Recycling t-shirts to a skater skirt

This tutorial was inspired by my husband having a wardrobe clearout, I always hover around to get first dibs scavenging buttons and any fabrics I can recycle ,so was really pleased when two t-shirts came my way. I really fancy having a jersey skater style skirt to go over leggings or to wear as is, for the 3 days of summer we have in the UK.
Here is what you will need:

A waist length of 2 inch deep elastic, whatever colour you choose as this will be your visible waistband
A couple of t-shirts to recycle of similar weight jerseys otherwise the skirt won't hang correctly, I used large men's , but whatever you have to hand that will yield enough fabric for your skirt fabric






First measure your waist size, we will call this measurement W and cut a piece of the two inch deep elastic to this size.
You will now need to measure from your waist to where on your leg you want the hem of the skirt to hit, we will call this measurement L
Grab your t-shirts and measure this length L from the hem up on your t-shirts as you will use this existing hem as the hem of your skirt and cut across your t-shirts you are using.


The number of t-shirts you require will depend on your measurement W, that you have , you want roughly 11/2W plus 1 inch for every panel you add in, I will explain this in a minute.

After cutting your t-shirts you will have jersey tubes, cut down the side seams of your t-shirts so you now have panels of jersey.You are going to place your panels of jersey together , use the formula above to give you the size of panels you will need, have them all of equal size, have some skinnier than others, the choice is yours , as long as the width of your panels all add up to the formula above, and they are all the same length.
Just a note I tried with a larger width of fabric and it was too hard gathering it all together, so I found the above formula worked better.
Line all your panels up, and pin together right side to right side, line them all up so that the hems are all even , as you want the hem to be even on your skirt.

You are now going to sew all your panels together to form a tube, I used a serger, but if you are using a sewing machine, you will need to use a ballpoint needle for jersey and sew with a 5/8" seam allowance, and zigzag the edge for a finished look.

You will now have a jersey tube, now you need to either serge or zigzag along the top edge of your jersey tube, opposite end to the hem.

Now we need to create the waistband, grab your length of 2 inch elastic and sew it together to form a loop, using a 3/8" seam allowance, making sure there are no twists, open out the seam allowance flat and sew down the seam allowance with a zigzag stitch as shown below, this is the inside of your waistband.



Now you need toile your waistband flat on the table, with your stitched end at one end, right side out and lie your jersey tube under it right side out , you are going to pin your tube at either end of the waistband with approx. 5/8"of the jersey fabric on the bottom inside of your waistband. Now find the centre points of both ends and pin again, pinning one layer of jersey every time, you will now have the skirt pinned to the waistband in 4 places.



Now pin your jersey to your skirt, halfway between these pins again and you will have 8 pins attaching your waistband to the skirt, check to make sure you have not pinned anything you shouldn't.
Now with your machine set on a straight stitch using your presser foot as a guide you are going to sew your waistband to your skirt, now go slowly.



Make sure that the stitching is catching the jersey at the back as well as the waistband , you may need to stretch the elastic waistband to the length of jersey between the pins, the easiest way to do this is if you are right handed, stretch the elastic gently with your right hand at the front and gently guide the elastic out the back pulling slightly with your left hand, sorry I couldn't get a picture of this, I had no free hands at this point.

Just take your time with this bit.

And here you have a jersey skater skirt




And here you have a little jersey skirt, my skirt is a little boring in the colours , I used what I had at the time, but you could use any combo of colours, create a patchwork design, use old band t-shirts, and make this skirt in any size, child or woman . If you make one of these skirts I would love to see it.
Until next time happy recycling

Recycling a denim shirt tutorial

Whilst having a wander around pinterest as you do I found this
and loved it so much I decided to give it a go myself so I have written a little tutorial of what I did to create the look.
As luck would have it a local charity shop was having an everything for a pound sale on Friday, and I found the perfect denim shirt for upcycling









Be careful as you are doing this, as you can see from the finished photo mine has puckered slightly along the bottom edge



And here is the finished article, you can make the cutouts as deep or shallow as you want, you could insert a lace panel, using your cutout piece as a template and cutting maybe 3/4" larger all around and tuck the raw edges under your folded raw edge to enclose your raw edge of your lace panel.

