Tutorial Tuesday: Denim Tote from Left Over Pockets

Hello and welcome to Tutorial Tuesday! I am continuing with my denim destashing and giving you this denim tote from random pockets I have been saving from hubby's worn out pants.

 Here are the pockets, four in total; two regular and two that have a fold-over flap.

I decided to attach the regular pockets to one of the fold-over flap pockets.

voila

I then opened up the other pant leg with the other fold-over flap pocket and sewed each side to the sides of the regular pockets. 

This forms a box with no top or bottom.

With extra denim lying around, I made a lining for the tote. I cut out two rectangles; one for the bottom and the other for the lining of the tote.  I sewed one all around the square-like form of the pockets.

Now, for the lining, in addition the rectangular bottom piece, I cut out the same shapes as the pockets from extra denim, sewed them together like I did the tote. It's like making another separate tote.

Then you attach the lining to the actual tote, right sides together. 

Make sure you leave a little extra space to turn inside out.

This is what it looks like turned inside out

How it looks when you put the lining inside. 

Now iron all around the top part of the tote. We'll start making the straps.

I used the leg of a pant for the straps about two inches wide. Fold each, the long way, stitch right sides together and then turn inside out. If your denim is too thick, I would just topstitch each strip with ends folded in.

This is what you get. Two strips for straps.

Determine placement and put the ends in between the lining and the tote.

Then topstitch all around.

This is what it looks like at this point. I wanted to add a little more interest though.

I still had the top part of some other pants I reconstructed earlier.

I cut two  bands from the tops of two different pants. I also cut the loops off.

This is what they looked like after I finished.

 I attached the bands together and sewed them to the top of the tote.

Voila again!

I love these shots! I had to take my "after" pictures with my kids in tow. Sumer camp had not yet started last week. 

Flexing my mommy muscle! lol. So glad my yard is enclosed and Dan can't run away while my oldest takes pics!

"yes, you can get your car from my tote!"

Thanks for reading!Tell me what you think.

Jumpsuit from Recycled Boy Jeans

As promised in my previous post, here's my denim jumpsuit made from recycled boy pants. 

I 

I used about four boy pants, sized 12-14, for this entire jumpsuit. 

The pattern was self drafted using this inspiration photo.

Front panel from a pant leg. I cut two of these.

Back from another pant leg.

For the waistband, I used recycled jersey from a t-shirt and I made the pant legs using one of my low-waisted pants as a pattern. I am happy with the outcome although I think I might make it a little shorter. 

I will definitely wear this in the neighborhood to run errands, at the playground with the boys, even the beach. It would look good with a swimsuit underneath. 

I look at each and every comment and appreciate your feedback! 

Sew and Tell: Draped Sweatshirt

My kids are home for spring break so I didn't have time to post my biweekly Tuesday Tutorial. Sorry about that, hopefully, I'll have it up by next week. In it's place, here you have what will be last sweatshirt post until the fall.

Here's a draped sweatshirt I made from a 3X mens sweatshirt. I know, I know, sweatshirts don't drape well but hey, I had to try it out. I like it and it does look good with leggings. 

I also like the sleeves which are half off. A little Star Warsy, no? I need every bit of warrior fashion to face spring break with the kids! Lol.

Here it is without the belt. 

I then decided to add a snap to it and now I love it even more. 

"Wait a second children, one last pic"

I feel like a warrior mom ready to tackle spring break with the kids!!!

Thoughts?

Sew and Tell: Sweatshirt Jumpsuit #2

I know that spring is coming soon and I will have to hang up my sweatshirts but it is still cold here in New York and I am still sporting these so I might as well show you this second sweatshirt jumpsuit while I still can! Remember the first? I also made this one from 2 1/12 sweatshirts. 

I thought it would be too bulky if I made the pockets from sweatshirts so these were made from t-shirt. Unlike the first jumpsuit, these pockets are also deeper so they appear less drapey.  Like the first one, though, the bottom part of the legs are made from left over sleeves. I really do have to post a tutorial. 

Like my striped socks! The overlapping v-neck contains less fabric than the first as to, again, do away with the bulk.  

What do you think? Would you wear one of these? Attempt to make one?  Which do you like better? The first or the second?

T-Shirt Reconstruction from the Vault

I love this t-shirt reconstruction I made this past summer. I created a sweetheart neckline and added black stretchy fabric to fill in the shoulder area.

I thought it could be a mini-dress but it was way too short for me so I cut it and made it a top. I really love it.  

What do you think?

Tutorial: Make a Belt from Boots!

I am so excited about this new tutorial! It's been in the works for a while. It's a belt from boots!

I have had these boots for about three years and they finally broke on me. 3 years is not bad for $10 boots, right? I should be sad but it actually made me happy because there were so many possibilities. These boots had cute buckles so I had options; should I make a cuff? A belt? A hat? I chose to make a belt out of it.

To start, position your scissor ½ inch away from zipper and cut around it.

Then cut around the ankle of the boot. What you want to do is free the whole top part of the boot from the bottom.

Do this for the other boot so you can have two similar pieces like these. 



I straightened the edges of the pieces I am going to sew together to make it easier to sew in a straight line.

I measured to make sure I cut the same amount on each side. With this detail, I had to make sure it looked symmetrical.

Now they look about the same size on each side.

There was a lot of padding in this boot so I cut the edge off so it would be easier to sew.

Here it is with the two pieces sewn together (sorry, forgot to include a pic of me doing that).

I also decided to top stitch the middle seam so it looks a little cleaner.

All this time I was seing the belt detail this way

Then I turned it around and it made sense! This is the natural shape of the waist!

I then thought it was too thick and would look even better without the extra bulk on top. I also thought the buckle detail would show off better.

This is what you have left.

I also cut away more of the padding in the back for easy sewing. 

Now for the elastic! I found an elastic from a dress that I didn’t wear anymore and I cut it off the dress. However, since the belt was thick, I had to use another elastic. You can  buy this kind of thick elastic at most fabric stores. 

If you recycled an elastic from a dress, like me, cut the elastic so you have one strip. Don't worry about measuring now

Place both strips of elastic on top of one side of of belt (belt, right side facing out).

Sew slowly, making sure elastic doesn’t slide while you sew. This was too thick to pin so I just held it tight. 

Turn it around and topstitch. 

I then put it on my waist and measured to see how much elastic I had to cut off to fit me nicely.

 I cut and then sewed on the other side and top stitched.

The end result, front and back.

I have to admit, I took the lazy yet difficult way out. I wanted to finish it so bad that I didn’t want to take the time to put in snaps, that is definitely another option.  The difficult part is then putting it on over your head. Oh well, at least you have the elastic to help you. 

I love the way it came out though!

I would love to hear your thoughts! Also, if you have any questions. Let me know.