Creating my way to Success

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!

How to make your own Yoga Mat Bag

This bag came about because I was looking to upcycle a few old sports tank tops that were too stretched to wear but I really liked the words and quotes on the front.

Thinking of sporty things to make, I started with a sports duffel bag with the first top:

Then I decided to make something new with the second one. My eldest daughter has recently started doing yoga and got her own mat for her birthday a few months ago. So a bag to carry her mat it and keep it clean seemed like a good idea!

I just made a simple drawstring bag with a carry handle and add the quote from one of my old tank tops to the main part of the bag.

Here's how you can make your own yoga mat bag!

You will need some fabric, and cord and a toggle for the drawstring.

For the bag cut:

a rectangle of fabric 80 x 52 cm (31.5 x 20.5")

a circle 17 cm (6.75") diameter

( you can download the free circle template here)

for the strap 104 x 14 cm (41 x 5.5")

I also cut the slogan from the front of my old tank top to attach to the bag too.

you also need, cord 66 cm (26'") and a toggle

If you have a logo or picture you want to add to the bag - do this first.

I used fusible webbing to iron my tank top part onto the main bag part and applique stitched around the edge to secure.

To make the strap.

First fold one short end of your strap over and iron.

Then, take your long piece of fabric and iron in half length-ways.

Then open out and fold both edges in towards the crease and iron again.

Then finally fold the whole strap in half and iron again.

All your raw edges will now be enclosed except for one end of the strap.

Top stitch along both sides of your strap.

Your strap is now finished.

To make the bag.

Fold your main rectangle in half length-ways, Pin then stitch the edges together.

To prevent the seams from fraying, as this bag is not lined, finish off the seams using either an overlocker (serger) if you're lucky enough to have one; or just use a zig zag stitch or pinking shears.

Now turn your bag right sides out and pin then stitch your strap along the seam, with the raw edge in line with the bottom,

And the finished end about 14 cm (5.5") down from the top end of the bag. Secure this end with a square and cross in the middle like this.

Now turn your bag back inside out and pin, then stitch your circle of fabric to the base of the bag, right sides of the fabric facing.

And once again finish the seam edges off with an overlocker (serger) , zig zag stitch or pinking shears.

Finishing the top of the bag

Using a seam ripper - open up a small gap in your seam about 2.5 cm (1") down from the top. This is to feed your drawstring through. Run a couple of stitches either side of where you have opened the seam to prevent the stitches from unravelling further.

To finish the top opening of your bag, first fold the top edge down about 1 cm (0.5") and stitch.

Then fold the end over again to form the casing for your drawstring. Make sure that the gap you just opened up in your seam is above your line of stitching.

Stitch all the way around.

Now take a large safety pin and use that to thread your drawstring cord though the casing.

Take the two ends of your cord and thread them through your toggle and tie securely. If you like you can use a small scrap of your fabric to enclose your knot. This makes it look prettier and also stops the knot from coming undone!