Homemaking 101 | How To Properly Fold Jeans

Today I wanted to share something a little different: a tutorial on how to PROPERLY fold jeans. You're probably thinking, "well, I already know how to fold jeans so I'll just skip this". And you probably do...but do you know how to fold them like the Denim Queen from Old Navy? Probably not... It took quite a bit of time to figure out how to fold jeans to make them stack up in straight little rows on the denim shelves at the store, but I eventually figured it out. And yes, I was the Denim Queen...in case you were wondering.

Homemaking isn't only about creating beautiful rooms in the house, it's also about doing old boring chores like folding laundry. I'd rather do laundry than dishes, but that doesn't really mean that I like doing laundry. I thought about doing a series on how to fold different articles of clothing, but really I only have very specific ways I fold jeans, towels and t-shirts...(well, and underwear too, but that's not something I'd really like to blog about, you know?). Anyway, today's post is about folding jeans so enjoy!

Okay so on to the tutorial...here is how you can fold jeans like a Denim Queen...if you practice. :)

When you're first starting out learning how to fold jeans like this you'll probably want to start by laying them on a flat surface. Once you've done this a few times you'll be able to fold them without props like a table or floor...but using one of those rolling table things sure did help when you had hundreds of pairs of jeans to fold.

First, lay the jeans out flat.

Second, make sure, if nothing else, that the button on the jeans is done up. If it's not buttoned you may have trouble in the rest of the folding process...just saying. Coming from a pro: button up the jeans BEFORE you fold them. (The zipper being zipped really doesn't matter.)

Third, fold the jeans over in half.

Take the ends of the jeans and fold them up to half-way-up the pockets of the pants. You don't want to go higher than half-way because then the jeans just won't lay right in the stack.

Fold the rest of top of the jeans down to meet the middle of the bottom fold. And there you have it. Now if you're folding to stack on shelves you'd do this slightly different, but overall this is how I still fold jeans and it works amazingly! Sometimes I miss my old job of folding denim...

Anyway, that's how you can fold denim like a Denim Queen...if you're interested. :)

Repin this post on Pinterest here!

Styles I Like | Layered Fabric Ruffle Skirts

Ruffles, lace, cotton...I love skirts with lots of layers! And this weather is PERFECT for them! I've made my first skirt of the season...I'm sure you've probably already seen it, but just in case be sure to check out my Petticoat Style Skirt!! It is wonderful and perfect for this weather!

All photos were found via Pinterest. Original links are listed below the photos.



T-shirts Transformed to Random Ruffles.
(photo & tutorial via Analog Me)

Different color blues.
I'd like to make a skirt like this eventually.
(photo via Pinterest)

Love all the different ruffles!
There are a lot of other layered ruffle skirts on Stash Style Says which is where this skirt is from originally.
(photo via Pinterest)

H&M Copycat Skirt.
This is on my list of must make skirts!
(photo & tutorial via iCandy Handmade)



Layers of Ruffles!
(photo & tutorial via iCandy Handmade)

 

Knit Ruffled Bottom Skirt.
(photo & tutorial via Ruffles & Roses.)

 

Fishtail Skirt with Ruffles.
(photo & tutorial via Steampunk Fashion)

 

Different colored ruffles.
(photo via Pinterest)



Ruffled Maxi Skirt.
(photo & tutorial via 2 Little Hooligans)

 

Ruffle Knit Skirt.
(photo & tutorial via Every Creative Endeavor)

Refashionista | Tank with Ruffled Front

The skirt in this tutorial can be found in this post!

This refashion was inspired from Pinterest and Pink Lemonade {The Blog}. I saw this shirt and knew it would be great for wearing under cardigans this fall so it immediately went on my list of things to make soon! My shirt was actually a few sizes too big so I had to do a little extra fixing on it, but the basic project itself really wasn't that hard.

What You Need
A Long Sleeve, Crew Neck T-Shirt
Scissors, pins, sewing machine

Directions

Cut off both the long sleeves.

1. Cut both the sleeves off of the shirt.

Cut the sewn edge off the sleeve.

2. You will only need one sleeve for this project, but if you can use both sleeves if you want. The shirt I used had been cut up a long time ago so I couldn't find the other sleeve and had to make it work with just the one. Open up the sleeve by trimming of the sewn edge.

Trim off excess fabric.

3. Lay the sleeve out flat with the good side facing up. Trim off all the excess fabric.

Make the sleeve fabric into a rectangle shape.

4. Make a rectangle shape with as much of the fabric as you can.

Make the rectangle into two even pieces of fabric.

5. Measure the bottom edge of the rectangle. Cut the fabric exactly in half so that both piece are the same size.

Pin the pieces together at one end only. Good sides together.

6. Pin the good sides of one end of the two pieces together.

Sew the pieces together with a zigzag stitch.

7. Sew the end of the pieces together using a zigzag stitch. Repeat this two or three times so that it will hold.

Ruffle the fabric by feeding it through the machine slightly bunched.

