Choosing the right jeans Most of the mending projects I share are pretty extreme examples of patching using sashiko inspired mending techniques combined with my own stitching style. The examples that I share are either my own jeans or those that I've found while shopping at thrift/secondhand shops and garage sales. Whe
Boro is the age old Japanese art of mending textiles and is literally translated as rags or scraps of cloth. As far back as the 17th century, peasants, merchants and artisans would patch up clothing…
i've fallen deeply in love with mending, darning, patching and repairing old denim for recycling . love mixing different techniques ...
Reidestä revenneet farkut saivat uutta ilmettä kirjomalla.
Cooler weather means wearing jeans frequently, and wearing jeans frequently means wearing jeans out more quickly than you ever thought possible. If your favorite pairs are ripping, fraying, or just showing more wear-and-tear than you’d like, these 10 DIYs will keep them functioning and looking fabulous all fall. If you want a basic fix without adding too many distracting elements (these are jeans after all), try this tutorial on how to add a denim patch inside your favorite pair.
Easy-peasy...I couldn't let one of my favorite Mini Boden romper's go just yet....especially since it had a broken snap {no re-sale value i...
Korosta reikää farkuissa kirjotulla paikalla.
Don't you hate it when you have to throw out a beloved garment after it is damaged? So do I, and you can not imagine how happy I was to find that many stains, spills and snags can be repaired to make the unsightly item wearable again. I love the tips for removing ink and
Summer Lagenlook Tank Tunic This one of a kind tunic is sewn with recycled clothing. A playful mix of red, grey, black & white. Women's Medium Bust: 34-38 in Length 31-34 in Waist Free
Found the perfect fitting pair of jeans, but aren't fond of the ankle-hugging look? Whether you want to convert straight leg jeans to accommodate boots or make a fashionable pair of bell bottoms, putting your sewing skills to work will...
I am short. There is no other way to put it. I’m barely 5′ tall. I think I’ve only bought two pairs of used jeans in my life that were already hemmed to my length…ever……
The second tunic in this series was just about as easy as the first one . I started with a crop top that had a nice lace edging, and a lon...
Instead of tossing damaged clothes, save money by fixing them! Use these 7 simple fixes for clothing damage to get the most out of your clothes!
This week we're replacing drawstrings, patching jeans and repairing torn linings! Exciting stuff!
Look and feel great this fall by transforming a plain shirt into a trendy swing top with an empire waistline.
Who knew there were so many ways to use old sweaters? I just love the texture of sweaters, it can instantly warm up any room. With the weather changing, you are going to need to add some extra warm to your life. Don't donate or throw away those old sweater just yet....inspiration on how to use
In my post 21 Frugal Tips To Try This Year I mentioned that one thing I wanted to work on was the idea of repair/reuse/repurpose. With that in mind, I researched some ways that I
this t-shirt re-do took me 5 minutes. how awesome is that? i love peek-a-book shoulders... i think it's a classy way to show some skin. i also love feeling comfortable and sexy, which it seems, most of the time, is an oxymoron. but! here you have it: cotton shirt + scissors + a little creativity = comfortable + sexy if you can't tell by the pictures, i used the cut-out portion of the fabric to tie around the bottom of the sleeve. this shapes up to a cute bow (which are fashionably in right now). whoot! p.s. thanks to my beautiful friend jammie for modeling. she's the most photogenic person i know... i've never seen a bad photo of her. envy!
I recently found a box of old clothes from college, 90% of which I will never wear again. I was about to throw them all in the "get rid of"...
Its so frustrating when you discover a much loved sweater has moth holes - here's my current choice for repairing moth holes in sweaters..
It's easy to transform your crew neck T-shirt into a more flattering V-neck shirt in a few simple steps. You don't even need to add any additional fabric!
Old sweaters can be turned into useful items quite easily. Don't toss 'em, upcycle 'em! Here are 5 simple ways to upcycle a sweater!
