Repurposing Fun...and What Do You Do With All of Those Scraps?

I've had the old sewing machine whirring lately.  It started with a tunic blouse that I no longer wanted to wear that was too nice to give away.  It had beautiful pintucks, intricate lace at the sleeves and hem...and I could just "see" the possibilities.  So I turned it into a girl's dress...and the sleeves became what else - TODDLER PANTS!

I sent pictures to our nephew's wife, Leslie, in Tennessee...would she like to have these items for her girls - Kelsey and Ellie Grace - or should I list them for sale on Etsy?  She responded right away that she wanted them.  A few days later, a big box of gently-worn clothing arrived from her to share with our niece Zola.  I'm talking a BIG box of wonderful things that came on the heels of another box that had been shared a few weeks earlier.  

Around the same time, Leslie "liked" a Halloween outfit on Facebook that was being given away by a children's clothing company.  I looked at the outfit and thought, "I could make that!"  The next time I shopped at Wal-Mart, there was a table of fabric on clearance, including a bright orange print and a multi-colored stripe that I thought would coordinate.  The applique patterns were downloaded online, and an outfit was in the making.  Kelsey, almost five, will get long flounced pants and a top with witch's shoes appliqued on it...Ellie Grace, who is four months, will get coordinating pants with a cut little hat appliqued on the bum!  And I still have more fabric...and more little ones to dress!

 

I had this piece of yellow fabric that I had ordered last summer, and it seemed to say, "Make pants for Kelsey!"  So I did...along with a little coordinating pair for her little sister. 

I cannot begin to describe how many scraps I have.  Some are large...some, pretty tiny...but I hate to throw any of them away.  You never know when you might need a tiny snippet of pink fabric to become the ear of an elephant applique!  So I went through my scrap baskets the other day and cut coordinating pieces into long strips, which I then sewed together.  I serged the edges, then ruffled one edge to create a super-long strip of ruffled fabric. Then I took an old t-shirt and made a little knit skirt for Kelsey.  I made lines 2" apart and stitched the ruffling to these lines, creating layers of ruffles.  Then I added a little waistband out of more of the knit t-shirt...and voila!  I think this is a darling skirt that will go with all kinds of tops...don't you?!  Kelsey was just too tired to model this one! ;-)

Leslie is definitely a Tennessee fan all the way...with a slight tinge of Vanderbilt loyalty.  But John, our nephew, is a full-tilt Razorback fan.  So I had a little piece of Razorback print, and I couldn't resist making a new dress for Kelsey - and some pants for Ellie Grace.

I didn't forget about Zola!  I dashed into the local thrift shop on Friday, and there was a darling printed long-sleeved tee that just begged to become leggings and a matching top. I noticed after I got the pants finished that there was a tiny hole in the backside, so I just used a bright flower from the scraps to make an applique patch!  Even cuter than it would have been without, if I do say so myself!   I even had enough scraps to make a little cap, also!  Zola was thrilled.  I'm hoping for a picture of her in the new outfit soon!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

 

It's almost October, and I've been working on holiday shirts and outfits for the kiddos.  I decided early on that I did not want to spend a lot of time and energy on shirts that could only be worn for a few weeks.  So for the most part, I tried to choose styles that would be suitable for wear before or after Halloween, as well.  So far, so good!

I used my Cuttlebug and a die-cut to create iron-on spiders for the boys' shirts.  The hardest part was peeling the paper off the back of these tiny spiders!  I am hoping they hold up well in the wash... if not, I can make more spiders!  Don't you think they look realistic?

 

 

For Olivia, I took an idea I'd seen on Pinterest for a ruffled cat applique and put my own spin on it.  With a free, online template for a cat applique in hand, I used remnants of a polka-dot ladies camisole (purchased on Clearance at Wal-Mart) to create the body.  I used another remnant of black knit to create the tail... carefully cutting a strip into fringe and stitching it onto the shirt over the tail outline.

The outfits for Zola and Harper featured holiday cats.  I purchased a long-sleeved ladies knit top at the thrift store.  It already had the applique of the cat in the jack-o-lantern on it, so all I had to do was cut down the shirt to fit Zola. I used my handy-dandy 3T Toddler T-shirt pattern and followed the existing neckline.  The sleeves were cut from the bottom of the shirt so I could use the existing hem.

For Harper's outfit, I turned the long sleeves into leggings, and then I used scraps of the bodice to create the cat applique on a purchased child's t-shirt.  Pretty cute, eh?!

These are not for the kiddos, but in the spirit of autumn, I went in search of materials to add a couple of new pillows to our couch and chair for the season.  I saw this idea online for turning old sweaters into pillows... and I found some really great ones at the local thrift store.  This is the result of Sweater #1... whaddya think?

Happy Fall, Y'all... and BOO!