Category Archives: DIY Tutorials

DIY Tutorial: No-Sew Felt Gift Envelopes by Princess Lasertron

December 10, 2011 in DIY Tutorials | Written by Kat

As someone who pretty much sucks at all things crafty, I was super excited when this no-sew-super-cute-but-super-simple DIY tutorial landed in my inbox from my Sister From Another Mister, Megan of Princess Lasertron. Even I could make these babies!

Wouldn’t these just be the cutest way to wrap your Christmas gifts this year?

Take it away Mrs…

This is an easy no-sew (barely) felt envelope that I designed to hold a small note and gift for, say, a bridesmaid or flower girl or any special friend. With the template provided, you can use you imagination to make the project as I’ve designed it, or you can use more masculine colors or simpler buttons and stitching to serve as gift packaging for men, children, or anyone else on your gift list. (They are the perfect size to hold a gift card!) It’s a simple but fun project that is open to lots of extra personalization and creativity.

None of the materials are hard to find. Most of the felt projects I do require felt yardage, which has to be purchased in large quantities by-the-bolt, but small 9×12” sheets of felt from any craft store are ideal for this small gift envelope. The closure is a simple button–any kind will do–and beyond that, all that is needed is scissors and fabric glue.

My motto is “Make it Pretty,” and the attention to detail, careful finishing techniques, personalization, and love I put into everything I make has made my bridal design company Princess Lasertron a worldwide success. I design and create felt flower bouquets, dresses, and accessories for fabulous brides using wool felt yardage and hard-to-find vintage notions and trims, but I designed this lovely little gift envelope to be easy to make with materials you can find at any hobby or craft store. Just add your own love, personality, and magic and your gift envelope will be perfect. (And remember, Make it Pretty!)

Supplies Needed

9×12” square of felt (the standard size sold in any craft or hobby store)
Fabric glue (I use Fabri-Tac)
Printable envelope template which can be downloaded here
Marker pen
Button (Shank buttons work best…those are the ones with a back hook rather than holes)
Scissors
Needle and thread

Method

Step 1: Print and cut out the envelope template. Trace it onto your felt with the marker. If you have disappearing ink for fabric, that is great, and if not, you can just carefully cut inside the ink line.

Step 2: Cut a rectangle of scrap felt the same length as the inside of the envelope–the width doesn’t really matter. It’s going to be an inside pocket, so make it a bit wide, but 1-2 inches should be sufficient.

DIY Tutorial: Owl Wedding Lanterns

November 19, 2011 in DIY Tutorials, Guest Posts | Written by Kat

Today’s tutorial isn’t one you might expect to be wedding related and it’s certainly not one that everyone’s going to want to try and create, but I just loved Kat Cameron‘s owls so much I had to share! I don’t know about you, but these really made me smile.

Over to you Kat, Wit Wooooo!

My whole wedding was owl themed. It all started when I drew two owls on a tandem bike for our wedding invites. I’m a bit of a bird geek and the owl theme continued and appeared as labels on wine as well as a limited edition print for each guest. My wedding was tiny with only 22 people, and we had a fantastic time in at the game reserve for 3 days of natural heaven.

Supplies Needed

2 types of metal wire -1 thin and flexible, the other thicker but also flexible
1 pair of pliers
Small coloured beads of your choosing (make sure they can be threaded onto the thin wire)
Wallpaper glue
Newsprint or tissue paper

Method

Step 1: Start by forming the outline shape of the owl, and joining the two ends of the wire by twisting a length of thin wire around both, securing them together.

Step 2: Attach a wire circle to the owl form, creating a 3 dimensional body and head. The number of “wire body circles” depends on the height of your owl. For mine, which was small, I created three.

Secure each ring to the owl frame with the thin bendy wire. Create “supports” by linking up the circles with other pieces of wire that run vertically, from the head down. You can create as many circles and supports as you like, the more you have, the more sturdy your owl will be. You can see in the larger owls made for my wedding that the body form had more wire structuring.

