Shrink a Wool Sweater, Make a Bag

 Hello Readers. This cold frigid weather might make you grab a wool sweater. It will keep you warm but if you wash it, it will shrink. Don't throw it away! You can still use that felted wool to make a cool bag. 

Before and after. 

This wool jacket style sweater was 100% wool. It was nice and warm. It was also itchy and unlined.

I put my sweater in my washer. On purpose! I wanted to make a bag from shrunken/felted wool so I washed mine in hot water to shrink it. Some people shop the thrift stores to find wool sweaters to make bags and such. Once the wool shrinks, you can cut the material and make projects from it and like felt, it won't fray.

I dried it in the dryer at the hottest setting. This will help shrink the wool and dry it so I can start my project. 

 

I started cutting my sweater into pieces. 

 

I cut 2 8"x8" squares for the front and back of my bag. I also cut 3 4"x8" rectangles for the sides and bottom. I made sure to have the hem at the top edge of my front, back, an side pieces. This will make the top of my new bag nicely finished. (You can make your bag any size you want. This was a big as I could make my bag with this sweater once it shrunk in the wash.

 

I started connecting the pieces of my bag. I used my serger but a zigzag stitch on a regular sewing machine would work great too. 

 

I sewed the front, back, and sides together. Next, I sewed the bottom onto my bag.

 

I wanted to attach these black handles (Similar here). I used a chalk pencil to mark the center of the handle ends. I need to know where the handle will sit on the bag.

 

I made 2 small cuts. One on each side of the chalk mark. It's OK to cut the material, it won't fray.

 

I slid the ends of the handles through the openings to hold the bag. 

 

My bag was done and I loved how it turned out. The stripes are so fun. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skirt to Vest

 Hello Readers. I hope you are warm and cozy in this winter weather. It is super cold and snowy and icy in my area of the world. I am tucked in at home warm, cozy and of course, sewing. I liked the fabric of this skirt but I didn't love it as a skirt. I thought I would like it more as a vest. I was really curious if I could get a vest out of this skirt so I decided to try it.

  

Before and after.

The colors and wild floral pattern of this skirt were great. But it felt too wild as a skirt.

 

I could make the front of the skirt into the back of my vest. I could use the 2 back pieces of the skirt as the 2 front pieces of my vest.
 

I cut the waistband of the skirt off. I didn't need that. 

 

This is the front of my vest. I made the arm holes a bit bigger but this was the basic shape. 

 

This is the back of my vest. 

 

I sewed the vest together and decided to use this bias tape on the edges. Then I ran out. 

 

I used this navy blue on the arm holes.

 

 My vest went together easily. I like the bright colors but it feels like it would be better for spring because it is so cold right now. When I tried it on, I thought the shoulders were too wide. That was an easy fix. 

I turned the edge under and stitched it down. That hid the navy blue bias tape too.

 

It is so cold right now that I need to dress like this for now. Stay warm my friends! Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Since writing this post the wild fires in California have broken out and are  out of control at this point and very destructive and dangerous. Southern California and these areas in particular are in my prayers.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweatshirts to Dress

 Hello Readers. I wanted to make a dress out of sweatshirt material. I had these 2 sweatshirts in my refashion stash so I decided to use these sweatshirts together. I thought this would be a fun cozy dress.

Before and after. 

This sweatshirt had a cool lace up neckline. This would be a fun feature to a dress.

This men's sweatshirt would be great as a skirt.

I cut the sleeves. and waistband off. I wanted to get the front by itself so make the bodice of the dress.

I cut 2 pieces so I would have 2 layers for my front.

I made a front and back that I could put together.

I cut the sleeves and shoulders off the gray shirt. The body could be a great skirt. I attached it to the bodice.

I wanted to attach the gray sleeves to the bodice.