8. Ruffle the strip of fabric. I like to bunch up the fabric and feed it through the machine but if you have another way you like better then go for it!

Ruffle both sides of the strip.

9. Ruffle the other side using the same method. Only stitch down each side once since you may have to adjust the ruffles to make the piece fit from the top to bottom of your shirt later.

Pin the ruffle onto the shirt starting at the very top and working your way down.

10. Take the ruffle to the shirt. Start pinning along the top of the shirt and then work your way down. I pinned and sewed the top of my ruffle, but when I make this shirt again I may try it without doing this step...I don't know. That is up to you.

Get the ruffle pinned down where you want it and sew! Start at the neck line, and then do the sides. If you sew along the bottom of the ruffle then do that last.

11. Once you have the ruffle pinned down where you want it take it to the sewing machine. Use a basic straight stitch to secure the ruffle in place. Start sewing along the neckline first and then do the sides. I did not sew down the bottom of the ruffle, but if you want to you can.



Ta-da!

There you go! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found inspiration! If you had both your sleeves you could always make a double ruffle on your shirt or you could do a more ruffly front on your shirt. All sorts of possibilities there! :) I do plan to make a few more shirts with this idea...just have to dig them out of my refashioning box!

Notes
~I didn't do anything with the sleeves of my tank and have washed it several times and nothing bad has happened. I didn't want to sew them because I knew they would look worse than if I left them alone.

DIY No-Sew T-Shirt Scarf

This tutorial was made a lot faster than I thought I would be since I had a special request for it last night from Apostolic blogger, Mary, over at Classic Mary Moments! My hardest part was deciding which of the t-shirts in my refashion box could be give up for this project... I looked at the scarves in my closet and decided brown was lacking so I decided to make a new scarf in that color. I honestly wish I had two shirts for this scarf because I think it would've look better with more ruffles...but you go with what you got.

What You Need
~1-2 L, XL, or XXL T-shirts in the same color. Preferably without designs on them if you have them.
~Scissors
~A paper plate

Directions

1. Lay the t-shirt out flat. If there is nothing on the shirt (no designs) then cut all the way up one side and through the sleeve. Open the shirt up with the inside part facing down. Continue at step 3. If there are designs then continue to step 2.

2. Cut up the shirt in a way where you will be able to get the most usable fabric out of it.

3. Place the paper plate over the fabric. Put it as close to the edges as you can. Using the scissors cut around the plate. It doesn't matter how perfect this part is, but try and cut smooth, not a jagged or chopped edge.

4. Now you should have your first circle towards a scarf.

5. Remove the plate, and put the circle in a separate pile from your scrap pile.

6. Put the plate as close to the new edge of fabric as you can. There will be a little "tail" type piece which you will need to cut off.

7. Continue to cut out the rest of the circle, using the plate as a guide.

8. Cut out circles until you run out of fabric. Leave the strip along the hem of the bottom of the shirt for use later on.

9. My size L shirt made 7 circles...I probably could've squeezed one or two out of the top part of the shirt, but I didn't want to.

10. Time to start cutting the circles. You are going to be cutting a spiral in each circle. Start like I have it shown in the photo just above this text. The most important thing here as that you keep each of the strips about the same width so they will all look nice together. Aka don't make "fat" and "skinny" spirals, choose one size and stick with it for each circle.

11. When you come to the end of the spiral it will look like this.

12. Cut just enough off the end to make it the same width as the rest of the scarf. There will be a little fabric left over. Throw it in your scrap pile.

13. Cut out each circle in a spiral shape until all of the circles are done.

14. Pick up one spiral. Hold one end in your left hand and with your right hand slide it down to the other end to stretch it. Repeat for each spiral.

15. Now, put all of the pieces together so you can tie it. Lay the scarf out like it is going to be around your neck and hanging down the front on both sides.

16. Look through your scraps and find several good size pieces which were not used to make into ties. Cut four strips about 5 inches long.

17. Stretch each piece like you did the spirals.

18. Near the middle to top of the scarf find two places on each side to tie off. Tie the second piece a few inches below or above the first one. Tie all of them twice and then cut off the ends that stick out.

At this point I had not cut off the extra pieces from the ties so you can see how they stick out at odd angles.

19. Now all that is left is to connect the two sides in the middle.

See my laptop? I was working on the post as I made the scarf!

20. Using the piece of the shirt with the hem, cut strips of fabric less than 1/2 an inch wide. Don't worry about the lines being straight. Crooked lines actually look better. I was able to make about 6 strips with my extra fabric.

21. Stretch each of the strips of fabric. They will become pretty long now and that is perfect!

22. Put the scarf around your neck and figure out where you want each side to meet at. Using one of the stretched strips of fabric at a time, tie it around that spot and secure it with a double knot. Repeat for each strip, rotating the knots just a little so it won't matter which way you put the scarf on.

23. I had a little bit of extra fabric left over from my scarf project, but not much! If your shirt has no logo's or writing you will have even less leftover than this!

I hope that this tutorial is helpful to anyone who is going to attempt to make this scarf! It is super easy and it looks cute too!