Playing With Your Friends

Are you continually plagued by the need to photoshop your friends? Does the need to transform their clothes and whereabouts get your fingers twitching?Then look no further, this is the blog post for you.

Starting with the basics, you can always use the old trusty Paint.

Its easy, its on every windows computer, it doesn't complain about format, you can do a multitude of things on it. Here is a sample of what one of the taleneted people from Deviant art have done on it.

Or a lovely grandpa
www.vimeo.com/70748579


If you have a mac or are in just one of those situations, then there is paint online
www.getpaint.net/.


It doesnt matter if you dont know how to draw, Allie, from hyperbole and a Half, seems not to know very much about drawing but just look at this post. I challenge you to tell me this is not funny.

Free, (no registration needed, online editing photo tools)


If online editing is your game, and you cant use apps like Bitstrips because your phone is too old or you just don't fancy peering onto a tiny screen, then there is all these sites.

FotoFlexer
They say they are the most advanced online photo editotr, its quite a claim and propbably untrue as I think the greatest tools in the world are layers and liquify and it doesn't really have a way for the user to control either  with any degree of accuracy, but they are a nice stable, not too many pop up ads tool

Ipiccy
This is a good one, it seems to have greatly improved since the sad demise of Picnik( will no other online editor ever tell me its installing the sunshine) Its got great stickers to decorate your pictures with.

Luna pic
Is also a is great little tool, my tool of choice since Aviary(http://www.aviary.com/) went away, its got the liquefy tool, cleverly relabelled at the liquid resize tool and is great for hiding that prutuding pully or shrinking down jawlines so you can make your friends look like anime characters.

Fotor
Fotor is also a good tool. Really terrible collages though, has some really funny ideas about resizing and is very inflexible with letting you edit the shape of the individual pictures. Likes to crash, for no reason too, so if you think you'll just take time to get to know it, realise you could lose your 2-3 hours of work at any time, irrecoverably.

Collages

You can make just random collages, when one picture isnt enough and you need to blend a few pics to show an event or so

Photovisi
Turn each precious photo into a randowm shape where you cant see any of the actual pictures properly because of the filter they have used

Collage
I've not used this site, but if you have, feel free to give me some feedback on it.

Frames

Sometimes you just want a random pretty frame. This often means bouncing back inbetween sites edit the pic in one sie, add the frame in another site then go to yet another site because it had the right stickers. It's a tough old world.
Framemypic.com
loonapix.com/framer
adornpic.com/frames/

If you dont like it you can always learn how to use a package like GIMP, Inkscape or any other vector graphics editor. You may even have to dig deep and get photoshop and just download image libaraies or make your own stickers. See you in six moths then!

Gifs

If you have quite a few phots you wish to link together, like a wink or your frined jumping or dancing, you may wanna consider making your own gif.

Heres a good place.
makeagif.com/
Very easy to use and does exactly what it says on the tin.

Something deserves honourable mention and its Blingee. Do you miss the shockingly bad graphics of myspace and the early 1990s internet? Does the mere mention of the word gif fill you with thougts of glaring multicolours and uncesssary flashing?  Do you wonder how one person could hope to blend colour and  black and white photos with rainbows, bling and an obscene amount of cats expect it to be still tasteful? Wonder no more. Here is dedication to Paul Walker Go to the site, its much, much worse.

In their tagline, thry call it "A Creative Community for Fans, Photos and Fun" I think it's a product of people not being allowed to spend enough time outside to experience the mindnumbingly boring reasuance of the wind blowing the leaves of a tree, or the stars at night. Granted it is hard to understand the night sky. It is massive, it takes a whole year of watching just to see all of it and if you change hemispheres you have to do it all over again. Far easier to sit in front of your pc looking at an overdecorated gig, the loop comes round much quicker and its warmer indoors too.

Videos

A final thing you can do for your unwitting friends, is make them dance in videos you can sick their head on a moving template and voila your friend is now a disco dancer.
Here area few sites

mushygushy.com
blabberize.com
pictogames.com
muglets.com
gizmoz.com

Or just for Christmas, you can
www.elfyourself.com/

If you wish, you could even, go one step further and edit the video frame by frame

Jashaka
It is free and allows you to edit each frame to your heart's delight: effects, painting, etcetera. Because it is aimed at professional video editing, its learning curve is somewhat steep, compared to basic products. But after some practice, it rocks. (especially when you take into consideration that it's a free product!!!) The interface is quite intuitive and fast, once you get used to it.
 

