hunger games shirts

My roommate and I were inspired to make Hunger Games shirts after seeing a tutorial by Sweet Verbena.

We printed out her pattern and cut out a stencil,

positioned the stencil in the most desirable position,

used tiny stickers to remember how to position the stencil,

covered the area and spray painted with gold paint,

let our shirts dry, and finally tried them on!

Tutorial: Patching a couch

My apartment has a lovely couch that is quite comfy but has some large gaping holes where the white stuffing is exposed. My crafty roommate and I spent some time discussing ways of making covers for the two seat cushions, until we both got pretty busy with work and med/dental school applications. Meanwhile, as our couch kept being sat on, one of the small rips grew larger and larger until I decided I had to do something about it. Instead of making a whole new cover, I wanted a solution that would:

• be quick and easy
• stop the rip from growing
• feel smooth on the couch (so it wouldn't bother us when we sat on it)

I settled on this quick and dirty method of patching up a fabric-covered couch:

Materials:

- Embroidery thread 

- Embroidery needle (a curved one will be easier to use)

- Double-stick fusible web (I used Steam-a-seam Lite)

- Simple fabric

1. Close the gap with a basic overhand stitch. This is to stop the rip from growing. Make sure to go over your stitches several times at the beginning and end, since this is where the rip could grow from. 

2. Cut out matching pieces of fabric and fusible web, just big enough to cover your entire seam. For the best results, they should be the exact same size. To achieve this, cut out rough shapes at first, then peel off one side of the backing to reveal the sticky fusible web. Place the fabric on this side, then trim them both together to get your final shape. 

3. Iron on the fabric "patch." Peel off the other side of backing and stick the fusible web/fabric combo onto the couch, and iron according to the instructions of the fusible web packaging. 

ta-da! no more giant, gaping hole!

Tutorial: men's shirt to tie front shirt

My first men's shirt refashion! 1 down, 3 to go! It took me a whole afternoon to decide what I wanted to do with this shirt. And I finally decided on...a shirt! But sleeveless and smaller. And I thought the bottom would look awkward with just a regular hem so I made it a tie front. 


Here's how you can do it:


1. Cut off the sleeves. I initially just cut along the seam, then cut more later after I decided how narrow I wanted the shoulders to be.

2. Take in the sides. Turn the shirt inside out and sew along the sides so that the shirt will be more fitted to your body. If you have a shirt that fits you well, you can use it as a template. Or just try the shirt on and estimate how much you want to take it in. Except when I did this I made it too tight and had to use my trust seam ripper and start over. Therefore it's a good idea to use a basting stitch first. After the basting stitch, I went back over the seam with a zig-zag stitch since I don't have a serger. I also cut the excess fabric off with pinking shears as an additional measure to minimize fraying.

3. Cut and hem the bottom. For the front, leave two "tails" to be tied together when wearing the shirt. I outlined mine below because it was hard to see them in the photo. For the back, you can just cut straight across, or leave a rounded bottom. Again, you could use an existing shirt as a template but I just felt like freehanding it. 

To hem, make sure the shirt is inside out. Along all of the bottom, fold in 1/4", then another 1/4' to hide the raw edge. Sew with a straight stitch. Because of the curves, you'll probably have to do this a few inches at a time. This was the hardest part for me because I have yet to master pretty hems. 

4. Hem the armholes, just as you hemmed the bottom. Like I mentioned earlier, I ending up cutting more off after trying the shirt on and deciding on what looked best. My roommate Rachel advised me that the narrower the shoulder, the more flattering it will be for your arms. I never really noticed this, but I took her advice!

....ALL DONE!

shirts!

Yay! While visiting home this weekend, I rescued 4 of my stepdad's old shirts from the donation bin that my mom was throwing clothes into. I've been wanting to try some men's shirt refashions for some time now, and now I finally have the chance! Stay tuned to see what I make with these! 

K-12 Outreach: Designing Surgical Devices

Topic: Biomedical Engineering

Grades: 3-8

Lesson Plan: http://www.tryengineering.org/lessons/smoothoperator.pdf

Summary: Design your own surgical tools out of everyday items. Use them to "operate" on your patient - a box filled with objects surrounded by dominoes. Try to pick up the objects without knocking over any dominoes! Use the engineering design process throughout.

What worked well: This is a great activity because even though the end goal is the same, every kid's device was unique. There is SO much room for creativity when designing these! This was also a good activity for reinforcing the design process, because if a kid's device did not work, they could easily make adjustments and try again.

What didn't work well: It was difficult to get the dominoes to stand up. They often fell over without us even trying to use our inventions yet! This was probably because we used small, cheap wooden dominoes. This might be remedied by using larger, heavier dominoes. 

Tutorial: Squeaky Dog Toy

If you have a very small dog like me, you've probably watched him/her struggle to fit their tiny mouths around toys designed for average-sized dogs. Even when I buy smaller dog toys, my Yorkshire Terrier has trouble finding the squeaker inside - his absolute favorite part. So I decided to make him a custom toy, perfectly sized and with an easily accessible squeaker inside. It's not very fancy - just simple and functional. Since this toy is quite soft, it definitely would NOT work well for medium-large dogs, or even small dogs that are vigorous chewers. 


I made this super spontaneously and failed to take photos, but it's very straightforward.
1. Cut out your pieces of fabric: 2 rectangles for the body, 2 small strips for the ears.
2. Optional: Embroider some eyes on one of the rectangles
3. Make the ears by folding the small strips in half, sewing down the sides, and turning them inside out.
4. Place the 2 rectangles together, right sides facing each other. Sew together 3 sides of the body, adding the ears at the top. Leave the bottom open. Turn inside out.
5. Through the bottom opening, add some stuffing and a squeaker. I didn't add too much stuffing because I wanted the squeaker to be as easy to find as possible for my dog.
6. Fold in the bottom, iron, and sew shut. 
7. Let your small dog go to town!

My dog Comet enjoying his toy. 

K-12 outreach: Magic Motors

Subject: Electricity & Magnetism

Grades: K-12, but best for 6-8

Lesson Plan: http://www.deltasee.org/CTC/Activity%2011%20Build%20It%20Electric%20Motor.pdf

Summary: A motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. In this case, electrical energy comes from the battery, and the mechanical energy is seen in the form of the spinning circle of wire. The small magnet provides an alternating push/pull force that makes the circle spin. 

What worked well: Some kids' motors worked amazingly, they spun super fast and became warm. 

What didn't work well: Some kids' motors just did not work, despite a great amount of troubleshooting. Also, electricity and magnetism can be a tough concept to teach! We had the kids rub their hair with balloons, a simple activity, to reinforce the concept of electricity. 
 *Tips: Make sure that the straight ends of the coiled wire are long enough to extend out of the paperclip loops without slipping out. The paperclip loops need to be high enough so that the coil of wire doesn't hit the magnet/battery when it spins. 

berkeley humane society

from a lovely afternoon of walking dogs at the humane society: