair and well, it was quite embarrassing.  

I sewed the edge of the hood on my sewing machine before cutting it off. That way, the stuffing would be somewhat contained. 

Wet dog fur off! 

I then cut the excess stuffing so it wouldn't get in the way of sewing. 

This is how it looked at this point. 

I found this cute little fake fur scarf in the 99 cents store. 

I measured and cut off the excess

Much better!

I then sewed the edge of the "black bear" scarf to the edge of the hood. Sorry for the cluttered photo. I was also listening to my iPod and on the computer while I sewed. Yes, I multi-task.

Bye bye, "wet dog" hood! Don't get me wrong, wet dogs are okay, just not on my hood! lol. 

Hello foxy mama! Or should I say black bear mama. I love the way it came out and am no longer embarrassed to wear my hood! 

Tuesday Tutorial: Infinity Scarf from Sweater

Curl shrinkage is real people!

I usually cut my hair during the winter. I don't really notice the "shortness" of it because my hair shrinks about 4 inches when it's curly. When I do the winter cut, I simply flat iron it straight and I have long hair again. But this year is different. I want my hair to be long and curly by the time the summer rolls around so I need to keep the scissors at bay. The problem with that is that I won't have the option of winter straight hair because by now it has lost it's shape and looks too long and lifeless. So winter curly hair it is.  

I apologize for the blurry iPhone pic. 

I decided I needed a thick scarf that would cover my ears since hats tend to flatten my curly hair. If I need more warmth,  I also have my hood as a back up. Here is a tutorial on how to make a thick infinity scarf from a sweater. 

  I started with a large sweater

 I cut the arms off

 I opened them up

 I cut the body in half

 Then I cut the top of each half like so.

 I opened up each torso half and lined them up bottom to bottom.

 I stitched them, right sides together.

 I then added the opened sleeves on the bottom and sewed.

 Then I cut the inside of the sleeves to make it even with the sides it was sewn to.

 Fold in half and sew along the edge of the top making a tube.

 With right sides together, sew the ends to make a round tube.

I had my hair straight in the left photo, thus the hat. The scarf is wide enough to cover my ears and I can even put it over my head in case it gets super cold, like it did a couple of weeks ago.

 I really love it.

What do you think? How do you keep warm in the winter? Hat? Hood? Thick scarf?

Tutorial Tuesday: Dashiki Refashion

Back in July, I collaborated with House of Estrela, an amazing refashion blog, and shared this refashioned dashiki over at her place. 

Here, I will share the tutorial in it's entirety including a couple of extra shots. As is custom with my summer projects, my sons are in the photos. Although it is more difficult to create in the summer, this time does allow me to include them in the show and tell process. It's all good and it's all me baby!

You start by taking a v-neck shirt that fits you well

I love the dashiki because of the power it emits. I bought my dashiki back in 1998 in a flea market in North Carolina while visiting my sister. I was newly married,  had no children and was continuing to explore my cultural and political identity. I did feel quite empowered in it and wore it often until it got too small for me and tore.

Here's the tear, boo hoo. 

I cut the entire design off of the body of the dashiki. This is what I was left with. 

I pinned it onto the front of the t-shirt first for proper placement.

Then I continued pinning on the dress form. Don't look at the background. The house gets messy during the summer, don't judge! lol

Here's a back view with backpack just thrown in the back ground. Yup, it was the beginning of summer. 

This is how it came out. I love it!

Here comes one of the kiddos 

 "Stay Strong Mother!" I first heard this from Liela Joy Marie Fuller; author of Life's Reflection. I interviewed her here.

 And here's the other kiddo. Not so little anymore, he is going to pass me soon. 

  We had such a great summer. My little one spends more time in summer school than this one, so we got to have alone time and bond. I love him so much. 

Back view

What summer projects did you accomplish? How did you work with the kids during the summer?

Tuesday Tutorial: Denim Sewing Machine Cover from Jeans

One thing I learned about spring break, or any break for that matter, is that my stuff needs protection! This sewing machine cover was long overdue. I am not sure why I  didn't do this earlier. I guess Dan unraveling my thread for the upteenth time during break caused a crafty craze that had me searching for the nearest fabric and whip up armor for my defenseless machine.

The closest fabric was in the form of these jeans. Thank God they were in a pile to be reconstructed anyway. Otherwise, I would be showing you some flowery machine cover made from a dress or a plastic one made from a shower curtain. Lol!  These were given to my older son by his cousin. They were too small and he has trouble with button closures anyway so it was a perfect fit.

After I measured my machine, I ascertained that I can cut the pant legs right here.

I cut through the inseam of each leg and this is what I am left with. These will be the front and back of the cover.

Then I cut the waist band off of the top

Then I cut the back part of the pants starting with the middle seam and continuing down the inseam of each side. I was left with this. These will form the sides of the cover.

This is what is left of the front, I did not use this part.

I then stitched the two pieces together.

I also cut the seam bulk from the bottom of the pants for easier sewing. This then goes draped over the machine.  I simply sewed the edge of the top and bottom parts of the pants around the edges of the back pockets to make the sides.

Here you have it! My new denim sewing machine cover.

Here's a side view to show you where the pockets went. 

Mission accomplished: PROTECTED!

Now Dan doesn't have a chance against my third child, my sewing machine! Lol.

As always, tell me what you think. I appreciate your feedback.