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Jul. 24, 2009
Something new from something old
It never hurts to be economical and frugal but it's especially important in these times. As you know, I have four beautiful rambunctious angelic little beings living with me that are extremely hard on their clothing. I love to sew and I often make clothes for my little ones, especially the girls. There is just too much clothing on the market that is just not appropriate for little girls, especially the girls the age that I have. The skirts are too short, the shirts have too many double entendres and sexual innuendos, pants are too tight, etc. And when I have found something decent, it has Hannah Montana all over it! Or some other licensed character.
Although I often hit the sales at the local fabric stores, I can't always find what I need or had in mind at a price I can afford. And then one day, I found a blog post talking about cutting a pair of baby pants out of an old shirt. I did more digging and found tons of sites where an adult sized shirt had been turned into something new for a little one. So can you guess what type of fabric I turned my mind to? You guessed it. Old shirts, skirts and dresses that I have been cutting down to make my girls' summer & winter wardrobes. Their winter flannel underclothing is coming from old flannel sheets! What I especially love is that I can hit my local Salvation Army and pick up an adult sized article of clothing for only $1.79. Depending on what I need it for and how I cut it, I can get a full outfit for Kitty or a dress for either of the girls. There is always a small amount of left over fabric that can be used for other stuff such as pockets or just a scrap bag for the kids to play with. I can't beat an article of clothing that is not only unique but affordable as well!
Here's a quick line up of a few I've either finished so far or is still on the cutting board (*= still in the works):
- A raspberry w/ white floral print woman's sz L T-Shirt ~ complete sleeveless top and shorts for Kitty
- *Blue shorts w/ white floral print that belong to my grandmother ~ A dress (with another plain blue t-shirt used as well)
- A yellow sz 14/16 youth T-shirt ~ A dress for Kitty. The original sleeves turned into generous pockets on breast and skirt. (I added a fabric transfer on the breast pocket)
- A yellow sz 12 youth T-shirt ~ A sleeveless top for Deedee (I added the fabric transfer)
- *A long black T-shirt (perhaps actually a T-shirt dress for a girl?) with white sleeves for a layered look ~ two dresses and the white sleeves turned into a pair of leggings.
- *A pair of white shorts with multicolored stripes that belonged to my grandmother & a lime green childs shirt ~ A dress for Deedee
- A size X-LG purple T-shirt w/ 3/4 sleeves: A shirt & shorts for Deedee. The top was cut from the main body and the shorts were originally the sleeves. I had to add a panel around the top of the shorts because the crotch wasn't quite deep enough for my liking. The panel was taken from around the bottom of a pink sz. M woman's shirt. The rest of that shirt will be made into a dress with a black skirt (a sz X-LG Man's shirt).
- *A babies outfit made from two identical pink & green striped Woman's T-shirts (two so I would have enough fabric for what I wanted to do).
- A swimming suit! Yes. I made Deedee a tankini out of a sz 14/16 girls one piece bathing suit
- *A sz 10/12 girls red sweater w/ pink, white and orange stripes on the sleeve cuffs + a sz 6/7 girls turtleneck with pink, white, orange and red stripes ~ A dress for Deedee with matching leggings. Should I use the sleeves from the sweater for the leggings or use the turtleneck sleeves and use the sweater sleaves on the turtleneck instead?
- *An old quilted ankle length skirt that belonged to my grandmother ~ A robe for one of the girls
- *A lined wool patchwork ankle length skirt ~ A robe for one of the girls
- *A long ankle length multicolored skirt (this one has a heavy tapestry feel to it; it makes me think of something from the Andes with the patterns & colors on it) ~ a pinafore and maybe matching bolero for one of the girls (probably Deedee)
- *A white maternity top that belonged to my mother (and I wore) ~ not sure yet, but something for Kitty.
These are pics of just a few items I've made. There would be more but the rather ancient digital camera I've been using has decided to bite the dust. :( The few outfits pictured correspond to the number on the afore mentoned list. I have even more still on the cutting board and some ideas still rolling around in my head. When my grandmother died, I was was blessed with several boxes of her clothing. They sat for well over a year before I even felt ready to go through them and now, I have a ton of stuff that can be cut down for the kidlets. At one time, my grandmother was a very generous size so the articles of clothing have plenty of fabric in them. I also have a couple of corduroy dresses that belonged to my husbands grandmother I plan on cutting down for the girls.
Because I've gotten so resourceful and frugal (both big words for me, I'm not usually this creative) the kiddos will have plenty of clothing this winter. Probably too much since it's so fun to make! LOL
Here's a list of some of the sites and tutorials that have been helpful and inspirational.
Now that I know I can actually do this, I've been having a blast assembling differnt articles of clothings and bits of scraps to make something new. I especially like using items that belonged to family members or close friends because they can bring a lot of memories to the fore when you see a special little one wearing them. |
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