Category Archives: upcycle/refashion

matching pairs game from scraps

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memory game

 

If you follow me on facebook you’ll have seen that I was given a big pile of upholstery samples and was wondering what to make with them. This game is the perfect for using up smaller pieces of fabric and tiny scraps.

(apologies for the mobile picture!)

This is the first of two sets I’m making. This one is for my soon-to-be-two niece, the other’s for my boy.

009I found the idea on Pinterest a year ago! The link is for Purlbee here.

007Since the upholstery fabric won’t fray I could just sew a square around the two sides while wrong sides together.

009It was such a good way to use up some scraps I’ve had for ages from cute patterns and couldn’t bear to throw away! I’m not alone in this kind of hoarding am I?

006Can’t wait to play with my boy soon! (see I do make things for him too!)

chevron pieced cushion

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018While on Pinterest I saw a pieced chevron blanket which looked basically a square cut in half and pieced in a particular way. Much cheaper than buying expensive fabric, and it meant I could make mine as large as I wanted, and be as cheap as I wanted too ;)

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I used a tee and a jumper for the cushion front. Good for my pocket, the environment, plus it’s soft too!

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Then you end up with some pretty piles of triangles. I made a template from paper and pinned it each time to cut, normally cutting through both sides of the top at a time.

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Then I laid it out to check I’d worked out how to piece it right. (nice sigh of relief when I discovered I had!)

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You can see that it’s just two different coloured triangles to make squares and put together to make a large chevron pattern.

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Pin each two triangles together and sew down the longest edge.

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Repeat for the remaining triangles so you end up with squares.

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I kept putting mine back in the pattern as I was paranoid about ruining it!

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Iron the seam towards the side of your darkest colour. Please excuse my ironing board. I used it when I stamped some fabric. It’s now very unique!

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Repeat for the rest of your squares and lay them out in order again.

Then use this tutorial to piece together the cushion front, and this one to insert the zipper and finish the cover. Then you’re done!

chevron pieced cushion

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When I clicked on the link to the one I found it said the link could be harmful, so here’s a link to a similar tutorial.

Christmas pajamas (the easiest way!)

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I had this idea to make our family pajamas for Christmas. So that we could have new pajamas for the morning photos and I thought it would be a great first clothing project.

pj tutorial

I looked at a few tutorials over the last couple of years. But when it came to it I just worked out what would be the easiest way. In fact, if you’re upcycling like I did you can even avoid hemming!

I used a duvet cover which had an opening at the bottom without buttons or snaps so I laid my pattern (actually our existing pajamas) so that the opening was the bottom our the pieces.

This photo is from another pair I made for Izzy. Fold the fabric and place the straight edge along the fold. If you don’t have a duvet to upcycle just cut around the edge leaving half an inch around the edge, nothing on the top and about 1 and half inches on the bottom.

Use this as a pattern for the other leg and cut two.

If you’ve used the bottom of something else for your hem you can do a nice smug face now :)

Place the two pieces right sides together and sew down the sides.

Then fold in half and sew along the inside leg in an upside-down “v” shape.

If you’ve not done a cheaty upcycle then you’ll need to fold up twice and hem.

032I ended up doing two lines of stitching to make it look a little more pro – like the bottoms of the ones I’d upcycled.

attach the waistband

 

Pin the waistband to the pajamas next. Make your waistband by cutting a piece of elastic the same width as the persons waistband and sewing by overlapping the piece by about an inch and sewing in a square with a cross to secure it. Then pin the waistband on as above by dividing the the waistband into half and pinning to the corresponding halves on the pjs. Repeat until you have it into quarters or eighths.

As you sew you’ll need to work on pinned width at a time.

Hold the elastic behind your presser foot and stretch the elastic up to your next pin with your other hand so that the elastic is as wide as your fabric.

I don’t have any photos of this for obvious reasons! Take your time and use your longest zig zag stitch.

pajama tutorial 040 (2)

 

Fold your elastic in and then you’re done!

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Perfect for all matching on Christmas morning!

Boys jeans refashion

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So, this happened to Ethan’s jeans. 

I was literally in the process of binning them when I remembered I could sew, and that they still fit him on the waist. 





I used another pair of shorts as a guide for length then cut and pinned and sewed.


Now he has a new pair of shorts.


After these photos I decided to bribe him:



(finally!)

Hooray for sewing to save me some money on shorts. 

Though I guess it’s evened out unfortunately, because I was shopping with my sisters and the kids last week and looking at shoes. All the sudden I noticed a horrible smell. And of course my first reaction was “someone with really smelly feet has tried on these shoes!”, but then I saw Ethan out of the corner of my eye.

Covered in sick.

(no photo, you’re welcome)

SO my sister ran into the next door shop and bought him a new outfit while I tried my best to clean a gallon of kid sick off my poorly boy and his pushchair. 

Glamorous? Absolutely!

Don’t worry, once we made our way home (with all the windows open, but man did it still stink!) and he was cleaned up he looked more like this…

Yep, I’m pretty sure he’s gonna be an architect.

No cost wedding hamper (and how to)

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My little brother got married last weekend, and in accordance with no spend summer, I tried to come up with wedding gifts using things we already had.

I actually ended up with quite a haul, want to see?


There’s a framed quote I love using a frame from my stash, some simple thank you cards, a card made in this style, a love story cushion, (tutorials in the links too), some salt and pepper shakers and a Nigella measuring jug (bought at the beginning of the year for £1 and £5? for this sort of occasion) and a chalkboard.


I actually ran out of time while doing these gifts as I also had a photo wall to do, so my wonderful husband made this for me. It’s simply a piece of scrap wood cut down and painted with chalkboard paint.

After it dried I just cut a heart out of foam board, painted it a light blue and hot glued it on.


They’re renters, so something that just leans up on the wall or can be simply hung is ideal.


The cards are some small  envelopes I bought a while back and card folded and stamped. There’s actually a heart punched out above the words but it was hard to photograph, and in true “me” style I was taking these photos right before wrapping the presents on the morning of the wedding aka stressful times. 


Their wedding card is their new couple name and their wedding date is even hidden on the bottom line (thanks to a buyer from my Etsy shop for putting her head together with me and coming up with that idea!).


I’m thinking that I like this hamper better than any wedding gift I’ve ever bought before!
Have you done a wedding gift that cost you nothing? What did you make?

P.s. you can check out the other no spend summer projects below: