Frayed Fabric Bangles from Ribbon Spools

I have several empty ribbon spools lying around my house.  I didn’t want to throw them out without giving some thought on if I could recycle or reuse them.

So I came up with the idea to take off the cover, wrap some fabric around it and create these bangles:

Supplies:

Empty Ribbon Spools

Fabric

Hot glue gun

Scissors or rotary cutter

Tutorial:

Tear the front and back cover of the spool off so all you have left is the inner ring:

 

You’ll want to make sure you tear off all the little extra papers that are still around the edges.

For the smaller spools I used a strip of fabric that was half of an inch wide (1/2”) and for the wider spool I used a strip that was 1 inch wide (1”).  The length of your strip will very depending on how much you overlap your fabric, but if you don’t have enough you can always add another strip to where you ended.

 

Adhere one end of your strip to the inside of your circle using hot glue. 

 

Then start wrapping the fabric around at an angle.  If you run out of fabric just cut another strip and start from the inside of your circle where you left off (be sure to adhere both ends with your hot glue).

 

And there you have it Frayed Fabric Bangles

 

*I did not treat mine with anything but I’m sure you could put a little Mod Podge over the fabric if you wanted

**FYI these are not water proof, they will probably ruin if they get really wet.

Chair recycled into a flower pot holder

I have been seeing two dining table chairs on the side of the road, that I frequently travel, for the last 6 months.  I’m not much of a trash picker, but I just couldn’t resist picking them up in hope of being able to use them for something.  The one chair had no legs and the other chair had one leg broken and one connecting bar broken.  As I was trying to straighten up the garage, I decided it was time to give the chairs a purpose or throw them away.

I came up with this idea (just pretend there are cute flowers in the pots and that the one pot is not broken!!!)

I had to put the legs back together on the one chair, it’s not perfect and wobbles but hey it’s for a plant so a little wobble won’t matter.  Then I measured the top inner circumference of the pot and cut that size of circle out of the chair with legs.   I still want to to a treatment to the chairs to prevent water damage. 

I plan to plant some flowers or vines that will grow along the backs of the chairs!

Now I just have to wait for the weather to decide to be warm!!!

Born to Party Dress

I knew I wanted to submit another entry into Lil Blue Boo/Dharma Trading Design Challenge, so I decided to make Ari a dress. I purchase a couple of t-shirts at my local thrift store and had planned using the solid portions of the pink and red shirts, but as I contemplated the saying that was on the red shirt I decided to incorporate it into the dress.

“Born to Party Forced to Work”

For the basis of the dress I used the Lil Blue Boo Hoodie Pattern. I shortened the length of the top and then added a simple “A” line style skirt to the top.

For the stitching I used a technique I just learned called “Flat Lock” serging. I love the extra detail it gives to the dress. (notice the stitching at the sleeve and neckline)

After I put the dress together I then used freezer paper and fabric paint to stencil the hearts on.

Messenger Bag turned Scripture Bag

My Husband had a Messenger Bag like this that he wasn’t using anymore and asked me if I could make it into a cool Scripture Bag that he could take to church.

So he drew up some ideas of what he wanted in the bag and I figured out the best way to accomplish it with the least amount of cutting, unpicking, and stitching. Here it is:

Basically I cut down the middle of the original bag and then re-attached one of the side pockets to enclose the bag again. I then shortened and re-attached the front flap. Used some scraps from the strap and front cover to make a handle to attach to the top. Then attached buckles!!!

Voilà a messenger bag turned scripture bag!!!

Participating in:

LBB/Dharma Design Entry #1

Here is my first entry for the Lil Blue Boo/Dharma Trading Design Challenge.  I used the LBB Recycled T-Shirt Hoodie Pattern.

“Monster Truck Rally”

The line that goes across the front of the shirt was the source of inspiration for adding the Monster Truck Appliqués. 

One of the changes I made to the pattern was I did the sleeves as two layers.  I made them so I can detach the lower sleeve when it warms up.  That way my son can wear it now and wear it through the summer.

 

I love this tunneling affect the pocket gave!!!

My Handsome model!!!

 

Apron Redo and matching towels

I bought this plain apron and figured I could make it a little more stylish. 

