My Top 5 Summer Fashion No-No's

Not trying to be offensive but..........

• Do not wear belly shirts if your belly sticks out noticeably.



• Cotton stretch pants are great for lounging around the house, but not for outdoors, the knee part looks too baggy when worn and overall it's just not a nice look for outdoors.



• Incorrectly self tanners (too much can give it a orange look) YUCK!



• Colored or patterned panties under white pants.(looks very tacky).



• Nice sandal on feet that's not cared for. (get a nice pedicure so you feet can look good in sandals).

Tie-Dyeing T-shirts Using Powder Dye

Tie-dye t-shirts is one of the world's favorite t-shirt and is quite easy to make, you can also make them for personal use or for profit. You'll need:

1. A soaking tub or large pot.




2. Dye (to save money use powder dye).




3. Rubber gloves (to protect hands from dye).




4. Rubber bands.




5. Dye pre-activator (to help the dye absorb through the fabric).




6. Plastic.




7. Squeeze bottle.

Directions:

• Mix powder dye with water in a squeeze bottle.




• Shake the mixture (make sure you protect your hands w/rubber gloves).




• Soak the shirt in the dye pre-activator for 10 minutes.




• Fold or gather the fabric and wrap rubber bands along the length of the fabric (rubber bands create the pattern by blocking the dye).




• Dye is squeezed into the shirt to create a pattern.




• Wrap the shirt in plastic for 24 hrs. to set the dye before you rinse it.

And........Voila! you have a Tie-Dye T-shirt.

Crafts Made From Jeans

Here is a link if anyone is interested in crafts made from jeans:
http://www.makingfriends.com/

If you visit this website enter keywords in the search box: crafts made from jeans.

Here is a sample of my work:

Blue Jean Pocket Purses

Beside clothes, there's other things you can do with jeans you'll need: 2 Blue Jean Pockets Equal in Size.
Needle and Thread or Sewing Machine.
Tacky Material Glue.
Material for a handle,
Examples: Fishing Line and Beads or Long Frayed Seam off Blue Jeans or Strip of Leather.
Straight Pins.

Instructions:

First decide on how big you want your purse and then add 2 more extra inches. To make the measurements easier I measured 2 inches around both pockets and cut the pocket off the pants. Next lay the pockets together face down and pin them together. Sew the pockets together using a one-inch seam all around except for the top. After the seam is sewed use the tacky material glue to seal the seams. This will hold the material together. After you decide on the handle you will need to attach it. The bag I made I used star shaped beads and put them on fishing line so that the handle would be stronger than with just string. Measure how long you want the handle and then add more material or fish line so you can attach the handle. Take the top seam of the two pockets and fold them in so you have an opening for your purse. Sew the handles to the inside seam of each side of the purse. To secure the folds use the tacky material glue to hold down the seam. If you want to sew it down you can but the material is very thick and it will be hard to sew.

Mixing Art With Fashion

I am very into art and fashion, and I always wanted to mix art with fashion,

so I started fabric painting. using fabric paints (fabric paint can be found at any craft store) to paint art onto clothes such as:

hand painted jeans, handbags, shoes, hair accessories,

caps, belts etc.... I sometimes use a bedazzler to give it a little dazzle with rhinestones and gems. I am now looking into making custom made t-shirts with personalized messages, logos etc.... I have done this before to test out my skills, they came out very impressive and they last longer than I thought they would. People keep telling me that I should to do it for a living and you know, that is music to my ears. I used t-shirts, t-shirt transfers a printer and a heavy duty iron, for those of you that don't know how this is done print your graphic, logo or whatever you want from your printer onto the t-shirt transfer and just iron it on the t-shirt. (If your intentions is possibly making profit from making t-shirts you will need a more reliable heating device such as a heat press or some other machine they might use to put graphics or text on t-shirts). They are great for advertisement, family reunions, daycare etc... I still need much more practice and knowledge but I'm learning more everyday. If anyone else is interested in this kind of art feel free to share your work or knowledge.