recycled tape measure goods!

While browsing on etsy, I happened upon these fun accessories made from tape measures! David from HomeMade Karma is making earrings, bracelets and wallets in all colors. We share a love of recycling and making something from what other might see as nothing. Here are my favorites:

I love the classic yellow tape measure on these earrings and the pink on the rocker chic bracelet! Check out the shop for more...

What inspired you to start recycling?

I had always been collecting old things, broken machines and other useless items from the streets, trashcans and flea markets. When I was 15, I made a lamp out of a 50´s hairdryer and other stuff like that. But I really started making handycrafts during a travel in South America where I learned macrame and other traditional techniques from a group of artisans. Back in Europe, I continued to make things on a small scale but bit by bit changed to using other materials and techniques. I see making recycled handicrafts as a statement. Recycling & reusage is the future.


Yes! I love how you put it. What are your other hobbies?

Running, reading, mountain & water related sports, festivals, making impossible plans, spontaneous adventures, bingeing on life, too much too name...
Thank you so much David! We look forward to seeing more recycled goods in the future. In the meantime, check out these cool bags for wine or baguettes that he makes with a friend!

recycled fashion show

A couple of my good friends collaborated on this entry in the recycled fashion show in Frankfort. Aren't they gorgeous nature goddesses?

camping in recycled+revamped style

Earlier this summer I went to a women's retreat and camped in our van. It's a 1988 Ford van and it has been decked out with curtains and pockets.  There's a bed in the back and it's just perfect for us right now. Of course, I wore my tunic and hoodie b/c they are so comfy. And for those mornings when my hair is crazy - the hat I made at the recycled hat workshop! What am I holding? The last bit of last year's strawberry jam. Since then I've made a whole new batch.

Where is your favorite place to camp?

{this moment) boating on glen lake

{this moment}

an extraordinary moment that I want to savor and remember

inspired by Amanda Blake Soule at soulemama

Hope you have a wonderful summer weekend! Enjoy the water if you can!

Gorgeous recycled bird wings and a giveaway!

Check out these great wings! After some conversations with my sewing friends, we determined that making wings was a big challenge. I ended up buying a pair from another crafty etsian for little f's dragon costume (he wore that vest for 2 years!). My friend, Colleen came up with an easier solution for her seagull made of recycled sweaters. But this design is brilliant! I want to make these! I can see a gorgeous butterfly using this same concept. What will little f want to be for halloween this year?

So I read her etsy profile and sent out a request to learn more about the domestic goddess behind these folksy upcycled pretties and patterns. Jay responded right away, and it turns out that she is smart, creative and quick with a background in fashion design. With three kids to homeschool, she still finds time to create these awesome patterns and take great photos! I bought the Every Which Way reversible coat pattern and have some ideas for making it more boyish. Wood grain fabric, maybe? This skirt is on my list too, but I think I want to make one for myself...

How did you learn to sew and what inspires you?
I come from several generations of Sewists. One of most treasured pieces is a hand-sewn quilt from my great-grandmother! To study the consistency of her stitches and detailed embroidery is absolutely amazing to me. 

I was initially given some sewing basics from my mother but then really developed my skills later as an adult. After purchasing a new home, I was suddenly inspired to create curtains and slipcovers to decorate until my heart's content. 

Then along came my peeps and I realized that I just couldn't find and/or shop for the type of clothes I desired for them to wear....soooooo, I broke out the ol' sewing machine and got crafty. (sound familiar?)

When wearing their one-of-a-kind outfits about, I got a tremendous amount of compliments and requests of where my kiddos got their clothing. This really transitioned me into the direction I'm into now with pattern making.

Creating clothes on my own and tweaking existing patterns, I began to study and polish my pattern making skills. After many experimental years of bloopers and happy accidents, I would say now, that I am a pleasantly confident Sewist. :)

I have a sweet little working set-up / studio of 3 sewing machines and 2 sergers. I'm in sewing heaven!



Oh, if only I could teleport. I would love to visit that studio! Since we can't all visit her studio, Jay is willing to offer a FREE pattern to one lucky reader and to offer 20% off any pattern in her shop for everyone! The code backtoschool will be valid through midnight on July 31. How cool is that?

Here are all the ways you can enter the giveaway, just leave a comment here for each one before midnight on July 31. Winners will be posted here the first week in August.
1. Visit Chickenhill on etsy and tell us your favorite pattern.
2. Become a follower of recycled+revamped
3. Be a fan of recycled+revamped on facebook
4. Tweet about it
5. Post on your blog about this giveaway
6. Invite your friends to comment and or follow!


Happy sewing!

summer swimming in glen lake

Here's what we have been doing. See Sleeping Bear Dunes in the background? We enjoyed a lovely week at the cottage and plan to go back soon with more extended family. We swam even though it was a bit chilly - does that ever stop you when you're little? I remember swimming until our teeth chattered behind our blue lips and someone made us come up on the dock.

I'm so happy little f can go fishing with uncles and cousins, sitting for meals at the picnic table with everyone and play with everyone. We are so very lucky!

This also means a lot less computer time for me, so I'll post when I can... keep sewing and recycling!

thunderstorms at dinnertime

What do you do when the power goes out, just as you are about the chop the kale for dinner? And you have an electric stove? I guess we could have tried to find the camp stove, but instead we opted for a candlelit cereal dinner. Little f decided that he could just wear his headphones, since his mad drumming didn't stop the thunder from coming...

{this moment} mr. personality

One extraordinary moment from this week that I want to savor and remember.

What inspired you this week? Share your link in the comments.

Inspired by Amanda Blake Soule at soulemama.

School's out for the teacher (T), time for family summer fun!

Have a great weekend!

recycled+revamped little girls party dress to elastic waist party skirt!

