Repurposing Project #8: Pillowcase dress

What a personality! She certainly has some spunk! Here is Chili's dress from the same sarong skirt. Now I just have to do some adjustments so that it will stay tied and in place - 3 year olds are always on the move! Stay tuned, Nena may get one too...

Repurposing Project #7: Skirt

A sarong skirt from a garage sale, cut and added pleats, attached to the band of a pair of maternity pants. Very comfy, and very cool in hot weather. It was pretty much free, except for the 2 needles I broke on the sewing machine making it. Lesson learned: Beware of the metal buttons on the front of a pair of jeans! To come, Chili's matching dress...

Repurposing Project #6: Bread Bags

Made from curtains I got at a garage sale. These were "something to remember me by" gifts for my two besties before I moved...I am wondering if there's enough fabric left to make one for me.

Cool Cowl

To start with, the word cowl isn't at all appealing to me. Doesn't sound fun, sophisticated, or like anything I would want to put around my neck. But I was inspired by this, and went to the store in search of yarn. I fell in love with this yarn. The color is vibrant and it is a wool/silk blend that is incredibly soft. It was different than the yarn in the pattern I saw, which was probably all the better since the weather is turning warmer anyway. I cast on 60 stitches using size 7 yarn and size 15 needles. Then I knit until I ran out of yarn. This is my result.

Repurposing Project #5: Tissues

So, I had a ton of receiving blankets, and I figured they might as well be put to good use. It occurred to me that they might as well be cut up and made into tissues since that's what they get used for here most of the time. I like that they are much softer than other alternatives for a little nose that is suffering a cold(or mine for that matter) and that they can be washed and reused. Other than the idea, I can't take much credit for this project. It was my sister-in-law who did most of the serging while I cut threads (yeah, impressive I know). So a big round-of-applause for my sister-in-law for hooking me up with some pretty nifty tissues!

Repurpsing Project #4: Backpack

This was one of Chili's Christmas presents, just never got around to posting. I used some leftover fabric that I was going to make into a dress (but THAT never happened. If you are a crafter/sewer/knitter you probably know about those projects.) and part of an old mattress pad that doesn't fit anyone's bed (used to have a bed that fit it, but no more). It's not anything fancy, but she has a good time playing with it. It needs some sort of closure, but I haven't decided what would be best, and so it is eternally propped open.

Breakfast Basket

A friend of Chili's is having a birthday party. This is what we made for a gift. A felt food breakfast basket! I got the idea from Smashed Peas and Carrots. She made one with cinnamon rolls and muffins that was super cute! We decided to use a few different items. The tutorials for this food can be found here: eggs, orange slices, and cinnamon rolls. We hope she has a very happy birthday!

"Grandma's hankies" dress

Here is the dress I just finished for Chili. The fabric was called "Grandma's hankies." I love the dainty vintage look of it. It took me about 3 days to do. I'm sure an expert sewer could have whipped it out, but an expert sewer I am not. I made quite a few mistakes, and learned how to do a few new things (pleats, how to make a slip/liner, and how to attach all of it), but with the help of my ever-so-skilled sister-in-law, it is finally done. I absolutely love how it turned out.
Cute as a bug.
Dancing to some music on the radio.

Baby T-shirt

This t-shirt I did for a baby gift for a friend. I used double stick fusible web to iron the shape on to the t-shirt, and then used pink thread to hand sew around the edge to give it a little hand-made detail.

Repurposing project #4

This came from an old denim shirt of mine, and a small piece of fabric I found at our church garage sale. I got a lot of ideas on this one from my sister-in-law, who is much more advanced at sewing than I am. I cut same sized strips for the bottom, and used a pattern for a general guide on size. I top-stitched on the green fabric to make it look nicer. And the green trim on top, I just folded a strip and adjusted it to make it work. Well, what was going to be a quick and easy play dress, turned into an all day project, but I learned a lot, and really love the result. I will have to do something in the back to make it a little more snug, but hey, you learn as you go.
Doesn't she look cute?!

Repurposing project #3

Was a stretched out dress from my niece...
Tah-dah!
New play dress made for free!

Repurposing project #2

This shirt I got at a garage sale for 50 cents. I really liked the color and print, but it just didn't fit me right in the shoulders. I decided it was time for it to get a makeover. I tried to turn it into a tank top for me, but it ended up too small. So....