The dress was as cozy as I thought it would be. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

IKEA Throw Blanket

 Hello Readers. We were given some nice cozy throw blanket for Christmas. They are soft and lovely and they came from IKEA. This gray one is my youngest child's blanket. I thought it was pretty. I also thought it would make a great scarf. I am game to find fun fashion anywhere so let's try it.

 Before and after.

 

 

This gray one is my youngest child's blanket. I thought it was pretty.

 This is how he uses his blanket. It was perfect to tuck in a few small squish mellow friends.

 

It was soft and draped so nice, could it be a scarf? I think so. It was warm around my neck. The neutral color was nice too. I think it is a great scarf. Maybe IKEA should market them as scarves too. Thanks for reading along, now go find your fun fashion wherever you can. 

Shorten Coat Sleeves

 Hello Readers. Sometimes clothes don't fit perfectly. It is easy to shorten the sleeves of a jacket to fit you better. It only takes a few minutes and you don't need a sewing machine. You only need a needle and thread.

 

Before and after.

 

I liked everything about this trench coat. But the sleeves... The sleeves are several inches too long. The sleeves are going to make it hard to drive and I'm gonna wreck! I need to shorten them. I can do this without taking the whole jacket sleeve apart. 

 

 I tried on the jacket and turned the end of the sleeve in.

 

 I folded the sleeve in until it was the length I needed.  

I ironed the sleeve so I would have a crisp fold at the end of the sleeve. I turned the sleeves inside out. Ironing the sleeve made it stay in place well and I can see where my fold is. Now I need to sew it in place. 

I used a sewing needle to sew this by hand. I also use basic black all-purpose thread. I threaded the needle and tied a knot at the end of my piece of thread and I was ready.

I made sure my needle went through the lining (Only the lining.) of the sleeve and...

Then I made sure the needle went through the edge of the sleeve. I sewed all the way around the sleeve to secure the folded edge to the inside of the sleeve. It doesn't matter if this is messy sewing with some uneven stitches. No one will see the inside of the sleeve. 

It only took a few minutes to sew these stitches all the way around the sleeves. You can see my sewing is not anything fancy, that's OK. I just want to hold the sleeve tucked in the sleeves when I am wearing. 

My hand is out of the sleeve better now and it fits better. 

It's cold and windy where I live, I hope you can stay warm and cozy all winter.

Artistic Jeans

 Hello Readers. Do you like distressed denim? I love almost anything of  denim and jeans are my everyday uniform. But these are a little too distressed for me. Especially in winter. My legs would freeze in these. They were only 25 cents at one of my favorite thrift store! I brought them home and decided to patch all these holes.

 

Before and after.

 

 

The holes in these jeans were not going to work in the winter where I live. It is freezing outside. I would turn into an ice cube. 

I need some patches. I decided to use this fabric I had on hand. This fabric is cotton and has a nice weight to it, it's pretty thick. It is for home interior decorating projects. It will be a good match for the thicknes for these jeans. I could cut out some of the pictures and use them as patches.

I cut out the pictures with my rotary cutter. I cut the pictures out based on the size of the picture and the size of the holes in my jeans. I wanted the patches to be a bit larger than the holes.

I arranged the patches on top of the jeans to make sure the holes were fully covered. I arranged them carefully to make sure my plan would work.

 

I used this iron-on hem tape to hold the patches in place. Pins would also work but they always seem to shift around and stab me when I am sewing so this tape will be safer for me. 

I placed the tape under the patches. I put it around the edges and ironed the patches to the jeans following the directions on the package. 

I unbuttoned the jeans. This allowed me to get the jeans into position on the sewing machine. I used a zigzag stitch all around the patches. The stitching will hold much better than the iron-on tape alone over the long term. 

It took a while to get around all the patches and wiggle the jeans around my sewing machine but it worked out great.

My jeans were finished. The patches were all in place and all the holes were covered. My legs would be warm and covered all winter. 

I love the colorful and fun patches. This was such a fun way to "fix" the distressed spots on my jeans. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.