Sunday Motivation

Upcycling Dresses

What to do with those old dresses that no longer fit, or are out of style?

Refashion

Transform to other clothing items

One of the simplest things to do with a dress is cutting to create different items, like a skirt or a top....

Bags

Kids dresses are great to upcycle into bags as you can keep the basic shape and just enclose the bottom of the dress.

I did that with a couple of my girls sundresses that they grew out of:

Use the fabric for something completely different

You could just use the fabric - as I did on this money box that I made from one of my girl's old Hello Kitty Dresses:

I used other sundresses my girls had grown out of to make this cute fabric origami bag.

I also made a pencil and notebook folder from a pretty kids dress, using the left over parts in the gift wrapping!

I liked that I could use the buttoned up front part for an extra feature and pocket on the folder.

Have you ever upcycled or refashioned a dress?

For even more ideas you can take a look at my 

Dress Upcycling Pinterest Board

New blog look and a picture of me!

Hello!

Yes, this is me!

I've shied away from putting pictures of myself on the blog for a LONG time now, but have finally gotten over my shyness and decided to change my profile picture!

Today I've been sprucing up my blog a little so this is just a part of that!

I changed my header and the page buttons at the top.

I've also changed the pages a little, and added some new ones to reflect more what my blog is about.

I've updated my About Me page and shuffled things around a little in general.

Last week I began this process and reorganised all of my free tutorials, making clearer links and more pages with the tutorials grouped into themes.  In just the week since then, I've noticed a growth in my blog statistics - and that my visitors are hanging around for longer, which is great!

It's good to see a positive result from a lot of hard work, and this motivated me to finish making those little changes that I've had in my head for a while now!

How about you?  When was the last time you did some blog housekeeping and updated things in your space?

Phew! Well that's today's work done - time to finish up for the week - on to my daughter's hockey match now!

Enjoy the end of your week and do come back tomorrow for the next installment of 

Upcycling Clothes item by item.

Komebukuro - Traditional Japanese Rice Bag - a tutorial

A Komebukuro is a Japanese cotton drawstring bag that was used to carry offerings of rice to Japanese temples or shrines. The word literally means rice (Kome) - bag (bukuro).

I have some Japanese fabrics in my stash and thought this would be a great project to use some of them:

Here's how to make your own:

You will need:

Fabrics of your choice. I used denim for the base square, and two different cottons for the main bag parts.

Cord for drawstring.

Cut 10 squares of fabric the same size, 

2 for the base, 

4 for the outer bag  

4 for the lining

1. Lay out your squares as you want your bag to look with the base piece in the centre and the sides around each edge like this:

2. Pin, then stitch each piece to the base, right sides together:

3. Next you need to stitch each side together.

 (Again right sides of the fabric facing each other.)

Turn right side out and now you have a small boxy bag:

4. Repeat Steps 1-3 with your remaining squares. This will make the lining of your bag.

5. Place one bag inside the other like this:

Then fold the both the outer and inner bag tops inwards to hide the raw edges:

6. Pin then top-stitch all the way around the top:

7. On each side of the bag near the top - mark with pins where you want the drawstring to go through.  If you like you can measure and place these perfectly evenly, but I just eye-balled it.

8. Stitch 2 buttonholes in each side near the top where you have pinned. Then thread the cord in and out around the top of the bag through the buttonholes.

9. To hide the ends of the cord drawstring, take a scrap of one of your fabrics and fold it in half, right sides together; then stitch down both sides.

10. Turn right sides out and push in the ends of the cord into the little pocket you just made.

11. Tuck the raw edges inside the pocket, then stitch carefully across the top to secure.

12. Your Komebukuro is now finished!

You can choose different fabrics for the outside and inside as the bag is reversible!

And you can make these bags any size you like simply by changing the size of the squares you cut!

And you can fill them with whatever you choose! It doesn't have to be rice!!

 For the downloadable PDF version of this tutorial, click here.

And for lots more of my free sewing tutorials take a look at 

My Tutorials Page

Sunday Motivation

Upcycling Jeans - part two - using specific parts

Jeans are one of the best items of clothing for upcycling. The fabric is tough and there is plenty of it, and all the different parts of the jeans can be used for all sorts of different projects as I'll show you with some amazing ideas.  

Here was just one pair of jeans I used before Christmas last year to make some gifts..

And another pair into another 5 gifts!

And again, another pair and another 5 gifts!

But before we get to the individual jeans upcycling projects, I wanted to share some ...

Fun facts

Jeans were initially made as workwear for labourers in America in the late 19th century.

Blue Jeans have an official birthday - May 20th.

