Embroidery hoop fabric art

I knew I had been hoarding these embroidery hoops for a reason! I finally got around to making some and putting them up in my new apartment! I saw this idea on Sincerely Kinsey and had to try it!

love, polly

Cloche Hat DIY

Hi, there! Remember when I made a cloche? Well, it's actually not that hard to do. I was so excited to make one because they are so unique and I have a very large crush on the fashion of the 1920's. First, you need to make sure you have a design in mind. I picked my inspiration from a 1920's fashion magazine (you can also google 1920's cloches for inspiration!) I ordered my hatbody from Judith Millinery. The costume shop has lots of hat blocks which you will also need in order to stretch the felted hat base over. 

(my inspiration photo)

After the hat body came in the mail, I took a tape measurer and measured the circumference of my head and found a hat block matching that measurement. I covered the wooden hat block with plastic shrink wrap and taped it to protect my velour hat block from the dirty wood. Then, it was time to stretch the hat body over the hat block to mold it to my own head's shape. First, you spray the inside of the hat with water (be careful to only mist it!) and then place the hat body over the hat block. After pulling and shaping quite a bit, I decided I wanted a little draping at the top. The photos above and below this paragraph are examples of draping on a cloche. I pinched an area and raised it to my liking and then pinned it over night to dry.

My next step was to create the pinwheels I wanted to place on the side. I marked with a 4H pencil on the wrong side of my fabric how far away I wanted the pleats to be from each other with a clear ruler (always the best for sewing!) Then, I folded on the lines and pressed with the industrial iron.

 After the strip of fabric was pleated and pressed, I ran a simple loose gathering stitch on the inside and gathered it into a circle.

I attached the circle to the side of my cloche by hand sewing in a decorative color. I just used a simple running stitch. I made a larger and a smaller pinwheel and then I decided I wanted a cluster of buttons in the middle to finish it off..

(here is my amazing friend LIZ in the background!)

I also included bias tape on the inside of the crown to finish it off, but that is a minor detail that you may not be worried about. It's just a professional way of finishing off your hat on the inside, too. You can buy bias tape at any sewing store and hand stitch it in a circle (after steaming it in a circular shape) on the inside of the hat where your forehead rests.

If you'd like to see the rest of this outfit, you can find the post here. 

love, polly :)

Apple earrings DIY

I had an itch to make some Apple Earrings to join my other fruit earring collection I've been making. They are really lightweight, I got the two apples from Goodwill, and I already had all of the supplies I needed: 1. E-6000 glue, 2. Your two matching future earrings (in this case, two small apples) 3. Your earring posts and matching backs.

This glue takes quite a while to dry, so don't try to wear them for at least 30 minutes or more after gluing to ensure that they will stay intact!

Here is me via instagram right before I fled to work!

Also, here is a video I took of Joao while I was making my earrings.... he is such a cutie... He is back to stay at my house, and I am so thrilled about being reunited with my cat!!!!

love, polly and joao!

1970's dress alteration

 I decided that I loved the sleeves on this dress too much to pass it up at Salvation Army a couple of weeks ago. However, something needed to be done about the length, so I hemmed it today. I just used a roll hem after I leveled it on my dress form and then stitched it on up! I didn't mean for it to turn out this short on me.... but I think it still works! What do you think of the before and after? XO!

love, polly

Make your own fruit earrings!

I've been really obsessed over fake fruit the last few months and I've been making paintings with them. I just bought some more fake fruit on ebay for more paintings and I figured I could spare a handful to make earrings. I get so many compliments on these red pepper earrings that I figured WHY NOT make earrings out of fake fruit! 

MATERIALS NEEDED: Earring posts with backs, your choice of lightweight fake fruit, and a hot glue gun!

Step 1: figure out where you'd like to place the posts. Make sure to move the piece of fruit around on your ear to figure out the perfect placement and side of the fruit that you want to show.

Step 2: Use your hot glue gun to squeeze a dollop of glue on the back of your earring post and stick it in the desired area.

