That is a WOAHman's Shirt

Okay so I am fully aware how lame that title is but it's all I could think of so... there! This upcycle I actually completed back in Lubbock before the move but have yet to put in my blog. Two current fashion trends this year are the long tunic style shirts and denim. Regardless of which side of the "leggings as pants" debate you are currently on this type of shirt can go with everything from leggings to colored jeans! I'd been looking for one for awhile but struggled with either the fit or the $$.

My solution...THRIFT STORE SHOPPING

I'm gonna pop some tags only got 20 dollas in my pock-et

I digress. So I went into the Lubbock Goodwill and found this large men's shirt. It's a very light colored denim-esque material.

I wanted to make this shirt long enough for a tunic but definitely didn't need the width. The simplest way to take in a shirt is to take a shirt that fits you the best and lay it on top like pictured below. From there I pinned around the shirt and then sewed along the line.

The result- A nice fitted denim tunic for little money suitable for any WOman

Erica's T-shirt Quilt

Since graduation I have had a little more free time than I would like. Did I mention how much I hate job searching?! Bleh. Anyways, in order to move all of my belongings back into my room in Flower Mound I've had to do some donating and trashing of old clothing. I have also seemed to inspire others in the house to do the same. Erica (my sister) was about to throw away many of her high school t-shirts and I've always wanted to attempt a t-shirt quilt so I went to work. Man, are quilts time consuming! I have since completed all of the cutting and sewing of the t-shirt pieces!

Quilt takes up a good portion of our hallway!

Now I need to go shopping for a good fabric for the backside to finish it up! Any suggestions for color or material? (i.e. flannel, fleece, etc.)

I'm pretty happy with it for my first attempt at creating a quilt. I will post a finished, better quality (sorry about the blurry camera phone image) photo after its all said and done.

Holy Cowl Scarf!

My friend the sewing machine has been lonely lately and in need of some exercise. With that in mind I bring to you my newest creation...the ten-minute cowl scarf. As you've probably guessed, it only takes about 10 minutes to make (if that).
Step 1:
Find sweater with interesting "scarf-worthy"  pattern

Step 2:

Make one swift cut under the armpits. Hint-stripe patterns make it easy to cut in a straight line.

Step 3: Sew down  cut edge to prevent fraying. Unless you are very slow and tedious it will most likely curl...I happen to like the curly edge.

DONE!

Tried to make this photo look as winter as possible!

AND NOW a sneak peak into up-cycles to come...

                                  

Designing for Special Populations

Here's a picture of me at the final presentation of my designing for special populations class. My research focused on designing a classroom suitable for children with ADHD.

For Free. Ninety-Nine

It's been a while and I'm just dying to get my hands on some more ugly furniture, pretty fabric and my sewing machine. Over the last month I haven't had much time but I did manage to fix up this beauty.

I actually got two of these for free! Well, technically I got 4 chairs from an add on craigslist for 20$. I really bought the set for one in particular which I haven't finished yet (It's proving to be a bit more difficult than expected) so I consider it buy 1 get 3 free. The before pictures really don't do the ugliness justice. The fabric was not only burnt orange but also burnt by cigarettes (ew!) and had many stains and rips. I did, however love base and found out quite quickly that this is one of the best spinney chairs around! Anyways, after a little cleaning of the base and fresh bold print this chair is one of my new favorites. Now, I just need to redesign a room to match the color scheme!

The Need for Creativity

With all of these projects and research projects, I'm in desperate need of a little hands-on creativity. I bought this little beauty at Goodwill for about 10 dollars and I think it's wonderful! In fact I'm scared to do anything with it besides wallpapering the inside. Any ideas? (I like that I wrote that as if people actually read this.)

Drab to Fab Desk Chair

I'll start by saying I've always had an eye for renovation projects both large and small scale. Unfortunately, due to my college size budget and space my project possibilities are limited.
I was walking through a local resale store when I came across this drab office chair for 5$. I was inspired...but I thought to myself, "I've never done a full reupholstering project." I then walked away from the chair. The next two days I sat and thought about how much I liked the chair so I finally went back to the store. Luckily, the chair was still there in all of its bland, khaki colored glory.

I'll start by saying the chair wasn't SO bad to start off with. Someone without a creative eye could have used it in its current condition easily. In fact, after cleaning my room and staging the background for this "Before" image I thought maybe I don't need to cover it...but I had to remind myself that I had better plans for this chair.

Taking the chair apart was a big hassle! In fact, I had to hire in my boyfriend for help getting the back separated from the cushion with a crowbar! All that work was well worth it though when the final project was complete...

She's so elegant!

Throw a pillow on for a splash of color!

Cost of Chair: 5$
Cost of Supplies: 20$
-------------------------
Total: 25$....hard to beat