This makes me salivate as I look at my balls of yarn

Skymagenta from Malaysia has a serious case of MAD talent. Look at all this creations! Other than the visible crochet stitches, the form and colour of the objects are close to the real stuff. I want to nom on them right now...

Crochet Breakfast

Crochet Dim Sum

Crochet Sushi Platter

Crochet Pizza

Crochet Prawn Noodles

Crochet Taco and Chips

But she doesn't only specialise in food! I really wonder how much time she spends on making each set.

Crochet Hair Dryer and Tongs

Crochet Sewing Machine

She has tons of other creations available in her Etsy store. But if you just want to ogle at the pictures, you can check out her Flickr photostream, or follow her on her blog to get future updates!

All images are from Skymagenta's Flickr photostream.

DIY: Knotted Double-Layered Scarf from XL Men's tee (inspired by Country Road Knotted Loop Scarf)

Finally! I’ve been so busy over the weekend because of assignments. They are not major assignments, but I’m a silly perfectionist when it comes to school work.

Now, as I have promised, the scarf refashioned from one XL Men’s tee! I got the XL Men’s tee from a discount store for just $2. The scarf was inspired by the Knotted Loop Scarf by Country Road. It costs 69.95AUD! (-_-x)

Knotted Loop Scarf by Country Road for A/W 2010 Collection, image from here

It seems to be really well-liked here because I’ve seen 2 people in my class wearing it. But this is something that I am making for a friend of mine. Oh, oh and this is the very first project that I did with my NEW Elna Sew Fun sewing machine!!! All right, enough with that introduction and monologue. Let’s get on with the tutorial! :D

Materials:

1 x XL Men’s Tee
Scissors
Sewing machine/Sewing needle, thread and a lot of patience

Steps:

• Cut your tee according to the picture. A and B should be about the same width and C is from the sleeves.
• One tee will yield 2 As, 2 Bs (the second one is underneath), 2 Cs and 1 D.

• Get A and open it up. There should be an open side where the C/the sleeves were cut off. 
• Fold A into half, lengthwise, with the RIGHT side of the fabric facing each other, such that the open sides meet at the dotted line.
• Sew along the dotted line.
• Open A up and you should get a rectangular piece of fabric. Do the same as above for the other piece of A.

• Put the 2 pieces of A together, with the RIGHT side of the fabric facing each other and so that the ====, ++++ and .... are in line with each other.
• Sew along the ==== lines together and then open the piece up.

• Fold the piece lengthwise such the ++++ side meets with the …. side with the RIGHT side of the fabric facing each other. The picture shows only one piece of A. The other one is out of the frame. The 2 pieces of A form a very long piece of fabric.
• Sew ++++ and …. sides together.

• Turn this long piece of 2 As inside out and you will get a long tube of fabric with all the clean seams on the outside.

• Get C and cut the seams so that it opens up as shown in the picture.

• Get one C and one B. Line the sides ==== and ++++ together, with the RIGHT side of the fabric facing each other. Sew ==== and ++++ together.
• Do the same for the other B and C. 

• You will get 2 long strips of fabric as shown in the picture, each made from B&C.
• Lie the 2 B&C strips on top of one another, RIGHT side of fabric together.
• Sew the sides together to get a tube like with A previously.
• Fold the 2 tubes of fabric inside out so that all the clean sides are facing outside.
• The tube from A should be longer than the tube from B&C.

• Tie 3 knots in tube A, where the second knot is right in the middle of the tube.
• Tie 2 knots in tube B&C, such that the knots have a space in between.
• Lie the 2 tubes of fabric parallel to one another. The knots in tube B&C should be next to the spaces between the knots in tube A.

• Holding the 2 ends of the tube together, try and see how it looks on your neck. Adjust how you want the 2 layers to look before sewing the ends together. 

• It’s ok if the edges of the ends are not exactly together. That was also what happened to mine.

• Fold/Roll the ends neatly into half, as shown in the picture.

• Now, the final piece! Get D, open it up and cut it as shown in the picture to get a small rectangular piece of fabric.

