Recycled jean jacket made from old jeans

I made this recycled jacket, for my tween, out of old jeans from my teen. I love how I could breathe new life into jeans that were sitting in my "refashion pile" (doesn't everyone have one of those?!).

I used a pattern I have for a button down shirt and made some changes.

The back was made by sewing scraps of fabric (using water soluble fabric to hold it all together). 

For more details, hop on over to my blog: Falafel and the Bee.

Upcycled Tween Outfit

Sewing things my tween will wear is not always the easiest. But I think I found a winner here with this upcycled lace tablecloth shawl-shirt and pintucked skirt!

For more info on this super quick and fun sew, visit my blog: Falafel and the Bee

Western Shirt turned Rockabilly Dress

I took this vintage women's XS western shirt plus a flat bed sheet and made my daughter this rockin' Rockabilly dress! 

I created my first Instructable to show how I made this dress. More photos are here on my blog too! 

Please let me know if you make one too!

Recycled Mermaid Dress

To go with the recycled mermaid tail I made last week, I made a recycled mermaid dress! Afterall, every mermaid should have a dress.

This one was made using bubble wrap, foam wrap, produce netting, and an old sheet for the lining (so it wouldn't be scratchy), and some fabric scraps. 

If you would like to see who I made this dress for, and why, as well as more photos, head over to my blog!

Mermaid Tail from plastic woven bags

I am in an upcoming Trashion show, so I have been gathering what some might call trash. I call it treasure!

I picked these up from a local feed store. They are strange plastic woven bags, and they were discarding them.

With my sewing machine and a little paint, I turned those bags into this mermaid tail!

If you would like to read a little more about it, and see additional photos, please head over to my blog!

Juice pouch, weed barrier cloth, zip tie corset

What do you get when you combine juice pouches, weed barrier cloth, and zip ties?? A recycled corset, of course!

I cut the juice pouches open and cut them into two pieces, which made them more pliable. Then I sewed them together into sheets so that I could cut the pattern pieces out.

The lining is made with weed barrier cloth, and I used zip ties for boning.

If you would like to see more photos, and read a little more about it, hop over here.

Batik on a bed sheet

Bed sheets have got to be one of my favorite sources of fabric. Especially older ones because of the softness they have.

I started with a plain flat sheet, and I used a glue method of batik on it to create little visual interest. 

For the collar, I used a bunch of scraps and fabric pieces (there were also juice pouch scraps and cloth weed barrier too) along with some water soluble fabric, and stitched it up.

Hope on over here to find out more!

What can you make with two placemats, a napkin, and an old canopy?

Well, you can make this:

I took two placemats and sewed them together for the bodice. The bright green is a napkin I cut in half and embroidered to use for the middle part of the dress. And that gold netting came off a canopy!

If you would like to see more photos, please hop on over to my blog!

Upcycled bedsheets into Retro Style dress

I love that there are so many things you can make sheets into, and there is always plenty of fabric to go around, even to make my teen a dress! I added some couch piping for just the right chunky touch.

I used one of my favorite button-down shirt patterns, cut it above the waist, added a band, then a circle skirt. 

If you would like to see more photos, please hop on over to my blog: Falafel and the Bee

Jane Austen inspired Regency dress from a sheet

Back again to share the Jane Austen inspired Regency Style dress I made for a friend's daughter. I used an old flat sheet that another friend gave me from her grandmother's estate.

The bodice is lined with the same sheet. I love that you get oodles of fabric when using flat sheets. And because this one was older, it is very soft. Perfect for this kind of dress.

 If you would like to see more photos, you are welcome to pop on by Falafel and the Bee.

T-shirt Fish Bag

A few years ago, my daughter wanted to be a cat for Halloween. She already had the costume, but I thought she needed a clever trick-or-treat bag. So I whipped up a fish bag made from old t-shirts I had.

She loved it!

If you would like the full tutorial, hop on over to Falafel and the Bee.

1940's Wedding dress transformation

My teen daughter bought a 1940's wedding dress from a rummage sale. After we had a fun princess photo session with it, she decided she wanted to make it into something she would actually wear out.

Here is the Before and After:

She began by ripping out the sleeves, and chopping off a good length. I then dipped it into a hunter green dyebath, and it came out this incredible marbled purple!

I finished off the sleeves, neckline, and hemline.

If you would like to see more photos, you can hop on over to Falafel and the Bee.