T-shirt Upcyle

A friend of mine from our playgroup gave me a box full of plain colored knit tees 

to upcycle into something amazing. I was so excited! 

There were a few plain white tees in there that looked a little 'dingy'

(we all know we have them...the white tee that turned off-white

from spit up stains or has arm pit stains from chasing around

our kids in the backyard...ya I'm sure you have them too!)

I almost threw them out when I realized I could make a scarf out of them,

and then dye it an amazing color!

 
I took two old white tees that were about the same size. I cut off the bottom portion

(from the arm pit down). I cut along one side seam on each shirt and then sewed

the to shirts together-length wise to make one long piece of fabric.

Next I filled a pot with teal Rit Dye and placed the whole scarf in the pot.

After about 5 minutes I took out one end the scarf and continued taking more the scarf

out every 5 minutes until the whole scarf was out of the water. This caused a gradual difference in

color from dark teal to light teal! I like how it turned out, a cheap and easy way to dress up an outfit!

(You can't really tell the difference in color in this pic. The more it dried, the lighter the colors got...)

I also cut and knotted the ends to add some flare :-)

You could easily make an infenity scarf by just cutting off the bottom of a tee and 

dying it. No sewing needed!! I'm going to try that next....

Are your tee's too small?

I'll admit it, some of my 'pre baby' tees are just a bit too snug now. Some were pretty cute (and expensive) so I really didn't want to throw them out...or give them to my little sister (sorry Hannah!). Then I came across a post, on CrafterHours, where a blogger cut the sides off her tee and added coordinating fabric. GENIUS! I tried it on one of my shirts and I'm pretty happy with the results! I do wish I would have picked out a little more subtle fabric, but oh well. Lesson learned ;-)

And now the tee is a bit loose and fits me much better! Score!

Ruffle Sandal Tutorial

While shopping at Kohl's the other day I ran across these Vera Wang sandals-and instantly fell in love with the ruffles. G was being a crab pants (hello nap time!) so I headed for the check out without giving them another glance.

Then today I was in the mood to craft, but do something simple and the Vera Wang sandals

came to mind. I immediately started this project....

What you need:

*Scrap tulle, jersey knit and felt (or any fabrics-I just chose ones that didn't fray)

*Hot glue gun

*Paint (optional)

*Old, worn down sandals

I bought these sandals last year and wore.them.out. I was about to throw them out when I had an idea-I'll upcycle them!

First-I traced around the top of the strap of the sandal with felt. I chose n

ot to cover the sides of the straps, but that is up to you. Then, I cut out the felt.

Second-I painted the straps that wouldn't be covered in fabric. I have no idea how well the paint will hold up, I'll keep you guys updated. I just used a wall paint I had in

the basement.

Third-While the straps dried I cut two piece of black tulle (15"x3" each) and two pieces of black jersey knit (15"x3" each). I sewed the tulle on top of the black jersey knit, making it ruffle as I went, simply by bunching up the fabric together under my foot on my sewing machine. This was the easy way out-but it turned out great! (Do this twice, one for each sandal)

Fourth-Now take the felt and sew the ruffle piece onto the felt.

Fifth-Make sure your paint is dry! Once it's dry cover the top of your sandal strap in hot glue and place the felt onto the hot glue.

Sixth-Go get a pedicure! Atleast I know after seeing these pictures, I need one!

Now model your shoes for everyone you know and redo every ugly, worn out sandal your family owns-you know you want to!! :-)

(Side note...this is one of my first tutorials so bare with me. If it's confusing please feel free to let me know, and I'll clarify!)