Letter Shirts

I have recently started to make my own letter shirts. I love the look, but they are so expensive to buy over the internet and you may not always find a fabric or shirt you like. So after a few trials and errors, I have come up with a quick and easy way to make your own.

You will need:

Two templates for your Greek letters. A larger one for the background fabric and a smaller one for the foreground fabric

The back ground templates should be 3'' for three letter names and 4'' for two letter names and about a half inch smaller for the foreground templates

Heat and Bond Lite Sewable Iron-on Adhesive 

Fabric of your choice

Apparel of your choice that has been washed and pre-shrunk

Starting with the Heat and Bond, trace your templates and cut out your respective Greek letters. Be sure not to remove the protective paper. Also, I made my templates out of a thin, clear plastic so that I could reuse them with out damaging them over time. 

Next, lay out your fabric and iron it to remove all wrinkles. Lay the Heat and Bond letters down on the fabrics your wish to use for your letters and, following the instructions on the packaging for your fabric type, iron down the Heat and Bond. Following the edge of the Heat and Bond, carefully cut out the letters (they should be fabric on one side and Heat and Bond on the other)

Then, lay out the clothing you wish to attach the letters to as flat as possible and iron to remove any wrinkles. 

Now lay out your background fabric however you would like it to be on your apparel  I used a ruler to keep mine straight across the front of my tanks, but feel free to stager them, put them vertical, on the back, etc. Follow the instructions on the Heat and Bond packaging and iron down the background letters.

Next, arrange the foreground letters on top of the background fabric and, again, iron the letters down.

Now, this is the tricky part. You need to sew the letters down. I recommend using thread that compliments the fabric either used on the letters or the top. 

Luckily, I just have to make straight lines to sew down the deltas, but some letters will be more difficult. If you are unable to sew the letters down, you can use Head and Bond Ultra, which is meant to not be sewn and has an extra strong hold, but you will not have the pretty finishing stitches around your letters

Below are some examples of the tanks I have made

First two tanks that I made before the letters were sewn down

42 little triangles later....

Here are three tanks that one of my sorority sisters asked me to make for her. I was very pleased with how they turned out!

Matching tanks with our names embroidered on for my two triplets and me!

If making your own letter shirts is still a bit out of your crafting zone, check out my favorite store to order them from-- Jenna Benna & Co.

Happy Crafting!

Sorority Picture Frames and Badge Boxes

With our chapter's Big/Little reveal coming up soon, I thought it would be fun to make my future little a few picture frames that she can put pictures of her favorite TriDelta moments in (and of course pictures with her Big!). All of the frames are unfinished wooden frames purchased from Michael's. Here are a few that I have made with a few tips and ticks on how I made them.

I'm in love with the Lilly Pulitzer for TriDelta pattern, so for this frame I began by painting the whole frame white. I then projected a print out of the pattern using a small craft projector, which you can get here from Hobby Lobby, on a blank wall, aligned the pattern how I wanted it on the frame, and taped the frame to the wall with basic painters tape. I then just filled in the colors starting with the accent colors much like you would with a paint-by-numbers kit. I painted the edges hot pink for added effect and then sealed the frame with a basic clear spray paint.

These next two frames are actually my favorites and the easiest to make. I painted both frames white and then sealed them with clear spray paint. I did the same with the wooden dolphin accents, which we also purchased at Michael's. I then used wired burlap ribbion, currently available at most craft stores, and created bows. Once I was happy with the bow shape, I hot glued it down to the frame. I then hot glued the dolphin on top. I decided to keep one for myself and give the other to my future little. On the one for my little I also used glittered letter stickers to write out "Delta Delta Delta."

For the last frame, I painted the frame white and then painted small wooden letters from Hobby Lobby to write out 'Big' and 'Lil' in the same blue as the dolphins above. For the tittle over the 'i's, I mixed Elmer's Glue and gold glitter together to make my own glitter glue and then painted it on the letters with a paint brush. I then hot glued the letters to the frame and sealed it with clear spray paint. 

I am very excited to  present my future little with the badge box below. It is a small, unfinished wooden gift box from Michael's, which I painted and then glued flowers around the edge of (the pearls were pre-glued to the flowers). The wooden "sisters" sign on the lid also came from Michael's and is part of their current spring collection. I then used tweezers to place each individual pearl sticker on the edge of the lid. As an extra bonus, I plan to paint my future little's initials on the underside of the lib as soon as I find out who she is.

Happy Crafting!

Vinyle Cut Outs Without An Electronic Cutting Machine

I've always loved vinyle cut out lettering and especially monograms. It's incredibly versatile and since craft vinyle comes in an endless amount of colors, it can really take any project to the next level.

