Happy Spring everyone! It’s finally here in Minneapolis and I couldn’t wait to show you my latest outfit, which includes a refashioned vintage dress and my latest DIY tote bag, that actually got featured on CraftGossip!
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and let me know if any of you are in Chicago and would want to meet up! I have all day Saturday to hang out:)
Xo,
Z
Today I have prepared an easy and quick refashion that any Costco shopper can afford to make 
Why Costco? Because that’s where my in-laws take us shopping sometimes and that’s where I found a giant bag of rice that came in a sack, that we are going to use in our refashion today!
Another thin we’ll need is either plain fabric for lining, or, like in my case, a cloth bag one of my designer purses came in!
Here is our bag of rice (I’ve only seen them at Costco, please let me know if you’ve seen them at other stores! I want to make this easier for those who choose to shop elsewhere!)
And here is the bag we are going to use for lining:
The first thing you are going to want to do is hide all the loose ends, strings, etc! I also got rid of the zipper, because it was junky!
Then I trimmed the cloth bag to fit, kept the handles, because the original sack handles were too short!
Make sure to do some fitting before you start sewing by simply inserting the new lining into the sack:
I also went over the top edges with a thick red thread, to make sure it didn’t fray:
How big is your needle? 
And finally sewed it all together on my machine! When sewing be careful, because the sack is made of a thick and heavy fabric, I don’t want you ruining your machines because of me! And keep in mind – you’ll end up doing some hand sewing one way or another, because the edges are thick!
And you are done! Enjoy your bag and have a wonderful weekend!
For those of you who are wondering where I am going next week – my blog is taking me to Chicago! And even though I am going to the Windy City only for a couple of days, I feel like it’s an amazing start of something wonderful and exciting for me!
Lots of love,
Z
Today I am going to share something that every crocheter needs to try at least once in their lives – crocheting with fabric! It’s easy, fast, but the prep is extremely time consuming!
I am going to share how to make a set of coasters using this technique. I hope you remember my newly freecycled coffee table! Well, even though I got it for free, I didn’t want to ruin it by putting mugs with hot tea and coffee directly on the surface, so I started cutting!
Here is what you’ll need:
1-2 large T-shirts that you don’t wear anymore (husband’s will do!)
A pair of scissors
A large crochet hook, preferably number 3 or higher!
A LOT OF PATIENCE!
Start by laying the T-shirt out flat,
You are going to start cutting the shirt from the bottom up! The trick is to move in a spiral, that way the “yarn” of fabric won’t break! Another great tip is to cut the strip about 0.8″ (1 cm) wide, that way you are not going too thin and fabric rips, neither is it too thick and hard to crochet with!
I cut up 2 shirts, and that was more than enough to make a set of 6 coasters! Here is a picture where you can see the giant ball of fabric yarn that I had made:
All you do next is simply crochet a circle and make it as wide as you want! So start with ch 5, then 10 sc into the circle, then 2 sc into every 1 sc of the previous row, keep going, adding sc where you feel like they are needed, so that the coaster looks flat and round!
And…
Enjoy!
Have a great weekend everyone, stay tuned for more DIY posts!
Xo,
Z
Hi everyone, and thanks for stopping by for today’s DIY post!
It’s going to be an easy “Get Ready for Spring/Summer 2013″ refashion/sewing project:
Start with picking your fabric! I got this curtain/table cloth material at Goodwill for only $2.99
Don’t you just love it?
Then I laid it out flat, and as you can see the front is shorter than the back (yes, I intended it to be like that! ) and placed a shirt on top of it, to see where the seams would approximately go:
Then I cut along the lines, pinned it like so:
And here you have it! A very chic and shabby swimsuit cover up!
Now if only spring would come!
Xo,
Zhenya
Yes, I finally did it! I opened my very own Etsy store where I’ll be selling all sorts of vintage and hand-made items!
All are welcome!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Here are some of the items that are currently on sale there:
Vintage Hand Bag with Diamond Stitching
One of a kind lace embellished canvas tote:
And many more! I will be gradually updating the list of available items!
Thank you for following, commenting and spreading the word!
