How to Sew a Weighted Blanket: A New Video

Posted on November 10, 2018 by

The next time you’d like to catch some serious z’s, snuggle up with a weighted blanket and wake up on the right side of the bed every morning. If you have insomnia or sensory integration issues, a weighted blanket just might be the drug-free sleep aid you’ve been waiting for.

Applied pressure from a heavy blanket throughout the night has a relaxing effect which is soothing and calming. A weighted blanket will relax the nervous system and encourage dopamine and serotonin production, which later converts to melatonin to make you sleepy.

Although these hefty blankets are quite effective in resolving many sleep issues, they can be very expensive to purchase and ship. Making your own will not only save you money but you can also get creative and design a unique blanket with any color or pattern to match your own decor.

Click here for the entire tutorial.

The phrase “sleep tight” will have a whole new meaning when you wrap up at night with one of these weighted blankets.

For more sewing inspiration, click here.

Happy Sewing!

Beth

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Costume Week: Are You a Good Witch or a Bad Witch?

Posted on October 23, 2018 by

Are you a good witch or a bad witch

I’m pretty sure Susan, from Second Chances by Susan is a good witch. She used her powers for good during the second season of Refashion Runway and won the Halloween Challenge with this stunning refashioned witch costume.

tree looking up

Starting with this menagerie of thrift store clothes,

before (2)

She created this:

back (2)

shoes

Untitled

Thank you so much, Susan, for sewing into the wee hours of the morning to bring us some incredible inspiration! You can see her whole process here.

And remember:

Always match your pumps to your broom

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Costume Week: Glinda the Good Witch

Posted on October 22, 2018 by

Welcome back to Costume Week!

If you tend to be more of a good witch than a bad witch, you can create this classic Glinda costume for Halloween from an outdated formal dress found at a thrift store. Just add a few handmade accessories to complete the look, and before you know it, you’ll be looking just like the most powerful sorceress in the land of Oz.

Glinda-the-Good-Witch-Front-and-back

Glinda-the-Good-Witch-After-Full

Your Glinda the Good Witch costume wouldn’t be complete without the quintessential tall crown. Find out how to make one here.

Glinda-the-Good-Witch-Crown-after

Glinda-the-Good-Witch-back-after

Glinda-the-Good-Witch-after-1

Click here to find out how to make a Glinda the Good Witch costume.

As usual, thank you for viewing my eHow articles, all of your nice comments and for clicking on the “Yes, I found this helpful” button over at eHow. It means more to me than you’ll ever know. 🙂

Costume-Week

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Costume Week: Homemade Dorothy Inspired Costume, Ruby Slippers and All

Posted on October 21, 2018 by

Welcome back to Costume Week at The Renegade Seamstress.

Today, you can Follow the Yellow Brick Road and click your heels three times to find out how to make the iconic Dorothy costume.

Dorothy-Costume-shoes-after-2

“You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to find it on your own.”

-Glinda the Good Witch

🙂

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Costume Week: There’s a New Sheriff in Town

Posted on October 20, 2018 by

Sheriff Costume Tutorial

It’s that time of year again! Time to pull out a few thrift store finds from the bottom of the pile and create a fun costume for Halloween. My motto is quick and easy these days so I kept it pretty simple.

I started with a homemade fake suede skirt and a Roper dress that was a little too much of a good thing, but perfect for a sheriff costume.

_MG_3105_edited-1 Sheriff Costume2

First, I simply cut off the bottom of the dress to make it into a shirt.

Notice the horseshoe fabric and the fake leather trim? Perfectly cheesy!

Sheriff Costume

Sheriff Costume1

I then used my rotary cutter to cut fringe around  the bottom of the skirt.

Sheriff Costume4

Add a belt, bandana, badge, some boots and wha-la….. a sheriff costume is born.

Sheriff Costume Tutorial

sheriff costume1

Sheriff Costume TutorialSheriff Costume TutorialSheriff Costume Tutorial

Of course a sheriff costume wouldn’t be complete without a corny tin foil badge. 🙂

Sheriff Costume Tutorial

Sheriff Costume Tutorial

Sheriff Costume Tutorial

Whadda ya think- will I be able to keep those kindergarteners in line at our Halloween party now?

Sheriff Costume Tutorial

Thanks to my Ruggedly Handsome Husband for takin’ some time out outta his busy day to snap a few photos for me today.

Yeehaw, lookin’ good, honey!

ruggedly handsome husband

PS. This is a rerun post, but I thought you might like to see it again for Costume Week.

Have a great day!

Beth

 

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Costume Week: Wicked Witch of the West

Posted on October 19, 2018 by

It’s costume week at The Renegade Seamstress!

Whether you’ve been invited to a costume party or you’re lucky enough to be able to dress up at work, it’s never too early to be thinking of this year’s Halloween costume. Here is a week’s worth of ideas to help get you in the mood and to hopefully inspire you to put together the best costume EVER.

Enjoy!

