Project Recycle - Winner

So, I went to find this post to add to a linky party and realized I'd never published it!!!!!  Then I went back and realized, I have a few posts that are written but I did the same thing, saved it but didn't publish it!   If you missed this over at The T-Shirt Diaries below is my winning entry - shower curtain turned Easter dresses!  Thanks again to Robin for such a great contest, I really loved participating.

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April Showers bring Easter Dresses?!?!?

I am so excited (and surprised) to have made it to the final round!  For this project I started with a fabric shower curtain that I picked up for $5 at the thrift store.  Aside from it being a large amount of nice fabric, I loved the top panel with embroidered flowers.

Every time I laid the curtain out to take a picture, a little boy tried to roll up in it, so this was the best I got...

I talked with my girls about what they wanted their dresses to look like, we sketched them out and then I cut... first, I cut out the front of one dress, using a similar style dress as a guide.  The back panel is the same shape, but 4 inches wider and only the solid color.

Since I'm too lazy to deal with zippers, I used elastic thread to shir the back panel.  I used white thread to contrast since I didn't have the perfect color on hand, and I didn't want to take 3 kids out in the cold to go buy more.

Originally designed as a skirt, the second dress came about when I was fitting my daughter for the skirt length.  I jokingly told her it was long enough to be a dress... She took the idea and ran with it giving me a new sketch.

The lining of the flowered fabric was the green, we used this to make the ties for the first dress.  When I tried it on my daughter to hem, she thought the serged edge was embroidered to match the white flowers... so it stayed.  If it bothers me enough, I'll hem it later.  A few straps and the girls' Easter dresses are ready to go!

Two dresses for only $5, works for me!

I still have about 1/3 of the solid coral fabric left over.  I'm hoping to make a vest and bow tie for my little man, but he says he doesn't like the color and I don't want to waste the fabric if he won't wear it!  Plus, he's requested a fedora to wear for Easter... at least I have a few weeks to figure that out!!!

Project Upcycle - Week 4 Bottoms Up

In case you missed my Project Upcycle entry last week, you can check it out below.  I am in the finals, so make sure you head over to The T-Shirt Diaries and vote for me!!!  Plus I'm competing in the Crafterbowl over at Pinkapotamus, so go vote for me there too!

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If my windows are open in the summer, I can hear the splashing in the neighborhood pool, we are that close to it.  So when I found this cloth table cloth at the thrift store for only $3, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it:  make a pool bag!  But, the "Bottoms Up" Challenge made me look at it a bit differently.  I realized it has all the colors of my mix-and-match bathing suits in it and it would make a great, quick drying skirt as a pool cover up.

Since it was already a circle, I folded it in quarters.  I measured my waist and divided it by 4.

And using my bendable ruler, I cut the top off, using that 1/4 of my waist measurement as a guide.

Since this was an outdoor table cloth meant to fit around an umbrella, there already was a zipper up the side.  I left the zipper in place and added a band of coordinating fabric to finish off the waist.  And a little fabric rose to cover a small error, because let's face it, when you are upcycling, you've got to go with the flow and mistakes happen!

I think it looks great with my aqua suit and my yellow one (excuse the sideways picture, it keeps loading this way, not sure why...).

How many weeks until the pool opens?1?!?!?

Peace be with you,

Project Recycle - Week 3 T-Shirts!

So, if you've been following along, I've been a contestant in Project Recycle over at The T-shirt Diaries.  I am loving it, so much fun!  There are only 2 weeks left and I've made it this far!  Be sure to pop over and vote for your favorite, you can vote once every 24 hours through Friday night.

I promise I've been working on other things, I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write the posts.  I did use my insomnia to list some things I no longer need on ebay this morning.  Maybe if tomorrow is a sleepless night again, I'll write tons of blog posts... of course, I should really use my time to clean and organize... but that's a whole 'nother discussion...

In case you missed it, below is last week's entry, also My entry to  the appliances online  crafty creations competition. You can enter too at Lil’luna!

Knits used to scare me but now I truly love working with them, especially old t-shirts, so I've been looking forward to this week's challenge!  Even before Pinterest, we all searched the internet, magazines, stores and more for inspiration.  One of my favorite bloggers is Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy.  When I came across an enormous striped sleep shirt, I knew what I wanted to make:

Source: Uploaded by user via Mrs.G on Pinterest

Of course, wouldn't the whole outfit be wonderful in t-shirt fabric?  Good thing I hoard t-shirt!  Here's what I started with:

A pile of yellow scraps, a white maternity shirt, a long sleeved pink tee with pretty stitching that didn't lay flat and a huge striped sleep shirt that said "Property of Alcatraz"  um, yeah!  A few snips hear, a few stitches there, a bit of hot glue and a ribbon later and I'm pretty pleased with the results;

 

Now, if I could only make my kitchen look as good as Lindsey's!!!!!