Links

Remember, even so called professionals, don't know what they are doing, I give you Photoshop Disatsers
www.psdisasters.com

If you start to get really good at this and want a community to practice in, there's always the Worth1000 contests
www.worth1000.com/contests 


If this was a very entertaining read but you are not prepared to spend hours looking for pictures, chsoing effect, rearranging and oicking stickers then, there is always Fiverr
http://fiverr.com/mrgames417/photoshop-your-face-or-your-friends-face-onto-someone-elses-body

Tall costumes

Costuming while Tall

Real Life Batman

lf you're anything like me, you'll find that trying to find costumes to fit you is a dismal time wasting joke. Not even worth the bother. Costumes that are far too short and never ever fit on your waist.


I just make my own. Now there are some people who take this costume making business very seriously. I've seen one guy who dresses as batman, goes out to do charity work for children, has his car exactly like Batman's car.


He had his costume made by a professional, paid about £5,000 for it. Sweats like he's just stepped out of a swimming pool everytime he wears it. I just can't dedicate that much to a costume, I'm afraid. Though have tons of respect for him, his dedication. Also jhe's probably very rich. I just can't spend that much on a costume while I still haven't got those driving lessons yet, or taken that holiday, or got a bigger place. That's why when it comes to costume making, there are levels. Its perfectly illustrated in this picture here from StudioDIY.

I would say I am the last 3 categories.

Headband Costumes(Fascinators)

Making these worked well, just mostly creating a head band costumes. A catsuit and some foam and lots of paper attempts made me catwoman.

 

 Or you can don a yellow dress and go as a pineapple

Once, I decided to go as kitsch as possible, Japapese street style. I had a barbie doll, cheap plastic flowers, blingy costume jewellery, went for it all. It all worked well till I got on the bus, high heels, barbie doll on my head and low roof, were not a good combination.

Avoid such mishaps by turning your headband on its side

Other people to inspire you  

AlphaMom
http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/easiest-kids-diy-halloween-costume-idea-ever/

StudioDIY
http://www.studiodiy.com/2013/10/09/diy-clever-halloween-costume-toppers-part-1/

Wigs, Gloves, Belts, Socks

Additionally if you have the time/money you can add wigs, gloves, wings or knee high socks (double as boots)

I got into wigs, because I found one for for 3 quid in Primark, them again all different colours in a pound store. It was great to be able to carry off a whole dramatic look without any permanent trauma to my hair.

I became a bit obsessed and found myself at a wig store in Finsbury park looking for wigs. Looking at cosplay.com www.cosplay.com  to try to find more wigs.  Here are some reserve ideas for quick costumes.

 You can make your own wig using wool.

If you've got blonde hair or a blonde wig, here is tutorial using eyeshadow from the extremely talented LoveMaegan.

Glasses

 

Costumes that look like they have glasses are a graet help

Wearing glasses and wanting to wear a costume or mask also has its own problems.  Making your own overcomes lots of these problems. Foam, found in packs in craft and pound stores everywhere, is your friend. You can also glue stuff to your old glasses or broken glasses or to a cheap pair.
Another option is to pop out lenses from an old pair an attach them to your mask.


Here are some glasses mask make up tutorial
GreatGlassesPlayday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkPdK996C7U

Make Up

There is always the option to add a thick layer of make up. If you already have the skills and make up its a good option. You can pick it up with some practice

Downside is closing your eyes for picsFromIceCreamKiller

Here are some tutorials, you can practice at home, on those long, long Sundays when youve got nothing else to do but alot of day still left.

Manga girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aox_CNdokXY

Another manga girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLvSSyTgmsM

http://bruingrrl.deviantart.com/art/Pop-Art-Makeup-383001554

Pop art/ Comic book

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNQuZ4c34P8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXHx-zuTeJM

There are alot of skull make up tutorials but I take public transport and I'm not a big fan of terrifying strangers, but I think this skull make up is ok, makes the point but is not hideous

Day of the dead skull
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za8Tk4xolxA

Engineer style

You wanna go all outto the max, really spend a whole year reseraching, sourcing, saving, practcing and trying out your costume, then give the people on cosplay a visit. There are even people there who rehearse lines so they can stay in charachter the whole time. Maybe I will do that if I find a partner in crime for this and we keep trying to outdo each other.