While I was cleaning out my closet a few weeks ago, I found an old brown paper grocery bag with the words, "Clothes of sentimental value! DO NOT THROW
You can not imagine how happy I’m! In our 12/12 project in June we were supposed to make an organizer. It could be anything. I have chosen for a purse organizer. You know that one thing you can always find in woman’s purse is a… mess. And my purses are not exception! Well, now I should say they WERE NOT an exception. I made a purse organizer with quite a few pockets. Originally I planned to add one more compartment but then I thought that I would not need so many pockets. I was so wrong! Now I regret but honestly I'm still very glad with what I have now. I made it in miss-match style, using many old materials. One pocket is from my old jeans. It is with zip and I can put there some more valuable stuff. One on the front is from Wojtek’s pants (this one with headphones; I never use them but it looks cool on a photo :)). Simply saying I’m in love. Just one move and whole content of my purse can be transferred to other one…. Nawet sobie nie wyobrażacie jaka jestem szczęśliwa. W tym miesiącu wyzwaniem był organizer. Mogło to być cokolwiek. Ja wybrałam organizer do torebki. Bo jak wiadomo jedyną rzeczą, którą zawsze można znaleźć w torebce jest bałagan. I moje torebki nie były pod tym względem inne. Podkreślam słowo BYŁY! Dzięki mojemu nowemu wyrobowi mam w torebce idealny porządek (swoją drogą ciekawa jestem jak długo). Początkowo chciałam zrobić jeszcze jedną przegródke, ale stwierdziłam, że aż tylu kieszeni to ja nie potrzebuje. Byłam w błędzie, przyznaję się bez bicia. Moja wkładka torebkowa jest w stylu miss-maszowym z odrobiną recyklingu. Wewnętrzna kieszeń jeansowa jest z moich portek a zewnętrzna w Wojcinych (nigdy nie używam tych dyndających z niej słuchawek, ale fajnie wyglądają na zdjęciu :)). Krótko mówiąc zakochłam się. Cudne jest to, że za jednym ruchem ręki mogę przenieść całą zawartość torebki to innej … ahhhhh
The first challenge of Refashion Runway was so much fun, and I was so inspired by all the plaid outfits! (Voting is open until Friday, September 27 - don't miss your chance!) In fact, now that I'm conscious of this trend, I've been noticing more and more people wearing plaid in my day-to-day. So I decided to do another quick plaid remake from another one of my husband's never-worn shirts. When I first pulled this guy out, I hated it. It was the ugliest plaid I'd ever seen. Then, when I opened up my sewing closet a couple days later and saw it hanging there, it had magically grown on me. I'm not sure how this happened, but seemingly out of nowhere, I really liked it! Weird, huh? As with my previous project, step one was pocket and sleeve removal. Unlike my previous project, I kept the collar and yoke intact. I'm aiming for a quick and easy refashion here, basically just sizing it down for me. Don't want to steal too much time away from working on next week's challenge! Next I cut my new sleeves out of the existing sleeves. I want to preserve the cuff but have them end up being 3/4-length, so I measured up from the cuff and mirrored the curve of the original sleeve cap when I cut the top off. I sewed up my new side seams. Then I got to re-attaching my sleeves. I want to button detail on the cuffs to be featured on the front of my arms, rather than hidden on the backs of my elbows. So I switched the left and right sleeves. With my shirt inside-out, I inserted a right-side-out sleeve into the armhole and carefully pinned it in place. I added a few tiny pleats at the top of each shoulder to absorb some of the extra fabric, and also to give it a little feminine touch. I grabbed the old pocket from my scrap pile, ironed out the folds, and then cut just inside the old fold line. I want to keep the pocket but make it smaller to match my shrunken shirt. I pressed my edges under, pinned it to my shirt, and sewed it back on. You can see the wrinkled outline of where the original pocket was, but don't worry - those will come out just fine with a quick ironing. For the final touch, I removed the extra adjustability button from each cuff and sewed it onto vertical slit a little higher up, through both layers of fabric. True, I won't be able to unbutton that button, but that's just fine with me and it keeps that slit from gaping when I bend my elbow. And now it's finished! The smaller pocket is much better proportioned now. Plus, offsetting the plaid pattern makes it pop a little more, where it used to just blend right in. I think I like it better untucked, but it's cute tucked in as well. Here you see the repositioned buttons, and there are those tiny shoulder pleats I was telling you about. On an unrelated note, I've been messing around with the blog design over the last couple days, going for something a little cleaner, more simplistic. What do you think?
Before you go tossing out your family’s worn out denim jeans, read this post to see if there is something better you can be doing with them. Now, saving your old denim jeans may be something your g…
Recycle Denim/Jeans Into Reusable Parts With No Waste.: Why waste? You can turn your forgotten, out-of-style, or unwearable jeans into a ready to use crafter's dream!Use these steps to efficiently deconstruct a pair of jeans into all reusable parts. This process yields minimum scraps and a host of usefu…
Learn how to refinish furniture faster and easier by avoiding stripping. A seasoned pro tells you how to clean, repair and restore old worn finishes without messy chemical strippers. Furniture refinishing will be easier from here on out!
Creative ways to mend jeans - some of these are really pretty!
How to Turn a Sweatshirt into a Dress Today I get to share a tutorial that I’ve been wanting to share for a long time now: How to turn a sweatshirt into a dress. The thing is I have 2 girls who only want to wear dresses or skirts to school BUT we live in […]
"I've gotchu COVERED!" "Bringing up the REAR!" "...sittin' in a tree...k.i.s.s.i.n.g." "Peace MAKER" "HOLY Macke...
Reduce the amount of bed linen in landfill by repurposing your bedsheets. Here are 25 practical & creative ways to use old bedsheets.
Tired of your boring old clothes? Turn them into new clothes!
2. Make a Scarflette4. Make Wine Bottle Covers6. Make Socks8. Make Coffee Cup Wraps10. Make a Headband12. Make a Lamp14. Make Open Mittens16. Make Drink Cozies18. Make a Sweater Pillow20. Make Christmas StockingsFollow Surviving The Stores on Facebook for more fun and FRUGAL ideas!And be sure to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST to see all of the other fun things I find!
My dear Husband wears a uniform of sorts… khaki pants and Izod shirts.. He is a neat-nick and spots no matter how small will be NOT worn in public. I however will not waste those perfectly …
