Upcycle those Uniforms

Over the past couple of weeks I've been upcycling my daughters' old school sports shirts into teddy bears. The shirts are old styles and so aren't worn anymore, but there was nothing physically wrong with them, so I didn't want to throw them out - and I thought since they were their school uniforms, maybe little keepsake memory bears might be a good idea!

The two white bears were to be given away - one as a trophy for a school recycling contest my daughter set up, and the other as a gift for a friend who works at the school. 

The two green teddies were for each of my daughters to keep. Those were their old house coloured shirts, so maybe they will go to future interhouse competitions as mascots? (the light in different photos makes them look different colours, but they are both green!)

The bigger teddy was made from the old style of uniform shirt for our swim club. Again, there was nothing wrong with the shirt itself, but no longer worn as the style has been updated to a new one.

I think this teddy will enjoy coming to all the swim carnivals as our new mascot!

A couple of years ago, I upcycled a lot of these old swim club uniforms into bags to sell and raise money for the club.

I also upcycled my girls old school dresses - which was their uniform in the early years of junior school - into teddy dresses, notebook covers and fabric baskets.

AND, a few years earlier, I'd upcycled their first old dresses into hair accessories!

Oh my goodness - looking at all of that, it makes me see just how many uniforms my girls have gone through!  We've always tried to buy second hand uniforms, and then pass them on to others afterwards, but sometimes they are too old and worn to do so and into the upcycle pile they go.  Kids go through so many clothes as they grow don't they!  But it's nice to be able to either pass them on to someone else who can wear them, or make them into something new they can continue to use!


So that is all my uniform upcycles so far, but there are so many more out there, like this one from the 600+ clothes upcycling linky,


An upcycled military uniform iPad case from Hong Kong Chic.

And there are heaps more to be found - as you can see from my Upcycling Uniforms Pinterest Board, 

where I'm adding more all the time as I find them.

Have you ever upcycled an old uniform - school, sports, military or other?  I'd love to hear more ideas and see pictures. They can be a great memory keepsake to make!

Teach your kids to sew

Over the years my two girls have shown an interest here and there in learning to sew. This interest comes and goes but I always make sure to grab the moments when they're keen and interested and help them give it a go and learn. I believe that learning to sew - and other crafting skills are valuable ones for kids to learn - you can read my reasons why in my post:

Top 10 reasons for learning to sew

But back to my girls sewing. Over the years, they've made a few things pencil cases are always a favourite:

Roll up pencil cases

Lined and zipped pencil cases

I've encouraged them to design their own things too - here's ...well..ok, another pencil case, designed by my younger daughter:

And a cuddly turtle, designed and made my by youngest.

There were other things they made - it just seems to be the pencil cases I took pictures of!

Then last year, I decided to put together an e-book which was a short course for kids to learn to sew. Something with a bit of structure to help kids (or indeed adults) learn some basic sewing skills which would enable them to sew all kinds of different things - particularly learning to follow tutorials as there are so many great tutorials available online now - you can learn to make just about anything!

My girls agreed to be the 'pattern and tutorial testers' for my book. After I had written each individual tutorial, I would give it to them to try and follow and make the item themselves. They would then be able to give me feedback on what they found easy or difficult and I could adjust the patterns and tutorials accordingly.

I decided to incorporate my favourite thing and one I'm passionate about into this learn to sew book too - clothes upcycling.  So the contents of this e-book can be made using an old pair of jeans and some co-ordinating fabric.  

My girls both had a pair of coloured jeans that they'd grown out of that they wanted to use - and they chose their own matching fabric to use with them.  

We had a lot of fun with creating this e-book together, and the girls learnt a lot about sewing too!

Here are all the things they learned to make following the tutorials in my e-book. Those in the picture below are the ones I made as examples while I created the tutorials - and I also used a coloured pair of jeans!

This e-book is available as a PDF download for just

AU$10.00

So why not help your kids learn a useful lifelong skill and make some fun things along the way.

To purchase simply email me at jillinamillion@y7mail.com .

Happy sewing and upcycling!

Upcycled Teddy Bear from old sports uniform

This week I've turned to old uniforms in my stash of clothes to be upcycled.  I did have an ulterior motive for choosing these - as I'd offered to make a kind of 'trophy' for a school house competition my daughter has set up for recycling old oral care products. You can read about that here.

Since the competition is all about recycling, I figured a house trophy that was upcycled would be appropriate so offered to make a teddy, with a ribbon to tie around it's neck depending on which house wins.

A couple of years ago, my daughter's school changed their sports uniforms, but we have a few of the old ones that the girls can't wear anymore as they're old style!  I knew I'd saved them for something!!  Perfect for making a teddy out of! Nice soft fabric, two different colours, and the school logo is there to be used too!

I made a denim teddy last year using this pattern and tutorial from How Joyful Blog. I decided to use the same pattern but downsized it (by 50%) for a smaller teddy which would fit easily from one sports shirt. 

OK - I have to admit I had to use a little bit from another shirt's collar to have enough for the green parts!

Once I'd cut all the pieces out - I had to marvel that this pile of flat fabric shapes would soon become a teddy bear!

