Refashioned T-Shirt Gauchos Tutorial

In Megan Nicolay’s newest book titled Generation T: Beyond Fashion: 120 New Ways to Transform a T-shirt she shows you how to make gauchos out of a tshirt on page 69. This is a photo tutorial to review this project. You can make these eco-friendly refashioned gauchos with just three t-shirts and a bit of your spare time. The length of time needed to complete these will be determined by your skill level and whether or not you choose to sew by hand or machine.

Here’s how DIY:

1. gather 3 tshirts (l or xl), chalk marker, ruler, scissors, pins, needle thread and Megan’s book.

2. Turn your shirts inside out and cut two of the shirts into 15″ wide rectangles that extend through the bottom seam.

3. lay all four pieces together and cut off the bottom seams.

4. separate into two pairs of rectangles and pin along one side of each to create the legs of the gauchos.

5. Lay the pinned legs together and draw a gentle arc on each side to form the crotch of the gauchos about a 1/4″ from the edge and extending about 2″ long. Cut along the chalk line to finish shaping legs.

6. Open the panels and place them design side together, matching the curved edges and lining up the seams. Pin and sew with at least a 1/4″ seam allowance.

7. Use the third shirt to cut 2″ wide tubes of fabric from the bottom, just above the seam to create the waistband ties.

8. pin to the tops of the pants with an even amount of fabric hanging off both sides of the pants and sew on.

9. Turn your pants inside right and rock out! To wear, start in the front or back and tie the first panel around your waist like an apron. Pull the other panel up and tie to overlap. Now go show everyone how awesome your new pants are.

If you don’t want to make these pants yourself, pick up a pair in my Etsy shop. If you don’t see the ones you want, just convo me with your measurements and color preferences I’ll make them to order.

I look like a doily (and I love it)!

As many of you who have read my previous articles no doubt know, I gave up purchasing new clothes and have committed to doing so for one year with my new friends at TGAAD. While I do still enjoy swapping clothes that no longer fit properly or are generally unflattering, I do try to hold on to my modest selection of clothes that I really love. This could be because they are extremely comfortable, make me look hot or have some sentimental value. I haven’t purchased any truly expensive clothes in years, so in the old days it is very likely that if I ruined a shirt with bleach or benzoyl peroxide (both of which happen with alarming regularity) I would have either relegated them to cleaning or workout clothes, donated them to Goodwill, or used them for trash. I certainly could refashion them into something else where the stains aren’t visible, but for this shirt, it was so comfortable, and the fit flattering, and worse… I had just bought it! In fact, it was one of my very last purchases of new clothes before I started TGAAD, so I was determined to keep it as is. I began thinking of ways to cover the stains that appeared on the neckline and on the front of my shirt. Apparently I was washing my face with my benzoyl peroxide cleaner again, even though I know I am not supposed to, and dripped some down the front of my shirt. grumble. I was not giving this shirt up to cleaning or working out, how could I fix it? I could make a patch, but it’s so light weight that it would likely ruin the drape. I could do applique, but the stain was in some pretty strange spots for attaching individual designs. Then, I go the idea… what if I just bleach it some more so that it looks like I totally did it on purpose?  Eureka! So, I looked up online how to do this, and then after reading a few other blogs cobbled together a few ideas and came up with the shirt you see above. I found a cool doily that my mom had just given me (well, I rummaged from her pile of donations destined for the Salvation Army actually) and I cut out some cardboard heart shapes to cover the stain on the neckline to match the doily. I then mixed a 50/50 solution of bleach and water, put it in an old spray bottle, and went to town. I think it turned out really cool, and you can really see the detail of the lace. It looks a little hippie and a little handmade, but you know what; I love it! So file this in your bag of tricks for the next time you accidentally destroy a perfectly good garment and lace it up!

DIY Sweater Boots Instructable

I adore this instructable so I had to post it. Grab yourself an old sweater and a pair of flats from the thrift store or a clothing swap and make some fashionable sweater boots.

