Coasters Made With Recycyled Jeans!

 Well hello everybody! I thought I'd get on here and show you all a little recycled project I've been working on.

So I'm sure like me, a lot of you have been busy cleaning, organizing and purging since just after Christmas. Well on my journey of purging I came across a bunch of jeans that I said ten years ago that I was going to get rid of but never did. LOL! If you want a chuckle you can read about that HERE. I've literally been holding on to these jeans for over 25 years! Do I have issues? Yes, yes I do.

But as of a few days ago, I am one pair down. Yes, I actually cut one whole pair of Wranglers into different sewing projects I plan on doing. One of them I'm going to show you today. It's soooo super easy and fast. 

It's these cute coasters. 

They aren't perfect. In fact I'm calling them rustic. ;-) I was experimenting with fabric and different stitches and stuff to see what would give it the best edging. I think these last two are my favorite so far. 

I wasn't going to wait until they were perfect to show you because then I would probably never get this posted so here they are in all their glory. 

Now because they are denim (and not the new kind of denim, these are the sturdy, no give denim) I decided to just stack and stitch. No turning them out and then sewing because it's too hard with this kind of denim. So the stack and stitch is what I did. 

So basically you just stack and stitch. LOL!

I put a layer of batting in the middle for extra support and stability. I used Heat Bond to iron the heart on so it wouldn't move and was easier to sew around. I would suggest doing the same if you have it. And basically that's it. 

 Have fun with different stitches and fabric. You could even do a blanket edging if you wanted. The possibilities are endless. But I like to keep it simple because I have the attention span of a two year old sometimes. Ha!

If you're interested here are a few other projects that I made in the past with old denim jeans.

 Just a warning. I've been blogging for way over ten years and a lot of my past posts have terrible pictures. So you've been warned. In fact we've been in our home now for 10 years and all of these posts were from before that in our old house. So yeah.....

Note Pad Holder

Placemats

Apron

Have a lovely day my friends. 

Kim 

Let me know if you make these. You can connect with me on Mewe these days. I started a group for this blog where us gals can get together and have a fun community.

Upcycle that Crib Skirt!

First you might be asking, “Why do I have a crib skirt?” To which I would answer, “I have no idea!” And then we would probably stare at each other awkwardly for a while and change the subject. But we are going to stay focused here and move on.

Most of you know I LOVE hanging my clothes out to dry. It’s therapy man. Cheap therapy. But unfortunately my clothespin apron had seen better days. You might also know that I only sew when I have to and it has to be quick and easy. I used to sew more back in the day but I realized quickly that I wasn’t in love with it and now only sew out of necessity.

So I started out with this.

And ended up with this.

I felt like adding a little contrast to the apron so I used some scrap fabric I had to make the pocket.

I think it came out pretty cute and best of all it only took about 20 minutes to make.

What was the last thing you upcycled?

HUGS!

Kim

The Down Side to Getting Your Craft Groove On

Some of you may or may not know this already but my friend Kathy decided that we should do a craft fair. She decided this a few weeks ago and the craft fair is in 2 weeks.

Here’s some important information.

• We’ve never done a craft fair!
• We had no crafts completed!
• I’m really not that crafty!

So what else could I say but “Heck yeah!”

I’m quickly realizing the down side to getting my craft groove on though. As I was sitting here checking my email I felt as if the room was crowding in around me.
I think I’ve figured out why.

Yeah, it ain’t pretty.

Before I got the phone call from said person, my life was a whole lot more organized. Okay maybe not my “life” but my craft room was. I have SO many ideas and now I have SO little time to make it all happen. BUT, I figured what I don’t sell I can use to open up the Etsy store I’ve always wanted to open and/or they’ll quickly turn into Christmas gifts.

So if you need me I’ll be somewhere between the ironing board and the sewing machine!

HUGS!

Kim

 

 

Hiding Shelving Ugliness!

Let me back story real quick. Seriously, real quick.

Once upon a time we moved into a home that had a dishwasher, it broke, we didn’t replace it, hubby put in shelves instead, I’m happy about it because now I have more storage.

The End!

The shelves have been built for a couple of months now and for those two months I was looking at this. Nice huh?

But since my motto for this year is “Git er’ done!”, I figured it was time to do what I’ve been talking about doing since the shelves were put in. So I raided my fabric supply and made this.

I took a lot of corners but in the end I think it came out cute. 