I have pined for a Cricut or Silhouette craft cutter for sometime now and have always wanted to be able to cut my own letters or shapes out for various project. However, on a whim I bought some of the vinyle used in the machine and thought, "who needs a machine when I have two hands and a pair of scissors?"

A friend of mine has a Lily Pulitzer tumbler that she was gifted with her monogram on it. My first project was replicating the monogram on my Lilly for TriDelta tumbler. 

I printed out my monogram using Printable Monogram and then traced it on a sheet of tracing paper. I then retraced the monogram onto the paper backing of the vinyle and then went about cutting it out. While cutting the monogram out proved to be painstakingly tedious, the final product came out pretty nicely. I then cleaned my tumbler's surface and pressed on the monogram, now basically a large sticker,  in sections. I used a credit card to rub out any bubbles. I have used the tumbler for about a month now and have not had a single problem with the vinyle peeling or coming off when wet.

Since my tumbler came out so great, I also printed out a silhouette of the TriDelta hand-sign and, again using tracing paper, cut it out in the vinyle. I think it looks pretty cute framing the apple on my laptop and I have received a number of compliments on it.   

Happy Crafting!

Sorority Canvases

Our chapter's Big/Little Reveal is coming up soon and I have been crafting non-stop for my future little, whoever she maybe! Below are a few canvases if have made over the past few weeks. I'm not sure which ones I will pass along to her yet, but I hope she will love them!

All of the canvases are from the multipack sets at Michael's and are painted with Folkart acrylic. I also sealed them all with a basic clear spray paint. For the two glittered paintings, I used multipul coats of the clear spray paint to really lock in the glitter. 

      

Happy Crafting!

Learning To Cross Stitch And Needle Point

This summer I decided to take up a few new crafts, one of those being cross stitch. I have really come to enjoy cross stitching, even if counting all the tiny squares can be a bit stressful at times. For Christmas, I asked Santa for a TriDelta Crest pattern kit and he sure did deliver! 

Each kit comes with Adia cloth, crest pattern, Greek letter pattern, and floss. The crest should be around 9"X 12" when I finish. While I liked the colors that the kit came with, I did end up buying a few of my own just for personal preference.

 I've only had enough time to work on it for about four sittings, but it is really coming along!

The kit is from Greek Gear and they have a great selection of almost every sorority and fraternity you could think of. Buy one HERE

I have also become increasingly interested in needle point after a friend of mine showed me the beautiful belts that his mother makes for him. Just on a whim I decided to visit a local needle point shop, and while I left because the prices were so high, I fell in love. So, I drove to Hobby Lobby, bought myself a pack of size 14 canvas, and created this Lilly Pulitzer for TriDelta inspired key fob. I have yet to do the finishings on it, but I will post as soon as I do.  

Happy Crafting!

DIY Sorority Rugs

Last Christmas, I made these rugs for my two friends, one in ADPi and one in DG. I got the inspiration from a Pinterest post about making rugs out of old T-shirts. These rugs are 3'x2' and each one took around a three days to complete. I spent around $15 on each, this includes the rug pad and the fabric. These can be made with any design or just with school or sorority colors placed at random.

What you will need:

Gridded non-slip rug pad in your preferred size (I bought mine by the yard at Joann's)

A minimum of 5 yards of fabric (for 3'x2', more if larger)

Starting with your rug pad, draw on whatever pattern you would like (if you want a pattern). Next, cut the fabric into 1 inch wide and 2-2 1/2 inch long pieces. Finally, loop each fabric piece through the rug pad one by one. The method to make these is very simple, but can be time consuming.

Tips: I started outline of the pattern, filled it in, and then did the back ground. Also, try to place the fabric evenly through out the rug so no one area is more filled in than another. I tried to make sure I had enough fabric for every space, but this is not necessary.
 

Above: front and back photos of the ADPi Lion. The back almost looked better than the front.

Below: Delta Gamma anchor. The fabric that I used was so soft! I love the final texture.

These rugs make great personal gifts and are very unique. Have fun and play around with colors and then relax on your new rug :)

Glass Painting

I have recently become interested in glass painting and decided to try my hand with painting a plate inspired by the Lilly Pulitzer Sorority TriDelta sorority print. I bought the plate and paint, Folk Art Enamel, at Wal*Mart for just a few dollars. The hardest part was working backwards in the colors since I painted it on the bottom of the plate, so starting with the embellishments first and doing the background last. It took a few days, but I am so pleased with how it turned out. 

Any sort of glass objects can be painted, from cups to ornaments to piggy banks, so have fun with it. Since they can be easily customized, painted glass pieces make great gifts.