Cute ruffle top from a t-shirt

We have so many t-shirts hanging around it's unreal. 

So I commandeered one of my daughter's and set to work with the scissors (as you do).  I cut off three bands of fabric from the bottom, cut off the neckband and shaped the top into a bolero top.  With the bands of fabric I joined them together, made a ruffle and then stitched the ruffle onto the top.

She wears it over her princess dress <grin>.

Girl's bag made from pockets

Daughter#1 had a shirt with pockets - but she didn't like the pockets so I took them off.

Then I thought it would be fun to sew them together and make a small bag.  I added a ribbon handle, bow and a popper. 

Daughter#1 is happy and daughter#2 has a new bag!

School skirt

I had some thick stretch fabric that I knew would be great but couldn't decide what to make from it.  And then it dawned on me - make a school skirt. 

I took my daughter's existing skirt, drew round it and added a bit extra for the seams. I added a waistband channel for elastic, but it's so elasticated already that it doesn't really need it.

Then, as it is stretchy, I took the bottom of the fabric, pulled it slightly and then bound the edge. I'm really happy with it - more importantly, so is she!

Bucket bag made from pre-loved skirt

While we were on holiday I found a gorgeous skirt in a charity shop.  I wasn't keen on the cut of it so I decided to turn it into a bucket bag instead!

It is lined with denim and has homemade bias binding straps and bottom. 

Ruffled skirt from a pillowcase

There was a sale on in the drapers and they were almost giving away ruffled pillowcases.  I could see the potential and thought it rude not to take them up on their offer.

Then I turned it into a skirt for my daughter.

Shorts refashioned into flower headband

Well, it's like this - it's all about the fabric. 

If you've ever been clothes shopping with me you'll know that I gravitate to the print, the texture and the 'feel' of clothing.  It doesn't matter if it fits me or not, if I love the fabric, I'll buy it and find a use for it!

So I bought a pair of shorts in the sale - I just loved the texture of them.  They are all soft and cwtchy (as my Welsh friend would say).  They had a turn-up on the hem which I thought would make a great headband.  So I cut off the hem and added a flower - ta-da - one flower headband.

Ooh, I can show you how to make the flower too - it's soooo easy!

 

 

 

Leftover silk scarf

This was made from the silk found in the bag of leftovers from the car boot sale.

I just had to add a mini-hem down both sides and ta-da - one silk scarf!

Ikea fleece heart

Ikea has some really fabulous material - especially if you look in the fleece throw department! 

They were practically giving them away.  I used the main material to make a skirt (I'll post about it another time) and this heart decoration.  I still have plenty left over to make some other things :)

It's amazing what you can do with scraps of material and a little bit of imagination!

William Morris bag (from a curtain)

Bags.  I have a few - especially now! 


I have a great bag at home that I wanted to make something similar to.  So I made up my own pattern, used some leftover curtain material, figured out which bits had to be done in which order and then made it up! 

I lined it with some contrasting material that I already had and added an internal pocket.  The most expensive part was the button which I had to buy from a proper shop LOL!  I put piping around the bottom to help it to stand on its own and tied it at the top.

Oh - and the curtain material was pre-loved and rescued from a charity shop for £4!  Well, someone had to - it's too gorgeous to leave there!

Roman blind

The only formal training I've had is an evening class in soft furnishings that I decided to take many moons ago.  I LOVED it!  I could *see* the finished article in my mind and the various stages of how we were going to get there.  I think it did help that we had an inspiring teacher too.  That's always a plus point.

After that course, I made this Roman blind for our previous house.  It hung in the bathroom and I added a cross-stitch border at the bottom to match the tiles. 

I love the whole process of tailor-making something; be it a dress, bag or some curtains. Why buy something off the shelf when you can make it yourself to your own specifications? Well, that's what I reckon anyway!

Car boot sale finds

You'd think you'd find something good at a car boot sale with over 300 cars right?

Well, I did find a couple of magazines with patterns in and a piece of wonderful fabric (William Morris print which I've already used for a skirt and bag - I put that back LOL!)

Feeling jaded, the very last car boot that I peered into came up trumps.  It contained a couple of large bags of material with a £1 sign on them.  Interested, I raked through the off-cuts to see what was on offer.  The seller saw my interest and told me that her daughter had studied fashion design at university and was now a designer with Toast (I must look them up!)  The material was all her project work leftovers.

I picked up some lime silk (enough to make a couple of scarves), lengths of black ribbon (always comes in handy), navy wool coating, thick black stretchy material (skirt maybe?) and heaps of other wonderful goodies.  I had an absolute armful!

And she charged me just £2 for the lot.

She made my day!
 

Leftovers make-up bag

I had this wonderful cord skirt that I adored but the embroidery on it was a bit, um, not quite me any more.

So I made full use of the embroidery and created a make-up bag out of it - I do love a good recycling project:

 

Inside I added a matching lining which is the same material as Barbie's dress - you'll see me using a lot of materials over and over.

I'm really happy with it!  Another unique piece LOL!

Barbie dress

I can't always remember the clothes I've made and the alterations I've done - there are so many of them.  Teresa reminded me that I'd made a Barbie dress a long time ago - and look, it still fits LOL!

I used an actual pattern for this one and it was a tad fiddly adding in the darts and sewing something so small. 

But it turned out fine and I have a happy daughter!

Princess dress

I bought some fabulous purple velvet fabric last October - I didn't know what I was going to do with it but I bought it anyway (a recurring theme, I might add!)

Then my daughter tried on her long party dress and found that she'd grown out of it.  But she loved it sooooo much. 

So I thought and I thought and I thought some more.  Surely I could look at her existing dress, create a pattern and make a larger one out of purple velvet?  It couldn't be that difficult, could it?

So I did.  The pattern took the longest but once I'd finished that it was quite straight forward to make up.  I half-lined it, added some matching material from a skirt as shoulder straps and also used some silk (another charity shop find) to make a waist tie.

She feels like a real princess when she wears it!

Pencil case

I was so fed up of ferretting around in my bag for a pen or three so decided to make a pencil case of my own - kids don't get to have ALL the fun!

I did mean to put piping around the ends but got so carried away that I forgot - ah well, maybe next time!

Note to self - do not insert zip too well as you can't then find the zip to undo the pencil case.  Soooo, I added some ribbon to the zip so that it's easy to find :) 

Adult skirt into child's swing top

What is a woman to do?  Her daughter has fallen in love with an adult skirt which is miles too big for her - please, mum, please.

Ok, I buy the skirt anyway - cut off several inches from both side seams, stitch it up, fashion two straps and voila - a child's swing top!  It looks great with leggings.

Bag out of leftovers!

I loved making this bag!  All hand sewn too!

The handles, bow, lining and interior pocket are made out of an old shirt, the outside fabric was once a skirt discovered in a charity shop and the brim of the bag was made out of an old pair of jeans!

I made the bow out of two pieces of material - I'll upload a 'how to' soon!  Simples!

Flower hairclip

Flowery hairclip - made from an old scarf that was never going to be worn but deserved to see the light of day one more time!

Easy peasy!