What I learned from wanting Marshmallows

Well, I've been home sick, 4 days and decided that I should try to make marshmallows seeing as I had so much time on my hands.
I found a nice recipe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/marshmallow

Seemed to be a hell lot of sugar in there. Must be a way to get less sugar in there?
I looked some more, I found Heidi, a glutten free mom. Just like me!

http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/2010/12/homemade-marshmallows-corn-free-and-egg-free/

Sadly she made her own syrup, which would probably better than the chemical glucose fuctose high corn syrup that they add to everything. I realised it seemed literally impossible to make marshmallows without a ridiculous amount of sugar. I don't want that much sugar rolling around in my system to be honest so I figured there must be something else I can have instead.

I knew from wandering into Jewish shops there was there was a kind of sweet made with pistachios and tahini. A bit of googling taught me this was called Havla.
See the entry from wikipedia

Halva

Balkan style tahini-based halva with pistachios

Halva

Balkan style tahini-based halva with pistachios
Origin
Alternative name(s)
halawa, xalwo, haleweh, ħelwa, halvah, halava, helava, helva, halwa, halua, aluva, chalva, chałwa
Details
Type
Confectionery
Main ingredient(s)
Flour base: grain flour
Nut base: nut butter and sugar
Halva (or halawa, xalwo, haleweh, ħelwa, halvah, halava, helava, helva, halwa, halua, aluva, chalva, chałwa) refers to many types of dense, sweet confections, served across the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Malta and the Jewish world.
The term halva (Arabic: حلوى‎ / ALA-LC: ḥalwà), meaning "sweet", is used to describe two types of desserts:
    •    Flour-based – This type of halva is slightly gelatinous and made from grain flour, typically semolina. The primary ingredients are clarified butter, flour, and sugar.
    •    Nut-butter-based – This type of halva is crumbly and usually made from tahini (sesame paste) or other nut butters, such as sunflower seed butter. The primary ingredients are nut butter and sugar.
Halva may also be based on numerous other ingredients, including sunflower seeds, various nuts, beans, lentils, and vegetables such as carrots, pumpkins, yams, and squashes.

And here is a recipe of how to make this dessert

http://homemade-recipes.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/sesame-or-tahini-halva-recipe-how-to.html

Havla comes up as a confectionary along with along list of other things you can make by adding something to boiled sugar

 * Hard sweets. Based on sugars cooked to the hard-crack stage: adding colouring and flavouring.Examples include suckers (known as boiled sweets in British English), lollipops, jawbreakers (or gobstoppers), lemon drops, peppermint drops and disks, candy canes, rock candy, etc. These also include types often mixed with nuts such as brittle.

    * Fondant.

    * Taffy. These are related to hard candy that is folded many times above 50 °C. Toffee, in British English, can also refer to a harder substance also made from cooked sugars which resembles toffee.
    * Fudge: A confection of milk and sugar boiled to the soft-ball stage.

    * Caramels. These are derived from mixtures of sucrose, glucose syrup, and milk products.

    * Tablet. A crumbly milk-based soft and hard candy, based on sugars cooked to the soft-ball stage. Comes in several forms, such as wafers and heart shapes

    * Liquorice: Containing extract of the liquorice root. Chewier and more resilient than gum/gelatin candies.

    * Chocolates are bite-sized confectioneries generally made with chocolate.

    * Jelly candies: Including those based on sugar and starch, pectin, gum, or gelatin such as Lokum / Turkish Delight, jelly beans, gumdrops, jujubes, cola bottles gummies, etc.

    * Marshmallow: "Peeps" (a trade name), circus peanuts, fluffy puff, etc.

    * Marzipan: An almond-based confection, doughy in consistency, served in several different ways. It is often formed into shapes mimicking (for example) fruits or animals.

    * Divinity: A nougat-like confectionery based on egg whites with chopped nuts.
    * Dodol: A toffee-like food delicacy popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines
    * Mithai: A generic term for confectionery in India, typically made from dairy products and/or some form of flour. Sugar or molases are used as sweeteners.
    * Pastry: A baked confection whose dough is rich in butter, which was dispersed through the pastry prior to baking, resulting in a light, flaky texture; this dough might be used in pies and tarts.
    * Chewing gum: Uniquely made to be chewed, not swallowed. However, some people believe that at least some types of chewing gum, such as certain bubble gums, are indeed candy.
    * Ice cream: Frozen flavoured cream, often containing small pieces of chocolate, fruits and/or nuts.
    * Halvah: Confectionery based on tahini, a paste made from ground sesame seeds.
    * Alfajor: a traditional South American cookie typically consisting of two round sweet biscuits joined together with a sweet jam, generally dulce de leche (milk jam), and sometimes covered in chocolate.
    * Dragée - Coated almonds and other types of coated candy.

