Chambray Shirt to Kids Shorts and Shirts Upcycle

Yesterday I mentioned that the old chambray shirt was incorporated into three additional articles of clothing.  I know you've been on pins and needles, so here they are.  First off, I made a little summer outfit for Miles.  He looks so adorable in it, just imagine him wearing it, because by the time I managed to snap some photos of him in it, it was covered in applesauce. 

My mom found the t-shirt at a garage sale for a quarter. The smart woman saw the potential, and just by adding a small pocket detail, we transformed the t-shirt. 

I cut a small triangle of fabric, that was 1/4" wider and taller than the pocket.  I folded the raw edges under 1/4" on both sides, and left the diagonal raw.  I pinned it in place, stitched around all sides, and added a couple of extra stitching rows on the diagonal for added detail. The raw edge will fray, and I'm looking forward to it.  It will only unravel 1/8", because I sewed that close to the r.e., but it will add a bit of texture to the shirt.

The three rows of stitching also repeat a design detail from the shorts.  You can see on the back pocket flap that there are three rows of stitching down the middle.  

Ah, now you can see it a bit better. (Pardon the over exposed phone photos.  My camera batteries are dead, so this is as good as it gets for now.)

I used a pair of Miles' existing shorts for the pattern.  They are pretty basic.  A faux fly, front pockets, and back faux flap pockets. They really didn't take much time at all, and given that I already had the buttons, the shirt material for the shorts, and the t-shirt from my mom, the entire outfit ended up costing about a quarter.  

The last article is a bit of a repeat.  I embellished on of Clark's t-shirts that I snatched up at Wal-mart at the end of last fall ($1 on sale), and added a contrast pocket.  This is the actual pocket from the chambray shirt.  I used my seam ripper, and carefully removed it.  Then, I added a bit of red stitching to the pocket yoke (?), cut the pocket down a bit, and turned under the raw edges.  Then I positioned the pocket, and used that red thread to secure it to the t-shirt.  I love this little shirt.  It's silly that something as simple as adding or embellishing a pocket can create so much interest to a plain t-shirt, but it does.

Upcycled Chambray baby "Toms"

 Thanks for reading.

Repost: Chunky Braided Bracelet Tutorial

A few of you may be familiar with this tutorial, but I thought I'd re-post a favorite project from the past, for those of you that are new to the blog.

Yesterday in my post I mentioned that I really loved the bracelet that I was wearing with my "Warhol Top", well today I am going to show you just how to make it.  I had hoped to make a video on top of some step by step photos, but I had a migraine yesterday and it kind of killed that idea.  Hopefully the photos will do.  The bracelets are super simple to make, but maybe not so simple to explain.  I'll do my best.

After making my Yoga pants and my Warhol Top I was left with several half-shirts and strips of fabric.  I couldn't bring myself to throw them away so I held onto them knowing that I could make something wonderful out of them (originally I figured a headband-shocking I know), and I did-these simple braided bracelets.  I have been assisting our girl's camp director in  making friendship bracelets for our upcoming girl's camp-so it was fresh on my mind.  I sat down and was chatting with my husband and fiddling around with a scrap of knit fabric from my yoga paints when this little dandy emerged. Now let's dive right in.

Cut your fabric:  For the white bracelet that you will see I used three strips of 1"wide (this can be increased or decreased to vary the width of bracelet) fabric that was cut 69" long if you have small wrists your pieces of fabric could be shorter, but I'd try to have pieces that are at least 55" in length.

Fold your fabric in half lengthwise.  You are going to find the center of your strips of fabric and you will tie a knot about an inch down from the center of your strips of fabric.  This loop that is created by the knot is going to be the loop for your button closure. You will no have 6 strands of equal length fabric.

For the tutorial I've used Red, Yellow, and blue fabrics so you can clearly see which strands I am using-don't worry I will not be wearing this bracelet.

Braiding Step 1: Divide your 6 strands of fabric into three sections.  You will have a middle section that will act as the center of your braid (blue) and two strands on each side that you will use to form your knots.  Take the two strands on the left hand side (red) of your bracelet and create a loop by placing your strands across (on top) of your center strands (blue).  It should look somewhat like a number 9.

Braiding Step 2: Take the two strands of fabric on the right hand side(yellow) and place them on top of the tail end of your (red) left hand strands.  Now move your right hand strands (yellow) under the center strand and through the loop that you created with your left hand (red) strand. Pull both the right and left hand strands tight to create your first knot.