• Join the ends of the 2 layers together, and then wrap it using D. You may want to fold the raw edges of D inwards as you wrap the ends together.

• Sew it in place! You may want to do hand sewing for this last step instead as the fabric gets really thick here and you may want to hide the stitches with some strategic stitching.

• OMG we’re finally done. Take a break because I know the steps are really confusing!

I really have to apologise for the confusing steps. It’s hard to describe everything that I did because I did most of my thinking as I was cutting and sewing all those ends together. Please don’t curse and swear if you don’t understand any one these steps! Pop a message in the comments section instead and I will try to reply ASAP! :)

Yayy! So this is the tutorial for the week! What do you guys think? I think my friend would really like it. :D

United Colors of Benetton Chain Scarf

All images from nitrolicious

I know this Chain Scarf was out a long time ago. It has been on my to-do list for an awfully long time too. And I still want it. I'm not too sure how much it is. I'm not even sure if they are still selling it! But it doesn't matter, because it's definitely more than $20 and I can make it myself in my own favourite colour for less than $10!


So, do you want it as well? Can you knit? my day-to-day adventures has a great tutorial on how to knit one of these scarves yourself. LOVE!


Can't knit but can crochet? Cornflower Blue has a tutorial on how to make similar chains using the crochet method. But it's going to look slightly different because the original Benetton scarves were knitted.


I should seriously start a real, tangible to-do list instead of thinking about it in my head. 

VOGUEknitting for Fall 2010

*GASP

Help me... I'm hyperventilating.

This is one of the designs of VOGUEknitting for Fall 2010, London Calling.

Blue. Red. White. Union. Jack. I. Want.

Check out the rest of the collections on the VOGUEknitting website.

Do you know that they also have free patterns on the VOGUEknitting website? You won't find something as awesome as that Union Jack outerwear above, but there are still a few that are worth lusting after.

Rethreads

My friend and I took part in this event at Carriageworks a while ago. You can bring clothes that you no longer want and then exchange them for 'new' clothes. New to you, but pre-loved to the people who brought them there. It's a mass clothes exchange.

In short, it's something like shopping at Vinnies for free. You get 'new' clothes and you remove those unwanted clothes that you have become bored of from your wardrobe. Everybody wins!

I brought a cream Giordano polo tee (10SGD), a Warehouse blue cotton mini-skirt (another hand-me-down) and a pale green Cotton On sweater (15SGD) for the exchange. It's a shame that I didn't get to take pictures of them to show you guys. Sorry!

But hey take a look at what I got in exchange for them!

A long ethnic skirt that is too small for my burgeoning waist (damn those cookies and cold winter days). I think I will have to try to shorten it and increase the size of the waist, maybe make it elastic. If not I'm thinking of refashioning it into a pair of shorts. I really like its prints. What do you guys think? 

See the entire post on my personal blog, She went Down Under. I only posted the craft-related part of the post here!

IDEA: Cut your dresses

Is it just me or are fashionable dresses getting increasingly simple and easy to replicate with a few simple snips of the scissors?

All images are from Style Break

ERRATUM for 8 ways to wear your favourite shawl/scarf

8 ways to wear your favourite shawl/scarf

OMG I did not realise that I forgot to add this picture in the post. How do you guys figure out which end A, B, C or D is? (-_-x) 

Visit the corrected tutorial!

My apologies again!

DIY: Casual Military Refashioned Tee

Hi guys! Here I am with another refashioned tutorial! Do you remember about my tank top that was ripped by the washing machine? Well, I used the bottom hem of the tank for the Rosette and Lace Refashioned Tee. But I still have a large piece of that lovely stretchy knit fabric left. So, I’m using it for this project!

Military Epaulette Jacket by 2treasurehunt on Etsy

This Military Refashioned Tee is a design that is inspired by those military coats with majestic epaulettes on the shoulders. I have had this black tank for quite some time and wanted to add something to it. The “Air Force” iron-on patch is something that I added after getting the black tank top. But even with that, I never really had a real kick whenever I wear this tank. It was a very very plain and boring military tank top. But now that I have added the “epaulette” on one shoulder, I think I’m ready to become a revolutionary and show it to the rest of the world.