Such a huge list. Covers almost everything. It also includes chocloate which means I now know how to make my own chocolate. I think boiling some kind of sugar syrrup and adding chocolate powder. However, I knew from my early rummaging around on the internet that, if I did that it would make a fudge. See this recipe from joy of baking

http://www.joyofbaking.com/chocolatefudge.html

So what was the missing ingredient? What did I need to add or leave out? So went back to the drawing board and looked for a recipe for making chocolate from scratch.
I found this convient recipe on instructables

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Chocolate-From-Scratch/

However, I am just not in possession of that much time and and specialist euiptment. It was really good to know, if I ever again get several weeks spare, I may try. However, in the comments daintytweety asked exactly the question I would have asked if I joined the site and if the original poster was still bothered to answer something on such an old post.

So looking at the comments you need a fat stays solid at room temperature like butter or cocoa butter. The original poster Mongpoovian suggests a  "dark" chocolate recipe 60% cocoa powder, 20% cocoa butter, 20% sugar. He says you can use pure cocoa butter from the chemist but I don't think ai will do that actually. Too expensive! Only a chocolatier would come out with something like that ! He also suggests coconut oil, which is way cheaper and I think that is something I'd try. Another commenter PearlZenith suggest making milk chocolate by adding milk powder. No good for a lactose intolerant girl like me. Even though I eat milk chocolte more than I should, I only do it cos of the convience and lack of options. I certainly wouldn't go through all the trouble of making something from scratch if its bad for me.



So here's a nice recipe from dhruv  about making chocolate from cocoa powder

http://dhruvbird.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/how-to-make-chocolate-from-cocoa-powder.html


Anyway, back to my deductions. Look at this recipe for jam from the BBC food website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/simple_blackcurrant_jam_77904

Seems to be boiling sugar and adding fruit. So whether they wanna admit it or not Jam must be a confectionary.

None of this though solves my problem of wanting marshamallows with less sugar.  So back to the drawing board. I remember eating in Yo!Sushi my freind was eating some desert, probably made from rice, which I couldn' t have but perhaps I could learn something from the process. These little buns are called Mochi. Just like Moshi Monsters but probably the copyright was too expensive

http://japanesefood.about.com/cs/video/g/g_mochi.htm

and the very similar Dodol from Malaysia

http://1asiafoodguide.com/asian-recipe/malaysian-dodol-food-recipe.html


I just needed a recipe without rice. I turned back to my Arab world neighbours,  who despite their questionable views on womens rights seemed to have got it just right with a glutten free food. I looked longingly at Havla recipes wondering if I could force myself to stomach the excesssively sweetened crumly stuff I found in Shepherds Bush. It was gluten free, lactose free, it was already prepared, rich in calcium and I could carry it round in my bag for emergencies.  No, just too much sugar. I wondered what Turkish Delights were made of. Locating another recipe was in order

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/details/Food/lokum_recipe.html

Turns out the secret ingredient is starch. Starch, something you can use as a gel for your hair, or to make you look really odd in your clothes.  An alternative for starch is of course gelatine which if you mix with boiling syrup, you get Marshmallows. Mix it with water, you get wobbly jelly!

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grandmas_sunshine_salad/

Which melts to water when you leave it out the fridge for too long.  Perhaps I was being too ambitious. Why was I doing this again? Oh yes, I wanted marshmallows, with less sugar.
Ok, what if I went back one step to Mochis? The way they described pounding the rice sounded a lot like fufu.

http://www.congocookbook.com/staple_dish_recipes/fufu.html


or the easier version

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/food/fufu.html

The easy version still needed two people though. Perhaps it could be made in the microwave instead?
I found a whole whost of microwave confectionary


Jam in a microwave
http://kajaldreams.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/apple-jam.html 

Microwave Havla(with nuts and setting in a bwl, it woul work better)
http://www.ruthsrealfood.com/2011/10/30-second-halva-dessert.html


Microwave pavola, (marshmallowy, no gelatine but 3/4 cup sugar)http://cathysfoodadventures.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/microwave-pavlova.html


BUSTAMANTE BACKBONE ( by smilingeyes55  fromToronto)
Ingredients:
1 cup grated coconut (squeeze once to drain)
2 cups very dark brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated fine
1 tablespoon lime juice or cream of tartar powder

Method:
Mix the sugar and water, add ginger, and lime juice. Boil until
when dropped in water it forms a ball. about 1/2 hr. add the
coconut stir well. pour in a buttered cookie sheet, slice with
a knife when cooled a little or with a pair of scissors.

