Make your own LONG person!!

THIS is an easy tutorial that requires little skill - but lots of creativity! LONG PEOPLE have no LIMBS! They can be made in ANY size, out of any scraps you have lying around. The only rule is that the two rectangles that make up the back and front of the long person end up the same size...  Enjoy!!

YOU WILL NEED -

* ONE 6" x 13" rectangle of heavy weight fabric for the back of your long person...
* ONE 6" x 4" piece of BLACK fabric for your hair
* ONE  6" x 5" piece of calico for the face
* ONE 6" x 6" piece of printed fabric  and
* ONE 6" x 3" piece of a contrasting printed fabric for the body
* FABRIC SCRAPS for decoration
* Embellishments - GO NUTS!!
* Coloured permanent markers and a black ball point pen to draw your face
* Scissors
*sewing machine
* STUFFING!!! - very important, or your long person will be a FLAT person!!


1. Gather your materials...



Collect any embellishments you like!!
Think buttons, rick rack, ribbon, lace, fabric scraps, fringing, pompoms... If you have a tin full of sewing *stuff* that you don't know what to do with - now is your chance to use it!!



2. Design your face and hair - Don't stress too much about the details, you can change your face later...



3. CUT out your hair, so that you can use it as a template to cut your black fabric...

4. DRAW your face onto your 6" x 5" square of calico using the ball point pen...

5. GENTLY colour in the face using your coloured permanent markers... Go lightly as these will bleed
into the fabric and blend into the lines of your ball point pen...



6. Now you can sew the hair onto the face of your long person...



you can sew as many decorative lines into the hair as you wish!!

7. Lay out your front body pieces along with the face and your embellishments... 

...play around with the design until you are happy with how it looks.

8. NOW you can proceed to sew on your decorations piece by piece, layer by layer.

FUN!

9. SEW your three front pieces together with the right sides facing. You can then stitch down the seam with a zigzag stitch on the right side of your long person... 

10. Decorate the back piece of your long person however you choose...

11. SEW your back and front together with right sides facing, leaving a 2 inch hole in at the base..

12. TRIM around the outside of your long person leaving a 1/2 inch seam around the outside...

13. Clip your corners...

14. TURN your long person right way out through the hole in the bottom...

15. Now we are ready to STUFF your long person full!! Use a chop stick to poke stuffing into the corners and the ends...

16. SEW the opening shut -  and you're done :)

Woohoo!!

Well... Let me know if anything doesn't make sense and I will fix it up pronto. I have included a few measurements, but please feel free to ignore them!

Have fun!! Don't forget to show me what you make!!

MWAH!

Bec x

put your own stamp on it... mini DIY

I wanted to make a few personalised gifts this weekend. So I grabbed an embroidery hoop and some floss and took my place on the couch...

I was planning on embroidering a whole name. After about 20 minutes and 4 big knots, all I had achieved was ONE LETTER! Bah! 

I have never learned embroidery, and I would still like to learn, but this weekend I needed instant gratification - so I had a little think - and this was the result...



...I went a bit nuts, with a few made up names for future long people and other critters.




Plus a few random numbers that I am sure I will be able to work into designs somehow... 



The whole process is really very easy, takes no-time at all, little space and inexpensive equipment. I will run you through it...

You will need -

* Fabric printing ink

* Sponge roller

* Alphabet and/or number stamps

* Scissors or a rotary blade (for cutting up your finished labels)

* Fabric to print on

* an Iron

1. Set up your space so that you are protecting anything precious from your fabric ink - you don't need much space, but remember that accidents can happen...

2. take about a teaspoon of your fabric ink onto a paper plate and gently roll your sponge roller in the ink on one side so that it is evenly coated. This will be your make-shift ink pad...

3. Proceed to dab your stamps onto the sponge roller AND stamp away to your hearts content!!! YAY! easy!

4. Leave your fabric to dry and then give it a good iron to set the ink. This will make it colourfast in the wash (make sure you read the directions on your ink and follow the manufacturers instructions).

5. Make sure you give your stamps a little clean with a toothbrush or similar after. Fabric ink is thick and sticky - so you don't want it to ruin your stamps - let them live to stamp another day!

Now you can use your handywork any which way you like!! I have attached one here to a hot water bottle cover that I have made for Levi out of an old flanny shirt...

You could attach them onto ANYTHING!

 You could write sentences, even paragraphs!! Whoa!  radical!  I know!

They don't even have to be an add on, they could be the main attraction!

I am so excited to get into mine. I think I will be attaching them to everything.

Happy stamping!!

Bec x

The frock exchange

Well I have been threatening to do it for a while now, but I have finally started to photograph and upload new fabrics that are available for custom orders...

There are so many of them to go through! I am constantly washing retro sheets. I'm quite sure that the neighbors must think I run some sort of 70's themed brothel from my house...

This time I am trialling a new system, with separate pages for my more expensive premium and deluxe fabrics. I would love to know what you think.

I am still in the process of uploading and dividing my fabrics, so it is a bit confusing, but give me a week and I will have it ready to go. In the mean time, these pictures are just a tantalising taste of what is to come.

I have had an Idea!!

You know I love to op-shop, especially for vintage linens...

Maybe you also love to op-shop? Maybe you love to op-shop especially because you have no pennies for regular shopping too?..

Maybe you have been wanting to order a new naughtyshorts tea dress, but you need to keep your hard-earned for something else???

How about a swap?? Seriously! I would definitely be interested...

My op-shops feel all shopped out....  and eBay sheets are expensive! they push up the price of my dresses!

If  by chance you come across a snazzy bundle of vintage sheets that just scream NAUGHTY! Why don't you snap them up and shoot me an email. For the cost of a bundle of op-shop sheets and some postage, you could trade for a custom made naughty original!!

You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours :)

What do you think?

We can call it 'The Naughty Frock Exchange'

It's just a thought...

Anyway, hope you are about to have the best weekend EVER! Yay!!

Bec x

Special Delivery...

Hellooooooooo!! How are you?

Are you having the best week ever?? I hope you are!

I know that I have had a whinge about Australia Post lately... but the truth is that I LOVE my postie!! and I LOVE the treasures that he leaves on my doorstep. It is always one of the highlights of my day...

This week I have been especially excited by what I have discovered on my welcome mat!!

Firstly! an amazing pair of vintage yellow sheets - A GIFT! - from the very outrageous and fantastic Tamarah from Shabby Vintage Junk!! What a sweetheart - kisses to you, miss Tamarah, mwah!

Then...

the MOST AMAZING bundle of precious vintage feedsack squares, that I ordered via Etsy!!

I can't wait to make something with them.

Bark cloth!! My new obsession! I have a growing stash to inspire me...

AND... a magical little pile of vintage floral ephemera! Lucky me!

PLUS!! a new book.

Etc; by Sibella Court.

To be honest, I find her style too messy and haphazard for my own tastes, but the book is simply a treasure in its own right.

The book seems to capture moments and glimpses, rather than the big picture, and I love her focus on collecting and cataloguing, her use of colour and the way she invites natural curiosities into every corner of her home.

And to make my day even brighter - my small person came home from daycare with a technicolour crown. It is sensational!

Sadly, however, my rag rug is FALLING TO PIECES! Shit! It has taken me so so long to get it to the size of a doormat but the center has stretched and warped, so that it sort of resembles a sombrero. All is not lost! I am going to clip the strings that are holding it together and start again.

Okie Dokie, time for bed.

Hope you are well and happy, wherever you are.

Bec x