Upcycled Sweater Boots – More DIY How To Projects

Rethinking the Cotton Round

Photo: Sproutzstore.blogspot.com

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the production of cotton uses a lot of water which is a valuable and dwindling resource. Shortages of fresh water worldwide lead to famine and starvation, war and terrorism, poverty and disease. In thinking about how I can do my part to help eliminate the unnecessary use of this precious resource globally I have been looking to reduce consumption of disposable products that I can replace with reuseable options. The first and easist switch for me was to stop purchasing new clothes and reuse fabric that I have available locally. Next, I began to investigate other household items that I could replace and while I was washing my face last night it dawned on me; cotton facial rounds! These little cotton pads are great for removing eye make-up and cleansing, but I use several of them each and every day. I thought,”surely, there must be some way to buy or make my own reuseable pads”. This morning I began to look for alternatives and was pleased to find that I can both buy and make my own easily and inexpensively. There are packs of Organic Reusable Cotton Face Rounds on Amazon and variety of homemade versions on Etsy like these cotton buds or facial scrubbies. There are literally hundreds in a variety of colors, textures and materials on etsy just type “facial cotton” into the search box and go. If you are of the DIY persuasion there are even patterns so that you can crochet your own and tutorials to tech you to reuse fabric you already have to sew a few. My takeaway from this is that I can keep pushing myself to reduce my consumption in ways that help my family and the world, with little inconvenience to our way of life. Each little change that I make helps and if we can each change a habit or two, perhaps we can begin to make some real change. So keep pushing new ideas and sharing them with everyone so that we can all walk the long road to reducing our impact and improving our way of life for everyone together.

The Coming Water Crisis

While listening to NPR on my way back to Baltimore yesterday I listened to a very interesting story about the coming Water Crisis. Essentially the guest speaker, Steven Solomon, was discussing how global water usage is increasing at a leve that cannot be sustained. In fact, some of the hardest hit regions who will be facing water shortages soon are areas in which terrorism has taken, or is beginning to take hold. The global consumption of our limited water resources may even spark the next major conflict. You can read the article on NPR here and listen to the broadcast for more information, “Will the Next War be Fought Over Water?“.

Immediately after hearing this story I was reminded of an article I read while back on Treehugger, where it lists the amount of water needed to produce a single new tshirt or pair of jeans. Fortunately I found that article here, “How Many Gallons of Water Does It Take to Make…”

Here are the facts straight from the article:

Pair of Jeans
It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of regular ol’ blue jeans. [2]

Cotton T-Shirt
Not as bad as jeans, it still takes a whopping 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for an ordinary cotton shirt.

Now, if you think that just because you make your own clothes by knitting, crocheting, or buying fabric in the store that you are helping to reduce your water consumption, just look at what the article says about your raw materials:

One Pound of . . .
Wool: 101 gallons of water
Cotton: 101 gallons

In short, one great way to avoid consuming more than your fair share of water and starting on the slippery slope that will lead to famine, death, terrorism, and finally war is to stop buying new clothes! There are thousands of vintage stores, second hand and thrift shops available where you can purchase used, or as I like to call them, previously loved clothing. There are so many great resources online that can show you how to sew, refashion, and remake clothes, If you prefer to knit, but can’t find a sweater that you really like, buy a used one and recycle the yarn. If you can’t bear to take up sewing or knitting, but still want to do your part, but don’t want to dig through thrift stores, then buy online. Online sellers like Etsy have tons of shops selling recycled couture, so you can still look good and do your part to slow the damage to our Earth. I’ll include more links below to help you do additional research on the size of the issue at hand as well as places to purchase used clothes and links to groups of folks who have pledged not to buy any new clothes to help reduce their footprint on the Earth.

The Water Crisis:

The Coming Crisis: Water, Not Oil

Failing Wheat Crop Causes Afghan Food Crisis

Obscured By War, Water Crisis Looms In Yemen

We Use How Much Water? Scary Water Fooprints, Country by Country

Groups Embracing the Stop Shopping or Nused Clothing Movement to Recycle, Upcycle or Refashion Clothing:

Wardrobe Refashion

The Great American Apparel Diet

Great Places to Shop for Refashioned, Recycled, Vintage Clothing:

Etsy

ArtFire

Ebay

Goodwill

The Salvation Army

Rusty Zipper

Mod Cloth

Blu Vintage

So, maybe you can make one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2010 to stop buying new clothes? So go on, get shopping, just make sure it’s been previously loved. Maybe you can even check off two resolutions, by using all of the money you will save not buying new clothes to pay off debt…not a sermon, just a thought

Recycled Tshirt Bracelet from Instructables

Recycled T-shirt Bracelet – More DIY How To Projects

Environmentally-Focused Christmas Shopping

Maybe you had planned to handmake your Christmas presents, but they didn’t turn out, or you just didn’t have the time to finish them (both of these have already happened to me).  Even more likely, you just don’t have the time, energy or urge to make your own gifts, but you still want to buy something cool for your loved ones, but want to buy something recycled or refashioned to cut down on your enivronmental impact.  With expedited shpping in most cases you can still purchase up to a few days before Christmas, but always check your estimated arrival dates and read the shipper’s policies before you purchase. If your items don’t arrive you can always print a photo and description of the item frome the website and give to your relatvies in a pretty card and let them know that they’ll receive it soon (again, I’ve had to do this more than once). I’ve scoured the innertubes (ie, the internet) and come up with a few really cool items and here they are in no particular order.

