Reversible Purse

Reversible purse is in Sew the Perfect Bag from SewNews, which I checked out from the library.

All the fabrics are recycled linen. The floral print was a skirt, the light blue was a pair of pants, and the green, a jacket. The buttons were on another jacket. Of course, all were gathered at my Salvation Army for $.49 each.

The purse requires 4 pieces that measure 28" X 18.5" in a triangle shape with the ends chopped off. Since using deconstructed garments, I had to seam two pieces together. I modified the the book's instructions and added a pocket on two sides in this seam. Cut two squares for each pocket, sew to each piece so they are opposite each other, then, when sewing the seam, at the pocket square, pivot, sew around the pocket, pivot back to the seam, and continue. Better instructions for adding a pocket are at a Modicum of Ingenuity blog. Thanks, Jessica.

Play Time Fun With Cake Slices

Grandaughter, Ady, wanted to pretend to be a bakery owner and sell slices of cake to me. So I made a strawberry frosted cake from scrap fabric and stuffed it.  The slice was a bit rounded at that point.  Later I found some foam laying around the house that I cut and stacked and made into firmer foundations and made lemon, blueberry, and grape (!) per Ady's instructions, and redid the strawberry.
Buttons, beading embellishments, and most of the fabric were all from my Salvation Army $.49 Saturday specials.  These make safe play things and are fun to create.

Instructions: Draw a circle using a plate on the foam and divide into eight pieces, use a box cutter to score and gradually slice thru to make the pieces. Use the pieces to trace on each piece of fabric and add a 1/4" seam allowance while cutting out. The white or chocolate cake part can be just one long piece.  Sew the two frosting pieces together first, then attach the cake, sewing up the back, across the top on one side, then the other, and down the other side. pivoting at each corner. Then sew only one side of a brown bottom piece to one side of the cake. Insert the foam (if stacked, glue together), then slip stitch closed the remaining seam.

Reinvention - Garlic Onion Burlap Sack

This is also from Reinvention. What a great way to store garlic and/or onion--in a burlap bag so they can breathe that looks great in the kitchen. I made a stencil and used fabric paint for the garlic bulb and onion on the front. The burlap is part of a coffee bean sack that was used for the storage cubes.

Reinvention - Little Girl's Skirt from T-shirt

Here's another project from the book, Reinvention, called "Little Forager's Skirt". It has a detachable apron that has pockets in which to stow treasures. I didn't use a T-shirt as the instructions call for, because I found this heavy jersey skirt and jacket at Salvation Army (paid $1.00). The jacket had this cute embroidery of potted plants which is used for the pocket. I also "cheated" by using the waistband of the skirt at the top, and the hem of the skirt for the flounce at the bottom, cutting down on my sewing. Hope my granddaughter Ady enjoys!

Reinvention - Coffee Bean Burlap Sacks

These 2 projects are from the book, Reinvention, which has oodles of projects using various cast off materials. The first is using coffee bean sacks that I got at a regional coffee shop. These went over big as Christmas presents with the boys/men. For the insides, I used jackets or dresses that had pockets, making extra storage. They are made with batting in between the burlap and the lining.

 

Garnet Hill has some like these made from canvas fabrics, and the vertical edges were all pinched out and topstitched probably since the flimsier fabrics need a bit more support.


This next project, a reversible bag, was made from a long linen dress.  The top front of the dress had the  stitching already on it that is used for the front pocket.

 

I will be making a couple more projects from this book later. Definitely, a great book to check out from the library, or to buy.

Repurpose Fabric from Salvation Army

Hurray for Fridays and Saturdays at my Salvation Army store!  Today, Friday, they had 5 items of clothing for $5.00 of purple tagged ones, which is this week's 50% off color. They have 5-6 tag colors which allows them to keep a piece of clothing about 6 weeks before sending to another store or whatever they do. And on Saturday, they reduce that color to $.49, and no minimum. Lately, I've been drawn to prints, thinking I could piece similar colors together for some project. I usually get natural fabrics; cotton, linen, wool, silk. Top of the pile is an orange silk top and skirt. Second from the top is a cotton panel print dress; love finding borders, too. Then a denim sheath dress with embroidered flowers, a linen skirt, 4 pairs of pants or skorts, and a long cotton dress.

One great find, I hope, is a long sleeveless linen dress from J Jill with the original $99.00 tag still attached. I will try to sell it on ebay in the spring, but if not, there is a lot of linen fabric to use for $1.00.

Who doesn't like to save money? Cottons in the fabric store run $4-10 a yard. My girlfriend makes fun of me, driving up to a goodwill store in my Mercedes. Or going on senior citizen day to get the senior discount. Hey, maybe that is WHY I can afford a Mercedes...ha-ha!

Small Felt & Fabric Dove with Bread

 Here is Mildred the Dove with Baguettes at Panera Bread after purchasing her loaves for her family. This is another project from the book, Little Birds, referenced in the post before this.

 It was such fun to craft this project using felt for most of it with cotton for the backs of the bird, wings, and the baguettes.

 The outline backstitch work reminds me of redwork that was popular with women in the early 1900's. I liked using just one thread of embroidery floss; seems to keep the illustrative quality easier to control.

Small strips of fabric were wrapped around wire, then inserted into her tummy and sewn shut.  A coating of Mod Podge or fabric glue keeps them from unraveling.