Zhenya
As some of you may know, I quit my job at New Horizon Academy, there were a number of reasons why, but I am not going to go into detail now. But in spite of the fact that I wasn’t going to stay in the classroom, I helped decorate it for the next month’s theme, which is “In the Grass”
I started off with making these flowers! You will see them a lot throughout the pictures. I used green pipe cleaners for the stems and the flowers themselves came pre-made, I simply mixed and matched
The clock also required an update, if you remember, this used to be a Big Ben, now it’s a sun, shining over the flowers, a carbon monoxide alarm disguised as a giant pink chrysanthemum, and a blue bird:
I hung green ribbon from the ceiling for a cozy in the grass feel:
Remember the Love Tree I had up in February? I took some of the hearts down, replaced them with flowers, and viola – a spring time tree:
And finally an updated Family Board (I blurred out the faces, I am sure you understand why )
Today I am starting a new job at Orchard Park Childcare Centre, and I couldn’t be more excited! I will continue posting classroom ideas about once a month, so don’t forget to subscribe if that’s something relevant to you!
And don’t forget that Blue Nile earrings are still up for grabs – enter to win them HERE!
Happy Monday everyone! Tomorrow is Tuesday, that means I have OFF, so I’ll be running around doing all sorts of fun blog related things!
Xo,
Zhenya
Don’t forget to check out this awesome GIVEAWAY!
What better way to get ready for spring than add a couple new pieces to your wardrobe? Today’s DIY is all about that! And we’ll be using an ordinary pillowcase for that!
Here is all you need:
1. Pillowcase
2. A wide strip of fabric to add the color block segment on the bottom
3. Scissors
4. Pins
5. Matching thread
6. Sewing machine
7. Elastic
Start off by laying out your pillowcase, then turn it inside out, cut the seam on one end, now you have a tube! Fold out one end – that’s where your waist line is going to be:
Once the fabric has been folded on one end to form the waistline I suggest you either pin it or fasten with a running stitch. Then decide how long you want the top part of the skirt to be, and cut off the remainder:
TIP: Don’t throw the cut-off, you are going to use it to determine how much of other fabric you are going to need! It’s a perfect “stencil”, that will make your life a lot easier!
Let’s work on the waistline now. This is where you are going to need your elastic. If your waistline is wider than 1″ you might want to run two rows of stitching, just to make the skirt sit properly. The elastic goes between the two rows:
Now it’s time to pin the other fabric to the main part of our skirt. I used bright fuchsia fabric, which you are going to see in a lot of other refashions and DIYs this coming spring!
It’s also a good idea to add a slit to the back of your skirt, like in the picture above! And your skirt is done and ready to wear!
Thank you so much for visiting my blog! I hope this was a helpful and inspirational post for you! Stay tuned for more fun refashions, sewing tutorials, and DIYs.
Cheers,
Z
Какой самый верный способ подготовки к весне? Конечно же с помощью добавления новых предметов гардероба в этот самый гардероб! Сегодня мы сошьем модную юбку в стиле color blocking из обычной наволочки!
Нам понадобятся:
1. Наволочка
2. Яркая ткань для добавления сегмента в стиле color block
3. Ножницы
4. Булавки
5. Подходящие по цвету нитки
6. Швейная машинка
7. Резинка
- Разложите вашу наволочку на плоской поверхности, вывернув ее на изнанку, отрежьте шов с одного конца, у нас получился цилиндр из ткани! Загните ткань с одного конца, это будет верхняя часть юбки, сюда мы будем пропускать резинку.
- Теперь когда мы определили сколько мы отступим для пояса, нам нужно будет закрепить отступ булавками или скользящим швом. Теперь вам нужно определить высоту верхней части юбки, и отрезать низ.
- Не выбрасывайте отрез, по нему вы сможете определить количество ткани, которое вам понадобится для нижней части. Это, так называемая, тканевая выкройка, которая облегчит весь процесс шитья!
- Теперь поработаем над талией. Нам понадобится резинка. Если вы отступили более 1 дюйма для резинки, то прострочите два ряда стежков, между которыми затем пропустите резинку. Так ваша юбка сядет лучше.
- Теперь прикалываем новую нижнюю часть подола юбки. Я выбрала яркую ткань цвета фуксии. Эту ткань вы еще не раз увидите в будущем на моем блоге!
- Не забудьте добавить разрез, как на фото вверху! Вот и все, наша юбка готова!
Спасибо за то, что заглянули ко мне на блог! Я надеюсь этот пост вдохновил вас! Не забудьте подписаться, чтобы не пропустить новые посты!
Женя
I am going to be honest with you, this was supposed to be a dress. But then my proportions were really off, so I had to turn it into a tunic. But I have a couple more shirts that my husband has gladly (yeah, right!) donated, and maybe one of them will eventually turn into a dress!