Step 3: Create the eyes by spiralling the ends of a length of wire and attaching it across the front of the owl’s face.

DIY Tutorial: Multi-Layered Tulle Petticoat (Make Your Own Rainbow Petticoat!)

November 5, 2011 in DIY Tutorials, Guest Posts | Written by Kat

First up, I have to say a huge thank you to everyone that’s emailed me with their DIY ideas. I’ve has a huge response and I’m really looking forward to sharing them with you over these coming weeks. Be sure to keep them coming!

I’m starting with this amazing underskirt tutorial by Alexandra King, an independent designer from Somerset. Alexandra produces fabulous vintage-inspired dresses and accessories.

So without further ado, over to the lady herself…

Our wedding was four years ago now and was mainly DIY, bunting, vintage linens everywhere, pearls, candelabras, bath tub bar, my Mum grew the flowers and I made the dresses. I was so lucky being able to this that I had a couple to wear on the day.

I adore vintage dresses, old movies and obsess over French couture designs and techniques from the fifties. All of this is instilled into my designs which are mainly one of a kind cocktail, prom and party dresses bespoke made for my customers. I have also recently introduced a small bridal range.

This underskirt is the must have piece for that fabulous full skirted fifties look. It also makes twirling all that more exciting!

Supplies Needed

1/2 metre of fabric
3 metres of dress net or tulle (per colour/layer)
thread, elastic
bias binding (optional)
sewing machine
scissors
paperclip
tape measure

Method

Step 1: Take the skirt you plan to wear and measure it’s length. Divide this number by three, one third for the waistband and two thirds for the skirt.

Step 2: Measure and cut your fabric. Cut one piece for the waistband (also measure it to fit around your waist) and six pieces of tulle at the skirt length.

Step 3: Double the the waistband fabric over and sew the short ends together. Then hem it by folding the fabric and stitching it down. Repeat this to make a channel at the top to thread your elastic.

Step 4: Attaching the tulle. Take the tulle and with your fingers gather or bunch it as you sew it to the hem of the waistband. Overlap each piece by an inch or so and continue until you have filled up the waistband with your six pieces of gathered tulle.

DIY Tutorial: Create a 1960s Inspired Beehive Hair Style

July 15, 2011 in DIY Tutorials, Guest Posts | Written by Kat

Photography Credit: Arrow & Apple

I’m rubbish at hair…which is kind of ironic considering I have a candy pink barnet. However when it comes to styling…yeah I suck. So today I’m super excited to share an easy tutorial from one of my favourite bloggers Elsie Larson of A Beautiful Mess about how to create a simple and gorgeous beehive hair do.

Now excuse me, I’m off to practice with a bath loofa…

♥ ♥ ♥

Supplies needed:

♥ Bath Loofa (any color)

♥ A piece of fabric that matches your hair color to cover the bath loofa

♥ A rubber band

♥ Bobby pins

♥ Hair spray

Step 1: Cover a bath loofa in a solid fabric that matches your hair color.

Step 2: Pull one small section of hair forward (leave unteased). Gather a second 1-2 inch section, spray and back-comb it. Repeat with 2-3 more sections until your hair looks like this…

Step 3: Add the loofa to your hair. Wherever you position the loofa will be where the bump sits. Cover the loofa with pieces of hair and pin each piece down. Continue to cover it from every direction until the loofa is completely hidden!

How to…Crochet Your Own Cupcake Garland (DIY Tutorial by Twinkie Chan) + Giveaway!

March 5, 2011 in Competitions, DIY Tutorials, Guest Posts | Written by Kat

This contest is now closed

I have adored Twinkie Chan from afar for a long time. Her “Eat your cake… and wear it too!” motto kind of speaks to my sweet tooth-loving self you see! Her colourful and super kawaii blog has brought daily rays of sunshine into my life for quite a while now ad I’m pretty much jumping over rainbows with the excitement of sharing our little collaboration with you all today!