Besan Ladoo( sounds weird but is gluten free, so I'll eat it)
http://bhaatukli.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/microwave-besan-ladoo.html

All of these  thrilling and inspiring but the amount of sugar used shows me that its just a variation of boiling sugar and adding stuff.  So I suppose, what I need to ask myself is, can you make fufu in the microwave?
The people at Ghana to Ghana think you can.

http://www.ghanatoghana.com/Ghanahomepage/fufu-fufu-flour-ghanaian

At this point I started to wonder if my craving for sugar free marshmallows had sprung from a unfulfilled desire for some fufu? If it was I felt I had somehow managed to find the easiest way to prepare it. One person and no excessive stirring.

Surely, if I had the flour and mixed it into a small ball with some nutmeg and ginger, I would get this treat. All I need now is the flour, which I can't get cos I'm too sick to go out. Sigh...

Boots this winter

Ah, its winter again.
So I'm looking futilely, for shoes and as usual comping up with empty, looking at the holes in my existing shoes, the slow disintegration of the cheap shoes I was forced to buy last year and wondering if I need to resort to mens shoes again this year.
So I google waiting for the wonders that google will bring.
For some unknown reason I never look back to all the things I have discovered previously instead looking always for something new. Perhaps men do the same with "acquiring" women and also wonder why they do it then continue...relentlessly.

Anyway, I was looking on the internet, checked all the usual places, Evans, Long Tall Sally, Barratts, Big Shoe boutique. Not coming up with anything suitable and the suitable things are just too overpriced. One day I will be comfortable buying a pair of boots for 160 but I am not there yet. How much will I need to earn to do be able to fork out that type of money with the effortless ease that retailers expect us to...one day.

So, I head along to ebay, my old trusty friend where people intentionally mislabel or misspell their listings so, I hapless victim that I am, am forced to spend hours and frustrated hours looking for a pair of brown slouchy boots,some black formal ones and a gray pair. I occasionally come across a pair that ticks all the boxes only to re read the listing to find that an american size 10 and they only do extra wide up to a size 8, in the colours that I don't like. The shoes that do work are ugly, so ugly.

I dream of my perfect pair of shoes, something fluffy, pretty, with ribbon, but no bows.
To my surprise I find these, beautiful things called Mohops. You can make your own shoes with ribbon, they give you the base to tie it to. I can't believe such dainty pretty things actually exist, and they are made of ribbon too. And you can change the ribbon to suit your outfit. They cleverly tried to overcome the fact that you would not be able to wear their shoes in the winter by teaming them up with socks. I read promotion that declared the long term fashion scorning of socks and slippers to be over.

What could be more perfect? Of course the price tag halted me in my steps. $150 plus for bigger sizes with a different shoe shape, they kept adding on the costs.

Edit: More sandals like this from SwapTopShoes egs Slinks, Bare Sole, SwitchFlops by Lindsay Phillips and Zipz

Nearly£120 for what was essentially the base of a shoe. Ridiculous, there must be a cheaper way, after all didn't Giannyl make slippers from an old tyre and some ribbon? Didn't she also make some leather extensions, using a leather skirt, to her shoes so she could wear them as knee high boots?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QSNxz9DvLk


Yes, she did and actually that solved the problem of wearing slippers in the winter. Because, I still scorn socks and slippers, I have no intention of wearing them.
So, I started simultaneously looking for shoe extensions and some tutorials for making or re-using the soles of shoes as there were no handy bits of car tyres for me to use.

I found an amazingly, clever woman who made slippers using an old pair of flip flops and a tshirt

http://annekata.com/2010/07/make-your-own-summer-sandals/


I found some other clever people who show you how to make rope shoes

http://tipnut.com/shoe-makeovers

and how to reupholster shoes.


Then I found the lovemaegan website(http://www.lovemaegan.com/search/label/myDIY) she has a brilliant tutorial on how to make boot extensions for slippers but she also has so much good stuff on there too. She has so much on that blog so many pictures of her and her cute little dogs that I sure she can't possibly have a job and makes stuff purely to pass the time and lessen the dent on the credit card. Still, she is very talented and I want her little dogs.

I kept looking for boot extensions which she calls shoe accessories.
http://www.lovemaegan.com/2009/05/diy-christian-louboutin-petal-sandal.html


Absolutely gorgeous and very clever.

I also found a wonderful keyword called spats which I put into Etsy for a wonderful array of delightful boot covers. Some of which I could make quite easily, thereby ending my futile and frustrating search for comfy winter boots. I mean did tall women know about this? How easy it was to stretch one pair of ugly functional shoes into boots?

I'm off to try them out, see how they work.

