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bee’s knees denim knee patch

denim flower patch applique

A few weeks ago, my daughter fell and skinned her knee. Her knee healed fine, but her pants not so much. We love these jeans. They fit her really well, which is rare. She asked me to fix them, so I put them in the pile for the craft retreat. I was planning a boring patch, but the collection of creative minds turned it into something special and cute.

me: I’m just going to do a patch with some denim and heat-n-bond.
crafty friend #1: Why not cut some cute shapes with the BIGkick?
me: Hmm… that would be cool.
crafty friend #2: Are you going to stitch around the edges?
me: I don’t think so. How would I get it under the presser foot?
crafty friend #3: Open up the side seam and it will fit easily over your sewing arm. Then re-stitch and re-serge the seam.
me: Y’all are brilliant!

refashion: Mended clothes don’t have to look boring. This patch turned out most excellent! I’ll definitely be saving my denim scraps for future repairs.

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holiday gift idea: sweater sleeve socks

sweater sleeve socks

Ever since I started knitting socks, I’ve wanted to knit a pair for everyone in my family. There’s something about giving a gift of warmth, especially when it’s handmade, that I really like. I just don’t have time to make it happen, so I started to think of alternatives.

One day I was looking through Linen, Wool, Cotton and saw a pattern for socks using angora wool and I got an idea. I’ve got plenty of wool sweaters in my stash. Why not make a pair of socks out of that?

These are basically a tube with one rounded end. I didn’t felt the wool, but used my serger to enclose the raw edges. The cuff has a casing for elastic to help them stay up. The button is just for decoration.

I see more of these in my future. I’ll be looking for superwash or wool blend sweaters so they can be machine washed. I’m also thinking about stripes, fair isle and cables. The possibilities are endless!

alternatives: If you don’t have a serger, you could felt the sweaters first so the edges don’t unravel or try the zig zag stitch on your machine. Felted socks may be too thick to wear with shoes, but would make great slipper socks for lounging around.

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personalized denim tote bags

small denim gift bag

Thanks to Sister Diane, I spent more time cleaning than crafting this weekend. She wrote a post about how we crafters just don’t seem to put things away and I looked around my room and thought, “Yep, that’s me!” I figured if I wasn’t brave enough to take a picture of my to-do piles then they needed to go.

I did get a little bit of sewing done, though. I was inspired by a denim tote my daughter received as a gift and decided to make a few for upcoming birthdays. I found this denim in my stash and it was already hemmed at the top (yes!) so all I had to do was serge the sides and make some handles. I used Heat n Bond Ultra Hold for the initials. I made a total of three small and one big, which I think is destined to become a project tote for myself.

font: I used the House Industries Haulnhouse font for the initial caps. You can find a similar, free download of the “Austin Powers” font from about.com. By the way, House Industries occasionally gives away free fonts. You should check them out because they are all pretty awesome.

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reusable fabric snack bags

fabric snack bag amy karol angry chicken

Ever since Amy posted a tutorial for fabric snack bags on her blog, I’ve been itching to make some. I took the photo after three were finished because I was losing daylight, but I made a total of nine. I easily got three bags out of a each fat quarter of fabric. Serging made this a super fast project, but I don’t think it would take too long with a sewing machine and some pinking shears.

reuse: I’m slowly reducing the plastic bag consumption in our household. The fabric is left over from the toy storage bags I made a few years ago.

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wardrobe refashion: re-sized pajama pants

wardrobe refashion: resized pajama pants

Just quickie refashion today: some Eddie Bauer flannel pajama pants. Are you already bored with pants? I’ve only got a few left, don’t worry. I did do something fun with these, though.

wardrobe refashion: resized pajama pants

I fell in love with the super soft flannel and didn’t realize until I got home that they were a size petite. I figured because they were lightweight that I could do capri-style jammies and they’d be good until the temps got really cold.

To keep them as long as possible, I serged the bottoms and turned the hem under just 1/2 inch. I used a little lacy seam binding to hide the serged edge. I totally cheated and sewed the lace on while hemming them.

thrifted: Another 99 cent sale transformation using Butterick 5044.