Braiding Step 3: Step 3 and 4 are going to be the opposite of one and two. We will start by taking our right hand strand (red) and crossing it's tail end over the top of the center strand, creating a loop on the right hand side of our center strands.  It should look like a letter P.

Braiding Step 4: Take your left hand strands and place them on top of the tail end of the right hand strands and move them under the center strands and up through the loop on the right hand side.  Pull tight.  You've just created the four basic steps for the bracelet.

Repeat braiding steps 1-4 until desired bracelet length is reached.

 

When your bracelet is the correct length you will want to tie a simple knot to the end, pull it tight, and trim the ends of your strings.

Now that we have our bracelet braided we are going to attach a covered button.  This is a super simple process, and I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence, but I thought I'd show some basic steps to remove any fears that might be out there.  To cover a button this is what we need to do.

Gather your materials.  You can buy a kit at any craft store or craft department.  This kit cost just over a dollar for 4 buttons.  You will need your kit which includes the needed tools, and a scrap of fabric that is slightly larger than your button.

Place the scrap of fabric in the indentation of the white button covering tool. Place the domed shell of your button directly on top of the scrap of fabric.

Tuck in the edges of your fabric so that they are all pointed toward the center of the button. Place the back of the button on top of the fabric and front of the button.  Make sure that you can't see any raw edges of your fabric.

Take your blue push tool and place it on top of the backside of the button.  Firmly press down and secure your button.

That's it-you have a beautifully covered button.

Now it is time to attach the button.  I use a doubled thread and tie the button directly onto the knotted end of the bracelet (not the loop end).  Don't worry I am not going to show you how to sew on a button.  Do secure the button several times so that it doesn't pull loose.

You now have a beautiful braided bracelet, and better still you used up your scraps of knit (and no sewing required).

You can make variations to this bracelet by alternating colors of looping fabric, or using multiple colors as in the example (but please don't use yellow and red).

By the Way-I'm planning a post on how to sew with knit fabrics, if you have any helpful tips that I should share please let me know.

Top-toberfest: Turtleneck Refashion with Guest Blogger Emily

Today I'm so excited to have Emily from Replicate then Deviate.  Although I've never met her face to face, she is just about the sweetest thing.  She's always takes the time to comment on a post, and my fellow bloggers will understand that nothing keeps a crafter/blogger going like encouraging comments. Aside from being sweet, she's also very talented. She sews, she plays the piano, she cooks,  she's the mother to an adorable little girl, she's basically what we all want to be.  Today Emily is going to show us how she turned a couple of oversized turtleneck shirts into these cute crew neck tops. Here's Emily...

I got each of these turtlenecks for about a dollar. They were a few sizes too large for me, which is great for refashioning. Now they're some of my favorites.

I used a shirt that fit well (with a similar amount of stretch as the turtleneck) and traced the body of the shirt, adding my seam allowance. (I kept the bottom hem of the shirt in tact). If you want the neckline to be more scooped in the front, open up the shirt and line up the side seams (so you're only cutting one layer of the shirt instead of two). I left my necklines symmetrical.

I kept the original hem of the sleeve bottom as the bottom of my new sleeve. My grey shirt had three quarter length sleeves and I wanted half sleeves so I didn't trace the full length of the grey shirt sleeves. (make sure the fold of your shirts line up). I was able to keep the sleeve seam the same too (only cutting the top curve for the shoulder).

I sewed the body of the shirt, right sides together. I sewed the sleeves in (shirt inside out, sleeves right side out). (not pictured) Using the scraps from the side of the shirt, I cut some strips to bind the neckline. (both the shirt and the strips are doubled in this picture). Since the fabric isn't stretchy in this direction, I should've cut more. (more like 90% of the neckline, rather than 80%). I'll show you what to do if that happens to you too.

Even out your strips if necessary and sew short ends together to form a loop.

On the right side of your shirt, sew the binding while gently stretching the binding loop. Start in the back of your shirt.

Open up your loop and add another scrap if you need to. Since you started in the back, it won't be as obvious. Reclose the binding loop.

Fold the binding up and over the neckline (so the raw edge is now on the inside of the shirt) and sew with a decorative stitch.

Go model your shirt. Skirt refashioned and blogged here. (They matched great when I got dressed in the dark).






Thanks so much Emily,  I love a good refashion!

Want to share your latest tops or tees?  Link them up to the Top-toberfest link party.