My entry to  the appliances online  crafty creations competition. You can enter too at Lil’luna!

Peace be with you,

Project Upcycle: Week 2/Shirt Upcycle

I'm so excited, I won last week!!!  Below is my entry, I'm writing up tutorials on some of the projects for later this week.  In the mean time, don't forget to vote for your favorite project this week, you can vote once every 24 hours through Friday night!

2+3+5=1 otherwise known as a lesson in math!

My math was off on the project I originally planned for this challenge.  I figured while my son was at school, I'd figure out if I was going to salvage it or start over.  As we pulled up to his school, a little voice said, "Mommy, are you going to make something for me today?"  Since he doesn't usually ask for much, I knew I had my answer!

So, $2 for a giant thrifted button down shirt + 3 hours of work + 5 project from that shirt = 1 happy little boy!  But I learned more than just how this added up.

First up, I made a "handsman" (aka handsome) apron with the front half of the shirt and repositioned the pocket.  Since he has a tendency to wipe his hands on the sides of his pants, I made the apron so it wraps around him, covering the sides of his pants.   Lesson learned:  I mentally size everything for my daughters, I need to keep his measurements handy.

Then I thought I'd solve a problem we've been having with boots... he doesn't want to wear socks but his feet stink. Before leaving for school he'd ripped off his boots and socks and changed to Crocs.  Boot liners!  Since this shirt was rather soft, I figured if the boots had a washable liner, that would solve the stinky foot problem.  Again, he was thrilled but still wouldn't wear them.  Lesson learned: make sure the boots actually fit him before making custom liners... good thing I have the next size up boots and enough fabric left for another set.

Hey, look, one of the sleeve cuffs fits perfectly on my coffee cup!  Ok, no real lesson there, but now I can button it to my wrist until I slip it on the coffee cup and not use one of those cardboard ones, green in more ways than one!!!

My little guy earns pennies for doing different jobs.  He also gets a dollar to put in the offering plate at church.  He's asked for a purse like his sister's to carry it in...  A quick seam up each side of the other cuff and he has his own "wallet".

 

This project was a bit of a two-fer.  When buttoned on the lower button, his pennies don't fall out.  When buttoned on the top button, it can slip on a belt to hold a few bucks and a chapstick!  Lesson learned:  Bribes work, he asked what he could pick up to earn pennies to put in his wallet!

Finally, I had the whole back side of the shirt.  Daily we battle over needing "soft pants."  He is super skinny so fit is always a problem.  Time to try my hand at pants.  I had hoped to get a better picture, maybe of the pants hanging up... alas, he is sleeping in them and has informed me he will wear them to school tomorrow.  Lesson learned: the mummy shirt goes with everything even in February!  He thinks they are a perfect match!

The biggest lesson is something I learned a while ago: Upcycling is a great opportunity to not only be environmentally friendly, but a great way to practice and learn.  If I spend a few bucks on an item at the thrift store, I'm not concerned with failure, I can always pick up another one and try again!  Plus, it's a great opportunity to try things new for little money...  I practiced using my new rolled hem and blind hem presser feet and wasn't worried about wasting brand new fabric!  All that for only $2.

Peace be with you,

Project Recycle Week 1

First, click here if you want to win a prize pack valued over $50!!!

Did you guess which project was mine?  I'm so glad to be continuing on.  I had a lot of fun with last week's project, and this weeks!  Be sure to hop on over to vote, you can vote once every 24 hours through Friday!

I must admit, I'm a bit selfish when it comes to clothes.  I want stylish but unique... oh, and earth friendly!  Lately I've been looking online and at magazines for cute outfit inspirations.  I start by looking for outfits that have some aspects similar to pieces I already have in my closet.  From there, I refashion things I have, stuff from my stash or thrift store finds.  Recently, I've been into yellow but it just wasn't in my closet and the few yellow t-shirts in my stash weren't inspiring me.  When I stumbled upon a great pillow case, my first thought was a dress for one of my girls, but I just loved the pattern and decided to be selfish and use it for myself!

Here's what I started with:

Instead of the typical pillow case dress, using the opening as the bottom hem, I used it to create a casing at the neckline.

I cut a large circle out of one of those t-shirts.  The largest circle I had was this basket, but it worked.  Once I had the circle, I cut it into a spiral.  This became one option for the ties, a black polka-dot ribbon was a second choice.  Since the t-shirt fabric is streachy and spiral cut, it makes a great ruffled tie.

To make the shirt more form fitting and less pillow case-ish, I added several rows of shirring (elastic thread) in the back.

My friend modeled it for me and is now on a mission to find cute pillow cases for herself.

We had fun styling my new top a few different ways, including the traditional way, as a dress on her daughter

It's a simple upcycle, but sometimes it's something simple that can make a big impact!