Clothes Upcycling May 1st

 Here's my challenge: 

During May I will work my way through the pile of clothes that I have been saving to upcycle in some way, shape or fashion.  The pile has become too big, and something needs to be done!  So each day I will post on my progress!

I will also be featuring those who have linked up to my clothes upcycling page with their fantastic ideas and tutorials. The linky is open long term, so feel free to add all your clothes upcycling projects and build this great resource some more!

So here's what I'm starting with:

A ridiculous amount of old clothes to have saved, don't you think?

Some are kids clothes which my daughters (or I) loved and can't bear to give away. 

Like this Hello Kitty Dress...

 Some have marks or stains, some are ripped, and some are just too small, like this cute top that hasn't fit either of my daughters for about 4 years now!!

There are some adult clothes too - some that no longer fit, are a style I wouldn't wear now, some are marked, or made of fabric I can't bear to part with.  So many different reasons to hoard these clothes!!

I have ties,

shorts, dresses, trousers, t-shirts - you name it, I've got it!

I even have an old ripped sarong from a friend who handed it to me saying "the material is too nice to throw away, I thought you could make something with it instead"! 

Plus lots of kids jewellery that my daughters have discarded, that I've kept thinking I could use them somehow....do they count as clothes??

I know,I'm a hopeless case!

And so the pile grows!!

So, time to get started!

As with any large task or goal, planning is important.  I learnt some years ago about making SMART goals.  This means your goals should be:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time bound

So , for the purposes of this challenge to myself, this is how it will work:

Specific : I will completely work through my entire pile of clothes saved to upcycle

Measureable: The pile of clothes to recycle or upcycle at the end of the month will be non-existent!

Attainable:  I will start by sorting out a bag of clothes to donate to the charity shop, leaving a manageable pile to work through in May

Realistic:  I sew every day anyway, some projects will be very small, others big - I know when I manage my time, a lot is possible - I just need to focus!

Time Bound : All this by the end of May!

Phew!

The first thing I really need to do is sort them into a pile to donate to the charity shop - I can't possibly get through all these clothes - and some have been there so long that the emotional attachment has now faded!

I shall do that now, then continue with this post! There's no time like the present!

Just talk amongst yourselves while I do this....

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Done!

Ok, I'm back!

Here's the box of clothes I've narrowed it down to:

It boils down to roughly one item of clothing per day throughout May! Quite a challenge! 

So, I'd better get started!

First day, first item! 

A t-shirt that fits neither daughter anymore (they are now aged 8 and 6!)

So, I turned it inside out, cut off the sleeves and a section at the bottom and stitched the side and bottom holes up:

Boxed the corners out of the central 'bag' piece to flatten the base of the bag:

Then using the strips I cut off the base of the t-shirt (I cut the side seams off) so now had 2 pieces - one from the front, one from the back.

Then turning the raw edge in, stitched them into 2 straps:

And attached them to the 'neck' which is now the top opening of..

A cute little bag:

To keep their little ponies in!

Not bad for project number 1, which took about 15mins all up!

And so ends day 1 of my great upcycling month!

Please come back tomorrow, and do feel free to join in!

And do leave me a comment - What do you think of my challenge? Do you have a stash of clothes to upcycle?  Any suggestions? links?  enouragement? I'll make sure and visit you back too! One good turn deserves another!