Step 3: Let them dry for about ten minutes and wear them! 

See, it's so easy! The hardest part is picking out what fruit to use. I got mine on ebay.

Have fun making your very own fruit earrings!

love, polly

Fashion your frames DIY

Hi, loves! I bought these frames at a thrift store in Springfield, MO when I went to visit Red Velvet this past summer and I still hadn't done anything with them... so I started getting antsy. Last night I was cooped up in my room so I decided to re- do the frames and feature two of my favorite Marc Jacobs design ads. He is such an inspiring designer and these are so close to my style!

1. Take your frame and take the glass and backing out of it so you can paint it. 

2. Gather your paintbrush and your favorite hue of acrylic paint (this will probably take two-three coats) and paint away!

3. Gather your pieces of art and place them on your mat-board or thick paper of your choice. Make sure the material you chose will act as a sufficient mat-board and is large enough to frame the whole photo.

4. Put your photos on the back and in the center of the mat-board/paper and trace around the edges. Depending on how thick you'd like your matted frame, allow 2-4 inches smaller than the actual size of the photo. This will cut off some of your original photo, but it's necessary to frame the photo.

5. Tape your artwork to the cardboard frame provided with the picture frame. 

6. Cut on the inside line that you drew for the mat-board with an exact-o knife and a cutting mat. You should be cutting out a box shape in the middle of your paper.. and the frame you end up with should be smaller than the artwork you're framing!

7. Now that you have the middle of your mat-board paper cut out with your exact-o knife, tape your mat-board on your photo and turn it upside down so you can see the excess paper.

8. Cut the excess paper with scissors or an exact-o.

Last but not least.. place your matted photos in your beautiful new frames...

And you're finished and ready to hang your beautiful creation! 

love, polly

Vintage DIY: decorate your speakers

When I inherited this vintage 1970's Juliet record player + speaker system from my father, I was absolutely antsy to buy a TON of records. I was so happy to have something vintage that used to belong to my father because most of the neat vintage I had was from my mother. However, the wood used when making the speakers was very sticky and hard to pick up for that reason. It was unappealing altogether. The color of the wood also left something to be desired, so I decided to give them a little make-over. 

Supplies Needed: your speakers, paint of your choice to coat the speakers with, paint for your details on the speakers, a large paint or foam brush, smaller brushes, a cup of water, a paint palette, and newspaper to avoid making a mess.

1. Place your speakers under the newspaper and coat them with your base layer of paint (you may also need a second coat!)

2. Draw on your designs lightly with a pencil

3. paint your designs on your speakers and let it dry!

I hope you enjoyed this DIY and please send any photos of your decorated speakers to me via polly AT paulieantiques DOT com♥. I'd love to feature them!

love, polly

Scalloped Shorts DIY

Hi! I've had this idea in my head for quite some time and now I've finally accomploshed it! I love accomplishing goals you set for yourself.. it feels so good... doesn't it?♥.

1. choose a pair of trousers that you don't particularly mind cutting up! 2. measure out how long you want your shorts to be compared to your legs (make sure they are the same length) and cut notches to help if needed. Cut off at desired length 3. pin front and back together and use fabric scissors to scallop (or your own design) the new bottoms (the hem) of your shorts! I used an anti-fray glue at the end to stop shredding and keep things looking tidy. You can also hand stitch the bottoms for a more home made look! Enjoy! 

love, polly :)

spice up an old pair of shoes//how to do it yourself!

One of my Great Grandmother Polly's most favorite creative activities is painting her shoes. This is a spin off of her love for recreating her footwear in a creative and inexpensive way. I just grabbed a pair of plain taupe flats with short heels out of my closet and decided to spice them up.. here is how you can do the same!

After the bows were sewn, I placed them on top of my shoe at the desired spot and poked my needle through the shoe and stitched it tight. You can sew your bows absolutely anywhere on your shoes! Have fun with it :) 

I used Prismacolor markers to draw the cloud designs before the bows were sewn on :)

love, polly :)