Looking for a fun way to upcycle a men’s tie? Here is an easy and super cute idea to turn it into a key ring.
You will need:
- an old tie
- a key ring
- scissors
- needle and thread (or glue)
- ruler
My hubby happens to have a lot of ties so he was willing to sacrifice these two ties for my project. Thanks dear!
Cut the tie approximately 9 inches long.
At the cut end, tuck the fabric out of the way and trim 1/2 inch (1cm) off interfacing that is inside.
Fold inside and tuck the fabric inside. You could sew or glue this end to make a clean edge.
I sewed it with just a few stitches.
Next, fold the mini tie in half and slide it into the key ring.
Pull the ends through the loop to form a knot.
Pull the knot tight by tugging on the key ring. It looks like a proper tie knot without actually having to know how to tie it. The pointed end is perfect for the size of the key ring.
This is the back side of the tie. I added a few more stitches so the tie wouldn’t shift around, but that is optional.
How cute is this?!?
Now there is still half of a tie left so I’m going back to Pinterest for some more ideas for tie upcycling. I will let you know how that goes!
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Upcycle Denim – Decorative Baskets made from Jeans
I’ve been working on another denim upcycle. If you have some blue jeans to cut up for an upcycle, you can turn it into a basket for your desk or craft area.
You will need:
- old jeans (I used kids jeans for a narrow basket)
- scissors
- trim
- sewing machine (or needle and thread)
First of all, I cut the jeans off around 7 inches from the bottom. I don’t mind the rough bottoms as long as the jeans are clean before you start. I think the frayed bottoms look good too!
Turn the piece inside out. Sew straight across the bottom 1/2 inch or 1 cm from the cut edge. You could hand sew this if you don’t have a sewing machine.
Now flatten the bottom and pin 1 inch (2.5 cms) from each corner. This will make your basket more boxy at the bottom and easier to stand up.
Stitch across the line.
Cut off the triangles on the outside of your last stitch.
Turn the basket inside out.
The square corners that you just created will help it to stand up. You can roll over the edge once or twice.
So you can stop there and fill up your baskets with small toys, pens, sewing items, nail polish etc….or…add some garnishes.
I pinned a bow on one but decided to add more color…. I added a felt flower left over from coffee cup warmers (see the link below).
Then I thought of some trim…maybe with some pompoms. The kind sold in the drapery part of the fabric store. Yes!
The solid white and pink trims cost approx. $2 per yard but the colourful larger trim was $8.99 per yard. Ouch! Fortunately it was on sale for 50% off so I got a yard.
Turn the basket inside out to pin the trim in place.
Before sewing, turn the basket right side out again to check out how it will look.
Here is my colorful pompoms too. They make me so happy!
Take it slow while you are sewing on the trim. The pompoms keep trying to get in the way.
There you have it!
I used children’s jeans so that the basket would be small to hold a bunch of nail polish, sewing supplies, Lego or pens. If you use adult jeans and the area higher on the pant leg you could use it to hold magazines Fill the bin with craft supplies, bigger toys, or whatever things need gathering up to keep your place tidy!
Below I have put some more upcycle projects that I posted in the past year. Have a look!
Felt Business Card Holder – Easy Kid’s Project!
Learn how to make Business Card Holders out of Felt!
Looking for an Easy Sewing Project? Teach your child how to hand or machine sew with this quick gift idea. I’m going to show you how to make a felt business card holder with hearts or buttons for decoration and 3 ways to hand stitch.
We have a big event coming up where thousands of people from all over the world will be gathered and at the end swapping little gifts. So I have been searching for little homemade souvenirs for our family to give to the friends we meet. We might even get business cards printed-with our family email to put in the felt holder so we can become pen pals.
This seemed like an easy, fun, cute craft to make together. Plus teach some basic sewing skills…Brilliant!
You will need:
- 1 full piece of craft felt
- scrap pieces of felt for the heart
- scissors
- needle
- embroidery thread
- a business card
- sewing machine (optional)
- bright buttons (optional)
If you don’t already have felt and embroidery thread on hand you can get these from the dollar store, Walmart and craft stores.
I must admit, I am a bit of a felt hoarder-so I have bought mine from several sources. I found the felt sold by Hobby Lobby for 33 cents was the best quality and value.
