recycled sweater skirt

A while back, we were headed out on a date night with all our little buddies parents. We were excited to see them and have adult conversations while the kids had time with their grandparents. As I was getting dressed, I couldn't seem to find what I wanted - something warm, cute and fashionable. Now this happens more often than you might expect. It results in a frenzy of activity in my studio as a pile of collected goods is transformed into the finished piece. The inspiration for these projects is often prompted by just such a deadline.  I'm so glad it all worked out this time!

the little boys wedding suit

When I bought this pattern from Chicken Hill, I had a few ideas about how it was going to be more boyish, most of them involving buttons. Turns out it was the perfect choice for a wedding suit. Not only was it fairly simple in construction, the clean lines work on corduroy really well. For those of you who are learning to sew, please know that corduroy has a nap, which means you can brush the fibers up and feel roughness, or down and feel smooth. All your pattern pieces must be going up and down in the same direction. This often requires a bit more fabric than suggested in most patterns. I tell you all this because only after cutting out this pattern, I remembered it. Oh my! At least you may learn from this.

Here you see the suit in action with his little cousin, who was the ringbearer at Emily and Rob's wedding in Grand Rapids a few weeks ago.

Love the way this jacket wears. I lined it with a nice cotton batik that has dragons in it, so when he's feeling crazy, he can reverse both the jacket and pants. Could make for some fun holiday photos, huh?

One of the last things I made to wear was this cashmere shrug. It was a turtleneck sweater. I cut off the neck and down the front. Then I cut off the bottom half, folded it in half lengthwise and attached it as a shawl collar. After stitching in the sleeves a bit and down the sides, the bottom ribbing was added to the bottom and a sweet flower stiched on with some large vintage hooks and eyes. I'll show you my inspiration soon...

revamped cashmere sweater

Here it is, finally! The turquoise cowl neck sweater I made a while back. Photos were promised, and life sped along. But, I gave you my word so I had to show you the finished sweater in action. 

You can find the tutorial at my etsy shop. I used two turtleneck sweaters, but I don't think that the existing sweater neckline is that important, since it gets cut off one sweater and only the body and sleeves of the other one are used. I'm wearing it over another recycled tank top tunic that I made a while back.

And look who else wanted their picture taken? He's wearing his wool longies and cashmere elf hat. They look cozy, don't they? He's been wearing the pants for over a year now. I love wool longies! There's a tutorial for those in my shop too.

recycled wool sweater coat and kids star tote bag

 

Last fall, when Fyn was outgrowing his little fox sweater coat, I set about making him a new one. The fair isle sweater was the starting point and from there, I added the ice skating sweater on the back. With the hood and sleeves layed out, I placed the other sweater pieces in place and stitched them together. Using a fleece vest as a lining, all the pieces were attached and here it is! Fyn loves it and we get plenty of attention when he wears it. 

"You didn't get that here! You must have gotten that in New York!" is my favorite comment to far.

And the pointy elfin hood pulls up to cover his head, while the sleeves roll down to cover his hands when we need a little extra warmth. That means we don't have to keep track of hats or mittens all the time.


Yes, I was able to figure out a way to circumvent the technical issues so I could blog! There's so much to tell you about with christmas and all! I'll try to get you caught up in the next few weeks. And I'm hoping to post a few more tutorials and some new things on my etsy shop.

what I wore sunday - recycled wool sweater hoodie

It started with one cable knit crew neck sweater and one boiled wool zippered cardigan and became a sweet hoodie with a pointy elf hood. Neither one is felted. I took the body of the sweater to make the hat, using the bottom band for the hood opening. It folds back nicely, so I'm thinking of putting together a tutorial for you. It's on my ever-growing to-do list.

The skirt is new, a wrap skirt from Yana Dee, that I picked up at the Holiday Art Market this weekend. Underneath is another wrap skirt in a soft hand-dyed cotton to keep me warm! And the hat is one that I made from a tutorial in CRAFT magazine. Here's an earlier post with all the details.

Fyn's sporting a little recycled wool elf hat too, made from a felted wool sweater. He need his sunglasses, it was so sunny today!

earth day giveaway over at resweater!

check it out, Kris is a recyclist helping others to recycle with supplies (wool sweaters) and ideas! She has helped me out many times with some great woolens! Here's the scoop.

photo tutorial - rebirth of hotpink clogs

a recycled wool baby sweater

Here's a sweet little sweater that I made for my friend's baby girl. The trim is some of the same yarn we used at the blessingway, couched on with a zig zag stitch. The style is inspired by my friend Rose. The buttons are from a cardigan, cut out in squares. There's another button inside too. A tutorial is on my mind, anyone interested?

revamping a little pink dress

This sweet little organic dress was covered with embroidered cutesies. They had to go, so I found a pink sweater that matched, and cut out the pieces to replace the yoke and make a pocket. Somehow, the cutesy is much better inside the pocket!
The whole dress is so much better!

revamped cashmere cowl neck sweater and a tutorial giveaway

mmm, cashmere! After a comprehensive closet assessment, I determined that I needed more sweaters. I headed over to resweater where I lucked out and actually got two of the exact same turquoise cashmere sweater! Here's a preview of my next tutorial...




It also has instructions for adding wristwarmers to the sleeves of the sweater! Can I tell you how excited I am to finally have a sweater that has sleeves long enough to be comfortable? Ooh, it's so deluxe that I wore it for two days in a row! I'm basking in the success of another great revamp, especially after my last t-shirt project, inspired by a Generation T sewing party with my friends. It reminded me why I like to sew things that don't have to fit! Perhaps when I get it worked out, you'll get to see it. For now, I'll be wearing this sweater...

