Repurposing Fabric; Clothes to Bedding

 Hello Readers. Sometimes we get stuck on what things are supposed to be and we miss what they could be. I needed and wanted some new bedding but what I had was clothing. I never would have thought to use the clothes to make bedding until I noticed the colors matched so well. But fabric is fabric so, let's repurpose a few items of clothing to make some fun bedding.

Before and after some easy sewing.

I found this duvet cover at a swap and loved the colors and the fun stripes. I really didn't have any pillow cases to go with it. I thought I would work on that later.

 

I didn't have any fabric in my stash to match the duvet but I saw this dress on my clothes rack. The colors seemed perfect. I liked the mix of patterns a lot too. I could mix several patterns and get a fun, eclectic bed. The clothing items were all different so let's look at each one at a time. First, this dress.

 

I put the dress on the floor and saw immediately that the skirt was large enough to make a pillowcase. I used and old pillow case as a pattern. The hem of the dress could be the open end of the pillowcase. I cut around the pillow case with my sharpest scissors and left about 1/4 inch of each side as a seam allowance. That way I would have room for my new seams. 

The pillowcase is just a rectangle with an open end to put the pillow in and out. 

 

  I needed to sew it together with the right sides facing each other. That hemmed edge from the dress will be the open end of my new pillowcase and it is already hemmed for me.

 

These clothing items are all cotton and linen so they will make comfortable bedding. Some dresses have a lining. This dress had a nylon lining that I did not sew in my pillowcase. I threw it away after I cut my rectangle. I do not know of a use for the nylon. It doesn't breathe and it wouldn't make a nice pillow.

 

Let's look at the second dress. This dress had the color scheme I wanted so I took it out and spread it on the floor for cutting too. It had a pleated skirt. I needed to remove the skirt from the dress to lay it out flat for cutting. 

 

 I used the same pillowcase as a pattern for my cutting. The skirt was not long enough to cut the pillowcase vertically from the skirt. I had to cut it horizontally from the skirt. That is not a problem, it is just going to be a little different to sew together.

 

   I sewed it together with the right sides facing each other and left one short end open for the pillow. 

 

  I had to hem that open side to finish the pillowcase. That was not difficult.

 

 I turned the edge under and stitch it down. I turned the fabric in twice and stitched it down all the way around the opening of the pillowcase.

 

 The other 2 clothing items were shirts. They were both medical scrub style shirts and I cut them both the same way. I cut across the body of the shirt horizontally and used the body of the shirt as my pillowcase. The V-neck and shoulders were not a good fit to use for my pillows.  

 

The shirt was not wide enough for the length of my pillowcase so I needed to add a bit of fabric to the end. That gives me the chance to add another pattern of fabric. I liked that. 

 

I compared the new pillowcase fabric I had cut to the old pillowcase I was using as a pattern so I could see how much fabric I needed to add to get the right size pillowcase. I measured with my sewing gauge. I needed about 3 inches of extra fabric to add enough length to my pillowcase. I went digging in my fabric stash. 

 

I found another floral that I thought would complement the other fabrics I was using. 

 

I cut strips of fabric to add to the ends of the pillowcases that I cut out from the shirts. 

 

To save time I folded the pink fabric so that I wouldn't have to hem the end of the pillowcase. The folded piece is about 3 inches wide, so about 6 inches wide when unfolded. I wanted to use fabric that I had on hand so I didn't worry about being exact with the measurements too much. I clipped the added fabric to the right side of the pillow fabric. 

I sewed the cut edges of the light pink fabric to the edge of the pillow case. 

When the light pink fabric I added is flipped up it has a nicely finished seam and I can sew the 2 sides of the whole pillowcase together with the right sides facing each other. All the edges will be finished and sewn together. 

The second shirt was cut and sewn in the same way. I liked how the added pink fabric looked and it gave me the extra length I needed. 

Here are all my finished pillowcases. It is a fun mix of fabrics. 

Then I made the bed. The pillowcases fit well. Using a pillowcase as a pattern was a good way to make sure the new pillowcases turned out to be the right size. 

Pillow fabric close-up!

Thanks for reading along with my fabric repurposing project and sweet dreams to you. 

