Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Sew Cheap!

I've once again dragged out the sewing machines in the name of 'upcycling'.
After much hinting, harassment and outright threats my mother FINALLY cleared out the ten-years-worth-of-crap that was clogging up her wardrobe leaving me with a veritable gold mine of material in the form of old clothes. After I dragged them all downstairs I decided it was time to hit that towering 'clothes-to-refashion' pile. Waste not, want not! :)


These shorts came from an old pair of jeans with various scrappy odds and ends making up the appliqued tree on the leg. The top is actually for Indi and was made from an old singlet top of my sisters. I'm incredibly impatient and lazy so I made the whole lot on the overlocker, except for the stitching around the applique.

These shorts were once a button-up shirt belonging to my brother. I actually stuffed them up a bit making them too low-rise but my good friend Karisma suggested just taking the waistband off and replacing it with a thick band of ribbing. Great idea me thinks! They are really light and cool so I think with a soft ribbed waist they'll make great pyjama pants. The top was an old white t-shirt. Again, all on the overlocker. Even the neck hole and arm holes have a rolled edge to save me having to concentrate too much in sewing a proper hem!

These shorts were a pair of women's stretchy brown pants. The singlet is a combination of a long-sleeved top, a couple of old sheets and a scrap of brown corduroy I found in the remnants bin at Spotlight  a few months ago (ok, so this one isn't ENTIRELY recycled ;)). I love love love the way it turned out!

Gratuitous 'gorgeous baby' shot ;)  

4 comments:

karisma said...

That red top looks Awesome!!! And you know I just love the tree! You should have shown a close up! You did a great job!

Zyatica said...

Wow!! So creative and a great way to upcycle...

Cheers Z

'Joyce' said...

Kel, these are awesome. I currently have 6 white business shirts of hubbies in a big heap of the studio which has recently become a dumping point for all things 'I'm gonna upcycle when I get a chance.' I do have a plan for them, I just gotta get to it. Thanks for sharing your upcycling and enjoy your machine.

Cords said...

Nice work! Glad you are having a go at applique too! Oh, and I'm very jealous of your overlocker, looks like it does majick on those stretchy fabric hems.

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