Sock Kitten - an Upcycle

Last month I decided that I'm going to try to use up my entire fabric and clothes-to-be-upcycled stash.  

I started out well, working my way through a whole box of saved 

t-shirts  and in doing so making a selection of things that are now being put to good use.

This week I have a lot of paid sewing work to get through, but I also wanted to keep up my stashbusting and upcycling momentum, so decided to try and fit in a few smaller projects.

I only have a few pairs of socks in my stash, so figured they would be a good thing to look at using up this week.

I've made sock monkeys and a sock lion before,

but wanted to try something different this time.

I found this picture tutorial in Japanese and this video tutorial for making a sock kitten. Here's how I went making mine.

The boring plain black socks which my youngest daughter had grown out of.

Turned inside out and stitched, front and back legs, head and tail.

Cut around the shapes, turned it all right sides out and stuffed the pieces.

Stitched the pieces together then added button eyes, nose and a bell on a ribbon left over from an Easter Chocolate Bunny!

You may notice that one of the kitten's front legs has writing on it - the brand name and size of the socks!  I actually like this, as it's part of the upcycle process - showing it's not a brand new softie and adding a little extra character!

And now my youngest has a new cute black sock kitten, which I know will be well loved!

A nice quick upcycle - and a pair of socks from my stash used up!

I'm aiming to use up the rest of the socks in my stash this week, so do come back and see what else I make.

And for lots more clothes upcycling inspiration or to add your own clothes upcycling projects, head to the ongoing linky which now has over 600 clothes upcycling projects and is growing all the time.

T-shirt upcycling

We all seem to have a lot of t-shirts. They are cheap, comfortable, versatile and always seem to be the item of clothing used for 'souvenirs' of events and places.  I remember as a kid I always wanting to buy t-shirts with funny pictures and quotes on them.  

Over the past couple of weeks I've been upcycling a box of t-shirts belonging to my girls that I have been collecting for a few years as they grew out of them. I've had fun upcycling them into several things from a quilt to a balloon dog!  

There are endless ideas out there for what you can make with old t-shirts. I thought I'd collect a lot of them together in one place. Some are my projects, many are linked up to the very large  Clothes Upcycling Linky that has over 600 ideas linked up!

So if you have some old t-shirts that don't get worn, and you need inspiration as to what to do with them - read on! There are pictures and links - many of which have full tutorials to show you how it's done!


Pillows and Cushions

Cute Decorative Pillows from Felt Magnet, T-shirt Rag Quilt Pillow from Welcome's Autumn, Favourite T-shirt into Cushion from Threading my Way, Paris T-shirt Pillow by Creating my way to Success, and Memory Pillow From Maiden Jane. 




Bags and pouches

Reusable Bag from The Sweetest Pear, Church Tote from T-shirt from Blissful and Domestic, T-shirt Bag from Reasons to Skip the Housework, T-shirt Sleeves to Pouches from Creating my way to Success, Tote from a T-shirt from Maiden Jane and Handbag from T-shirt by Brassy Apple.





A T-shirt Quilt
There are heaps of ideas and tutorials out there, and so many beautiful and fun quilts made from t-shirts. 
This is my own version and tutorial.

Things for the home

T-shirt Rag Rug from Creating my way to Success, Crochet T-shirt Yarn Basket from The Smiths on Elm Street, Trivets from T-shirt yarn by The Tiptoe Fairy, T-shirt Doorway Deco from Crafts by Holly, Braided T-shirt Rug from Joybobo and Mummy Vase from Crafts and Creations.

Accessories

Cute Bra Straps from Meijo's Joy, T-shirt Scarf from Ms Not so Perfect, Old T-shirt Flowers from 3 Peppers, T-shirt seam lolly brooches from Meijo's Joy and T-shirt necklaces from Chrissie Creations. 

Clothes Refashioned from T-shirts

Skirts and Dresses

Patchwork T-shirt Dress from Upcycled Design Lab, Party in the Back Dress from Tidbits, Woven T-shirt Dress from Upcycled Design Lab, T-shirt to Kids Dress From Creating my way to Success, Skirts from T-shirts by Snippets of my Family,  T-shirt to Dress from Cass Can Sew, T-shirt Dress from Wobisobi, Layered T-shirt Dress from Second Chances by Susan and 50s T-shirt Dress from Sew Lil Time.

