How to Make Skirt from a T-shirt in 5 easy steps.

 Step 1.) Cut t-shirt off at armpits.

 Step 2.) Cut off a one inch strip. This will be used for your tie. Stretch this strip so it curls in on itself. (see next 2 pics)

 Step 3.) Sew the casing for the tie. Make this about an inch wide. 

 (note: the hem of the t-shirt is also the hem of your skirt:)

 Step 4.) Cut a small slit thru one layer of casing in order to slide tie thru.

 Step 5.) Attach a large pin to end of tie and thread thru the casing.

 TA DA!!! An adorable skirt made in less then 15 minutes!

 So far, I've made a pink one and a purple one.

I want one in every color! 

Tips:

*If you get your T-shirts from the thrift store, make sure to check for stains on the front of the shirt. Also make sure the backside is not printed on past the armpits.

* If you are a size small person, use a medium size t-shirt. I am a med/large size person so I used an extra large t-shirt for the purple skirt....which fits better then the pink skirt which was a large. I gave the pink skirt to my sister who is smaller then me and it fits her well.

* If you want your skirt to have lots of pleats, use a shirt that is really big. 

* I tried to make one from a polo shirt and when I tried it on, it just didn't fall as nice as the t-shirt skirts do.

 T-shirts waiting to be turned into skirts:)

Tutorial. T-Shirt + Yarn = TARN

Buy a gently used t-shirt(s)at the thrift store or choose some of your own.....

 cut off at armspits removing nekline and sleeves.

Fold in half and cut into strips leaving an inch uncut on the top.....

 ...unfold....

 Cut into strips. Start by cutting diagonally from strip one into strip two. This will make a continuous looooonnng strip.

After Tarn is cut, tug on it gently and it will curl into itself.

Roll into ball.

Big pile of Tarn. OH Joy!!

Ta Da! TARN! Now, wasn't that fun???

$5.25

One freaking amazing score from a garage sale. Nice!

Eric's Quilt

Eric was the lucky recipient of a quilt this Christmas (quilted awesomely by Kathleen....thanks aunt!) He wanted a sort of army greenish color so I went straight to the thrift store and bought 6 soft cotton mens shirts for $1.00 each and cut 'em up. There are 2 shirt pockets on the quilt...for the remote, of course! It's a simple quilt but I think it turned out great. The day after Christmas, he sent me this text : "I'm snugglin' with my quilt watching da Bears game. I love my quilt...thank u!" You are so welcome, my boy!

Score!

Saw this sitting on the curb down the block:

Carried it home to find this inside:

It pays to garbage pick ;)

Project Quilting - Season One - Challenge Three

Wow! This project was right up my crafty alley! 

This challenge, the directions were: 1. The front, back, borders, binding and embellishments should all be made from materials that have had a previous life as something else.

2. You may use new thread and batting.

3. Your project should include at least 3 different materials used as embellishments.

 I started with two pillow cases..one white and a flowered one. I then quilted the white case starting at the top with blue threads and then fading down to the bottom with green threads. I then used an old green button down shirt for all the greenery and the binding on the peice.I then cut up the flowered pillow case and thread painted them to the quilt. The embellishments I added were the buttons from the shirt, flower beads from a kids necklace, barrettes that my neices were too old to wear and flowers from an artifcial flower arrangement.(btw...you can't really see the shirt buttons as they are under the flower beads. I just used them to make the flower beads 'pop') The butterfly trail of beads are from a big bag of sparklies I got from the thrift store a while back. Everything I used was from stashes I already had which had been purshased from the thrift store..... Including the thread! So that means I recycled stuff that had already been recycled!

Aprox. cost for all supplies was about $2.00.

Quilt measures 24" x 18".

Oh, and one more thing. I know some people might turn up their noses at my thrifted supplies, but I love using recycled items in my crafts...it makes me feel so very green!

Head over to Kim's Crafty Apple and give me a vote. Thanks!


Update: June 19

Avg score from judges: 8.2...which was good enough for 3rd place...woohoo!

Vintage (and some not) Linen Collection

....all from thrift stores. I need more ;)

.....SCORE!!!!!

So there I was at my favorite thrift store in the world when I saw it. Unfortunately, so did another lady. And she wouldn't move away from it. So I milled about looking at other people's castoffs but keeping a close eye on it and her. I tried not to look at her or it. Telepathically I was sending her messages like,"....hey lady, that's mine"and "Move away quickly so no one gets hurt". I don't think she heard me. Next thing you know she's calling her husband over. Uh oh. With my heart pounding hard and beads of sweat slipping down the side of my face, I watched the lady ask her husband if she should get it. Well....well....he's looking at it, he's touching it, then.........he's shaking his head. Woo Hoo!!! Slowly they walk away. I wait til they are a good ten feet away and I SWOOP in and grab it. Yes!! Mine!! Mine!! I plug 'er in and set 'er up...step on the gas and puuuuurrrrrrrr she goes. Beautiful!

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She's clearly brand new.Except for the grease marks from where the store wrote the price on it, it seems perfect. It looks like someone tried to use it but broke the needle. I opened up the storage box and found all the attachments plus new needles.I replaced the needle, threaded her up, grabbed some fabric that I was going to buy and.......she runs like a dream. Pretty quiet, too. I looked it up on the internet and she usually runs about $130.00 brand new. I've wanted to get a basic machine to have just in case the one I'm using now gives me trouble. Also, I was thinking I would set up a dedicated machine just for quilting. The only thing she's missing is the box she came in and the manual. This was a big purchase from the thrift store. The cost? $24.00. Not bad!

purple baby quilt

I've been working on quilts for Christmas presents, so that's why I haven't shown much lately. (Stay tuned Dec. 26)I just finished this baby quilt for another co-worker who is due. The whole quilt is recycled/repurposed materials from MLTS*. The white polka dot used to be a bed sheet and the purple polka dot was a bed skirt. The back (which I didn't want to show because there are quite a few puckers)is also from a piece of fabric from MLTS. I LOVE using linens in my quilts. It makes me feel so very green. I know quilting purists would not approve, but hey, I'm just trying to do my part in saving stuff from going to landfills;) Total cost of materials....around $5.00.

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MLTS: My Local Thrift Store

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Note: My free-style quilting leaves little to be desired, but I'm working on it.

Birthday Bunting

I made this cute pink and white bunting from thrifted bed linens for Amy's birthday......of course I wanted it to be twice as long, but I got sidetracked by another project. Shocking, I know.

Amy's birthday Quilt

The Oxford Baby Quilt

This baby quilt is made from one pink and one white men's oxford shirt (purchased from the thrift store (of course) for about a buck each.) I included a pocket on one of the squares for a binky or baby toy. It turned out cute.

Hmmmmm.....

....what should I do with these pastel button downs I got from the thrift store for less then 75 cents each???Maybe I can stack them up in different eye appealing ways and take pretty pictures of them....

.... OR.....

....cut them up and make a quilt! Brilliant!

Passion for Pinwheels

I decided I love pinwheels. Here's some pics of what I've been working on. I had planned on saving this project for South Haven when we go in June, but it just kept calling me. The flower fabric is a vintage bed sheet that I found in great condition ($2.50 from you know where...thrift store) and the blue fabric came from a bed skirt (1.25 also from you know where). The pink was from my favorite thrift store, Community Thrift, and there was about 2 yards for around 1.50. The pink fabric is a little on the cheap side but that's okay. The yellow and white came from the quilt store so that of course will bump up the cost of the whole quilt. All in all, only about $13.00 was spent to make this quilt top. Not bad! How's that for re-using and re-cycling? The 2nd pic is the first blocks I made, so my centers were a little off, but, the more I made, the more my centers came together. WooHoo! Oh, and btw, my pinwheels won't be all spinning in the same direction as you can see. I decided that would be okay.