Warning: Shamless self promotion plug – buy something from me You can always request a custom item as well from my Etsy shop.

Serendipit on Etsy

“SerendipiT sources fabrics from clothing purchased from thrift stores like Goodwill (and occasionally my own closet) and recycles the fabric into new, fun and practical items. Recycling these textiles ensures that they don’t end up in landfills and by purchasing repurposed, upcycled and refashioned goods you can reduce the harmful chemicals used in the production of new items. So reduce your carbon footprint, do something good for the Earth and your wallet by purcashing something fun or funky from SerendipiT.”

Here are some of my favorite Etsy items:

Upcycled Vinyl Record HEAVY Guitar Picks Free Shipping

Custom Vintage Silverware Garden Marker

Recycled DEF LEPPARD cassette wallet / iPod Nano case / business card holder

Antique Silver Spoon Ring, Avon Pattern.. Any Size… Free Shipping

UPCYCLED Blue Grey VINTAGE Train Case with RADIOHEAD Quote Black Star and Skeleton Keys

Try putting “recyled” in the search box and find thousands of goodies to suit your taste.

Amazon has lots of great recycled items too like:
terrasoles Women’s Tuckerman Clog,Charcoal,8 M
Nahui Ollin Itsy Bitsy Wristlet,Hearts,one size
terrasoles Men’s Snowmass Slip On,Charcoal,7 M
ROGUE Mingo Knee Boot,Honey,6 M
Nahui Ollin Large Cutie Pie Purse,Zig Zag,one size

There are so many online stores offering recycled and upcycled gifts that a simple search will reveal more websites than one can sift through in a day, but here are a few that caught my eye:

Eco-Artware.com

Eco Home Gear

Alchemy Goods

So hopefully, among your search for presents you’ll find something interesting, unique and sustainably crafted to give this year. Nothing says I love you like passing on a healthy planet to our future generations. Happy Shopping!

Repair Work: Covering holes with patches taken to a whole new level

My best friend gave me the brown pants shown on the left. They had been previously loved and luckily for me she was ready to give them up. I wore those pants once and they were awesome. I began wearing those pants weekly and soon after holes began to appear in the areas that the designer created permanent (and fashionable) wrinkles on. I tried darning, but it looked odd. I wanted to patch, but the holes were in strange spots for patching (several very near to the crotch and no one really wants to draw attention to that). I set them aside until I could develop a plan and then, inspiration hit… I was reading 99 Ways to Cut, Sew & Deck Out Your Denim and the #2 design featuring jeans with appliques looked like the impetus I needed to get started on my next project. Now, I needed to hunt down some funky fabric. Appliques are really similar to patches, but in my case I’m making them, much larger. The my inspiration design trimmed the bottom of the pant legs off and created some cuffs with really funky fabric that I loved. I decided to make large appliques/patches on the front of both pant legs to cover the holes and add the cuffs to the bottom to balance out the overall look and feel of my soon to be refashioned pants. Next, I dug through my clothes bins and scrap piles looking for something as jazzy as what I saw on the inspiration project; no luck. I then proceeded to drool over fabrics online and I am particularly in love with Amy Butler prints, but reminded myself that buying new fabric sort of defeats the purpose. So, I headed off to Goodwill in search of a fabulous cast-off frock with a funky pattern in cotton that I could use. I happened upon an amazing fabric pattern that was pretty Butleresque and was used to create one of the most hideous nighties I had ever seen, so I wouldn’t even mind chopping it up. So off I went and here’s how to DIY:

You’ll need:

pinking shears or scissors (pinking shears help stop the fabric from unraveling, but if you don’t have any, just use scissors)

fabric for applique/cuffs

pins, needle, thread

DIY:

1. Cut the fabric a little larger than the area you want to cover with the pinking shears. Pin the fabric on and stitch around the outside of your design. *design note: you can use plain fabric and embroider a design onto your applique/patch instead of patterned material. You can also reverse applique a design instead.
2. Cut off the bottom hem of your pants. Measure the width of the new hem and multiply x2. Determine how wide you would like your cuff to be and multiply x2 (I wanted 2″ cuffs, so I needed fabric 4″ wide). Add .5 to each measurement for seam allowance. Use these measurements to cut your new cuff fabric.
3. Fold your fabric in half  lengthwise and join the ends to form a tube. Sew along the overlap to create a fabric cuff that you can slip onto your new hem.
4. Pull the pant leg through the fabric tube (cuff) with the raw edge of the cuff meeting the raw edge of the hem. Pin and sew into place.
5. Pull the cuff down to cover the raw edge and then fold up to form a cuff. My fabric is very lightweight so I needed to put a little stay stitch in the center of each cuff to prevent them from flopping over when I walk. If you use a stiff fabric you can skip this step, if not, just put a discreet, little stitch into each cuff to help them keep their shape.
6. Love your funky new pants!

