Recycling Old T-Shirts – Part 1

I recently had a big clean out at home and discovered a stack of t-shirts that I love, but don’t fit anymore. I couldn’t bring myself to give them away, so I scoured the internet for ways to recycle them. I found plenty for t-shirts that are too big (blog posts for the future) but hardly any for ones that are too small.



I then came across mmmcrafts messenger bag tutorial that I had pinned onto Pinterest (seriously, who else is addicted to Pinterest?!) and realised that I could incorporate one of my t-shirts into that.

This is the t-shirt that I used (I’d already started cutting into it, when I decided I should take a “before” shot ... ). Can you see why I didn’t want to get rid of it?



The tutorial was so good, and easy to follow. I actually really enjoyed making it and it didn’t take long at all. For the main fabric, I actually used stiff curtain fabric and it was ideal – with just a red cotton lining.

Here is the finished product – the only thing I would have preferred would be having the image a bit further down, but I just had to work with what I had. I’ve had SO many positive comments about this bag, which is great because I love it too.



Stay posted for Part 2 ...

Plaid Wrap Skirt

A few weeks back I saw a picture of a plaid wrap skirt and I automatically thought “I bet I could make that ...” Usually, those sort of well meant plans have ended up in either a really dodgy result, or a massive headache of mistakes, lots of unpicking and vowing never to do it again.



So, this time I decided to do the proper thing of making a practice skirt out of some old fabric that I couldn’t use for anything else. I used an existing skirt to make up a pattern, and it ended up working out even better than what I’d expected, no alterations needed.

Front view

Back View

I finished my skirt the other night and wore it the next day, and LOVED it. The only thing I may need to address is that the D Rings don’t offer quite enough support for my peace of mind (they’re not bad, but I like to be 100% sure with wrap skirts!). I’m going to make another skirt with some gorgeous woollen plaid material, so I will do a “Plaid Wrap Skirt 2.0” and make the fastening more secure.

Bags of fun ...

Lately I've been making Nicole Mallalieu's City Shopper Bag (from her book You SEW, Girl!) as a present for my neice who was turning 10 years old. Well, this week I finished it:

I agonised over the fabric choice in my favourite fabric shop for a little while, but I am really happy with it (don't you just love the retro bikes!).

I also made this for my 5 year old neice (a request from Nana):

And, not wanting to leave out the remaining sister, I made her this purse together with my first lot of fabric covered buttons (I'm addicted to making these buttons now ... ):

It's amazing what you can get done on a wet and gloomy ANZAC Day public holiday.

Spoonflower

We got a very exciting package in the mail this week – our order from Spoonflower.

For those of you who haven't yet heard of Spoonflower, it's a company that prints your own designs and images onto a range of different fabrics. It can all be done online, and ours arrived from when we submmitted our design (from America to Australia) in just over 3 weeks.

The prices are quite good for what you're getting, I actually worked out that it was actually cheaper than some cool fabric (you will see this in a few weeks ... ) I picked up here in Melbourne. You can also submit your designs for others to buy, and you get commission on any that are bought, which is definitely something I'm encouraging my graphic design husband to do!

OK, now that I'm done "selling" it to you, I will show off our fabric:

We set it up in a way that we can cut it up and use them as embellishments, and the circles for fabric covered buttons. So keep an eye out for future Etsy items that will feature these cute little guys.

Scented Sachets

The other day we attended a 70th Birthday Party and so I decided to try out something I'd seen a little while ago on Quilting in the Rain's Blog called "Ravioli Sachets".

The best thing about doing this was that I had everything I needed right there in my sewing room. The fabric was from my (very overflowing) scraps tub; the ribbon was leftover from another project; and the pot pourri and scented oils were from a project I was going to do a year or two ago, that just didn't happen!

Each sachet was a different scent: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Orange and Grapefruit. They made my sewing room smell very "pretty".

Personalised Child's Library Bag on Etsy

A couple of weeks ago, a good friend of mine had her Little Man start Kindergarten. So she approached me about making him a bag that he could use for their library visits.

Being a Librarian, and also keen to make things, I jumped at the chance! The other great thing is that the Kindergarten Teacher had suggested I make up a flyer in case any other Mum's were interested in having one made for their child as well.

Well, after having a bit of a think about what would look really cute, and also be practical for the many Library visits, I came up with this:

What do you think?

Tyson had requested "Blue with spots" and also to have the Dinosaur (as you'll see from the picture below, we took the liberty of changing Dudley the Dinosaur to Blue for this special occasion).

Dudley the Dinosaur is one of Ash's creations from a year or two ago that I've been busting to use, and this seemed like the best way to introduce them. So let me introduce you to Dudley's friends - Florence, Geoffrey, Katie and Harry. Harry the Horse is only 1 week old, but has been accepted very kindly into the group by the rest of the animal bunch.

Aren't they just so cute?!

I have added this to my items on Etsy, so if you're reading this and thinking "Oh my, I wish I could have one!" then this is your golden opportunity. Just click on my Etsy link, or go straight to Personalised Library Bag by Spot of Colour.

By the way, Tyson was delighted with his new bag and I believe he will be using it today at Kinder.

A million and one projects

A slight exaggeration, perhaps.

In true "me" style, since getting back into my sewing projects for the new year I have managed to build up a massive list of projects, so I now have a heap in progress and heaps more sitting waiting to go. So, if you're patient just for a little bit longer, you will be able to find out what they've been!

Recently though, I celebrated my 31st birthday and was lucky enough to get some birthday money from both my parents, and my husband's parents. So I bought myself an overlocker - a Janome Ezy Lock 304D (which I still need to learn how to use, but I'm looking forward to using it!), and I also bought these two patterns which I've been eyeing off for a little while now:

Anna Maria Horner's Study Hall Skirt Pattern

I'm thinking of using my Amy Butler Love fabric, and matching plain burgundy for the contrast fabric.

Amy Butler's Mini Dress, Tunic and Top Pattern

I'm unsure whether to do a top, or longer version of the Tunic dress. (To be honest, I'm also unsure now if maybe I should use the Amy Butler fabric for this instead ... ?)

Check back in with me hopefully next week to see what else I've been up to!