This sweet little dress belongs to my niece, but she outgrew it and we wanted to use the fabric to make something that she could still wear. It was a 4. My sister and I measured one of her skirts and then I decided to cut it off below the zipper and add an elastic waist to make it more of a 6/7.

The waistband is a piece of an old t-shirt, about 3" wide and about 25" long. Again, this measurement was figured based on measuring an existing skirt. Using 1/2" elastic, I measured out at a piece that is about 3/4 as long as the waistband, overlapped the ends and stitched them together. Then I folded the waistband, right sides together and stitched the two ends together.

First, I folded the waistband and inserted the elastic. Using binder clips, I clipped the seams first and then clipped it again about halfway between the seams.

Then I used a stitch length of 4 to make a long basting stitch in both the lining and outer layers of the skirt, stitching the front and then stopping and starting again to stitch the back. Then I gently pulled one of the threads on the front to gather the skirt, and repeated on the back.

Then I attached the waistband to the skirt using the clips, starting at the seams and adjusting the gathers to fit.

And then I stitched the waistband and skirt together. It was a quick little project and turned out great!

Now it has a soft stretchy waistband that should fit for quite a while. It will be so cute with leggings and a t-shirt or a little sweater with tights and maryjanes!

hooded sweatshirt to hoodie revamp!

As I work my way through the ever growing to-do stack in my studio, I discovered this hooded sweatshirt that I got a few years ago at hoxeyville. While nursing, it was a challenge and I came up with the idea of adding a zipper. I tried it on another sweatshirt, adding a 7" zipper at the top, which was not quite enough. So, when I came up on a fleece vest with just the right size zipper, I cut it off and sewed it onto this!

Cutting a straight line up the middle of the sweatshirt was the challenging first step, but I was feeling gutsy and I really wanted a hoodie, so I started with cutting the ribbing from the sleeves and then went for it. Sewing it on was a little tricky and you can see that it bunched a little where the printing stuck to my presser foot. I lined the hood by tracing it out onto the cotton fabric, cutting it out and sewing the pieces together. Then I ironed the edges under 1/2", matched up the seams and sewed the lining to the hood.

Of course, the sleeves were too short, so I added the sleeves from another shirt to make arm warmers. It's super cozy, my favorite "old" sweatshirt now!

What are you revamping?

recycled+revamped baby clothes

Here are some of the recycled+revamped baby clothes that I sent to my friend in Baltimore. Sounds like it might be a boy, but since it's unclear, I tried to keep it neutral. Maybe you will be inspired to add some embellishments as well.

recycled chef hat

While we are talking about kitchens and hats, I thought I would show you the hat I made for little f at the hat workshop at the community sewing studio. It is made from a white dress shirt and a t-shirt.

Basically, I used a large dinner plate to cut out two large circle pieces. Then I took a smaller plate and cut it out of the center of one of the large circle pieces and then sewed the two large circles together.

Guessing at the size, I cut a strip of t-shirt about 5-6" wide and long enough to go almost around my own head. After stitching the short ends together, I folded it in half, so both raw edges were together. Matching this up to the inner circle in the hat, and stretching a bit to fit, I sewed the band onto the hat and ta-day! It looks great with his wood-grain apron too.

My little chef was so excited, he made me some vegetable stew and tea while baking some cookies. I even helped him reorganize and clean the upper shelf in his kitchen. We added a strong, shallow basket tray underneath to contain some of the extra stuff that was stuffed into the "refrigerator" under the sink.

Sweet play kitchen revamp from squirrels in wren's nest!

It all started with this cabinet which was scavenged from the alley. One of my creative friends and fellow blogger, Ashlea, made this sweet little kitchen for her daughter's second birthday. I love the fabric panels onthe bottom and the modern faucet! It even has a tile backsplash and coordinates with their kitchen, which I understand is awaiting a similar transformation, or at least a stove...

batik shirt into revamped shorts

This used to be a shirt. I took the pockets off and added them to the sides, after cutting the pattern on the fold. Normally, you might cut four pieces out of the fabric, but cutting on the fold saves sewing one seam and gives you a place to put your pockets. The waistband is elastic. You can't see it, but I did make button tabs on the back to adjust for sizing. Perhaps that would make a good tutorial? What other clothes would you like to learn to sew?

Hope you had a great holiday weekend! We enjoyed the fine Michigan sunshine at the beach in Empire. There's a sweet little lake there, perfect for a birthday celebration!

art party - felt sushi!

This time it was Christie's turn to bring a craft. She chose this great sushi made out of wool felt. We had so much fun making all kinds of sashimi, sushi and accompaniments!

dream collages

One of the best things about where I live is the people. There are so many cool people, and a group of us meet once a month in a sacred women's circle. It nourishes our need for friendship, community and conversation. This month we were creative too!

finishing serged edges

Here's a little technique on tucking in those threads that are left when you serge something. You can tie them in knots, but this is much cleaner looking. Using a large needle with a big eye, slip the needle back into your serging and pull the threads through. You can thread the needle after slipping it in when it's short. To make a really tight finish, repeat the whole technique to wrap the thread twice.

Right now I'm dreaming of a new serger...

Happy serging!

onesie and skirt to dress

One of my first "mama" friends came over with her little ones a while back. We are both artists, and can hardly resist the opportunity to customize something to our own tastes. She brought the brown onesie and the pink skirt and we scouted my t-shirt scraps for the green waistband and some pink striped ruffles. They are easy to make with a basting stitch (long stitch length - 4) because all you do then is pull the ends to even out the gathers and stitch them in place (after turning stitch length back to 3, of course). Confession time - this is always the hardest part of this incredibly simple process for me to remember!
More girl clothes to come...