I’ve just finished up this project, but haven’t finished the photos yet; I’ll have them uploaded soon. Enjoy!

T-shirt Refashion: The Wrap Skirt

The Wrap Skirt

So, you may have noticed that I have a slight obsession with refashioning t-shirts. This is both a product of my love for wearing light weight cotton and the large number of t-shirts that one can acquire that are either hideous or don’t fit quite right. Luckily for me my husband has dabbled in screen printing and has a large number of cast of black t-shirts which are screaming to be used for something new. I also have noticed that there are always plenty of t-shirts to be gotten free at clothing swaps or cheaply on ebay (hello $.99 and free shipping!). I only regret that I didn’t grab every single t-shirt I saw at past clothing swaps, but I already have several bins of clothing projects and I am really trying to preserve my husband’s sanity by not hoarding too many at one time. Megan Nicolay’s book Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt has been my bible and taught me how to sew, refashion and make just about anything out of an old t-shirt. This wrap skirt can be found on page 173 titled “Wrapper Keeper”.

Now go DIY!

You’ll need 3 XL t-shirts (I could have really used 2, but I like the color scheme with 3)

measuring tape

chalk

scissors

pins

needle

thread

1. Measure your waist then add 15, now divide by 3. On two shirts make a rectangle that is your measurement by 16″. Cut through both t-shirt layers and you will have 4 pieces of fabric to work with.

2. Plan out where you want your image to show. The inside panels will be covered, so sew on your favorite square last. Place two pieces of the cut out fabric together, pretty sides facing each other, and pin along the right side. Sew along one edge and remove the pins.

3. Lay the third and final panel onto one of the squares and again, pin on the right and sew.

4. Grab your third shirt and measure a piece of fabric that you will use to make your belt/ties. The length will be the entire width of the shirt and the width is 8″. Cut through both layers of the shirt. Then snip through the side seams to create two equal size pieces of fabric from which to make your belt/ties. Fold the strips in half lengthwise, pin the open edge, and sew.

5. Turn the strips inside out. I have a fabric turner that I purchased from the store which makes this task much easier. If you don’t have one or an elastic bodkin, use a safety pin. Attach the safety pin to one end of the fabric and pull it inside of the tube and through to the other end to flip the tube inside out so that the stitches are inside. If you like the rough edge, hand-made look don’t bother with this step.

6. Pin your belt/ties, one to the first square, one to the third (the outer pieces of the skirt). Do this about 1″ down from the top and 1″ in from the side. Sew the strips on securely to the skirt.

7. 1/3 of the way around the top of the skirt, snip a slit with your scissors to pull one of the belt/ties through to secure the skirt to your waist. Put your skirt on, wrap one tie around the front, pull one through the hole and around the back. Tie a knot and rock your awesome new skirt.

T-shirt Refashion: The Happy Hat

The Happy Hat

I am currently working on refashioning a cardigan out of a long-sleeve t-shirt. I determined that I would like that cardigan to have a hood and in the process made a hood that was far too small to attach to my cardigan. Occupational hazard with teaching yourself to make your own clothes I guess. So, not wanting to waste what I thought was the cutest little hood ever I took my daughter’s advice and added some little braids to dangle from the front and voila! a hat! I don’t have very many hats because I’m allergic to wool and I’m not crazy about fleece, so I’m sure this little number will get some use keeping those chilly breezes out of my ears and off my head. I describe the hat as whimsical, my husband says its goofy. Either way it makes everyone who sees me rocking this hat smile (including myself), so I dub thee “The Happy Hat”.

If you’d like to make one for yourself, it’s very quick, uses very little fabric and I can’t even imagine how adorable it would be on wee lass or laddie.

How to refashion a t-shirt and some scraps into the cutest hat ever:

1. Grab a hoodie that you love to use as a template and an a t-shirt that is ready to be refashioned. Fold the hood in half and chalk an outline of it onto your t-shirt.

2. Next, cut out the hood and mark the top of the hood where your face sticks out and mark it with a pin. Pin along the top and back edge and sew.

3. Find some t-shirt scraps that you like and cut 6 lengths about an 1″ wide x 10″ long. I chose pink, blue, and yellow to go with my green hat. You can use all one color, or experiment with ribbon, shoe laces, leather strips, whatever you’ve got laying around that you think is awesome.

4. Put a pin through all three strips to secure and then braid. Tie into a knot at the end and then trim the leftover pieces to the same length.

5. Finally, turn the hood/hat inside out so that the stitches are hidden inside, pin your braid to the front corner and stitch in place. Pin on your second braid onto the other front corner and repeat. Once completed, put your hat on and feel the happy.