DIY Hemming Jeans

I'm a short girl. Buying pants is such a struggle. I'm too short for a regular jean but too tall for the short jean. I had such a hard time buying any pants . . I just didn't buy any. 

And I got away with it for years.

I just wore what I had and folded them  . . . 

which I will admit

looked really really bad. 

But a few month ago I learned how to hem my jeans without cutting the original hem. And now I just buy jeans that fit my curvy self and don't worry about the length. I can fix that in just a few minutes!

Just a tad too long.

You will need to get a pair of jeans that fit you in length already to use as your template. 

The jeans in the first picture are different. I finished hemming the other pair but forgot to take a picture of the before. I have a few that need to be hemmed so I just snapped a few photos of the another pair. 

 . . . excuse the dirty jeans. That's what happens when I don't fold them.  Wow, that's a good 3 inches or so too long!

 Measure from the end of your template jeans to the stitching of the hem on your jeans that need to be altered. For me that's 3 1/2".  Divide that in half. Which is 1 3/4. 

Leaving your jeans right side out, fold your jeans up so the inside of your jeans are showing using your halved measurement. In my case, I'm going to fold my jeans up 1 3/4" from the top of the hem to the bottom of the fold.

Got it?

Get pin happy!!

Pin your fold all the way around. 

NOTE: Make sure your seams line up! 

Again, please excuse the dirty hem.

Ugh! 

I swear I do laundry!

I usually put a pin on either side of the seams to really keep that section from moving. You don't want that to be off. 

Seriously!

I really shouldn't have to tell you to do the same with the other pant leg. 

But then again . . .

You know who you are. 

Now it's time to sew!

For these jeans I used a navy blue thread. You won't see it on the outside anyways. But I like to think that I helped my sewing be more invisible. 

Sew as close to the top of the hem as you can all the way around. Keep those seams in line at all times!  You may need to go slow over the seams since they are pretty thick. Sometimes I have to turn the wheel on the side of the machine by hand. It just depends on the thickness of the seam.

Now it's time to iron!

Not my favorite part of sewing but it's necessary.  Iron the hem folded up first and then unfold it. Iron the bottom of the jeans pulling slightly at the seam you just 

made. 

You can cut that flap of jean that's left if you want, but it will fray and you will be constantly cutting those threads. I just leave that flap in there and iron the bottom of my jeans after I wash them. 

See I told you I do wash my clothes!

Voila!

Your jeans should fit you now!

 No one will ever see that seam unless they have a foot fetish.  

Ok, I just had a visual of a stranger inspecting my feet while I'm shopping. 

Creepy!!!

And there you have it! Please feel free to ask questions. I'd be glad to answer them! 

As always, Make Life Creative!

Linking here:

Office/Studio Redo!!

Mr. Right and I shared an office in our house for a few years. About two years ago he moved into the old playroom. And I got my "Mom Cave". 

And it was a cave.

Dark trim, dark floor, dark fireplace. The epitome of blah!! It was nice for a while but then I accumulated a lot of fabric, paint, machines, and stamps.

My name is Tiffanie Doyle, and I am a Craftaholic!

Whew!

The first step is admitting it.

Right?

Yeah, It's not going to help me one bit. 

So here is my mess of a studio/office.

I swear I am more organized that this in the rest of my house. 

Seriously!

There was so much stuff in there that I couldn't think straight. 

That and I had no idea what was in there. 

This room is used to run Ignite Interactive, a web design firm that Mr. Right and I own, and an Etsy shop ( Marie & Rose ). The latter of the two got pushed to the back burner because I had no room to move anymore. 

You can't see it from that angle but there were four doors in that room. 

Four!!!

Look at this mess! I should seriously be mortified that anyone has seen this.

See that brown door on that back wall. That led to my bedroom. 

Why, is all I can say.

This house is about 100 yrs old and there are doors everywhere!

I attempted to paint the main door but didn't have any primer. UGH! I know. Who paints a dark wooden door without priming it first?

Ummmm . . . .

Me?

So out went the door to our bedroom, trim painted, room cleaned out, trash thrown away, unwanted bulky furniture sold. All in about three weeks .  

I seriously could not have done this without Breanna Griffen, of Hiffen Organizing!! It would have taken me months to do this on my own. She pushed me to get things done immediately. Something I really needed. 

She taught me a lot and she says that she learned so much about organizing a craft studio. One tip that has stuck in my mind was to have a Good Will trash bag ( one of those black industrial ones). Keep it in an inconspicuous place and fill it with your unwanted items. When the bag is full, immediately put it in your car to take to Good Will. 

I had Closet Rejuvenation come out and install cabinets on two walls of my room. And they did such an awesome job! It was exactly what I needed to keep my things out of the way yet accessible. 