Here is how:
1. Take a shirt and lay it out flat:
2. Find a dress or shirt that fits you well, and lay it on top of the shirt, trace it:
3. Cut along the lines:
4. Hem the neckline and the sleeves, add personal touches (I went for a vintage lace collar and lace fabric), and you are done!
Have a great weekend everyone, and don’t forget to stop back tomorrow, I am having a SALE on my blog!
Xo,
Z
Всем привет! Сегодня я покажу как можно перешить мужскую рубашку в нечто носибельное для себя! Изначально это задумывалось как платье, но что-то не пошло! В общем мой муж пожертвовал (добровольно! хотите верьте, хотите нет) еше несколько рубашек, и одной из них суждено стать платьем!
Итак,
1. Берем рубашку и раскладываем ее.
2. Сверху на рубашку кладем платье или футболку, которые более-менее сидят по фигуре, и обводим.
3. Обрезаем рубашку по линиям.
4. Обрабатываем горловину и проймы, добавляем что-то свое (я выбрала винтажный воротник и кружево для нижней части) и готово!
Всем отличных выходных, и не забудьте заглянуть сюда завтра! Я устраиваю первую РАСПРОДАЖУ на своем блоге!
Женя
It’s happened dear readers – I refashioned an article of clothing for someone other than myself! About a month ago I found a pair of vintage Dior pants, but since they were too small for me, I asked my friend Dominika if she wanted them, besides they were made in Poland, and so was she
The pants are 100% wool, high waisted with pockets and lining. This is what they looked like before:
Then we simply cut them…
made a wide hemmed and folded it out to create more dimension. Easy peasy, but looks great and now we just need to decide what to do with the leftover pant legs!
Have a great week everyone!
Cheers,
Z
Все свершилось, я перешила штаны для подруги. До этого все мои переделки заканчивались на мне и моем гардеробе. А теперь то, что сделала я, будет носить кто-то другой! Классно! Хотя может быть кто-то сочтет данную переделку кощунством, потому что перешивали мы винтажные штаны от Диор.
Нашли мы их в местном секонде и стоили они порядка $3! Плюс сделаны они в Польше, как и моя подруга Доминика
Итак, мы имеем винтажные шерстяные штаны от Диор с завышенной талией на подкладке, и карманами. Я просто отрезала штанины, подогнула внутрь, потом наружу. И все! Очень просто и быстро! Теперь главное что-то сделать с оставшимся материалом )
Всем отличной недели,
Женя
As some of you may know, blogging isn’t the only thing I do. Shocker I know! Insert sarcasm here. I am a toddler teacher by day, and today I decided to share some classroom ideas with you. Maybe you’ll find them useful! And since it’s a DIY of sorts, I thought it fits this blog perfectly!
Our January theme was Bedtime Stories, that’s why I decided it would be fun to re-create the Great Green Room from Good Night Moon on one of our walls:
But Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, that’s why “Love is in the Air” everywhere you go:
We also have this “Love Tree” growing in the corner:
Clocks are always fun to play around with, we have our very own Big Ben in the classroom:
And finally a wall of some pretty Emotional Shapes:
What do you think of the “Mystery Square”?
Thanks for visiting my classroom, I hope you liked it, and maybe found a couple ideas you can incorporate in your room!
Have a great day everyone,
Zhenya
Я думаю многие из вас знают, что помимо блога, у меня есть настоящая работа. Шокирующая информация, я понимаю! Вставьте сарказм по Шелдону Куперу. С понедельника по пятницу я работаю воспитателем в детском саду, и сегодня я поделюсь некоторыми идеями, которые я воплотила в реальность в своем классе. Возможно некоторые из них вам пригодятся! И, так как это все сделано моими руками, то эти фотографии отлично вписываются в мой блог!
Нашей январской темой были Сказки перед Сном, поэтому я решила сделать Большую Зеленую Комнату из популярной в США книги Спокойной Ночи Луна.
День Святого Валентина не за горами, и любовь везде, куда ни посмотри!
А в углу мы “посадили” дерево любви.
Настенные часы можно очень легко и интересно обыграть. Так в нашей комнате появился этот Биг Бен.
И наконец – эмоциональные формы. Как вам понравился наш Тайный Квадрат?
Спасибо, что заглянули ко мне в класс, надеюсь вам понравилось!
Всем отличного дня,
Женя