Costume-Week

To start out this week, if you’re feeling a bit more bad witch than good witch this Halloween season, you can put together a Wicked Witch of the West-inspired costume faster than you can call out your army of flying monkeys.

Wicked-Witch-of-the-West-costume-1

And nothing says bad witch quite like a green face. You can purchase pre-made face paint or click here to find out how to make your own.

Wicked-Witch-of-the-West-Face-Paint-3

To find out how to put together this iconic witch costume, grab your broom, click here and fly on over to eHow for a wickedly good time.

See you over there, my pretty………

And if you feel yourself compelled to click the “Yes, I found this article helpful” button and leave a comment when you’re over there, don’t worry…. I might have or I might not have cast a spell on you….. who knows….. 🙂

Thanks for all of your encouragement!!!!

Wicked-Witch-of-the-West-Green-Face-Paint

For more costume inspiration:

Sheriff Costume Tutorial

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DIY: How to Make a Lanyard

Posted on September 11, 2018 by

You know summer’s officially over when all those back-to-school pictures start popping up all over your news feed. This year, don’t forget to pamper your child’s new teacher in the midst of all of the excitement. If you’ve been looking for the perfect do-it-yourself teacher gift, then look no further. This simple fabric key or badge lanyard will be the envy of all the other teachers. Believe me, they will all be clamoring to have your child in their class next year just so they can get one of your cute lanyards.

Here’s the Facebook video:

For those of you not on Facebook, you can watch the Youtube video here:

Click here for the full lanyard tutorial.

Thank you once again to everyone who filled out the survey. I’ve been busy compiling the information and I’ll be sharing it with you soon along with the name of The Refashion Handbook winner.

For more sewing an refashion inspiration and how-to’s, click here.

Happy Sewing!

Beth

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Throwback Saturday: Five Minute T-Shirt Shrug Tutorial

Posted on August 25, 2018 by

I don’t know about you, but I felt a bit of fall in the air yesterday. I’m not ready to give up my summer dresses quite yet so here’s a great way to be able to wear them a little longer.

I hope you find today’s “blast from the past” helpful. 🙂

All the pink tags were half price so of course, being the cheapster that I am, and being spoiled by my local thrift store prices, I only looked at pink tag items.

I found this cute dress for $2.00.

All I had to do was take it in under the sleeves a bit, otherwise it was a perfect fit. I loved the color, pattern and the fun lacy detail on the front.

But it IS fall and the days are getting cooler and I’m losing my nice summer tan, so I much prefer to wear sleeves to school.

I thought it would be fun to make a long sleeved shrug from this gray thrift store t-shirt that I’ve had in my stash for quite awhile.

First cut right up the middle of the shirt.

Then cut off the collar.

Fold under the raw edge and stitch to form a casing for the ribbon.

Cut a 55 inch piece of ribbon.

Thread it through the casing, using a safety pin.

Pull ribbon tight and tie to get this look:

I can’t wait to wear my new dress to school this week.

A big thank you to my good friend Kris!

Not only did she give me her “old” Rebel XT Canon camera, when I started blogging, but since my “fashion photographer” was turkey hunting today, Kris took the after pictures. Her generosity and  genuine ways, never cease to amaze me. I love you, Kris!

You might also enjoy:

Happy Sewing!

Beth

PS. If you haven’t had a chance to answer the survey questions and enter your name to win a copy of my book, The Refashion Handbook, click here.

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Throwback Tuesday: DIY Ruffled T-Shirt Cardigan Tutorial

Posted on August 21, 2018 by

Here’s another refashion blast from the past that I think still holds up. So, if you’ve been thinking about giving this refashion thing a whirl, it’s the perfect beginning project. I promise you will be successful. 🙂

What should we do to liven up this plain old gray t shirt?

Perhaps some more ruffles would do the trick.

What do you think?

 

For more refashion and sewing tutorials and inspiration, click here.

Happy Sewing!

Beth

PS. If you’d like to help me make my site better by participating in my survey, click here and your name will be entered into the drawing to win a copy of my book, The Refashion Handbook.

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New One Minute Video: How to Add Pockets to a Dress or a Skirt

Posted on August 20, 2018 by

Oh, the luxury of a good pocket–perfect for phones, lipstick, or loose change. Plus, you can plunge your hands into them to look effortlessly casual during social situations. But what to do if your favorite dress or skirt is pocketless? No need to stand around feeling awkward with your hands flapping about in the wind and no place to stash your phone. All it takes is a good seam ripper and a little fun fabric to add an in-seam pocket to any piece of clothing in your wardrobe.

Click here for the full step-by-step tutorial.

Or scroll down to enjoy the one minute how-to video.

You can watch the Facebook video here:

You can watch the YouTube video here:

For more refashion and sewing inspiration click here.

PS. A big Thank You to everyone who has filled out the sewing survey. If you haven’t had a chance to fill it out, click here and enter to win a copy of my book, The Refashion Handbook.

Happy Sewing!

Beth

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