Other Clothes 

Panties from Old Tees by The Shiny Bubble, T-shirt to Tank from 1 Sew Green Mama, Old T-shirt to Fitted top from Creating my way to Success, Tee to Tank from The Practical Perfectionista, PJs from Man's Polo T-shirt from Meggipeg, T-shirt Leggings from Upcycled Design Lab, Twin to Twin T-shirt Exchange from Moose Mouse Creations, T-shirt to Yoga Pants from What I live for and T-shirt to Shirred Tank from Snippets of my Family.

So many possibilities!

T-shirts can be made into just about any clothing item you want! Even slippers!

(Tutorial from Green Issues by Agy)

Finally a couple of extra ideas I've tried that have proved popular.

An ipod armband for exercising from an old t-shirt.

And a Balloon Dog from an old T-shirt

To see lots more ideas for t-shirt upcycling, you can visit my 

T-shirt Upcycling Pinterest board.

So are you inspired to upcycle some of your old t-shirts?

Happy Upcycling!

Upcycled Paris T-shirt Pillow

Over the last coupld of weeks I've been working my way through my stash of t-shirts to be upcycled. Last week I made a t-shirt quilt with most of the t-shirts I've kept belonging to my daughters.

However, this pink t-shirt that my elder daughter recently grew out of was a little bit special so I saved it to do something different with.

I had the idea of a pillow in mind, so found some old sheeting from my stash and an old squished pillow.

The pillow was torn and lumpy. So I took the stuffing out, fluffed it up and made a new pillow just the right size for putting inside the t-shirt.

Then I simply turned the t-shirt inside out, stitched across the top of the design on the t-shirt and cut off the neck and sleeves.

Then all that remained was to slip in the pillow and add fastenings.

I found these stitch on press-studs in my stash, that my mum brought out from the UK several years ago from her stash.

A nice simple project, to preserve one of my daughter's favourite t-shirts.

A simple upcycle and more of my stash used up!

Do you have any t-shirts in your stash?

What are you planning to do with yours?

Maybe you can find some inspiration on my

T-shirt Upcycling Pinterest Board.

And for lots more upcycling ideas, please take a look at my Upcycling Tutorials Page

Upcycled T-shirt Rag Rug

After making a t-shirt quilt last week, to make a start on using up my t-shirt stash, I was still left with a large pile of t-shirt fabric - since the quilt only used the pretty logos and pictures from the fronts of the t-shirts.

I still had all the t-shirt backs and scraps to use up.

I decided to use them to make a rag rug - something I've wanted to try for a long time - and finally I got A Round Tuit! 

I used a great little tutorial that I found via Pinterest from 

Proverbs 31 Living. She used denim scraps for her rug, which looks great, but I figured it would work just as well with t-shirt scraps.

So I cut my remaining t-shirt fabric into rough squares.

Now when I say 'rough' I really do mean it. They were lots of different sizes and some were square, some rectangles, some neither - but they did have 4 sides!

For the backing I used part of an old towel - another thing used from my 'to be upcycled' stash.

For the design, I did consider keeping the colours together and making a rainbow design, but in the end decided it was easier to just mix them all together.

So then it was just a matter of folding each 'square' into a kind of triangle and placing them on top of each other, then stitching in rows onto the backing towel.

I stitched row after row of these triangles, overlapping each other, and each row was about 1' (2.5cm) apart.

Once I'd used up all the t-shirt pieces, I trimmed the edge of the towel and finished the edge off with a double folded hem to stop it fraying.

I love how my new rag rug looks, and feels.

All I have to do now is decide where to use it.

Both of my girls tried to claim it when they came home from school and saw it, but I think I might keep it in the kitchen, to keep my feet cosy when I wash the dishes!

Have you ever made a rag rug?  Did you make it like this or a different way?

I love how this turned out so much that I'd like to make more - and I know I have plenty of fabric in my stash. Next time I'd try a different method though - I'd love any suggestions.

So that's a whole box of t-shirts from my stash used up, into a quilt, a mini quilt, a balloon dog and a rag rug.

Not only have I used up a whole box from my fabric stash, I've also completed three projects that I've had on my to try list for a long time! It feels good to be actively doing, instead of just planning.

Time to look in my stash and see what to use up next - in my bid to 'use up all of my stash'.

How about you? Do you have things in your fabric or crafting stash that you need to or want to use up?  Do you have many projects on your 'to try one day' list?  Why not get started on something today?

If you need some inspiration, why not check out my free sewing tutorials. There are over 100 to browse through, for all levels of sewing ability and a large variety of projects.

100+ Free Sewing Tutorials