Indigo is the dye used to colour blue jeans. It doesn't go through the whole fabric which is why jeans are white on the inside. It also explains the wear 'lines' on denim that appear over time - as the molecules of indigo gradually chip and fall off!

The name denim comes from the French 

'Serge de Nimes'. 

The fabric was originally made in Nimes and was called Serge!

During World War 2, men's jeans had a zip down the front but women's jeans had a zip down the side!

So why upcycle jeans? 

For a start there's the reason to upcycle any kind of clothes - the amount of water, electricity, chemicals etc used in the production of the fabric and the clothes in the first place. The landfill old clothes take up and the same things again used to make new fabric and clothes to replace those old ones.

So upcycle - reuse and recycle!

Jeans are also loved all over the world by all kinds of people. Cowboys wear them, housewives wear them, supermodels and celebrities wear them - even presidents wear them.

They are comfortable, durable and fade and wear in a such a way that they often become more loved the more worn they get!

Jeans are cool, durable and as you're about to see - so, so versatile!

So, let's get to some ideas for upcycling.

Using the denim fabric from jeans

First of all some ideas for simply using the denim fabric from jeans. There is plenty of it - mostly in the legs:

Here's some nifty ideas:

Easy Fabric Roads, from Jen at Lil Mop Top:

A fun and durable idea for kids!

My own Lesa bag, which I made using most of the fabric from a pair of adult jeans:

Another denim tote bag from Christine at Crafty Geordi:

Lots of cute pouches from Mami Made Me:

A Baby Play Mat from Sewing for Utange:

Aprons - also from Sewing for Utange:

A denim pouf - (my picture - made from the excellent tutorial from Michele Made Me)

Chair covers also by Michele Made Me:

Pencil cases and notebook folders by me:

Personalised Rag Tags:

and more:

More pouches:

Finally - cute monster pouches - also from Sewing for Utange:

You may have noticed several of these features are from the site Sewing for Utange. Caroline makes lots of amazing things from old jeans - and also includes tutorials on her blog. All here creations she sells to raise money for The Sure Foundation, which feeds starving children in the village of Utange, near Mombasa, in Kenya. 

So please do go and take a look at her blog - what an amazing lady and such a worthwhile cause!

When cutting the denim fabric from jeans to re-use, the possibilities really are limitless!

But it's just more eco-friendly and of course cheaper to upcycle the denim from old jeans rather than go out and buy a new piece of denim fabric!

Using particular parts of jeans

Next I wanted to show some ways to upcycle particular parts of the jeans - so making use of the structure of the clothes in what you make.

1. Using the main part - or 'body' of the jeans:

This is a great way to upcycle a pair of jeans, as it requires very little alteration other than removing the legs and it keeps all the features and pockets of the jeans intact!

Here are some examples:

A sewing machine cover from It's About Time Mamaw:

Jeans shorts bags

A stylish purse from Artfully Caroline:

2. Using the entire front or back of the jeans:

Cutting the front or back portion of the jeans and stitching the legs together gives you an unusual rectangle of fabric which can be used, perhaps like this:

Hanging Hair-Tie Holder:

3. Using the legs:

The ready made tube of the legs makes them perfect for bags and baskets:

Denim Fabric Baskets from Threading My Way:

4. Using the Pockets:

The pockets can be used for all sorts of things that require...well a pocket, or somewhere to slip your hand...

Pot Holders:

A gift bag with a handy pocket for a card:

Washbags from Sewing For Utange;

A needle and sewing case from Passion Et Couture:

A Wall Pocket organiser from Sew Daily:

5. The leg seams:

The seams are good sturdy strips that could be re-used in many ways...like this:

A wrap bracelet fom Mich in LA:

And bangles - also by Mich in LA:

I braided some seams together to use as a bag strap:

Or weave the seams to make coasters.

And I also use pieces of the seams when making various things I want to attach to keychains:

6. The Waistband:

A great way to reuse the waistband and also the top part of the jeans is to make them into a cute skirt:

By Of Pinks and Fairytales:

By Sew with Aloha:

The waistband is perfect too for the top of a tote bag.

I've also seen waistbands stitched together to make bags and rugs and even a cushion cover which look really effective!

To see pictures of these plus LOTS more fabulous jeans upcycling ideas - including denim jeans art and furniture you can check out my 

Jeans Upcycling Pinterest Board

I hope this post have given you lots of inspiration and ideas for upcycling your jeans! They are my favourite thing to upcycle and you can find lots more denim upcycles - many with tutorials if you explore my blog too!

For lots more ideas and inspiration on upcycling clothes - check out the ongoing

Clothes Upcycling Linky Party.  

There are over 600 ideas linked up just now and more are being added all the time. Please feel free to add any of your own clothes upcycling projects too!

Happy Upcycling.