Just try it out and find what suits you, happy recycling

How to recycle a pillowcase in to a little girls skirt tutorial

This is a simple little sewing tutorial for making a little girl's skirt from a pillowcase, you know how I love a bargain and to recycle, well this is a combination of the two , suitable for a beginner sewer and upwards in 13 easy steps,the finished skirt would be suitable from approx. 0 to 6 years of age


You will need the following
A standard pillowcase 29 inches x 19 inches
A pair of scissors
Seam ripper
Thread to match your pillowcase
1 inch wide elastic, 1 inch longer than your child's waist measurement in my case I needed a 22 inch piece of elastic
The elastic, should preferably be non-roll elastic , but standard is fine if you don't have it.
A safety pin or bodkin to thread the elastic

So that you can turn this





Into this



Step One

Measure the child's waist and add 1 inch , this is the length of elastic you will need in my case age 4-5 years 21nches + 1nch so cut 22 inch piece of elastic.
Measure from the child's waist to where you want the hem of the skirt to hit, in my case 17 inches long , then add 2 inches to this so 17 inches +2 inches =19 inches long.

Step Two

Lay your pillowcase on a flat surface with the long edge placed horizontally right side out , sewn edge to your left and open end to your right, measure along the top and bottom ,your waist measurement of your child, in my case 21 inches from the sewn edge toward the open end ,and mark with chalk or dressmakers pencil, join the marks and cut along this line see below, do not throw the smaller piece of fabric away you could use this for a scrunchie or hair bow, or I do have another idea brewing but need to try it out first



Step Three

At this stage you will just have a shorter pillowcase, you will now need to get your seam ripper out and carefully open up the seams along both of the longer edges , you will then have one long piece of fabric in my case measuring 42 inches x 19 inches



Step Four

You will now need to serge along both of the long edges of the fabric, if you have one, if not set your sewing machine to a medium zig zag stitch and sew along both of the long edges of the fabric to prevent fraying, if you are zig-zagging remember to change your machine back to straight stitch after, I point this out as so many times I have forgotten and had just a tiny bit of a hissy fit .

Step Five

Fold over the fabric on both of these edges , 1/4 of an inch, folding in the fabric from the right side of the fabric to the wrong side and iron , this will give you a neat finish and will be easier to sew. Sew along both of the long edges with a straight stitch sewing 1/8 inch from your folded edge, to sew the hems you have just ironed down as shown below.



Step Five a

If you are not using a serger , and zig-zagging your hems, use a zig-zag stitch to zig-zag along both of the shorter ends to prevent fraying, if you are using a serger carry on to the next step

Step Six

Now we are going to create the waistband casing

You now have one long length of fabric with top and bottom neatly hemmed , now place your fabric , long ends lying horizontally and wrong side of the fabric facing upwards with what will be the top of your skirt at the top. For this check your pattern on your pillowcase , some it won't matter , but in my case I wanted to make sure Peppa Pig was the right way up and not hanging from the ceiling.

Mark a line with a dressmakers pencil or chalk 1 1/2" inches down from your top edge the long side of the fabric,you need to iron along this line to iron the right side of the fabric over to the wrong side as shown below

Step Seven

Now you need to place your short ends together, with right sides facing , pin together from the bottom hem upwards, now this is the really important bit, when you get to the waist band casing you have just ironed, open it up and pin, do not pin with it folded over or you will regret it, you will never be able to thread your elastic through.
Now serge or sew , which ever you are using,a 5/8" seam, sewing the two short ends together to form a tube.

Step Eight

Turn your tube so that the right sides are facing outwards and fold your waistband casing you have ironed inwards going with your ironing fold, now place a pin on the wrong side of the fabric 1/2 inch away from the seam you have just sewn on either side you will see from the photo what I mean, these will be your markers for stopping and starting sewing so as to allow space to insert your elastic.
Continue to pin your elastic casing down with your pins in opposite direction to the first two.





Step Nine

Now you need to sew the waistband casing down using a straight stitch, sew along your hemmed edge, 1/4 of an inch in from your hemmed edge starting from one of your pins placed either side of the seam , sew all the way around to the other and stop at your pin on the other side of the seam, this will leave you a 1 inch gap to insert your elastic.