A little while later (and finding that one of the pieces has the letters marked in the wrong corners!) I'd managed to make the teddy 'skin'. All that remained was stuffing him!

I'm really pleased with how he turned out!

Not bad from an old sports top!

Now I just need 4 coloured ribbons, and the School House Recycling Competition Trophy is finished!  I wonder if he should have a name?

Any suggestions?

For over 600 more clothes upcycling projects and ideas please visit the linky party 

600+ Clothes Upcycling Projects

And keep coming back to see more of my clothes upcycling and other sewing projects as I work my way through my enormous fabric and crafting stash! It all has to go!

Doughnut and Sweetie Cushions

Last weekend, my daughter had a birthday party to go to for one of her good friends. I almost always make the gifts my girls give to their friends for birthdays, but as the years go on, I'm finding I've used up a lot of my ideas and 'go to' birthday gifts.

Pencil cases have been a favourite for many years, and it's always nice to go into my daughter's classroom at school and see some of these pencil cases still being used daily!

So - this time my daughter wanted to give something other than a pencil case but wasn't sure what.  We both spent some time on Pinterest, browsing pictures and ideas, and eventually decided on a doughnut cushion.

I made the doughnut cushion following this great little tutorial from A Beautiful Mess.

 I think I made the hole in the middle of my doughnut a little bit big, and maybe should have used softer stretchier fabric to make a softer cushion.

Anyway - it all worked out and looks quite doughnut like!  I even made a mini keychain version to go with it!

Since this doughnut cushion is quite small and has a rather oversized hole in the middle, it may look cute, but isn't really much use as a cushion to lean or rest on. So I decided to add an extra cushion..

For this one I just made a small 'bolster' cushion then finished the edges off a square of soft yellow fabric and tied the ends with pretty ribbon to make it look like a sweetie!

So a nice, and 'different' gift selection for my daughter's friend.

Do you find you make the same kind of gifts for your kids' friends each year?  

What kind of things do you make and give for birthday presents?
I'd love some new suggestions!

My favourite old sports tank tops upcycled and re-imagined!

This past week I've been tackling more of my stash of clothes to be upcycled. My old sports tank tops are what I decided to work with.

I've already shown you the duffel bag and yoga mat bag I made.

For the final two tops. I made one more bag. using one of the tops and a large European pillowcase and a couple of place mats.

I was inspired by a post from Pam at Threading my Way, who made an extra large tote. I thought it seemed like a useful thing to have for those times when you have a lot to carry - or large things like pillows or cushions to carry and want your hands free!

The large European pillowcase was perfect for this. I used its basic form and just cut a couple of strips off from the top to make the straps with.  The tank top logo I cut out and used fusible webbing to iron it onto one of the place mats then stitched that to the front of the bag.

So now I have an extra large tote bag, 'just in case' !

The final top I decided to turn into a small cushion for my younger daughter.

I used some old squished cushion stuffing, fluffed up again to make the right sized cushion. The top I just cut into two rectangles, one slightly longer than the other and stitched them into a cushion cover that just folds over at the edge so no zips or buttons are required!

So that's all 4 old stretched and worn tank tops, re-imagined into 4 new things that will continue to be used for hopefully more years to come!

I'm really pleased with my tank top upcycles. What do you think?  Do you have any old sports tops or t-shirts with slogans that are too worn to wear but you want to keep?

What would you like to make with them?

For lots more clothes upcycling ideas to inspire, please do take a look at the 

600+ Clothes Upcycling Ideas Page.

Make your own handbag complete with hidden set of fabric shopping bags you'll never forget!

Next week is the annual 'Zero Waste Week' in the UK - a week to promote awareness and encourage people to stop creating so much waste, to reuse, reduce and recycle.

There are so many ways to reduce the waste you produce - by being more aware of the things you are buying and using.  

One simple thing we can all do, is to say no to single use plastic bags and take our own reusable bags.

A few years ago I made myself a set of reusable fabric bags for my weekly grocery shopping. 

I used these regularly and happily refused around 10 single use plastic bags every week. 

BUT there were times when I forgot my bags, left them at home or in the car and was stuck with another load of those nasty single use plastic bags!

So I designed myself a handbag that has a hidden compartment on the bottom where I store my reusable fabric shopping bags, and now, I never forget them or leave them in the car!

It also has side pockets which contain reusable grocery bags for my fruit and vegetables. 

AND there's also a sneaky handibag inside for any other shopping I happen to do!

I packaged together all these sewing tutorials to share in an e-book so others can make their own complete set of reusable shopping bags too, and never need a single use plastic bag again!

I used old bed linen, net curtains and a pair of old jeans to make my set of bags - so all upcycled and at a cost to me of almost $0 !!  My only expense was my time.

I have priced this e-book very reasonably at just the cost of a cup of coffee to encourage as many people as possible to make their own set of reusable shopping bags. The cost is just

AU $5

So if you'd like to 'share a cuppa' with me and make your own set of reusable shopping bags that you will never forget, then simply email me on jillinamillion@y7mail.com to order.

  All the sewing tutorials are as detailed as possible with clear descriptions and lots of photos. 

Happy Sewing!