The straps for it came from another thrift store shirt I got for 10 cents, and the thread I already had. So, not bad for a 60 cent play dress.

Repurposing project #1

I picked up this flowered fabric at the thrift store last summer, but was unsure of what I would use it for. It had a different texture than your typical cotton fabric, a little rougher/thicker, and I wasn't imagining it would become clothes. Plus the fact that it had a couple of spots that were lighter as if bleached by the sun. So just after Christmas it was turned into some bags. Two were given away as Christmas gifts, one as a birthday gift, and Chili has one of her own too. I think they turned out pretty darn cute. What better gift for a little girl than a flowered bag to stash her treasures!

Getting Creative When Homebound

We received a Christmas present in the mail the other day. Not only was I super excited to get a case for my sewing machine, but the unexpected surprise was the filler in the box. Paper! And lots of it. So on day four of being shut-in, we are happy to have another activity to occupy our time. I'm surprised when I look at this photo, at how much Chili is looking like a "big girl."

Our "work of art." :)

That was one big sheet of paper!

Now what to do with the other 9 hours in the day...

Homemade Christmas

This year, I wanted to save some money and make Christmas even more special by giving as many handmade gifts as possible. These are the bags I made for my niece and nephews, I will fill them with cookies when I see them this weekend, and hopefully get a drawstring inserted into the blue bags, but I need a little help from my sister-in-law to do the buttonholes on the sewing machine. Hats galore this year. Actually, a couple are missing from this photo because I sent them out of town before I took the picture. Whoops! I was pulling my hair out with a couple of them. It took me a while to perfect the pattern, and I used an acrylic yarn for one of them which I will never do again. It was not fun to knit with!

Potholders for my sister-in-law.

Chili's monkey robe. This material was a pain to work with, but the end result was well worth the effort!

Had to get creative this year for the "tree." In all the moves of the last couple of years, the artificial tree was lost. We talked about getting a real tree, but have been busy, and that plan never materialized. This was what I engineered to hang our ornaments.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Curtains!

I finally have real curtains up. I made the curtains for the family room and the bedroom with the help of my sister-in-law E. She found some store bought curtains that she split in two lengthwise, hemmed, and added loops in order to have matching curtains for the two kitchen windows. Thanks to E's help, my niece and nephews keeping my daughter occupied, and my sewing, my house now has curtains! And here they are:

Bedroom curtains, need to finish the other panel, but this works for now.
Kitchen curtains

Family room

Shorts

Aprons!

First sewing project finished. I made two aprons, one for Chili and one for a friend whose birthday was this month. I'm not sure it they're quite done...I wasn't really happy with the way the ribbon looked, the stitching was definately not straight (you can't see that here, but take my word for it). I might have to do some modification. These were made out of curtains purchased at a neighborhood thrift shop (yeah, Blue Flamingo) and I used a tank dress pattern my sister-in-law had. I love the fact that I could make something new out of something used, and of course I love the garden fabric!

Now we just need to get cooking!

Waffle Weave Dishcloth

I just completed my first waffle weave dishcloth. Well, I finished it awhile ago, but hadn't woven the ends in until now. I got the pattern here. I messed up the pattern a little, so my ends roll over a bit, but I'll know better for next time. It will work for dishes just fine though!

Dollmaking

This Christmas, I made my daughter a doll. I would never have attempted it, if it weren't for my friend, who was making several herself. If she wouldn't have led me through it step by step, I think I would have never been able to do it. I do not have a lot of experience with crafts, and I am not very patient through the process. I want to do it quickly and easily and as those of you who do crafts will know, there is often a lot of doing, undoing, and redoing involved in the process.

Although there was quite a bit of frustration involved in the process, I am glad that I made her a doll. I like the idea of making something instead of buying it. Of course there is more work involved in a homemade gift, but that is precisely what makes it so special. I like that this doll doesn't look commercial. There is no plastic or other synthetic materials, just wool, fabric and millet. This specific doll is a Waldorf heavy baby(a small version). The millet gives it weight and substance, as well as absorbs body heat, so that if a child sleeps with this baby, he/she will feel like they have a warm companion laying by their side. We also put a bit of lavender essential oil in it, so it smells great and promotes relaxation.

The picture above is the finished product. What do you think?