Want to see the new space?

Of course you do!!!

See!! More organized! 

Oh Yeah!

This is the view from the side door to the front porch

Oh Yeah! I have a private entrance!

Notice what's missing?

That door to my bedroom. 

Love it!

The view from the door at the main hallway.

And my sweet boys putting my room to good use!

They even have there own shelf of crafty goodness. They have become pros at putting there stuff back where it goes. This momma is so proud!

And I'm able to think in here, blog even, and get my butt in gear with my Etsy shop. Not to mention meet clients, do training, and have craft night with the girls!

Thanks again Hiffen Organizing and Closet Rejuvenation for the help and the push I needed to be more organized!

Now I can continue to Make Life Creative.

Linking up here:

100 Days Smarter!!

A few weeks ago we celebrated the 100th day of school. LM's teacher asked him to make something with 100 items on it. I couldn't just let him take something glued on paper. Oh NO!!! Not this mom! I made this!

I hot glued 100 buttons onto a t-shirt. LM picked out the shape which ended up being a car. A Toyota Prius to be exact. He picked out the color . Red of course. No other color will do.  While the glue was drying, my honey made an svg file of the words "100 Days Smarter!". I cut them out  using freezer paper with my trusty Cricut. Then I got to work painting the stencil. 

Tiger had his 100th day of school last Friday. So I made him one as well. He wanted purple and pink on his car. I spaced his out a little more evenly since I had a week to make his. LM's was made the night before. But they love there shirts!

 

Aren't they cute?

The boys,

not the shirts!

As always, Make Life Creative!

I'm linking up here: 

Christmas in February

So it's not December any more and I have been crazy busy with projects, surgeries, and keeping up with my kiddos. Life went on and my blog got left behind. My hand has healed, my studio is remodeled and organized, and life is calming down just a little bit.

So I'd thought I'd share something I made for the teachers in my kid's lives for Christmas. 

I have a TON of Starbucks Frappucinno bottles  that I have saved.  And yes we drank all those Frappucinno's ourselves. It was a sacrifice. I just cleaned those out, took the stickers off, filled them with chocolate and used SU paper and punches to make Santa's Belly. It was so fast and fun to make. My kids loved helping pour the chocolate . Although, I think they ate more than they put in there!

I like to have frames that I insert a 5x7 card for each holiday . This one took me all of ten minutes. I love the embossing powder from Stamp'n Up. I think it's my favorite item in the catalog. I'm sure you will see more embossing projects through out the year.  I actually switched frames mid way through the holidays because the black was just too harsh. I went with a silver frame with gold undertones instead and it looked much better. 

Last but not least is a combination of my husband's and my creativity. He designed our company Christmas card and we used Top Note Die for the Big Shot. We used the actual Top Note for another project but kept the frame and used it around his design. We then cut (very carefully) around our logo and used dimensionals to mount it onto the candle to give it a 3D effect. 

Now that my studio/office is cleaned up, I will be able to post more often. So stick around and see what else I have in store. 

As always, Make Life Creative!

 

Christmas Keepsake Special Offer

As a special offer related to a recent advertisement in Woman’s Day Magazine, the Christmas Keepsake Box is available from now until December 31, 2011 (or while supplies last). This box is an ideal gift, and is perfect for that someone that wants to get started in paper crafting  just in time for the holidays!

Item #	Name	Price
129024	Christmas Keepsake Box	$19.95

To Order visit my site.

The Online Extravaganza

Online Extravaganza, our annual sale to kick off the holiday shopping season, will begin today, Monday, November 21, 2011, and run through Wednesday, November 30, 2011. While this promotion is perfect for online orders during an especially busy time of year, sale prices will be available on all order types.

Visit my online store (click on the "Shop Now" button) on Monday, November 21, to take advantage of great savings, like FREE digital downloads valued at $40 when you buy My Digital Studio Express, 60 percent off select Designer Fabrics, and 30 percent off an exclusive ribbon bundle! 

Download the pdf list of everything on sale here  Online Extravaganza list

To place your Stampin’ Up order online  24-7, click here

As always, Make Life Creative!

Joy of the Season

Yesterday was the first time in a month that I was able to make something. This past month was so busy, we barely had time to sit down. I'm hoping to slow down soon.

In my ten minutes of creativity time, I decided to update a 5x7 frame that was decorated for Halloween. Now keep in mind I have three kids. 

There was no school. 

There was very little time. 

I used the Flourish Textured plate for the Big Shot  on Very Vanilla, Red Riding Hood Red card stock and ribbon, as well as gold embossing powder. The letters are from the Lovely Letter Stamp set. I think it needs something else to add some pizazz. Any suggestions?

Happy Thanksgiving!