Summer Neckties

I love repurposing/revamping old things. It's becoming a hobby. I just moved back to Berkeley to begin the school year. As is custom, I brought back LOTS of new goodies to fill up my already exploding Ikea closet. To make room, I got rid of a few things. This linen shirt was in the donate pile before I had a change of heart. 

I bought this shirt used, seeing some really great layering potential for the winter months. But I didn't wear it at all last winter. 

So I decided to stop waiting and wear it now!

 To give the shirt a more summery air, I cut off the sleeves. I have been wanting a shirt with neckties for ages. So I used the sleeve material to make a little necktie by cutting two strips and tying them in a knot.

 I then picked some embroidery thread (coral and pink) to enhance and brighten the olive green material of the shirt. I stitched little x's and ='s to the corners of the collar and changed the button thread color of the top-most button.
To clean up the overall look of the shirt, I stitched the edges of the necktie using a light pink thread before pinning it to the underside of the collar.

And it's ready to wear! What do you think?

Chunky Hardware Friendship Bracelets

I love receiving friendship bracelets, but I am not the biggest fan of wearing them because they tend to clash with my clothes, the rest of my jewelry, etc. After ruining one of favorite necklaces (I accidentally flushed part of it down the toilet), I started looking around in thrift stores for old chains that I could potentially take apart and use. While searching for chains, I found the most amazing, chunky gold chain. Unfortunately, it was sewn to the neckline of a shirt as part of the design. The shirt was unflattering and not really worth buying, but for $1.50, I figured the price covered the chain alone. Once at home, I realized that the chain would look amazing paired with some color. Even better, it would look prettier combined with a different texture, like...embroidery thread!

 My first step was to cut the chain. I figured half chain and half friendship bracelet would look nice. 

 I then picked my colors of coral, beige, purple and, forest green.

   I then folded the strings in half and tied them into a knot around the end of the chain.

 Organizing the thread into a perfectly symmetrical pattern, I begin to tie the Chevron pattern. 

 Starting with the string on the far left, loop the string over and under the string to the right. Pull snug and repeat so that each string has two knots. Continue until the middle is reached. Begin on the right side and move to the left. Tie the two middle pieces together and repeat steps starting on left.

Braid remaining pieces into two braided strands and tie them around the loose end of the chain.

Pair with other fun pieces and ENJOY!