Upcycled T-shirt Burp Rags

I am pretty sure that having a baby can break the bank, but I also know that you don't have to let this happen. I made some upcycled t-shirt burp rags for Miss E, and I liked how well they turned out. 

What I liked about them was they were free to me! They also are thin so they didn't stay soaked forever. They are also absorbent. 

Supplies

Old t-shirt

Thread

Sewing machine or needle if you do these by hand.

Instructions

Cut out your t-shirt. I don't want to give you an exact size because the size will depend on your shirt. If you see in my picture, you can get an idea of where I cut. Cut through both layers.

Here is another shirt that I decided to do a little different due to the design.

Pin together and sew. I didn't worry about trying to put mine right sides together to flip. I just sewed around all four sides. I used 1/2 seam allowance, but you can vary the seam allowance. 

You could choose to do this by hand if you don't have a sewing machine.

You are done! Pretty simple right. Here are the two burp rags all ready for some spit up action!

I would love if you would pin this project!

Make Jeans Into a Skirt Tutorial

A few months ago, a girl at my church handed me a bag with about 10 pair of jeans in them and said you are creative, maybe you can make them into skirts for me.

Yes, I have made jeans into a skirt, but I wasn't ready to invest that much time into that many skirts that looked the same. I didn't know if any of the jeans even fit the girl as they were all given to her. 

I made a deal with this girl, I would teach her how to make the skirt, but she was going to come over and do all the work. She agreed, but I didn't know how long it would take to actually make it happen. 

One day, she got out of school early, so she came over and we got to work. By that evening she had gotten three skirts made. One light denim, one dark denim, and one black. I was impressed!

Do you have a pair of jeans that you would like to make into a skirt?

The first thing you need to do is to cut the inseam between the legs. Cut right beside the seam. You will need to cut a little above the inseam into the crotch in order to get the skirt to lay flat. 

Decide what length you want and cut off the length. 

You can also keep them full length, and then you will need more fabric to put in the middle. What you cut off will help fill in the skirt if you cut it off to about knee length,

Pin together the crotch area. I would encourage you to try on the skirt at this point to make sure that what you have cut lays flat. 

Take the legs that you cut off and add those pieces of cut off jean into the triangle hole. You will sew these together. 

Decide on your hem. You can just sew around the bottom and let it fray or you can fold up the bottom and hem.

Here is Ashley in one of the skirts she made. 

I know these are brief instructions, so feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to help!

DIY Record Bowl

Do you have any records around your house that you don't know what to do with? I had seen the idea of making a record bowl, but I always thought it would be too hard to do. Well guess what? My MIL proved to me that it isn't!

Supplies:

Record

Bowl

Cooking spray or wax paper

Oven

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 F. 

2. Spray the top of your bowl to shape the record or place wax paper on top of your bowl. 

3. Place the record on top of the bowl.  

 4. Put your bowl in the oven for 10 minutes.

5. My MIL didn't like how the record was laying so she reshaped it a little and placed it back in the oven.

 6. And you are done! Pretty simple, right?

How many of you have records are home that you will try this with?

If you think you might do this in the future, when you find some cheap records at a garage sale. Go ahead and pin this to pinterest so that you can find the tutorial!

DIY Laptop Sleeve Tutorial

I was given a pile of clothes. There were a few sweatshirts that I wanted to upcycle into something else. This pile has been on my list of goals for the last few weeks. 

My husband told me the other day that he wanted a laptop sleeve for when he has to go to class. I was flipping through Martha Stewart when I saw this picture. I thought I could at least give something like it a try! 

source

I started by taking the old sweatshirt and cutting off the front and sleeves.

I then made sure I had enough length to fold in thirds around the laptop.

I folded down and sewed around the top of the laptop sleeve. 

I then pinned together the sides with right side together. I wanted this to be fitting without being too snug.

This is what it looked like with both sides pinned. Go ahead and slip the laptop in to make sure it fits. I sewed these sides together. 

Then I folded down and pinned around the flap. I sewed these areas together. 

I then sewed on buttons and sweet talked my mom into putting in button holes. I need to figure out how to use my button holer. 

Done! 

Linking to Romance on a Dime, Pin Junkie

Children's Book Easter Grass

I have this big candle holder from our wedding. It needed something in it since I took out my winter decorations. My friend Cindy recommended cutting up a children's book for Easter grass. I just cut the pages to about 1 inch by 3 inches. I did crumple them a little to give them more height. 

I also about bought some plastic eggs from a thrift store. I made sure to clean them with bleach before using. They cost me 75 cents. Cheap project!

Upcycle Sweater to Infinity Scarf Tutorial

My grandma had been given this sweater a while ago and she didn't want it. I did not like it as a sweater, but something about it drew my attention. 

I wanted to make something out of this sweater. Stockings and a hat crossed my mind, but neither of these had been exciting enough to me to do them. I then decided on an infinity scarf. And off to work I went.

The first thing that I did was cut off the sweater right under the arm pits.

Next I sewed a zig-zag stitch around the edges that I cut. If you have a serger, this would be even better. Just trying to keep the edges from raveling.

I cut up one of the side seams. Then I folded the material in half, right sides together, and pinned it together.

I then sewed it together and turned the scarf right side out.

I then took the ends and put right sides together. I sewed these together as far as I could with my sewing machine.

I was left with a little hole.

I sewed this hole together by hand.

There you have it! Great way to make an ugly sweater come to life.

Make sure you pin this project to use in the future!

Linked to Romance on a Dime, Craftionary, Ladies Holiday, Serenity Now, My Repurposed Life