I’m in instant results kind of girl, so projects need to be quick. And although this one probably won’t ever get into Better Homes & Garden magazine, it’s working for me.

HAVE A CRAFTY FUN KIND OF DAY!

P,S, I’m giving away a Gooseberry Patch book if you’re interested.

One of My Finished Projects….Pillows!

Pillows are pretty easy to make. So you won’t get any tutorial from me. Well at least the basic throw pillow that I make. Which is all I need right now. I have children who LOVE to use the pillows for everything but what they are intended for. LOL!

I feel in love with this fabric. It had all the colors that I am trying to implement into our living area. It brought some life and color to the room. Before that all we had were  blocks of color. We have brown leather furniture and a great big burgundy carpet. BORING! So the pillows are a start.

They even pair up nice with the repurposed pillow I made out of old tank tops. So that was a plus.

I am also working on a project right now that is going into our living room. Once again it was a Craigslist score!

Have you got any projects in the works?

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY MY FRIENDS!

Cute Re-Purposed Projects!

These projects were spawned off of me doing another deep purge of the clutter in our home. I’ve recently read 2 super duper books that have me on a mission. I’ll share more about those on another post.

But until then here is what I’ve been working on.

The first is a re-purposed pillow.

 

This cute pillow started out as two tank tops which now look like this.

I think it came out really cute!  And it was SUPER easy.

One of my other projects has to do with baby clothes that I’ve been holding on to for way to long. For some reason I associate an article of clothing with a memory but I’m pretty sure I’ll still have the memory after the clothing is gone.

These are the results of my BFF and I brainstorming while looking at a bag full of baby clothes.

Here’s the first one.

It’s a plastic bag holder!

I LOVE this. And it is totally functional. The bags come out with ease.

 

All I did was sew up the legs and keep the middle part unbuttoned to pull the bags out.

The next one I did the exact same thing but used this one to hold my clothes pins when I hang clothes out to dry. It looks so cute hanging on the clothes line! But right now you’ll have to settle for it hanging from my arm because I forgot to take a picture of it on the line. LOL!

So what do you think? Have you re-purposed anything lately. If so, what’d you do? I’d love to know.

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY!

Today I’m linking up with:

The Pants! Project #2

You all remember the jeans I was going to give away because they were too small and they kept taunting me from inside my closet? Then I realized denim isn't cheap when you want to buy it at Joann Fabrics, so I decided that I was going to keep them and make something out of them? And then I made this out of one of the pockets?

Well I put my thinking cap back on again and finished off that same pair of jeans to make a denim apron.
It actually turned out better than I thought.
Now I'm not the best seamstress in the world and I was just winging it. When I say winging it I mean I didn't measure anything and eyeballed every cut. Pins didn't exist and the seams probably aren't perfect. Shoot I can tell you right now they aren't perfect but no one looks at the seams (not unless you have a best friend named Kathy) right?

But I need your opinion.
With a pocket or no pocket?
Or no pocket but something?
Tell me what that something is. Inspire me with your sensational ideas!

But I am proud of the fact that THIS is the only thing left of that pair of Wranglers.Can you even believe that I made this out of the pant legs? AND....
I used the seam I cut out of one of the legs as the loop to go around your neck!
Now that my friends is recycling. Or it could have just been sheer laziness. I'm not fessing up, so you believe what you want.
What are you making?

This post is linking up to The DIY Show Off!

and

My Finished Project!

Most of you have been reading hints about something that I was making.
It had something to do with an over abundance of fleece.

Remember my trash to treasure project?It was a great source of inspiration for this project.

Well that and the fact that I love my flip flops and it's been cold and I've needed a blanket for our bed!

So without further ado, my project!
This was so easy to do. The hardest part was deciding what color to use out of all the fleece I had!
I didn't cut the piece of fleece down to size or anything. I just used the big chunk that I had gotten from JoAnn's and started my project. I'm 5 foot 12 inches tall and I can't stand a blanket that doesn't cover me from head to toe. Half of it is hanging over the back of the couch! It's big!
The best part about this is that I didn't measure anything! I'm a rebel like that.

So do you want a quick run down of what I did? Yes? Oh good!
Then stick around!

If by some chance you have an over abundance of pretty blankets, then you may go.

Do some of you remember #3 of my "What I learned this week" post?
Well this is what I was talking about!You see I wanted a way to put a decorative crocheted edge around the blanket and had no idea how to go about doing that. So I put in a search on Google and realized that there was a special blade called a Skip Stitch blade for my Rotary cutter. You just run this along the edge of your fleece and it puts perfectly spaced holes in it so you can crochet your edging! Way cool!!
I am loving the possibilities of this tool.

