Traveling Gear

I made this handy backpack and water bottle holder out of an old t-shirt. They were perfect for sightseeing in Prague!

The water bottle holdre may seem a little, well...useless. But I must say, it was much better than walking around for hours holding the bottle by its cap! I was thinking that since they so cute and handy that I might try selling them sometimes. But, people couldn't order more than two matching ones since they're made from shirt sleeves :)

Ruffled Skirt and Leg Warmers

My next project is made from this long black skirt. Every girl needs a long sensible skirt like this, but lets face it...it's not the most exciting thing.

I liked the idea of making a pleated skirt but as you might have noticed I'm not really a frilly type of girl. So, I added a little something to make it more sporty :)

So, I cut four long four inch wide strips from along the bottom. I hemmed up the left over skirt and sewed together a pair of strips to make two very long ones. Then I pleated one strip along the hem of the skirt and the other above the first one.

To pleat all you do is so on the strip with straight stitch and ever (The second pleated strip is optional but makes the skirt a little flirtier) You can also hem up all the strips before you put them on the skirt but I like the look of the rough edge.

Now for embellishments! Who doesn't love them? I took the car off of one of my dad's old t-shirts and just glued it on (with special fabric glue) You can also stitch it on if you don't have any glue but I couldn't on this one because its raised up.

Now, you all know the motto "waste not" so I used the t-shirt to make leg warmers and glued the word "mustang" on one of them.

Making leg warmers are really easy. Just measure your leg from just below the knee to the ground and add one inch, then measure around just below your knee and add one inch (my measurements were 17 and 12) Cut out the rectangle with those measurements from the front and back of the t-shirt. Fold each rectangle in half and use straight stitch to sew together the loose sides.

Fold the top down a tiny bit over 1 inch and use zig zag stitch along the bottom. (use whip stitch if your hand sewing) Then turn the tube inside out and cut two slits near each other. Cut one inch wide strips about 20-25 inches long from the same t-shirt or another of contrasting color. Thread the shirt strips through one hole and out the other.

And that's all! I'm really happy with my new hand made clothes. Now, I think I can safely call myself a seamstress!

Ruche Wonder

At our local thrift store I found a bunch of clothes that I absolutely loved but also absolutely could never where in public. I'm planning on making them into something else and I'll show each :)

Here's the first one:
This was my favorite! It was one of those things that you pick up on an impulse and hold onto it. I loved the feel of the fabric and the square neck line. I knew it would fit me like a bag, but I just had to get it.

I decided that it would be really cute to ruche it. So, I drew a line on the inside of the shirt where I wanted the ruching to go, then I cut a piece of 1/8 inch wide elastic as long as I want the circumference of the finished shirt to be. Here's how to ruche, turn the piece inside out, draw a straight line with chalk or soap where you want the elastic to go. Pin the elastic down on one end then put it on the sewing machine. Set it on zig zag stitch about medium wide, then pull the elastic while you sew. It's a little difficult at first, but once you get the hang of it you'll find yourself ruching everything!

And thats it, its really easy, and the comments people give afterwards are so wonderful to hear! "Let me just say, you look fabulous!" "You made that!?!"

I Recycle!

When I was 11 or 12 I begged my mom to get me these pants, my neighbor said they were cool so I had to get a pair! That was when I was starting to care about my appearance! Anyway, now they are way too short and too tight in the legs so I decided to try a project from the Sew Subversive book. I'm making a hip belt! Never heard of it? Neither have I, but it looked cool in the book!
I'm gonna cut the legs off as low as possible then hem it up with a ribbon. (Its an ultra mini skirt that I would never where in public on its own, so I where it over jeans and its a hip belt!) The ribbon and buttons were my own ideas! We have a bucket full of all sorts of buttons though most are not very colorful thats way we haven't used them all yet! But I found a bunch that would go perfect and tried different assortments, one of the first was a Navy look. It didn't feel right though, because my dad is in the Air Force and my uncle is in the Army. So I tried to find another look but I couldn't find anything better! So...I decided to go nautical anyway. Hey, my great grandpa was in the Navy so there!
After I cut off the legs and sewed the ribbons and buttons on, I had to find a shirt to go with it. The only thing that I owned that looked alright was a white cami. But, my arms were cold of course so, just for a laugh, I pulled the pant legs over my arms, which were still connected by a little piece of fabric. To my surprise it looked good! Remember, waste not! So here it is pinned on the cami, all I have to do is sew it. Ta Da! You won't find anything like this on anyone else! I recycled my old pants to create an outfit completely my own!