At first I thought I would just add a little bit of trim to it but then I came across this Halter Apron by Heather Bailey and wanted to try to convert the apron into this style but I didn’t want to buy the pattern for just one apron so I decided I would try to wing it and this is what I came up with:

Here’s a brief overview of how I did it.

Materials:

Basic Apron

2 Fat Quarters

Solid cotton scrap about 64” x 4” that matches the fat quarters

Cut down the center of the top.  Flipped the two pieces of the top so the armholes then became the neck line.  Then did a little tapering to the outer edge of the top making it go smaller as you head to the top of the apron. (be sure to remove the side ties but leave the neck ties attached)

Then cut your fat quarter in 4” x 21-22” strips.  You will need five.  Three for the waist and ties and 2 for the ruffle on the bottom.

I sewed the three strips together and then attached the fat quarter strip and the solid strip to the top of the bottom portion of the apron so that the right side of the fat quarter strip was facing the right side of the apron and the right side of the solid strip was facing the wrong side of the apron.  I sewed all the way around the strip except leave an opening at the top wide enough for the top portion of your apron to slide in.  Turn the strips inside out and then press.  Make sure to press the opening so that the edges are folded inside.  Now slip the lower edge of the top of the apron into the opening and stitch the opening closed.  I did a stitch from one end of the ties all the way across the top to the other edge of the tie.

Then trim up the bottom of the apron to the length you would like.  Sew the other two strips of fat quarter together and then press it in half, right sides out.  Do a basting stitch along the raw edge to use to gather the fabric.  Pull one of the threads and gather the strip so it’s the same size as the bottom of the apron (make sure to do a rolled hem finish to the ends of the ruffle so you don’t have any raw edges showing).  Then pin the  ruffle lining up the raw edges on the right side of the apron.  After stitching it in place and went back and did a zig-zag stitch to finish the edges.  Press and your done!!

I used the remainder of the second fat quarter to make 2 matching towels.  I got the towel idea from Sew 4 Home here.

 

***on a side note I didn’t wind up attaching the top of the the apron as I wasn’t sure how it would fit her so I left it off making it only a half apron instead of a full apron***

Recycled T-Shirt Holiday Dress

My inspiration for this dress came from Lil Blue Boo and this dress (interchangeable Santa hat, stocking and star).

Take 2 T-shirts of different colors and lay them on top of each other (this will make you two dresses).

I used this pattern here. (adjustments to pattern include that I made the measurements a little extra big to accommodate the extra seams with the stripes and added a armhole.)

The difference is that I made mine with more of an arm hole so that the dress would sit up higher. I just drew a 1/4th of a circle at the outside edge (not on the fold).

Then unfold the two shirts out and then cut across starting at the empire waist area and then evenly space the stripes down to the bottom. I did 5 stripes at 3.5” wide but yours may differ due to the size of dress.

I then staggered the two shirts making one like the one above and one like the one my daughter has on in the first picture. To sew them together I first sewed each tier together at the sides with right sides together so it made a complete circle. Then I started with the bottom tier and laid the wrong side of the upper tier onto of the right side of the lower tier (lining up the side seams) and then used a decorative stitch about 1/8 of and inch from the edge of the upper tier.

Looks like this:

Keep doing this until you have all of your tiers sewn together including the upper body portion sewn to the skirt portion.

Then I cut three 2” strips of each color of shirt making the strips long enough to go around the arm opening to create the strap. two of the strips you will use to make the straps and one you will use to finish the top of the front and back.

For covering the top of the front and back: Lay the right side of the strip to the wrong side of the top lining up the edges this time instead of overlapping. Do a 1/4th inch seam. Then fold over in half making sure that the other half lays over the seam you made. Leaving the edge showing use a decorative stitch to sew it down.

For the straps do the same basic thing as for the top except along the actual strap portion you will have to fold over that seam and lay the other half over.

I didn’t do anything to finish the bottom edge of the dress.

I don’t know if I’m making any sense so if you don’t understand something then let me know and I’ll try to clarify.

To make the interchangeable objects:

I used Wunder Under to adhere a small square of fabric to the center inside of the front of the dress. I then hand stitched a snap to it. Then I used felt to make the Santa hat, stocking and star. I made two pieced of each shape and stitched the opposite portion of the snap to one of the shapes and then used Wunder Under to adhere the two shapes together hiding the stitching of the snap.

I’m participating in: