Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Sew Super!

"Marlin" fishy pillow I made for my boss

I used this little coloring page cutout for the template

He really is nicer than he looks! lol
As you can see, I have actually been sewing stuff in all that "free time" I have (ha!) What can I say, I love to create and make stuff! This first project was for my boss (who moved on to bigger and better things) as a gift. His name is actually Marlin. Yep, I took great fun in razzing him for being named after a Pixar character and decided I should capitalize on it while I could! :)
I started by making an applique out of some black and white felt and some orange over-dyed  material I had all in my stash. I had a coloring page fishy that I traced the outline of for the backer and orange piece then copied all the white lines/eyes free hand to fit. I just affixed all the pieces to the backer (black felt) with a little Aileen's quick dry tacky glue and let it dry. After that I threaded my machine with a little black thread and  used my machine to "draw" in all the black lines.
I found this great blue and orange tye-dye material with matching blue velour for the back to make the pillow and since we sell denim at my job, I recycled a cuff from some jeans and stitched it on as well. I love, love how cute it turned out! My boss loved the velour on the back and marveled that I had "too much time" on my hands. We know better, haha!

Pretty dress for my 7 year old niece

Covered notebook for my 5 year old nephew

Pretty dress for my 10 year old niece

Close-up of the sparkles!
As you know, Fall is the time of making stuff for my adorable nieces and nephew for their respective birthdays and this year was no different! This year's dresses are featuring some awesome recycling on my part too. I usually start with a tank top or t-shirt so, I can get the sizing just right. (These were a $2 clearance find this year) and I am having a love-affair with all things denim currently and so, I wanted to make dresses featuring chambray. I have a huge stash of chambray...um, somewhere. Well, I couldn't actually find it and needed something else...but, what? The local thrift store was a huge help with this in the form of a Ralph Lauren Queen-sized chambray sheet. Score!! I also love elastic belts currently and found some great colored elastic for the belts of these dresses.
My 7 year old niece loves the color red and I was happy to oblige! I had an awesome red batik dotted print that I incorporated in panels in the front and back of the dress for a great pop of color. On her belt I used some awesome flower buttons in black and white and I love how cute it turned out!
My 10 year old niece loves turquoise and green and I had the perfect material in my stash featuring both colors for her dress. I recycled a sparkly belt buckle and made a beautiful bow to attach to the belt on her dress and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! So, so cute!

I made costumes for all my cuties this year!

Yep, even me too!

My daughter (and her best buddy, yep, I made two matching costumes!) wanted to be a bee for Halloween and I needed to come up with a not so little-girl costume...I think I succeed! I found the fluorescent yellow leggings on 60% off clearance and (like $2.50 each, I believe) and I knew I wanted to incorporate some black and gray stripes too and picked up two pairs of knee socks at the dollar store. We picked up two over-sized fluorescent shirts at Michael's (2 for $5) and my daughter and I clipped off the length and the sleeves and just took some black acrylic paint (I wasn't planning on washing them) and painted "bee" stripes on them. I also made some fingerless gloves from recycled shirt sleeves, but you can't see them in the pic. Boo. She has wings on the back that I cut out of sparkly white felt and sewed to the back of the shirts and the antennas are just a headband with silver pipe cleaners and over-sized fluorescent  pom-poms. So cute!

My son wanted to be "Santa" for Halloween (random, I know) and his costume was a snap! That is just a red sweatsuit with white fleece stitched on the cuffs and edges and down the middle, simple and effective. I just made his beard by cutting out a beard shape out of the white fleece and stitching a thin piece of elastic to go over his ears and behind his head. That was it. :)

My little one wanted to be "Link" from The Legend of Zelda series and his costume was pretty easy too. I got a green t-shirt from the Dollar Store for a buck and cut the sleeves and bottom off a bit (it was huge). I recycled the bottom for a collar on top of the shirt (by stitching it on upside down where I cut off the original collar) and cut little holes at the bottom of the "V" I made to threadsome suede cord through to complete the look. I recycled my green robin hood hat for the hat and he wore his own brown belt and pants and borrowed his sister's boots. I used his sword and shield and covered his shield with felt and drew the design from Link's wooden shield on it. I also made him a sheath for his sword on his back. He looked great!

I wasn't planning on dressing up at all this year and when I decided I probably should too, I just ran and purchased an ugly dress from the thrift store and a curtain valance to make an apron out of. I cut up the dress and smeared it and the apron with blood (acrylic paint) and with a little face paint I was a pretty scary "Mombie"...BOO!!

Dr. Pepper purse for my co-worker

Inside lined with chambray
Lastly, I made a great small purse for my co-worker and fellow Dr. Pepper fiend! This was originally a kid sized t-shirt that I recycled into a purse. A little more of the red batik print and the now found stash of chambray (ummm...yeah) for the lining and a coordinating ribbon for the strap and I can't tell you how much I love how this turned out! I totally need one now! :) It was a huge hit for her birthday!

1 comment:

Harlow said...

You are so creative! I am glad your my friend and I sometimes get to benefit. Lol