Making Everything Myself: 2014

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Repurposed Baby Toys

While putting away my daughter's toys one day, I stepped on a plastic toy ring that was used to attach baby toys to the car seat. They were all over the place! My daughter never really played with them, she just scattered them around the room. Now, I use the colourful toy rings to keep shoes neatly together.

Repurposed toy rings

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Embellished T-shirt

There is no reason to wear boring t-shirts.

Embellish a t-shirt with another recycled t-shirt that, for whatever reason, is not in use anymore.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Transform Boring Clothes

I decided there is no reason to wear boring clothes. As long as I have a little imagination and some recycled fabric, I can adorn and embellish everything.

I used as inspiration for my project a cute flowery shirt that no longer fits my daughter.

I cut out a few flowers, I ironed some adhesive stabilizer on the back and I hand sewed them onto the new garment. I used a simple back stitch for a more vintage effect.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

No-Sew Jeans Mending

Everyone has the IT pair of jeans that ALWAYS looks good, no matter what. Imagine the sorrow when these irreplaceable jeans start to unravel. So, a quick mending always puts our mind to rest, at least for a while.

I used the Heat'n Bond Ultrahold. It's washable, it holds very well (especially for clothes that are spared the dryer) and it's very inexpensive ($3 for a square yard).

I cut a piece of fabric for from a defunct pair of jeans. I matched it with another piece of adhesive tape. In the center of the adhesive I cut a circle the size of the hole I was about to conceal. The adhesive goes on the right side of the patching fabric. I ironed the patch of fabric onto the jeans.

Friday, February 21, 2014

How to Repurpose Crib Bedding

Crib Nursery Bedding Sets - we all have them, none of us have really used them. They are cute, they enhance the look of the nursery but they are not deemed safe so they are mostly part of the decor.

I wanted to brake the vicious cycle of unused baby items and, instead of passing down my daughter's princess crib bedding set, I decided to repurpose it into a pillow sham for her new toddler bed.

My daughter LOVES pillows! So I was really happy when I realized that the baby comforter was the size of a queen size pillow when folded lengthwise.

That's exactly what I did: I folded the comforter lengthwise and I stitched around.

Refashion a Baby Dress into a Toddler Skirt (II)

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Refashion a Baby Dress into a Toddler Skirt

I have quite a few cute baby girl dresses that were probably worn only once or twice. I thought of turning some of them into skirts so my little rambunctious toddler could still wear.

I cut off the skirt part of the dress and I sewed it onto a pair of leggings. That's it! Cute and super duper comfy!

Monday, February 10, 2014

Unique Basket Made with Old Jeans

So many pairs of jeans laying around. They are either not fashionable anymore or they are too small!

I really wanted to try to reused them in some useful way. So I made a really unique basket.

I cut one pair of jeans into 4 inches wide strips.

I rolled the strips and I sewed them around. When I finished one strip, I started another one. I did not sew the strips together because I wanted a more ragged look for my basket.

I continued to sew round and round, this type of wrapping naturally curves the fabric into a bowl.

I made two baskets, one a little smaller to fit into the bigger one.

I wanted a very sturdy basket so this was a great solution. It also conveniently hid all the stitching.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Valentine's Day T-shirt

This recycling project was very dear to me as I repurposed the outfit my daughter wore for Valentine's Day last year into another one she will be wearing this year.

1. I got a very inexpensive white t-shirt and some permanent fusible web.