Pretty Darn Great

Floaty Top Restyle Part 1 of 2: From Ruffle to Headband

 You know when you have a piece of clothing that's generally okay but still not entirely right? Take this top I picked up at a thrift shop in Austin.

(Above) The top all laid out

Love the fabric and the fit is pretty and floaty. But the ruffle? I just felt like it made the proportion of the top not quite right. It certainly made my proportions look off. First step? Removing the ruffle from the bottom.

(Above) Applying the seam ripper to a whole bunch of serger stitching

Once I removed the ruffle I was left with a loooooooooong strip of fabric, about 6 feet long and about 4.5 inches wide. Not knowing what else to do with it decided to make a headband/sash/belt out of it. Folded it in half, pinned and over a few tv shows hand stitched a seam about 1 cm in. Was then left with a loooooooooong tube. Stitched up one end, then using a knitting needle turned it inside out.

(Above) Mid-knitting needle flip

Once it was right-side out I sewed up the remaining open end and of course immediately tied it on my head.

(Above) Headbandy, with trailing ends

The slipperiness of the fabric makes it prone to fall off but I still generally like it. Will play around with it as a belt. And of course get going on making the rest of the shirt hemmed and wearable in ruffle-less glory.

Feather Barrettes

Made a bunch of these ribbon barrettes which I love but I just haven't been wearing them. Perhaps because they seem a little Renaissance-Fair-ish? Definitely because they make me feel like an 8 year old? Clearly these pretty pretty items needed something to give them an extra kick.

 During one of my insomnia evenings the answer came to me - feathers! I'd already used them to make a ring ridiculously gorgeous so why not use them to kick up some ribbons? 

First - start with a single color or tonal barrette. I'd first tried this with ribbons in contrasting colors but the prep-school-tie look of the stripes in the barrette contrasted too much with the airy-fairy-ness of the feathers.

(Above) Barrette with one wee feather

Next - Sort your feathers. You'll need nine all together - four pairs of feathers in similar sizes (for example two large, four medium, and two small) to attach to the ends of the ribbons and one really small one to weave into the barrette top.

Then - Glue the feathers to the end of the ribbons. Using your glue gun put a thin ribbon of glue along an inch or two of the ribbon.

(Above) All glued up

Place one of the feathers on the ribbon, lining up the center ridge of the feather with the ribbon/glue.

(Above) One side glued up

Then flip the ribbon/feather over and attach the matching feather to the other side of the ribbon. Match the feathers the best you can so that they're the same length on the ribbon.

 
(Above) Four sets of feathers

Next - Glue the wee feather into the top part of the barrette. The easiest way? Decide where on the barette you'll be placing the feather, make sure you can quickly get it positioned there, put a dab of glue on the feather tip, and then affix.

(Above) All glued and done

Finally - enjoy your pretty barrettes! Though watch out for curious kids and cats....

 
(Above) Green gorgeousness

 
(Above) Pretty pink

 

Interested in trying your own hand at it?

Materials: Assorted colored feathers, glue gun, finished ribbon barrettes

Warnings: Really is easy to do; Remember that glue gun glue hardens fast so work quickly, it can also be stringy so be careful you don't get glue strings across the feathers.