For those of you not familiar with Twinkie Chan, she is a crocheting marvel from San Francisco who has risen to fame with her cute and food inspired creations. She has made everything from scarf’s, hair accessories and other wearable goodies from wool and her designs literally fly off the shelves as soon as she posts them to her etsy store. In short, she makes crocheting cool again! She’s even released a tutorial book of some of her adorable creations, which got me thinking…

At the end of the year I was brainstorming some new ideas for the blog and, after seeing these adorable coffee cup cozies that she’s just relased (and yes I did get one!) I knew I had to get this lady on Rock n Roll Bride…somehow.

So I emailed the multi-coloured marvel (we are also pink hair twins…another reason to love her) to see if she’d be interested in creating a DIY tutorial for my readers. I assured her that even though my blog was a wedding-related one, that my readers like anything BUT the usual wedding fluff, and that one of her awesome crochet creations would certainly fit in over here.

Behold…the created-especially-for-Rock n Roll Bride – cute as hell, crochet cupcake garland tutorial!

♥ ♥ ♥

When Kat approached me to contribute a tutorial to Rock n Roll Bride, I was so honored, but also a bit confused about how I might translate a Twinkie Chan project into something fun for your wedding! With some brainstorming from the brilliant Kat, we decided to inspire you with some super cute cupcake garlands! Whether your special day is indoor or outdoor, these sweet little strings of sugar are sure to add a magical and personal touch to your wedding decorations. There are so many possibilities as far as color combinations and cupcake toppings that your garlands can range from quirky and goofy to charming and sweet. If you and your pals all know how to crochet, these garlands are a terrific way to meet up while creating something together for your wedding!

For the most part, you can crochet your cupcake garland using the same basic techniques in the Cupcake Scarf pattern in my book “Twinkie Chan’s Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies: 20 Yummy Treats to Wear.” However, we will be making a small change to the cake-bottom portion of the cupcakes in our garlands, not only to make them more light weight, but to also minimize any potential curling.

Pattern

You will need:

-An I hook (5.5mm)

-A ball of worsted weight yarn in your Frosting Color (FC)

-A ball of worsted weight yarn in your Cake Color (CC)

-A small amount of worsted weight yarn in Red for your cherries

-Optional: twine in roughly the same gauge as your yarn, for stringing your cupcakes

-An assortment of pom poms, beads, small bows, or cabochons, to decorate your cupcakes

In my sample garlands, I used Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice yarns as well as Red Heart Super Saver.

Abbreviations:

Ch(s): chain(s)

Dc: double crochet

Dec: decrease

Hdc: half double crochet

Sc: single crochet

Sl st: slip stitch

St(s): stitch(es)

How To…Make Your Own 1960′s Inspired Mod Floral Hair Wreath (Tutorial by Elsie Flannigan)

December 4, 2010 in DIY Tutorials, Guest Posts, How To... | Written by Kat

I heart Elsie.

I’ve been following her awesome crafty blog, A Beautiful Mess, for the past year or so am not afraid to admit that I’m a bit of an super fan. Elsie got engaged to Jeremy in August and so secretly I was hoping she’d share all her wedding planning and DIY ideas on her blog. Last week I received an email from Elise and her sister Emma telling me that not only have they started their own wedding blog, Le Wedding Party, but that Elsie would like to share some of her amazing DIY tutorials on Rock n Roll Bride! Eeek…I am so excited that she even knows my little blog exists, let alone that she wants to share her stuff with us!

I hope you enjoy Elsie’s awesome 1960′s headband tutorial, and if you do be sure to let us know because there are many more where this came from if you want them!

♥ ♥ ♥

I adore mod 1960s styling! One of my favorite collections from this era is enamel flower brooches. I love the colors, shapes and seemingly endless variety that exists in the vintage universe.

Supplies needed: 7 to 12 Vintage Enamel Brooches (I purchase these anytime I am vintage shopping as well as on Etsy and eBay), elastic, scissors.

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