Upcycled Polka-Dot Scarf
This simple project started out with an old black and white polka-dot pattern skirt that had outlived its used in my closet. I’m a big fan of anything polka-dot so I knew I just had to reuse this wonderful fabric in some of my future projects. I studied the skirt and realized that the fabric was still very silky, vibrant in color and had a great draping quality. These qualities made it the perfect fabric to make a beautiful scarf. The scarf style that I had in mind was a narrow and long scarf that would tie in a simple knot at the chest, or one that could be worn draped with a loose flipped-over knot at the chest.
I used one of my favorite scarfs that was similar in style. length and width as a template to see if I had the length and width needed for this project. I laid the old scarf over the longest length of the skirt to see if I had enough fabric to fashion the scarf. Once I determined that I had enough fabric on the skirt to cut out two long rectangles, I knew that sewing the two halves together at the half-mark would make one long beautiful scarf. I figured that the sewn seam at the half-mark would not be very noticeable because of the fabric’s pattern, and also because the scarf would be worn as a tie-style scarf which means the seam would always be (hidden) tucked under the collar of any blouse I’d wear.
I measured, then cut out two long wide rectangles from each edge of the skirt, folded the rectangles in half at the seams, ironed them smooth and sewed the open (opposite side) edges together. Then (wrong sides out) I sewed close one bottom edge and left the edge (at the neckline) open and then turned it inside out (gently pushing out the little corners with a knitting needle). This completed one long rectangle, thus making one-half of the scarf. Then I repeated these entire steps for the second-half of the scarf. I then joined both halves at the center and sewed the two halves together and ironed the whole scarf again. I was very happy with the results and was so glad to see that the fabric did drape beautifully.
And although I used an old polka-dot skirt from my closet for this project, you could use any fabric or style to make it your own. Another great project is to use fabric with a holiday theme print, they make a great personal gift for family and friends. So just have fun and make your own reclaimed fabric designer scarf.
Fabric Pen Embellishing
Using Blue Fabric Pen to Embellish Lapel
A fast and inexpensive way to give an outdated or worn blouse a fresh look is to embellish it with whatever color and design you’d like. Fabric paint pens are a great way to create your own designs on reclaimed or new clothing. I loved this white blouse, but I’ve always enjoyed wearing it mostly with blue jeans or navy blue pants. So when the blouse got a little worn in the collar and cuffs, I decided to give it an updated look with a pretty dark blue hand-printed design on the collar and cuffs.
Blue Fabric Pen Embellished Collar
I first practiced drawing a simple design on paper using a regular pen. Once I found a simple design pattern I liked, I used the actual fabric marker on an old plain cotton tee shirt to test the ink and feel of the pen on fabric. I practiced the design on that tee shirt and shortly thereafter started drawing the design onto the white blouse. The dark blue paint line drawn with the fabric marker does not spread at all like a regular marker does on paper, so take your time and practice until you feel comfortable.
There are several fabric marker brands on the market, most of which are available in many beautiful colors, resist fading, machine washable, and are surprisingly very inexpensive. The brand I bought is sold separately (not in a set), inexpensive, and available in about 15 different colors. For the best results, just follow your manufacturer’s instructions.
I had a lot of fun with this project and I may change the blouse buttons from white to blue, but that definitely will be a project for another day (another blog post). Although I used a white cotton blouse for this project you can use any color clothing and definitely any article of clothing from jeans to scarves, so just have fun creating your own designs.
Blue Fabric Pen Embellished Sleeve Cuff
Something Blue Pouch
something blue
This little whimsical lace and blue-cream fabric pouch started out from some leftover fabric remnants. I’m always on the lookout for small projects that I can make from leftover remnants of fabrics that I’ve saved from my numerous craft projects. I’m a sucker when it comes to fabrics and could never pass up a beautiful piece of fabric I really like, no matter how small. The bad part is that I could never throw away small leftover pieces of fabric. A few years back, I painted a tree of life for my niece’s wedding and it got me thinking about giving her a small handmade token of some kind, since we don’t have any heirloom piece in our family.
