Bin Cosy/Cover

My bin did not look pretty.  It was of great concern and distraction to me, it was ruining a nice little corner of my room.  So I decided to pretty it up by making a little cosy or cover for it.  It took about 30mins and was very easy, particularly as I cheated slightly and glued a bit.
Here's the before and after:

So all I did was take some left over fabric (about half a metre but I didn't need that much).  I drew around the bottom of the bin, then drew another circle about an inch around the first one.  My fabric was quite wide bu not long enough so I cut it half and then sewed the two pieces together to make a longer thinner rectangle.  I then folded the top over a good inch and sewed it, leaving the ends open to feed elastic through.  Then I used the tried and tested 'wrap-the-fabric-around' method to make the body of the cover.  The bin is bigger at the top than the bottom but I didn't worry about that initially I just made sure it fit around the widest part and then sewed it.  The I put in on the bin several times in order to get the fit right and had to take it in, particularly at the bottom.  I then glued the bottom circle on and trimmed around the edges.  The I fed some elastic through the cosy and pulled it tight, then sewed the elastic ends together.  And that was pretty much that. :)

Cut Off Denim Shorts

So, I have problems buying shorts.  Similar to my problems buying jeans and trousers in that I struggle to find the correct fit, although somewhat remarkably I picked up some jeans in a charity shop for £1 which fit perfectly (remember that).  But my other issue with shorts is that I want to cover both my exciting lady body parts as well as my less exciting budget underwear.  The, always enjoyable, high street seems to be of the opposite opinion and limits my options to shorty-short shorts that I can barely put on anyway. 

The point is that I don't have any shorts that fit or are long enough, and we finally seem to moved into some kind of hot season and I'm stuck in jeans or tights.  So I went back to those £1 jeans and decided to turn them into cut off shorts. 

1. I tried on the jeans and mulled over how long I wanted the shorts

2. I took off the jeans and turned them inside out, then measured 11cm from the crotch and marked that on the jeans.  I wanted the outside edge of the legs 2cm shorter so I marked those 2cm shorter (it's rocket science here I hope you're keeping up).

3. I cut along the markings on one leg.

4. I folded the jeans in half and used the first leg as a guide to cut the second.

5. Then turn right side round and tried on.   Hmm not sure they fit great, a little snug in the thighs which I didn't really noticed when they were jeans but now somehow feels and looks a lot more prominent.  But still I have shorts I can wear in public which is nice.  After going in the wash they should fray a bit and look all cool.

Pom Pom Balls

I saw a tutorial on You Tube for these and decided to copy 'Modern Mom' because that's the way I roll.
I bought polystyrene balls from Hobby Craft (other craft stores may be available, but not where I live!) and used two old tote bags that I was given from work.  I cute the tote bags into lots of identical circles (coincidentally the same size as the inside of my roll of cellotape which I used to draw around to create my template).  The I folded them into quarters and pinned them onto the ball.  Once I'd done a bunch in an overlapping kind of way I opened the quarters out as much as I could to make it look nice and full and flowery. 
I think I'll add a ribbon and tie it to my bed next to my feather boa- because that's the way I roll.

Star Wars: Ewok Village Terrarium

Sorry I've not posted for ages I've been busy with holidays, and work, and my international, super secret, night-time crime fighting operation.
Anyway, I'm back with a project I started working on ages ago; a terrarium for boyfriend.  (This is a little garden in a bowl which you arrange in a particular scene, I chose stars wars, and in particular Bright Tree Village on the forest moon of Endor, home to the Ewoks- see below.)












I had already made my Ewok but it took my a while to get all the bits and pieces together to make the village.  I used a large (30cm) glass bowl that was too large!, moss, pebbles from my garden, hay, brown textured card, scissors, tape, and glue.  I bought tooth picks as well but didn't use them.

You can also see the paper prototype of the Ewok house I made as I was figuring it all out.  I then remade this in card.  I glued the hay onto the little house in an effort to recreate the strange texture the trees and houses have in the films. Not sure I quite got it but it was quite hard to glue on.

 

 

 I also made three more little houses (I made them smaller because they are further away, and because I didn't have very much card left!)  They are on the ground and a little hidden in the moss and pebbles  but I think they are a cute surprise.
Pictures aren't great because photographing a dusty and fingerprint smudged shiny glass bowl in a messy bedroom with the sun shining in is slightly beyond my abilities.