Step Ten

Cut your elastic, 1 inch longer than the waist measurement you require , you will need 1 inch wide flat elastic, I used non-roll which is preferable but not essential, if you just have standard then use that but be careful it doesn't twist when you are threading it through.
To thread your elastic through the waistband casing I use a safety pin pinned in one end, and push this into the casing through the gap you have left, using your pin to drag the elastic through , right around to the other side. The fabric will bunch up that's fine, just make sure you don't let the elastic pull all through the casing, make sure you have a 2 inch tail still showing as you will need to sew both ends together.



Add caption

Step Eleven

Once you have threaded your elastic all the way around the waistband and you have two ends of elastic sticking out , safety pin them both together, so they don't disappear back inside your waistband never to be seen again. Now feel along the waistband to make sure your elastic is straight and has not twisted.
If it has, untwist it by working the twist along to the end of the elastic and unpinning the elastic ends and pin back together.
Now pull the elastic so you have about three inches of each end and overlap them by half an inch each so that they lay flat and the elastic remains untwisted





Step Twelve

Now sew a little square around the elastic where it overlaps using a small zig-zag stitch, you will need to use zig-zag to allow the elastic to stretch.
Pull the elastic back inside the skirt, you can do this by stretching the waistband and the elastic pops back in. Try the skirt if possible on the intended lucky little girl for fit, if it is a little loose you can cut a little off the elastic and re-sew it together. If it is a little tight you can cut the elastic and take it out and thread a longer piece through.

Step Thirteen

When you are sure the waist is the correct size, sew the inch gap closed on the waistband using a straight stitch



And your skirt is finished, 13 steps from pillowcase to skirt



I must apologise for the mysterious ghostly hand holding the levitating skirt, but my usual white screen is not available as we are currently building a Martisanne office/sewing room.
We tried it with my husband holding the hanger with his arm showing but they are large ,hairy and tattooed so did not really fit the look I was looking for with the little pink skirt or worse still you might think it was my arm !

Enjoy recycling your pillowcases you could make a whole wardrobe full for next to nothing, and they make great presents, until next time happy recycling !

Car boot Bargains 11/5/13 and Dolly Nappies the Recycled Way

Well this weekend has been a bit wet, so not so many people doing car boot sales this weekend, but managed to pick up a few bargains. There were some jeans for the kids for 50p each, books for the kids for 10p, I am all for them buying books. I managed to find two big bags of wool for £2.00 , which is perfect as I want to learn how to crochet, so that will get me started. I also found a "how to make clothes" book for me for 20p always handy for hints and tips, no matter how much sewing you have done.
But the star of the show for a grand total of One Shiny Pound is shown below
n


It is a dolls baby changing station and bath, you can even fill the bath with water and empty it like a paddling pool, you put the lid down and it is a baby changing station.
This inspired some more upcycling, as we discovered much to my daughter's abject horror, her babies have no nappies , and what good is that when you have a baby changing station.
So I made nappies for her babies, I used an old Terry towelling nappy I had, and got two nappies out of it, but you could use an old towel, or tea towel or even buy cheap flannels if you have nothing available, and you will also need a small amount of Velcro(hook and loop fastening) Here is how I did it.

1) First get your doll that requires the nappies and draw the shape of a nappy on paper to fit, add a 3/8" seam allowance all around , and cut it to check fit. Below is a picture of the finished flat nappy to give you an idea of shape.


2) Next use your paper cut out to cut a double layer of your fabric , you will need two pieces of fabric(one double layer per nappy) I placed the short end of the
pattern on a fold to be a bit lazy and cut out some sewing.

3) Place your fabric right sides together and sew all around with a 3/8" seam allowance leaving a 2-3" gap along the middle of the long side of your nappy for turning the right way around.

4) Turn right side out and with the raw edges turned inside sew along the long side of the nappy close the gap.

5) Now with the nappy flat , sew a longish strip of hook and loop along the top edge of the short edge of the nappy about 1/2 inch down from the edge , measurement is not critical.

