Sunday, May 31, 2009

UP-Cycling

Have you heard of this… its taking old things and altering them so they can be used again!  Well, my favorite type of Up-cyling is altering my girls clothes.
Sierra and Ruby now officially wear the same size, but it doesn’t matter, because both of them put holes in their jeans like nobody’s business.  I just went through their winter clothes and basically none of the jeans are useable for Karis.  The jeans still fit the older two now – but they don’t want to wear jeans (and of course, we have tons), they want shorts and skirts for the summer, and they most likely won’t fit next fall. Besides, there are holes and it gets awfully cold here!
So here is my solution…
Ordinary pair of jeans with holes in the knees:
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So you’re probably thinking, cut them off for shorts – duh!!!  But have you ever noticed that jeans fit tighter than shorts… and especially Ruby, whose thighs are more generous, its not comfortable to have just plain ole cutoffs.
And of course there are HOLES in the KNEES – so you can’t make them capris….
But you can make a skirt!!!!  I convinced Sierra to keep this long (she wanted a mini skirt) and I wanted to put a ruffle on the edge, but she wanted it to fray – so I didn’t finish the edge – this is one of her favorite skirts now.
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But – these ‘bermuda’ shorts I think are adorable.  They are longer so you don’t have to worry about thunder thighs sticking out, but not quite capris.  And I think the ruffles make them just a tad bit longer and feel more stylish than ‘my mom cut off my jeans and is making me wear them this summer instead of buying me shorts!’  LOL!
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I have a few more pairs of holey jeans – I can’t wait to play.  I’m going to make Ruby a skirt and put a ruffle on it, and of course, they each have a pair of plain cutoffs, but I need to use up my fabric scraps and I like to play!!
Speaking of scraps, I’m thinking of appliquéing some flowers, birds, and butterflies on some of the girls (and mine!) plain t-shirts… I’ll post pics if I like how it turns out.

7 comments:

Martha ~ xpetunia said...

Aleta - WOW! I am so jealous of your talent! I wish I knew how to sew... :( I especially love the first skirt - totally awesome!

Tricia said...

These are adorable! I'd wear them!

Scraptab said...

These are amazing! Those shorts are too cute.

Geri said...

Oh how cute!!! Love it! I have a pair of jeans that are highwaters... I may cut them off and add some lace .. .they'll make cute summer shorts. My sewing machine has never seen cloth - only paper... so this may freak it out!!!

Kylie said...

I wanna shop for clothes at your house! Great job Aleta!!

Jen said...

I want you to come live with me!!! Girl, you are so incredibly talented!!!!!!!!!!

Martha said...

That's an awesome idea....thanks so much!!!

Can I share that on my blog?