diy: affordable custom clothing labels

I don't think we've officially announced this on the blog, but Casey and I have decided to start doing festivals. This decision was not made lightly as it is a pretty big decision. I've been so crazy busy making kimonos because, well, we need 100 for the festival. And 100 kimonos is a lot... However, I am so excited for the festival. Excited and nervous. Needless to say, we need everything to look professional and we want to make sure that our brand is present and obvious. We also need to not break the bank since this business has been started from almost nothing. So the first thing we had to do was get some tags for the kimonos. We ordered some sample labels and looked up prices online forever and everything was just way out of our price range. So the cheapest way to do it whilst still having beautiful labels? Spoonflower, which is the website where you design your own fabric. All you do is upload your logo and choose how big you want it printed on your fabric, which depends on how big you want your labels. I added 1/2 inch to the height and width of my logo to allow for ironing and sewing. You should do this too. In photoshop, I also added lines to the edges of my logo image so that I'd be able to easily cut the labels. Do it, it's super helpful. Also, order the Kona Cotton. I will end up having about 600 labels from this 1 yard of fabric, and it cost $20. Basically it is a super deal.

Okay... once you have your fabric, here's what ya do... First of all, get excited all over again that your logo is printed on fabric. It's pretty legit, just sayin'.

Cut the strips in rows like this. Don't cut out each individual label. You'll die in the process. Guaranteed.

Fold over and iron approximately a quarter inch to the back on the top and bottom of the labels. This is probably the most tedious part. 

Now you will stitch down both folds. Try to stay as close to the edge as possible. It's also easier to sew from this angle rather than sewing with the logo facing up. 

This is what the labels will look like after you've stitched at the top and bottom. 

Now, just cut each label along the lines. 

You're getting so close. Ok, so fold and iron approximately 1/4 inch down on both sides.

Pin the label where you want it on your garment. 

Last but not least.... stitch down on both sides. 

Tada! We like to make a bunch of these at a time and leave them where they are all individual labels. Then, when we are finished making a kimono we just slap one of these bad boys on and we're done. I think these labels are fun even if you only make clothes for yourself. They just add a special touch :)

-Casey & Savannah

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diy: bleach tie dye technique

There is something about tie dye that I really like, if you haven't already figured that out. It doesn't have to be cheesy tie dye all the time, although there is a place for cheesy tie dye, sometimes. I think my favorite way to tie dye is using bleach on already colored materials. You never really know what you are going to get, but it always turns out great!

To bleach tie dye, you will need a shirt or some fabric that is already colored and mostly cotton. Other natural fabrics, like rayon, will work too. You will also need some rubber bands, bleach and a bucket that your shirt will fit in.

This is my go-to folding technique. You just accordion fold the shirt and then randomly tie rubber bands around the shirt. I also fold the shirt in half at the end and add rubber bands around both sides because it's hard to get rubber bands around the center of the shirt otherwise.

The first thing you need to do it get your shirt wet. Just dowse it in water and put it in your bucket. If you skip this step, you might risk the bleach eating through your fabric.

Next pour bleach all over it. My shirt immediately changed colors. It was green. There are no specific measurements for this. I set the bucket out in the sun for the bleach to work more quickly. I left the bleach on for about 10 minutes. Next, you remove all the rubber bands and rinse your shirt out really well.

At this point you could wash your shirt in the washer if you wanted. Just make sure that all of the bleach is completely washed out or you risk it bleaching even more, and possibly causing holes. I didn't wash mine and instead put it in the dryer to dry completely and then I cut the sleeves off!

I love the pattern that this shirt now has. It's really interesting since the shirt has no trace of it's original color. I guess that is why I like this technique, unpredictableness. That's not a word... but you namsayin'.

xo, Savannah

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before and after: goodwill dress alterations

Just wanted to share a project with y'all. Goodwill may very well be one of my favorite stores ever, and no this isn't a sponsored post. I just love Goodwill. Because you can buy awesome things there for low prices and you can buy not-so-awesome things and turn them into something you like way better. Listen, I'm not judging the before dress, the pattern is lovely, the shape is just not my flavor. When I saw this dress for half-off, I knew it had to be my next Goodwill alteration project. I knew I wanted to shorten it and cut the sleeves off, although now I think keeping the sleeves on might've worked too. But it was certainly touch and go for a little bit in the alteration process. Even though the end result is so simple, it was a pretty tough alteration. Things just weren't hanging right for a while, but in the end it all worked out! I leeeeerrrrrv this dress so much. I will definitely be wearing it as much as I can before summer's end.

We have an outfit post coming up soon featuring this dress so keep a lookout for it in action!

xo, Savannah

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diy: bleach stamp pad

I had a moment of genius-ness yesterday morning. We had wanted to use bleach to make flowers on an article of clothing, but it sort of seemed like a daunting task to actually successfully accomplish that. I remembered that we had this stamp that would create a really great pattern on a shirt, if only I could figure out how to get bleach in that shape. And then I thought, what I need is a stamp pad that is made out of bleach. And so I made exactly that.

You will need:

- Felt sheets (scraps can work too)

- Rubber bands

- Bleach

- A container to hold the stamp pad

- A stamp

- Shirt or fabric to print on.

If you are using a shirt, you will need some cardboard to put in between the shirts layers to prevent bleeding from front to back.

Stack your felt pieces together.

Fold them in half.

Secure them with rubber bands. It's that simple.

Put the stamp pad in the container and pour bleach over it, soaking it completely.

Use your stamp pad just like you would ink! Don't overload it, touch the pad with the stamp just enough to coat the stamp with the bleach.

Then stamp away! (Make sure you have something behind your fabric.) I stamped about 4 flowers before having to re-apply the bleach. 

I stamped the whole front of the shirt and once the bleach had dried, I turned it over and stamped the other side. Rinse the shirt and toss it in the dryer.

When it is dry it is ready to wear!

What's great is that you can use this stamp pad with any stamp, the possibilities are literally endless. If I had more blank shirts, I would've already experimented with all of our other stamps. I mean, this is a game changer for sure.

xo, Savannah

**This post has affiliate links.

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