How to make your own clothes

You know how they say you can find anything on the internet? Anything at all, well you never know how true that is.

On my search to find ways to tie a tshirt I have discovered tons and tons of resources.
Far too much for me to ever use and I really have to share it.


Duct tape dummy
A duct tape dummy. I was very shocked to discover that such a thing existed. Until this point I thought that becoming a seamstress just spelled a myriad of spiraling costs for something that only had a marginal chance of you ever being able to make a career out of.
But what if you could make your own Mannequin? your very own store dummy to fit clothes on from nothing other that, America's favourite fixer upper, duct tape?
It is actually possible to do, the secret being to make sure to do the boob area just right and cutting it off in a zig zag. See the tutorial. I have copied here

Duct Tape Dress form
by David Coffin
from Threads #75, p. 38

Joyce Perhac, a teacher and sewing-show organizer from Monroeville, Pennsylvania, has perfected a quick method of form making that uses ordinary duct tape as both the body-casting material and the final form. She's written a booklet describing the entire process ("Make Your Own Body Form," available for $10 from her at www.sewingevents.com), but we'll cover the highlights here. (Pure Whimsy no longer carries the booklet.)



Start with your "victim" wearing well-fitted undergarments of her usual type under a long T-shirt, which needn't be too tight. Begin by wrapping the tape horizontally at the bottom, mid-thigh, ideally with a tape-cutting helper (use old scissors, as the tape gets gummy; a size-10 figure requires 1 to 1-1/2 60-yd. rolls of tape). Wrap snugly, but not so tight as to rearrange or compress the body. At the waist, wrap a little more loosely on the first layer, allowing folds to form as you follow the contour, if necessary.


Three layers of duct tape make the form. Wrapping horizontally, start at the thighs and work up. Wrap snugly around the thighs and hips, a little looser at the waist.




At the bust and underarm, cut the T-shirt sleeves if needed to allow the tape to follow the figure, and use shorter pieces arranged radially over the bust. Protect the neck area with plastic wrap, then wrap to form edges at the neckline and armholes similar to those you'd want on a fitted bodice.

In the bust area, use shorter tape and change direction. Short pieces of tape capture the contours of the bust better. Arrange them so they radiate out from the center of the bust area. Protect the neck area with plastic wrap; wrap to form edges at the neckline and armholes similar to those you'd want on a fitted bodice.

When the first layer is complete, wrap twice more, first vertically, then again horizontally, further compressing the waistline to fit each layer more closely, and smoothing over wrinkles this causes with more tape.

When finished, have the "wrappee" bend slightly to reveal her waistline, and mark it (and any other points you want identified) with marker or later with colored tape.


Mark the waist. Bending slightly will reveal your wrappee's natural waist. Mark all around with a permanent marker. Cut carefully up the back. Keep your hand between the tee shirt and the wrappee's body to avoid cutting undergarments or flesh.

Cut off the form and T-shirt layer at center back with your other hand between scissors and body to avoid cutting undergarments (or the wrappee!). Then close the form with additional tape, stuff it with poly batting, and place it on a stand (read on for stand ideas). Joyce's finished form has a polished look, similar to an industrial dress form.

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3630/duct-tape-dress-form-1
There are various different methods too. See the link for more

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3659/clone-yourself-a-fitting-assistant/page/all
You can also make it from Paper mache or something called paper tape. I have never heard of paper tape before but if it involves ordering it from some obscure place on the internet than I am not interested. If it involves walking into a large branch of B&Q or even better, the 99p shop then I'm interested.

Now you have dummy you just need to think about getting the materials. Fabric can be expensive and if you are nervous about looking at a big long length of cloth and too scared to make a big mess then remodelling existing clothes is the way to go.
You can do tons and tons and tons with tshirts. I like them because they are really cheap, they are forgiving, you can get away with not hemming either.

You can also adjust clothes that don't fit properly. You can find this stuff in a charity shop or in a thrift store, as they call them in America.

All the other stuff like a good pair of scissors, a sewing machine a good table to cut them on can be found quite easy in charity shops. Nobody sews so much anymore so you can normally find these things for cheap, and I mean really cheap.

The only thing left is inspiration.

