Thursday, March 22, 2012

Upcycling This Week

I have sent off a 15kg box and a 18kg box of items for the homeless and there were a variety of knitted items as well as 11 quilts. I've also been doing a lot of dressmaking and sent off some dresses and skirts that I'd made for our youngest DD but unfortunately I forgot to take photos before I sealed the parcel so will have to try to take photos later.
I also made some more tote bags from singlet tops I bought at the Op Shop for 50 cents to $1. Secondhand clothing is one of the largest resources available at relatively low cost so I thought I'd upcycle some of these garments which were still in excellent condition and maybe just out of fashion, and make them into useful items to donate to the needy.
The red dress was a strapless dress woman's size 8 and in excellent condition so I took it in at the sides, closed the back slit of the skirt, cut off a couple of inches from the hemline and made straps for the top and then re-hemmed it. I'd re-sized it to fit a 7 to 8 year old girl and looks like a new dress.
I also up-cycled a satin top which was made in an oriental style, and made it into a new cushion cover for one of our lounge cushions. The top had a back zipper so it was an easy transformation to make it into a cushion cover and a bargain at $1 as I already had the cushion insert.
I've also been quilting donated tops again and finishing off more QAYG blocks into quilts so I'll have more finished quilts to show you on my other blog very soon.
Hugs, Jan Mac



1 comment:

Michele Bilyeu said...

Wonderful upcycling! I love turning reused items into bags, but mine involve more time and sewing. These are so much better and faster! A really way of reusing and making new for someone else to truly use!