Cool and charming Tote from a T-shirt

I had a red and white polka dotted Tshirt that I thought did not really go well on me…actually I thought it looked li’l funny like a shirt. So I decided on a whim to turn it into a bag that I could use while going to college, or while hanging out with friends….

This whim of mine turned the T-shirt into a fabulous chic-looking shoulder bag. I love it!

Isn’t it a great looking bag? Polka dotted bags are to die for! You would surely want to make yourself one such cool shoulder bag from a t-shirt you no longer use. Its super duper easy, here is the how to:

1. Lay the tshirt on a flat surface; iron if necessary. Trim out the collar in straight line, and sleeves too.
2. Reverse the shirt and stitch along the bottom edge.
3. For the handles, I used a matching red scrap fabric from another t-shirt, and cut it into three nearly equal strips. You really need not be very precise in dimensions of these strips, as it wouldn’t matter. Now tie the strips together on one end and plait them together, the same way as you plait your hair. Make two such plaits if you want two handles for your bag, like I did.
4. Stitch the edges of these plaited strips onto the inside of the top side corners of the tshirt. You are done! Accessorize your bag with buttons to make it look cooler. If wanted, you can also stitch pockets on the inside for keeping small change.

Here is my bag:

Looks so chic and fabulous! What do you think?

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Categorically Crafting @Someday Crafts

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Adorable Cutie Toys from T-shirts

Phew, I’m here nearly after ages! Though I was down with a bout of sickness, I’m back for good…I know I’ve been away for a long, long while, but to compensate with this absence, I’m here with these cutie toys…check ‘em out, they r cool!!

Okie, here’s the deal…I know the pics quality is li’l disturbing, as my camera has been sick too and has gone for repair…I had to suffice with the one in cellphone only, and it wasn’t as great. Sigh!

However, the crafty genius in you will know that these cutie toys are very easy and simply fun to make. I wanted to make some cute n easy to make toys for my niece; and was surfing through craft sites when I saw some ‘plushies’ which looked just too great. Here is the site:www.chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com. Check out plushies and other crafts made by Holly, they are amazing! I was mightily inspired, and decided to do something similar, but let me admit that I’m nowhere as skilled at it as her!

And there were some ‘big’ problems…I had no felt lying around, and I haven’t ever tried making stuffed toys. However, I had loads and loads of old t-shirts lying around. That and the desire to gift my darling niece with these cutie toys made me go on with it, just the same. The t-shirt fabric makes the toys so very soft, and the finished toys look so very cute!! So here goes the tutorial:

1. Take a scrapbook paper and draw this shape on it. Leave some allowance (around 1cm) for sewing.

2. Cut the shape with the help of scissors and with a water soluble marker pen; trace it along on the fabric of the t-shirt being used by you. Fold the fabric in double first.

3. You will have two pieces looking like this.

4. Place these two pieces one over the other with the right sides facing each other, as shown in the picture below.

5. Now sew along the edges, leaving some allowance. I used basting stitch with hand; it was so easy! Take care that you leave some gap so as to reverse the fabric so that the right side shows outside now, and also for inserting the stuffing. Use your index finger or a knitting needle to reverse the stitched fabric inside out.

6. I know, you must be thinking that it looks very puny. Not to worry, as it will fill out as you stuff it later. Do not worry if the edges look little rough and unsymmetrical, it can be corrected and smoothened once we have stuffed the toy. Now stuff the toy with cotton or with remaining t-shirt scraps. I used t-shirt scraps as I wanted to save cotton for another project and there was a lot of fabric scrap remaining, which I decide to use up wisely, lol! Now stitch the gap completely.

The stuffed toy will look like in the pic here

It is really up to you as to how much you stuff in. I wanted only a fluffy look rather than a real stuffed toy. So I left some space inside the toy, which made it very fluffy.

7. Now for the face of the toy. You need to cut another small piece of t-shirt (preferably white) in oval or heart shape for the face, like this

I apologize for the poor quality of the image, once again. But I hope you will get it J

8. Place this fabric piece on top of the toy where its face should be and stitch along the edges once again (you can hot glue it, too!)

9. Draw cute and pretty eyes and nose with a permanent marker. You can also use the eyes that are used for soft toys. I did not have them handy, hence marker came to my rescue, lol!

10. If you want to attach ears and nose and hair, tats easy too! Take a piece of a contrast colored fabric, and draw two semicircles for ears and a circle for nose, like in the image:

11. Cut these shapes and stitch as ears and nose. Use your marker pen with renewed creativity…and you are done!! Look how pretty and cute these cutie toys look!! My niece will sure love them!

I love them all, but this one is my favorite…

Aren’t they so very cool and fun to make? Make your own cutie toys now!
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Categorically Crafting @Someday Crafts

Ad mantras which make the businesses go strong!

Mantra # 1: The ‘Emotional Connect’

Advertisements and promotions part of a company always catch our attention. It always amazes me as to how a small accidental phrase or idea revolutionizes the entire advertisement industry, and makes the particular a market favorite forever. The ‘emotional connect’ factor is just amazing in nature. As an ad agency, once you are successful in making the audiences able to ‘connect’ emotionally with your ad, your job is done! Well, easier said than done. Those working in ad agencies spend days and nights steaming up their grey cells to come up with the right idea for a ‘connect’ ad. There are some ads however, which are made on the ideas based on a spur of moment blurt, which makes history in terms of their popularity.

Many of us might not know this, but the most revolutionary ad campaign of the century was undoubtedly Volkswagen Beetle’s “Think Small”, which made connection with the hearts of billions of people all over the world. To make this ad attractive was a mammoth challenge for the ad agency. Where there were other newly released long, sleek and shiny cars from competitors, Volkswagen Beetle looked ugly, small and patronizing. Funnily, it started accidentally when the ad agency copyrighter compared the glove compartment of this car and compared it with a lemon. This funny comparison made it to the top selling car in the markets. To this day, ad agencies remember this comparison while trying to think of a worthwhile theme for a product.

Another marvelous ad that made sure that the Volkswagen Beetle stayed on top selling cars list using ‘connect’ mantra was the famous ‘funeral’ ad. (I’m lil obsessed with VW today!!) This was when TV was newly invented and was still a show-off. You have to watch it to believe its ingeniousness (click on the video below). A rich man dies and leaves nothing for the wife, sons and business partner as they have vices. But he leaves everything to a nephew who believes that “a penny saved is a penny earned” and drives a Volkswagen Beetle. This ingrained in the minds of thousands the idea that to own a VW Beetle is wise. Another blockbuster idea, this sure was!

Keep watching this space for more such marketing mantras, im off for now, as my testosterone calls for some craft!!

“A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with bad advertising” - Henry Ford