What kind of tutorials should I make next? What do you want to learn about sewing? Leave a comment with the details by March 23 and I'll enter you in a giveaway for a tutorial, and you can become a recycled+revamped product tester. Tell your friends.

recycled sweater tutorial - shawl collar

Recycling is so much fun! After cleaning out my closet, I found some things that needed updating and a few more that need to be added. After shopping with a girlfriend in a couple of fabulous boutiques, I was inspired to make some of my own designs rather than shelling out hundreds for them.
So here's one of the projects:

I found this dress in my closet during my spring cleaning, and decided that it wanted to look less like a nightgown and more like something spectacular, and warm. This great brown sweater in my stash was already felted, and it was just the right color for a collar to make the dress warm and cozy. How to do it? Here you go!

Fold the sweater and layed it under the dress to see how it would look. Figure out how you can make one continuous piece with the sweater you choose. This one was a turtleneck sweater.

Cut the turtleneck off the sweater.

Cut the body off the sweater, just below the arms, and trim the top into a rectangle. Then cut the arms off, making a straight cut rather than an angled one.

Lay the pieces together and make sure they are close to the same size.

Fold the rectangle with right sides together and serge or sew with a stretch stitch.

Slide one of the sleeves into the tube you just made and stitch them with right sides together, being careful not to stretch it too much. Repeat with the other sleeve and turn right side out. If you decide to taper off the end of the sleeve, it's easier to wait until you attach it.

You should have a nice long collar piece ready to be attached. The sleeves had a nice finished edge, so I made that part of the design.

Pin the collar piece inside the dress.

Stitch with the dress on top and collar on bottom. I stretched the collar piece a little, since I wanted to be sure it wasn't loose. Ribbed sweater have a lot of stretch, so you can use them like you would ribbing (like the bottom or sleeves of a sweatshirt). I used a zig zag since it is a stretch stitch. There might be another stretch stitch on your machine which looks like three rows of stitches next to each other.

Here it is! After trying it on, I decided that it would make a better tunic after all, and I cut straight across the bottom. Since it's cotton jersey (like a t-shirt) it won't unravel. And the sweater probably won't shrink if I wash it in cold, but I think I'll try to wash it on delicate with my other wool goodies.

Special thanks to my favorite sweater source, for once again, providing the perfect sweater for my project!

This was another shawl collar added to a long sweater, which I made skinny and cut off the sleeves. It's incredibly warm and comfortable with leggings and a turtleneck!

birthday celebration #2

Wow, that year went fast! This year I found time to make Fyn a special birthday outfit. I love being way too much, it makes me so happy. The pants and cape are made from a dress from a friend that I got at a clothing swap. The sweater is made from 2 wool sweaters in my stash. The shirts, one is recycled from our old shirt bin and the other I did buy fabric. And then I made some thermal long johns, just to keep him warm.


We celebrated a few times, once with family, once with close friends, starting the tradition of the birthday pineapple, and once with buddies. The pineapple idea started when my friends didn't know what to give another friend as a gift. And then I started thinking about eating fresh pineapple in the middle of winter, and it was $4 for an organic one at the co-op, so into my cart it went. So much less expensive than a trip to the tropics, and easy to transport in my bag. A stub of a beeswax candle fit perfectly in the top and we all feasted on fresh fruit!


And we all wore birthday crowns made from recycled wool sweaters and jeans! Best part is they can be reused every year.

a new hooded wool sweater!

I love this sweater. My aunt made it for us. The pattern is a child's hooded tunic from pure and simple. It seems like everyone comments on this sweater, and knitters want to know where to find the pattern. Seems that it isn't sold online, so I went to the Lost Art yarn shop in downtown Traverse City.

This is now the third sweater in this pattern that people have made for us. It's a favorite that will keep coming back in different yarns and sizes, as long as my aunt and other friends keep knitting these incredible gifts for us! I'm eyeing one of Melissa's handspun yarns...

The flannel pants were one of the things I made for christmas from a pattern I made from another pair of pants. They are so fun to make, and they go really quickly.

conscious clothing designs are some of my favorite!

This is what I need today. It looks gorgeous and goes with everything. And it's made with cashmere and lambswool, so soft...

The fabrics are organic cotton, wool, hemp and recycled wool and cotton. How could anyone resist? And who would believe that Rose learned to sew recently!


This is my absolute favorite dress right now. It's so sleek, stylish and romantic. It would even work for nursing! Now to decide what color... This would be my choice for a valentine's dinner with my husband.

trnka has cool stuff for kids and boys too!

I love these! There are plenty more here too... I love how the different sweaters are used.


I'd love to see my valentine in this, he would be so soft (it's cashmere!), so stylish and warm!

new on etsy - wool longies tutorial

After making several pairs of these for my little guy, I decided to share my version with those of you who are beginning to sew for your babies. You can find the tutorial here.

I added the squirrel and acorns to cover the moth holes in this cashmere sweater.

here's what they look like without embellishment...

You might already know about my favorite sweater source...

devilmademedoit recycled wool and cashmere clothes!

Wow. I want it all. Dresses, sweaters, cowls, skirts all in recycled wool and cashmere. Super stylish. I could look great, be warm and comfortable. You'll want it all too. Tamara does an amazing job of putting it all together.