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wardrobe refashion: re-sized capri pants

wardrobe refashion: resized capri pants

The summer of skirts has been a success. I’ve been wearing my red, white, linen and denim skirts regularly all season. But ever since I found that perfect pattern for lounge pants, I’ve been thinking about capris. How easy would it be to refashion a pair of existing pants?

I found a couple pairs at the last 99 cent sale (hey, I told you I had good luck that day!) and decided give it a try. Here’s how I did it:

  • Wash and dried them on hot to preshrink.
  • Removed the elastic waistband with a seam ripper.
  • Cut the inner leg seams open. My pattern is only one piece, so I left the outer leg seams intact.
  • Pressed the pants pieces with an iron and laid my pattern on top. I had to fudge a little, but they were pretty close.
  • There was a lot of waist fabric that had to be removed and the new waist ran right over the pockets. I sewed them shut and cut them out.
  • Traced the pattern and sewed the pants back together.
  • Cut off the ugly fringe cuff and added a fabric trim.

The whole process was fast and easy. Most of my shirts come down past the waistband, so they actually look pretty good. I’m sorry I forgot to take a before picture. I had a few free hours for this project and just dove in!

refashion: This pants thing is really increasing my options for clothes. After a few more tries, I might tackle a fitted waist!

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super cute (and quick) wine bottle gift bag

wine bag

I love when I can make something totally out of recycled and thrifted materials. I whipped up this wine bag one afternoon—the serger makes some projects so darn fast! Free fabric from way back. (Don’t you love the little bird houses?) Thrifted yarn from the big spool of wool. Gift tag made from upcycled thank you note. Personally, I think it’s much cuter than anything you could buy at Hallmark, but that’s just me.

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wardrobe refashion: another t-shirt

I have not abandoned my dream of many refashioned t-shirts. On a recent 99 cent thrifting spree I found my favorite style t-shirt in my size. Luckily the color didn’t look that great on me, so I took it apart to make a master pattern.

t-shirt pattern pieces

I’ll admit I was feeling a little over-confident when I tried this refashion. Here are a few things I need to pay attention to going forward.

  • Check the fabric! The original shirt is a 1×1 rib, the refashioned shirt is plain knit and has a lot less ease.
  • Make a paper pattern! No matter how hard you try, knit fabric is not easy to trace.
  • Err on the side of too big! Just a tiny bit extra seam allowance would have saved this project.

bmw corral shirt

Honestly, it turned out pretty darn good. I was most worried about the sleeves and shoulders and they are just fine. It’s the rest of the body that’s a little tight. Too bad I didn’t baste and try it on before serging the edges. Doh!

bmw corral shirt

stash: Sadly, I really did like this t-shirt. It’s from one of the worst Formula One races I ever attended. (The front reads “What Race?”) Ha! Guess it’s destined to be a tote bag now.

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upcycling in the kitchen

recycled towels

I’m finally getting around to some household stuff I’ve had in my to-do pile for awhile. Last year I made some rags out of an old bath towel, but I never finished the edges. They’d get frayed and messy in the wash and every few months I’d trim off the scraggly bits. Yesterday I finally switched my serger over to 2-thread overlock and cleaned up those edges. I also went ahead and cut up and finished another towel. This stash of rags should last awhile!

I also tried to make some tea towels out of a thrifted linen dress. The blend has too much nylon though, and they aren’t very absorbent. My husband suggested that they’d make great napkins. I’m so excited that he’s open to the idea of cloth napkins, because they are on my to-do list, as well. This project gave me a lot of practice with rolled hems. Oh, how I love my serger!

I hope to have some more household stuff to post soon, including curtains for my office!

reuse: Towel came from my linen closet, dress from 99 cent sale.

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my creative space

I’ve got some tough decisions in my creative space today. I was given this beautiful hand-knit sweater from my friend Tana. It’s big. Really big. Too big to be refashioned with my ’80s sweater tutorial. She was thinking I could use it to make a felted tote bag. I can’t bear felting it. The stitch work is so beautiful.

recycled wool sweater

This is what I’m thinking: take apart the seams and make smaller bags out of the front and back each. I would serge the edges to keep them from unraveling. I really like the colorway of the yarn, which is Cascade 220. I think I might unravel the sleeves and use the wool for some granny square scarves.

What do you think? What would you do with it?