Celebrate Earth Day In Style

In honour of Earth Day I was planning on keeping up with my Upcycling theme and write about a T-shirt project I was planning on doing.  Unfortunately, I have found myself in the hospital since Thursday.  Sort of makes it difficult to work on any projects.  I still decided to stick to my not buying any new crafting supplies for the month of April goal.  So that means I can't just send a family member to pick up something for me to work on while I'm here.  The other issue is that I am in Stanford Hospital which is over four hours away from home.  Else I would have had my mother pick up my supplies from home and bring them to me. 

So I've decided to give you a crafting book review.  In keeping with my Upcycling theme, I decided to give you a taste of Generation T: 108 Ways To Transform A T-Shirt.

I first found this book in my college bookstore.  They had this little corner where the books no one really cared about were stashed.  Usually I could find some pretty good Sci-Fi books there.  This time I found Generation T. 

Like many people, I was suffering from T-Shirtitis (T-shirts spilling from your closets and dressers) and needed to find a cure.  This book provides the perfect remedy.  It has ideas for any type of style.  And you can easily change designs to suit your personal taste.  And in the back of the book is a section for you to fill in your own ideas.

My first project was transforming a t-shirt into a cute tube top.  I found the directions to be easy to follow.  Even if you aren't a sewer the directions are simple.  The diagrams provided are helpful.  They aren't complex, and leave no room for guessing.  There's little side notes on changes you can make to the design.  And some projects don't require any sewing.

They even include a wedding dress design.  All entirely made out of t-shirts!

Throughout the book, you will also find random t-shirt trivia.

So pull out all those old t-shirts that you love so much and give them new life with the ideas from Generation T: 108 Ways To Transform A T-Shirt. 

Please consider donating to my transplant fund at http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforSolanaC/

Upcycled Flowers

April 22, is Earth Day.  To honour that, I am doing upcycling projects for the month of April.  Upcycling is basically taking something that has little to no value (usually headed to the garbage bin) and turning it into something that has added value.  Basically, it's keeping more things from landing in our landfills.  I hope you enjoyed my Upcycled Armwarmers from last week.

This week I made Upcycled Flowers.  Basically, I found myself in the position of several unwanted ties.  I didn't want to toss them and didn't know of anyone who would wear them.  So I decided to turned them into something I can use.

Materials:

Old ties (make sure they are clean)
Feathers
Unwanted buttons or beads
Thread
Felt
Glue
Flower template (I use flower cookie cutters and traced them)
Scissors
Sewing needle
Pen

Directions:

Turn the tie over so the back side is facing you on the table and cut open the seams so you have a long strip of fabric.  You can iron the strip at this point to flatten out the folds.

Take your Flower template and trace it on the wrong side of the fabric using the pen.  For each finished piece, you want to trace four flowers.

Cut the shapes out using the scissors.  Put the unused fabric aside for more flowers later.

With the needle and thread, knot the end of the thread and pull it through the middle of all four flower shapes. twists the shapes so that the petals are not sitting on top of each other.  Then sew an X through the middle to secure the pieces in place.

Sew or glue a button in the center of the flower.

Cut a 1 inch square of felt.  Glue two or three feathers so that they stick out of the left corner of the square.

Glue the flower onto the square, making sure that the feathers stick out looking like leaves.

Once the glue dries, you have a beautiful flower.  You can make a brooch out of it, a hair piece, or make a stem for it and stick it in a vase.

If you want more upcycling ideas, I suggest reading AlterNation by Shannon Okey and Alexandra Underhill.  This book has lots of fun ideas involving clothes and accessories.  They even have some more tie ideas.  I like the project for make a dressy outfit out of bed sheets and pillow case.

If you like this tutorial, consider donating to my transplant fund at http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforSolanaC/

Upcycled Arm Warmers

I woke up this morning and it was snowing.  Snow in April!  Gives the feeling that warm weather is never going to come around.  It does make this weeks project very appropriate though.

Every have that favorite pair of socks? That pair that has holes in the toes and heels, but you can't bare to toss out so you just keep repairing the holes. Well, I have a pair like that. And after pulling them out of the wash for repairs for the hundredth time, I wondered if it was even worth the time. The thought of tossing them out made my stomach feel all knotted. I had spent forever looking for these socks, and was thrilled the day I found them. They are toasty warm, and have cute designs. I set them on the table and pondered what their future could possibly be.

Here's what I came up with. It's cold out, electricity isn't cheap, and nor is clothing. I can't afford to raise the thermostat, and going out to buy another sweater isn't going to fit into my budget. So how do I stay warm in my house without breaking the bank or resorting to wrapping myself in a thick quilt all day? Turn my favorite, worn out socks, into arm warmers of course!

Materials Needed:

Old pair of socks (clean of course)

Needle

Thread

Scissors

Bobby Pins

Measuring Tape

Ruler

Step 1. Turn the socks inside out. Cut a straight line across just above the heel. If it makes you feel better, use a ruler on this part as a guideline. Put the foot pieces aside to use as bedding for your hamster, chew toys for your puppy, or dust rags for your TV.

Step 2. Measure and fold 1/4" from cut edge and pin with bobby pins. Pin all the way around.

Step 3. Using the needle and thread sew the folded edge. I sort of eyeballed it and sew across the middle of what I had folded up.

Step 4. Measure and fold 1'' from bottom and pin with bobby pins. Pin all the way around.

Step 5. Sew the newly folded edge down. This makes a clean seam with no raw edges sticking out. I used a back stitch on this part.

This project took me less than a day from start to finish. In fact the first set of arm warmers turned out so well that I made two more sets in the same day.

So now I have three sets of arm warmers to get me through the rest of this winter. All without spending a single penny.

Note: I hand stitched this entire project since my sewing machine is hanging out at my mother's at the moment. So if you want to use a sewing machine, the time spent on this project will be greatly reduced (as if it's not quick enough to begin with).

If you like this tutorial, consider donating to my transplant fund at http://cota.donorpages.com/PatientOnlineDonation/COTAforSolanaC/