Here are a few sites that feature people doing amazing things with awkward fitting clothes and old Tshirts


Gianny L
What can I say? This girl is truly amazing, the things she does with shirts, a bit of elastic and a pair of sharp scissors is nothing short of pure genius. The videos are speeded up at just the right points to give you the jist of what she is doing. She doesn't speak in the videos so you are not forced to listen to a fumbling American twang as you try to find out how something is done. Her eagerness to strip off for the camera though is a bit worrying but I guess she takes the "if you got it flaunt it" adage really seriously. Still who else do you know on youtube that can show you how to make slippers from an old tyre and a sexy babydoll dress from a tshirt? Who do you know that can create a sports bra from men's pants or a bikini out of a tshirt?
That's right, no-one.

www.giannyl.com/
or her youtube
www.youtube.com/user/GiannyL
or her instructables
http://www.instructables.com/member/giannyl/
I wish I was from Paraguay, maybe its something in the air over there?



New Dress A Day
Next on my hate list, I mean people who inspire me, is Marissa. The lovely Marissa has decided to make 365 dresses in a year. Its not that she is making 365 dresses which in itself requires a certain amount of talent and organisation, sewing it, finding somewhere to wear it. Taking so many photos, uploading them and writing a blogpost. Lots of work.
And she is making them from ugly, old frumpy dresses that she paid a dollar for. Yes, her talent and ingenuity has no end.
http://www.newdressaday.com/


Cut Out and Keep

Then there are the good people on Cut Out and Keep
http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects
Is their talent limitless? I look at pictures of girls wearing a ballgown saying, I made this in an afternoon from an old bedsheet and some lace I had lying around the house as I remember the skirt I threw away because the zipper was broken.



Generation T
The lady on Generation T. Meg Nicholay is also really good. She can make a halterneck out of a tshirt in a few snips of her scissors. She has a book out as well. Read it and weep
www.generation-t.com/

Cutting Tshirts

http://www.trashtocouture.com/p/diy.html

Well, I just went to notting hill carnival. Notting hill represents many things to many people but to me there are two main things wearing a tshirt or wearing a costume.
On the tshirt day I saw so many nicely customised Tshirts I didn't know what to do with myself.

I was mainly jealous though. Very, very jealous and upset that I had not come more prepared.

So I have spent the days after the carnival looking for ways to customise tshirts.
I have found load of interesting things. I liked the ones that are very creative obviously made by experienced seamstresses whose talent knows no bounds. Such as a bikini made from a tshirt
www.viddler.com/explore/giannyl/videos/5/


Or how to make a wedding dress from tshirts
www.blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/06/how-to_t-shirt_wedding_dress.html


One woman called Angela Johnson actually had a ball gown from tshirts, have a look.

http://www.angelajohnsondesigns.com/store.html

This woman is clearly so talented I probably don't even deserve to breathe the same air as her. I should probably kiss the ground she walks on, or bow or cover my factory made clothes in shame should I ever spot her anywhere.

But I digress, why was I looking at things you could do with frumpy tshirts? oh yes, so I could "shock out" at carnival like everyone else. Instead I found a tutorial for a tote bag tshirt that I was eyeing up on Etsy
www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/plastic_grocery_tote
You can also cut bits from your tshirt and make it into a hair rose which I like the idea of, very much. Perfect way to keep those xtra large tshirts that my mom always brings me as I have far too many oversized shirts using as nighties.

http://www.generation-t.com/t-shirt-projects/april-showers-bring-may-flowers-part-2/

You can also add quirky tags to it, all you need is a pattern and some broken jewellery. You can find out how to do this if you watch the end of this video about making a corset tshirt.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdmsPTLnhRA
I won't be making a corset tshirt as I am not cutting anything into six pieces and restiching it.


There is tshirt necklace, another handy way to get rid of those pesky thirts from mom

http://thisolddress.blogspot.com/2010/05/diy-recycled-t-shirt-braided-neckpiece.html

A variation on this, you can make a fringe necklace from a tshirt
www.kapaalidesign.blogspot.com/2009/08/diy-fringe-necklace-from-t-shirt.html

Or even a bracelet
www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/tshirt-bracelets

Or coasters
www.generation-t.com/t-shirt-projects/coast-to-coasters/



There is a way to make jogging bottoms out of a tshirt, perfect. One day I will have on oversised boyfriend who will wear oversized tshirts which I will steal and use to make these cute shorts and parade around his house in them. Yes, that's what I'll do

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/yoga_pants_keep_that_logo_on_your_tshirt

Most of the stuff I found was from a website called Cut Out And Keep. I need a whole blog post to dedicate to that one, but they have a duct tape ring on there. A nice option for an unusual ring.


Anyway, after all that distraction I have found some nice links I will be practicing with for carnival. Hide your tshirts!

