My own version of a pillow pet! - another mid-week upcycle.

Do your kids have Pillow Pets?

My girls got some for their birthdays this year from friends. My eldest got two, but my youngest only got one.

My youngest had asked me to make her one, and this week I finally got a round tuit! It didn't cost me anything - as it was another upcycle using what I already had!

We had this lion 'rug' that was bought years ago when my husband and I went to a fancy dress party. This was part of my husbands costume (he went as a caveman!). Since then, the lion has been a rug when our girls were babies, and then has just been tucked in with the pile of teddies and cuddly toys ever since!

So - this lion rug - together with an old pillow is what I used to make my daughter her new pillow pet!

I used her current unicorn pillow pet as a guide as to how to make it!

I cut...

And pinned..

Thet put the old pillow inside and stitched it all together to make...

He's definitely the old man of the pack now..

A little older and less 'puffy' !

But I'm sure he'll be a wonderful pillow..

And very well loved!

Kids dress to apron - midweek upcycle

This has to be one of the easiest clothes upcycles I've ever done!

I just took an old dress of my girls that had ties at the side.

I cut off the top part above the waist strap, down the sides just past the straps, and across the bottom to shorten it.

Then I double turned and stitched the sides and bottom where I'd cut:

And then pegged it on the line in the sunshine to take some pictures!

I cut the apron quite small as that's all I want, but you could leave more of the fabric to cut a larger size, add a ruffle, a pocket or whatever!

I just wanted a simple, small, basic apron for wiping my hands on when baking!

And the rest of the dress can be added to my stash for another project in the future!

Simple and practical! Just perfect!

Cascading ruffles - midweek upcycle

This week I wanted to do something with this cute skirt which has been worn and worn by both of my daughters - a favourite with them both. Unfortunately it's a little worse for wear..

First I cut off the ripped part of the skirt.

And found some old t-shirt and tops that were also in my upcycling pile.

The bottom of the large t-shirt was around the right size to add to the bottom of the original skirt - using the bottom of the t-shirt as a ready made hem.

Then I followed a tutorial for cascading ruffles. Using the pattern template provided to cut ruffles from the remaining t-shirt material:

Then I attached the ruffles to the new base of the skirt as per the tutorial.

Then attached the new base of the skirt to the top part, replaced the elastic and voila..

A new cascading ruffle skirt!

I really like the look of the ruffles, but I think perhaps I added too many! It looks good, but they add a little too much weight to the skirt!

I love being able to test out new things with old clothes.  I really want to do more with these cascading ruffles - perhaps with some lighter fabric - and maybe something for me?

Have you tried cascading ruffles yet?