6) Turn the nappy over and use the opposite piece of hook and loop and sew a small tab on each end of the long side of the nappy, hopefully this will make sense from the picture below if you imagine it opened out, and you have a dolly nappy






Until next time happy upcycling

Car Boot Sale Bargains 5th May 2013

I thought I would share a few of the car boot sale bargains that I have found this weekend, we have two large car boot sales close to us, since my husband was off Saturday and Sunday, we treated ourselves to two :
These are just a few of the bargains we found this weekend, first and most importantly my sewing bargains shown below.
A pair of monster curtains, as soon as I saw these I thought little tote bags , so that is what they are destined to be, you can see the finished article here
The trims were from a lovely lady who used to do a lot of upholstery work at one point and no longer had the room for them.


The trims have already been used here really pleased with how they turned out, makes me think "Moroccan" for some reason

Also really pleased with this little table, we have been after a little drinks table for the garden and this was perfect for £1.00



As the old saying goes "one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Another item I haven't photographed but that I was really pleased with was a Power Rangers duvet and curtain set for my middle son for three pounds , he currently loves them. We don't need the curtains as his room has velux blinds but they are cotton and perfect for pyjama making. I will share these at a later stage as I will need to draw the pattern for these so may take a few weeks to fit them in.
Other bargains included brand new branded make up for 50p , threading beads, plasticine and how could I forget the Power Rangers book for 20p, so all in all a good haul.
I hope this has inspired you to do a spot of bargain hunting yourself.

Lawn Mowing Interupted

I thought I would share with you a little project that Mr. Martisanne undertook in the garden in the sunshine this week, he disappeared into the garden to mow the lawn, the lawnmower wouldn't start so this is what happened instead, he unleashed a little of his creative spirit




We were gifted maybe a year ago some small mosaic tiles and have been waiting for a project for which to use them and here it is.



Very easy to do , just use "hard as nails" or similar strong adhesive, spread it on a concrete post with a tile spreader and stick the tiles on, it was only done last week so can't vouch for the longevity of project , but for the time being it looks very pretty.



Next to be mosaiced is the fishpond walls.

You could pick tiles up for this project fairly easily, people usually have spare tiles from tiling, so keep an eye out at your local recycling centre or freecycle or car boot sales. Sometimes diy shops may have discontinued lines cheap ,or part boxes heavily reduced if a couple have broken in the box.

You could use this idea for endless projects, walls , plant pots , a table top or indoor projects like mirror frames, picture frames, upcycle a wooden box to pretty jewellery box,I would love to here of any ideas you have or projects you have undertaken with recycled tiles

Joggers to Shorts Upcycling tutorial

Well with a sniff of Summer last week I thought I had better get my skates on with the kids summer wardrobes. My middle son had outgrown a couple of pairs of jogging bottoms that were fine on the waist but were rapidly becoming "Harry half masts", I had to take them out of circulation to stop him wearing them so on the upcycling pile they went. Last week they were changed from the unwearable to wearable again with a little help from a pair of scissors and my sewing machine.
Here is how I did it.

1) First lay out your joggers or jeans or other trousers you want to cut down to shorts folded flat down the centre seam , with the crotch pulled out and make sure each leg and the crotch and waist band is lined up with each other so your legs end up the same length, as shown below




2) Use chalk or tailors chalk or a tailors pencil to mark the length you want your shorts to be, use an existing pair that fits if this helps and draw across the legs of the trousers, if you are not sure go longer they can always be cut shorter, but you can't stick it back on once you have cut it.

3) Mark another line 1 inch below this , this is the line you will cut along (this allows for a hem allowance), and cut as shown below, making sure everything is still lined up before you cut.


4) Open up your shorts and look to see if they look even and if possible try them on the intended victim, remember they will be an inch longer approx than you want at the moment you need that for the hem allowance.

5) Now turn the cut off trousers inside out and iron the bottom edge up 1/2 inch and then 1/2 inch again and iron so that the raw edge is enclosed , you should have the first chalk mark now running along the bottom edge of the shorts.

6) Pin the ironed hem down and use a straight stitch and sew all around the bottom hem of the shorts using a 3/8 inch seam allowance, don't forget to use a jersey/ball point needle if using a stretchy fabric like jersey joggers.

7) Et voila new shorts


You could skip the sewing part if you like, as denim frays and looks good this way, and jersey doesn't really fray ,if you do this cut along your first line,you won't need the extra inch for the hemline, but I prefer the neatness of hemming.

Although it's very tempting don't go cutting all your trousers down to shorts, or you will have very cold legs come Autumn and probably through the Summer too if you live in the UK.