Turtle Softie from Jeans and Skirt

I've got a bit of a turtle thing going on just now - with last week's Turtle Tote and my recent Jeans Pocket Turtle. I also volunteer at a local turtle rehabilitation centre where I help feed and look after sick turtles.

But back to my own made stuffed turtle!

I found the pattern through Pinterest several weeks ago and printed out the template pattern to try out. The tutorial and template download can be found here at Cup of Threads.

The shell I cut from the skirt, drew on the hexagon pattern using a cardboard template and pencil, then stitched over the lines.

Then I cut the head, arms and legs from the green jeans, and sewed and stuffed it all together.  I think he turned out really cute!

Hopefully another hot sale item for the school stall!

As always, I have a pile of left over fabric, zips, buttons etc - which will also be upcycled into things for the stall!

To see what else I've made for this year's school carnival from old clothes - go here. I'm using all old clothes from last year's carnival clothes stall, to show we can 'use what we've got' to raise funds for the school!

For lots of ideas of things you can make from old clothes - or just plain fabric, why not check out my free sewing tutorials. There are over 100 tutorials there now to make all kinds of things for all levels of sewing ability.

Over 100 Free Sewing Tutorials

Jill

Turtle Tote from Jeans

This is my latest clothes upcycle for the school carnival stall later this year.

I had a pair of jeans,

and a skirt that suggested the sea and turtle colours to me..

I wanted to make a bag that was a bit different. So I used my Waistband Tote tutorial and some fusible webbing to create a picture on one side of the bag of some seaweed and rocks.  I then made a small stuffed turtle and hand stitched it in amongst the underwater background scene.

The bag is lined with the skirt lining, and the jeans back pockets added  too.

I'm pleased with the overall result.

 I like to be able to use the jeans in a way that utilises their original structure - like the waistband and the back pockets here.

Hopefully this bag will be snapped up from the school stall!

As usual I have saved the scraps - fabric, zips, labels and seams; for more upcycles.

The idea is to let nothing go to waste! 

To see what else I've made so far from old clothes for the school carnival, go here.

And for lots more sewing projects - take a look at 

My Free Tutorials Page 

where there are over 100 free tutorials for all levels of sewing ability.

Flying squirrels from trackpants - a clothes upcycle

Another clothes upcycle for the school carnival - this time a couple of flying squirrels made from a pair of old track pants and using this great free pattern and tutorial.

The track pants were a dark grey fleece pair, with a cute pocket on the back. I didn't end up using the pocket on this project but have saved it to use in the future!

The squirrels were super easy to make thanks to a great tutorial and pattern by Abby Glassenberg guest posting for Wild Olive. 

I think it's simple enough for kids to make, and I'm sure my girls will want to have a go at making their own squirrels!

The squirrels turned out very cute don't you think?

And all that's left over is this: elastic, the label, that cute pocket of course and a little more of the fleecy fabric. Definitely plenty to use in future creations.

To see what else I've made from clothes so far for this year's school carnival, go here.

And for heaps more clothes upcycling ideas, you can visit the ongoing linky which now has over 600 projects linked up.

600+ Clothes Upcycling Projects.

  Or check out my round ups of what to make from clothes item by item here.

Clothes upcycling item by item.

Jill

Shorts and Skirt upcycled to Pencil Case and Zipped Triangle Keychain pouch

Here is this week's clothes upcycle for my 2015 challenge to upcycle a pile of clothes into things to sell for the school carnival.

I had a pair of shorts and a skirt to work with today.

First step was to deconstruct the jean shorts and cut the pieces for the pencil case. I added my own long zip for this, and the fusible webbing to make the applique lettering and pawprint.

Then I made the pencil case using my own tutorial for

 funky pencil cases.

I then used the small zip from the jeans shorts, and most of the remaining fabric scraps for the triangle pouch, and added a keyring from my stash. I followed my own tutorial for this one too. 

I'm really pleased with how these turned out.

And as usual I have a few pieces left over - buttons, elastic, pockets, a waistband and seams. I have a growing collection of pieces like this so will have to start finding more projects to use them up soon!

To see what else I've made so far for the school carnival from old clothes, go here.

And for over 100 free sewing tutorials for all sewing abilities, please visit my tutorials page.

Jill