One of the traditions that came to mind was “something borrowed, something blue”. This is a tradition that dates back to the Victorian era, and each word in the famous poem really has a warm and touching meaning. So I decided to make her something blue, and not the more traditional things like jewelry, a hanky or a piece of clothing. I decided to make her this small simple keepsake and a bit of an abstract pouch (pictured above) that could be used to insert the traditional silver sixpence coin or any small silver piece, her favorite fragrance flower pedals or even potpourri. The pretty blue and cream floral print fabric is from a vintage fabric I reclaimed from an old dress.
I loved the floral print of this blue and cream colored dress, and carefully cut the dress into 4″ x 4″ squares, being careful to cut around the flower clusters in the fabric’s pattern. I folded the square in half, sewed the edges together to form a small pouch, cut a blue heart shape from a reclaimed pair of blue jeans, another (slightly larger) heart shape from a cream colored textured cotton fabric, and cut a small white piece of lace on which to rest the blue denim heart. Once I sewed and tacked these pieces together, I took a small cream colored fresh water pearl (leftover from another craft project) and sewed it in the center of the denim heart, again sewing through all the fabric layers to keep everything together.
Although I used small beautiful remnant fabrics and the pearl for this project, a special and meaningful gift can be created from any kind fabrics or even reclaimed pieces of clothing you love.
Recycled VHS Booklets Art Collage
This small collage started out with a shoe box full of ad booklets from a VHS movie club I had joined so many years ago. Every month, the movie club would send me an envelope full of ad booklets that were so beautiful and filled with so many thumbnail photos of popular movies, shows and movie stars. From time to time, I’d cut out my favorite pictures before recycling the rest of the booklets.
A while back, I was going through my shoebox and the picture cutouts still looked so beautiful that I decided to make a collage. I noticed that I had more cutouts of male actors than of any other picture cutouts, so I decided to make the actors my theme. I laid out the pictures on a table and went in search of a board to use as a base. I found a small clean leftover piece of drywall in the basement, which had an interesting rectangular shape so I used the drywall as my base. I used Mod Podge to glue on the picture cutouts and really loved the way the collage started to look as I finished each section. After finishing the collage, I liked it so much that I asked my husband to frame it for me using a frame I had leftover from another project.
It turned out to be a very nice piece and although I made this project a while ago, I wanted to post it here to show how simple and fun it can be to make a project from recycled items. And although I used a wood frame, you can use anything to frame out the collage or even no frame at all by leaving a border around the collage that you can paint using any craft paints.
A fun and great part of the project was collecting the pictures and cutting them out, so this could also be a great family project to do with your children or at school using favorite characters that you and your children love.
Reclaimed Fabric Appliques
One of the fastest and easiest ways to give a plain piece of clothing a new look is the use of fabric appliques. I’ve been collecting appliques for decades. I’ve bought appliques now and then at good clearance sales, and have even reclaimed some from sweaters, jackets and dresses I’ve bought at garage sales or vintage shops. I tend to buy black appliques more than any other color, but I do have several appliques in white and beige.
Occasionally, I’ve come across an unusual collar, like the large black beaded collar piece pictured here. This beaded collar is from a sweater I bought at a vintage shop. I sewed the beaded collar piece onto a black blouse I have and wear it with a black/brown print jacket. Appliques are very easy to sew and tack onto any piece of clothing. You can use a matching color thread and depending on the thickness of the fabric, use a heavy duty thread for heavy fabrics (like denim), or a lighter thread for delicate fabrics (like silk). Another great advantage of enhancing any article of clothing with an applique is that it’s not permanent, so if you should ever find a more beautiful applique, you can always remove it and sew on the new one in its place.
Sometimes you may come across a damaged dress or blouse that is very ornate with beautiful features, but it’s bottom edge is ripped or mangled. Well you can still reclaim the dress or what have you by cutting out the ornate applique features and using those cut pieces as appliques on your own article of clothing. Appliques are easy to sew onto any blouse, sweater, dress, jacket or even a purse because they are already affixed to a sturdy mesh backing. Most appliques are so beautiful that you can also use them in an art project. So the uses for these appliques are limited only to your imagination.