***Year End Update***- I still need to sleep and I still like cute bedding. These have been use a bunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Shamrock Wrap Shirt

 Hello Readers. St. Patrick's Day is coming and I am mostly Irish so want to be ready. I came across some shamrock fabric at the thrift store and I knew it would be perfect for a this time of year. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I have made one of these wrap shirts before. At it's simplest a wrap shirt is just a square with a head hole in the middle. 

For this wrap shirt I made larger sleeves that will be wider and more full. That is why the sleeves are wider than the waist here. 

Here is a better look at the shape of the shirt. That is the head hole in the middle.

I think the best way to cut the shirt is to fold it in fourths so that all the sides can be symmetrical. 

I used bias tape to finish the edges of the sleeves. I sewed the bias tape to the right side of the fabric. 

Then I turned the bias tape under and stitched it again. This hid the cut edge and made it easy to finish the curves of the sleeves. I also used this bias tape on the waist of the front of the shirt. 

 

The front of the shirt wraps around to the back of the body and you can see the bias tape tied there.
 

I cut narrow strips of the fabric to make a waistband for the back of the shirt. I sewed them together and made a long narrow strip of fabric. 

 

I sewed the waist tie to the waist of the shirt and left long ends that I could tie to keep the shirt closed.

 

You can see the long ties hanging from the waist here. 

 

The ties make a cute bow in the front of the shirt and the wide sleeves are so fun. It could be worn with the big bow in back too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

 

 Erin go braugh!

***Year End Update***- I love a shirt with a holiday theme and this one is perfect for St. Patrick's Day. It will come back in March.
 

 
 

 

 

A Buttondown Shirt Refashion

 Hello Readers. St. Patrick's Day is coming soon. I hope you have some green to wear. It's good luck! I wanted this button down to be short sleeves so I got to work. 

Before and after.

This green plaid shirt was fine but I had an idea. 

I cut the sides of the shirt and that also removed the sleeves. 

I made new arm holes. 

I also cut it shorter and hemmed it. I was in mood for a summer top. I thought this would be a great top for spring and summer.

Then I took one sleeve and cut it open so it would lay flat. Why? It is going in the front of the shirt.

I cut a section of the sleeve that was about 5 inches wide and I serged the edges. 

I sewed the piece of sleeve into the front of the shirt. It is attached between the sides of the shirt. 

I liked the green stripes going in a different direction. I had fun playing around with this and it will be great for warm weather.

 

  But I can also wear it under a sweater in cold weather too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something green for yourself. 

***Year End Update***- I loved this sweater and shirt combo but they both got a bit uncomfortable because I gained weight this year. It's OK. It happens.

Low-rise Pants to Cargo Skirt

 Hello Readers. Can pants become a skirt? Yes, let me show you how I did it. 

 

Before and after.

 

These are not flattering and the clasp in the front is broken. The fabric was very nice linen and I thought I could make a fun cargo style skirt.

I could connect the legs to make a skirt and use some of the extra fabric to add some large pockets. 

I needed to fix this part of the waistband. It looks like someone tried to fix this but it didn't work. 

I used a zigzag stitch to sew the 2 sides together. I sewed horizontally as well as vertically to make this really strong. 

I cut the legs open along the inside seams. 

I turned the pants inside-out and once the seams were cut open I pinned the seams together like this. I would sew this new seam together and I would have a skirt. For the back I pinned all the way up, including the waistband. That way it would remove the entire back seam.

You can see the new seams if you look closely. In the front the new seam goes up the the bottom of the zipper, We will need the zipper to get in and out.  I tried it on to check the fit and then cut all that excess fabric away. 

The waist was a bit big so I decided to cut the sides open at the side seam.

I pulled the back of the skirt over the front and clipped it in place. 

 

 I stitched that down using a zigzag stitch and the waist fit so much better. 

 

I cut 2 pockets from the hem of the pant legs to attach to the sides of the new skirt.

 

I folded the edges under and ironed the pocket into a square. 

 

I wanted a large pocket on each side of the skirt so I sewed them on. 

 

I shortened it and I love how fun and casual this turned out. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

 

***Year End Update***- I really liked the material this skirt was made of. It is really light weight so I haven't worn it since it got cooler.