Sexify your shirt

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/cut_tshirt

You basically need to fold the back of the shirt in half, then do the cuts, you can then tie the back so it fits you nicely.
You will also need to cut off the neckline or it will look chunky

http://www.emybloom.com/?p=656

Links

Here are some good videos to guide you through.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqsaCcsv7U

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GngQ1jO48rU

fancyfunkyfresh.blogspot.com/2010/07/cut-up-t-shirt-tutorial.html
Here are some sites with so much stuff, its bound to keep you amused for hours.  
   

Lots of stuff to do to a tshirt including making a camisole.

www.ohmystars.net/craft/index-surgery.php      

GenerationT    

www.generation-t.com

London underground

I have gone on Holiday to the remarkable world of the United States of America.
I am here stocking up on shoes, clothes, food that I can't get easily or in fact at all in London.
I am enjoying seeing my parents even though they live 100's of miles apart in the same country, and also putting to rest rumours of clothes that I can find here.I was told the truth by two shop attendants within moments of walking into a store.

Rumour number one laid to rest is
Old Navy has a tall clothes on their shop floor.I was told tall was an online exclusive only!

Rumour Number two
A very tall lady with an impressive inseam of 38 told me that the best place to get my jeans was American eagle and Banana Republic for the fancy clothes.

Thank you anonymous beautiful tall ladies of America, I love you dearly.
Anyway I think I may call individual stores from London next time to save me all this trouble.
Aside from all these shannegans I also realised that I missed London dearly and I used the internet alot.
SO for comfort, because I could spend my morning relaxing and not waking up going into the cold/dark/two beautiful a day to be going into work, so I could stuff myself into a train that was stuffy/overheated/overcrowded I decided to consult my Google reader and check up on all the things I was missing in London.

One of my favourite blogs, Going underground () started talking One under, which is what the LUL staff call people who inadvertently end up under a train.The official announcement seems to be _ we are experiencing delays due to a passenger under a train. This is their way of giving you lots of information but no information at all. Who jumped, where did they jump, why did they jump, were they pushed, is the driver ok, are they still alive, how long will that take to clean up, does this mean I will be late? These questions all go unanswered. They never normally end up in the paper either so you have no way of knowing what happened to this genderless, ageless, motiveless person.

London Underground are financially bound to keep trains moving at all time s and I suppose they learn to chose words careful to keep us sheeplike masses informed as without alarming us. They have many ways of describing delays. Some official lines they give for delays include

We would like to apologise for delays on the tube due to passenger action.

This line is normally delivered with so much sarcasm such scathing, vitriolic venom that you feel sorry for the person who it was directed at. You feel sorry for the idiot who pulled the passenger alarm because someone had fainted cos they were too dumb to realise the tubes were hot so they needed to take water with them. You vow silently never to be one of those idiots. See also the description of a passenger action here.


We would like to apologise for delays on the tube due to a customer incident.

Also delivered with sarcasm, slightly less though, which indicates that
it was something between two passengers, for example, passengers fighting. Probably at the foot of the escalator.Or as they got out of a train.

The whole mention of suicide bombers reminds me that, there were some suicide bombers on the trains in London. That happened in 2004, I think, but for some reason my mind is drawn not to that terrible event but to Wookies. Wookies and the film Four Lions, a brilliant film about incompetence and featured these classic lines

Control- This is control. The target is a bear.
Sniper 1- I see a bear. Clear to fire?
Control - Yes, engage the bear. (Costumed figure falls.)
Sniper 2 - No, that's a Wookie!
Sniper 2 to Control - Is a wookie a bear?
Control - Negative, a Wookie is not a bear.
Sniper 1 - I took out the bear.
Sniper 2 -That wasn't a bear, it was a Wookie! Wait, there's the Honey Monster. Sniper 2 to Control - Control, is the Honey Monster a bear?

Its good in writing but even better when you hear the clip, its the sheer anger and confusion in both their voices that really does it for me. As these guys were suicide bombers and I was after all thinking about the tube, I wondered how many suicides took place on the tube.
I thought the LUL website itself would be useless, so would the TFL one.
I tried googling for hints, all i could come up up with was a few studies using data from 2003.
I found some news articles which stated their sources as

Office of National Statistics


but the best source of all was the BBC always the champion who stated the Rail Safety and Standards Board would be the best place for information.
And it was depressingly


I am so glad I am on holiday and not on trains in London, I am going to bed to enjoy the heat and the fact I don't have to wake up early to take the tube tomorrow.
One last fact before i go, did you know that in the American state of Georgia, they decided to do away with public transport completely? Well for a few months anyway, because they did not have any money. yes, this happened in America.


Nite