Okay back to the making of my blanket.
I first cut out a flip flop pattern using card stock. Make it as big or as little as you want. Have fun with it.
Then I picked out from my stash of fabric all the different patterns and simply pinned the card stock to the fabric and cut them out. I cut the little thong part freehand and sewed it to the flip flop using a straight stitch.
I then used Heat Bond to secure the fabric to the fleece. Just cut the heat bond a little smaller then the flip flop itself. Use as directed on the package and align your flip flops where you want them.

After they were secured to the fleece I wanted to put a decorative edging around them, so I used the blanket stitch on my sewing machine to finish them off.
After you finished up all your flip flops you can start your edging. I chose a multi colored yarn that I already had and did a simple single crochet around the whole blanket and then finished it with a shell stitch.
See? Easy eh?

I used flip flops because it goes with our bedroom "theme". Walk around your house and get inspiration for whatever room your blanket will be used. You could cut out simple trucks for a boys room, flowers for a girls room, etc.
I hope this inspires you to try something new.

I'm linking up with:
Click on the pic to see other Do It Yourself projects!

HAVE A GREAT DAY MY FRIENDS!

Tackle it Tuesday -Christmas Apron

Well this Tuesday is a tackle in process. I'm tackling a Christmas apron this week. Here is how it's going. First off let me tell you that I'm not a great seamstress. I'm still not sure why I even try sometimes lol. I have learned to slow down a bit and "enjoy" the process though. Maybe I'm just trying to check things off the Proverbs 31 list. Ha! Ha! I've got the 21st verse pegged, since it doesn't snow in Florida LOL.Proverbs 31:21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household:.for all her household are clothed with scarlet.Wow did you see that rabbit? Okay back to my tackle.

I had to reconfigure the pattern pieces on the fabric as my fabric was not as wide as the pattern had indicated. I'm not one to stray off the beaten path of sewing as I'm not that great at it lol. But I think it's okay so far.

Here are the pieces all cut out. I just have to mark them and take off the pattern pieces.
Here is the fabric I chose. I like it. Duh! I wouldn't have chose it if I didn't. Sometimes I write the stupidest things! I guess I could just backspace and pretend it never happened but I get on a roll and then there's no stopping me so just hang with me.
Here is what I HOPE it looks like when I'm done with it. I'll be sure to post it when I'm done. Cute isn't it?
So what are you tackling today? Hop on over to 5 Minutes for Mom to see what others are doing today.
Blessings and hugs!

Some of my finished sewing projects.

I thought since I don't really have much going on today that I would show you some of my past sewing projects. Don't worry I haven't been sewing that long so there isn't a whole lot lol. I want to start sewing some things again so I'm going to compile them in a category.

Here is a quilt I made for my Mother In Law for Christmas two years ago. She loves the ocean so I picked these colors and then hand quilted waves around the border and a droplet that gets bigger in the middle, though you can't see any of that. I liked it so much that I almost kept it myself hee hee!

This one I call the "Man" quilt, because it is made out of flannel and has a camping print on it. I made this for my husband one year for Christmas as well. It's warm and cozy, perfect for Florida. :(

I made these fleece blankets for my boys. They are a John Deere theme. I made one this color and the other yellow and then the John Deere fabric. I had to do it this way because the John Deere fabric is WAY expensive, so I had to make a little go a long way.
This is a Christmas quilt I made about 4 years ago. It was actually the first thing I ever sewed in my life lol. It's great to bring out at Christmas time. It add such a homey feel.
This was the first purse I made. I made it out of my favorite pregnancy shirt. I didn't want to get rid of it and thought this would be a great way to still "use" it.
These next few you've probably already seen but I wanted to keep them all together so here they are again. I just made this one about 2 weeks ago. I love the tropical pink fabric.
This one will be so fun to carry at Christmas time.
This is just an every day type denim bag.
Here is my dress attempt. I think it came out pretty well. I actually blogged about this one not to long ago, but like I said I am just trying to compile into a sewing category so here it is again.

Well I think that's it for now except a bag I just made for Laura Lee over at Laura Lee's Lifesong. I forgot to take a picture of it, duh! Maybe she'll take one for me *wink**wink*!
I hope you all have a most blessed day!