So, are you ready? Let’s go!


Materials:
Unwanted tee/Knit fabric
Tank top
Scissors
Sewing needle and thread

Steps:
1.Get 2 pieces of knit fabric. I got mine from cutting off the bottom half of a ripped tank. 
2.Cut the knit fabric into strips of about 1 cm wide.
3. Pull the ends of the strips so that it curls around breadth-wise as shown in the picture
4. Sew the strips around the joining seam of one of the shoulders of the tank. The strip can be sewn to the tank top at its midpoint or at 1/3 of its length. You can also try to vary the point where the strip is sewn to have a messier look. Don’t try to make everything too neat!
5. You should get a sizeable tuft of… fabric strips on one of your shoulders.
6. Grab some strips and tie them into braids to create greater volume and an even more interesting look to your DIY epaulette!
7. Get another strip of fabric of about 2cm wide and sew it around the other shoulder.

8. Viola! Get a beret and strut your stuff like Che Guevera.

So after 2 refashioned tutorials, I still have quite a bit of my ripped tank top left! Hmm… I wonder what else I should with it…

The Australian Women's Weekly, For Brides (August 22, 1973)

Look what I found at the local Vinnies! They were having a massive sale and I got this well-preserved magazine for just 25cents! What a steal! Wheeeeeee!!!

The Australian Women's Weekly, For Brides

August 22, 1973

It seems to me that second-time brides do not traditionally wear white wedding gowns. One of the things that I never knew...

8 ways to wear your favourite shawl/scarf

Hello everyone! I’m back with my new, favourite shawl (the knitted Sunday Market Shawl) and the 8 different ways to wear it! It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the same shawl, because I’m sure you have a big scarf or old shawl waiting for you in a corner of your closet.



Let’s explore the 8 looks together! Use this figure and other photos to guide yourselves!

NOTE: Pardon that black suitcase in the background of the photos. It's my housemate's. (-_-X)

Look 1

Wrap the length of the shawl around your body and tuck in the ends. Secure and cinch your waist with a belt.

Look 2

Tie ends A and B together. Tie ends C and D together. Put your hands through the 2 small loops created from the tied ends. Wear it as a baggy cardigan with the body of the shawl resting on your shoulders.

Look 3

Tie ends A and D together. Hang the shawl on your neck, with the knot positioned behind the neck.

Look 4

1. Position shawl
2. Bring the top ends of the shawl to the centre of your chest and cross them
3. Twist the ends
4. Tie a knot and secure by tucking it in

Look 5

Create Look 3. Then tie ends B and C together in front of you. Move the new knot to your back. A nice keyhole will be formed at the back.

Look 6

1. Position the shawl on your shoulders
2. Hold on to the 2 ends in front of you
3. Tie the 2 ends together at your back
4. This is how it looks behind

Look 7

Just wind the shawl around your neck haphazardly to create a natural drape.

Look 8

If all else fails, just let the shawl hang on your shoulders.


Isn’t that easy? I hope the pictures make the instructions easier to follow. I’m sure some of you definitely know of more ways to wear a simple shawl like this. These are just the 8 ways that I thought of at the point of the photo-taking.


I personally find Look 2 very inspiring! It’s easy to add different layers to create a different look. This is how I wore Look 2 the other day… when I was in school blogging about the Sunday Market Shawl for the first time.

Sunglasses: No brand from DFO, A$10
Shawl: DIY knitted Sunday Market Shawl
Cropped Cream Cardigan: Paper Scissors, A$9.99 (discounted price!)
Beaded Wooden Necklace: Pinched it from my Mum’s jewellery box
White Long Sleeves Top: Cotton On, A$7.50 (discounted price!)
Indigo Skinny Jeans: Kmart, A$29
Black Boots: Kmart, A$29