One sheet of felt is usually around 9 1/4 x 12 inches (24 x 30 cm). This is the perfect size to cut into 6 business card holders. Fold the sheet in half lengthwise and cut along the fold. Fold one of those pieces into thirds and cut on the fold. (bottom photos) In the end you should have 6 pieces 4 x 4 1/2 inches (10 x 12 cm).
Have a business card handy to make sure it fits.
To get started cut small love hearts to decorate the outside of the card holder.
The easiest way to cut a heart is to fold the scrap of felt in half and then cut half the heart so both sides are the same.
Choose matching or contrast embroidery thread.
Divide regular embroidery thread into 2 sections of 3 strands each.
Knot the embroidery thread and begin sewing small stitches to attach the heart to the top of the felt.
Another idea is just to sew a bright button on instead of a heart. Teaching your child how to sew a button on and a simple hand sewing could really be helpful later in life.
A side note: Would you believe that while I was proof reading this my hubby has handed me a pair of his work pants and a button that just fell off. That proves just my point-thanks dear!
Fold the felt in half to form the little folder to hold the business cards. Here are 3 options we tried for hand stitching.
Whip Stitch: Knot the end of the thread and start on the inside of the fabric. Sewing in from the front and out the back and around. Back in the front a smidge to the left of the previous stitch.
Blanket Stitch: Start from the inside to hide the knotted end, then go through both layers. Stitches can be a bit further apart with the blanket stitch. Go in through the front of the fabric. As you pull the thread through, insert your needle through the loop and pull it securely to make your knot. Insert the needle into the front again the same distance from the previous stitches. At the final stitch go through a second time to make that knot and then insert your needle between the two layers of fabric and cut the thread.
Running Stitch: Knot the embroidery floss and begin on the inside to hide the knotted end. Use a running stitch to go in and out all the way up both edges.
My 11 year old preferred the blanket stitch. Not bad for her first attempt.
She also liked having one small heart over a larger heart.
The grey felt with red hearts with red stitching looks pretty good!
Option 2
To make the process faster (as I mentioned we want to make a lot of them)…we sewed the hearts on first and got a little bit faster with each one.
We hand sewed 10 hearts onto squares of felt and ran them through the sewing machine to make a tidy edge.
Could this get any easier! What a great idea…I want to thank my friend Ashley for sparking this idea over dinner last week. Great food, lovely ladies and a bit of craft talk snuck into to the evening…my favorite!
On this blustery, winter day you might be inspired to work with felt too! I have added links to a few of my posts from last year for you skim through and see if an idea is sparked for you too.
Sew a Super Easy to Make Felt Crown – Add to your dress up clothes!
100th Day of School Celebration-Glue Buttons on a shirt for a Gumball Machine
Burlap and Ribbons Heart Decorations
Love is in the air this week! There is a family wedding soon so its time for a beautiful, rustic, heart shaped craft with ribbons and lace!
This pretty little decoration uses up scraps of fabric and trims you already have.
You will need:
- scraps of fabric (I used a piece of drop cloth-it looks like linen)
- paper and pencil
- burlap
- ribbon
- lace
- pretty little buttons
- stuffing
- sewing machine
- scissors and pins
- wire and pliers to hang it up (use string or ribbon if you don’t have wire)
Use a piece of paper to decide what size of heart you would like. Cut the paper into a square. Fold it in half and draw a half heart. Open the page and pin it to your fabric.
Lay out the ribbons and trims on your heart shaped fabric. My beige fabric looks like linen but its a scrap of a drop cloth from tote bags I have made in the past.
Using a sewing machine, sew each piece of trim, lace or ribbon into place.
The trims look really nice crisscrossing each other. Try different random pieces. Burlap adds rustic texture to the project.
Add buttons and bows to the project. Remember not to place them too close to the edge because you need to sew around the edges.
Add 2 tiny loops of ribbon to the top edge and sew a few stiches to keep them in place.
Pin the two heart shaped pieces of fabric together with right sides facing inwards. Sew around the edge leaving a 1 1/2 inch gap opening so you can later turn it inside out.
At the top of the heart snip a tiny cut and a few snips around the rounded parts of the top of the heart. Do not cut through the stitched areas.
Open the gap and pull the fabric through the hole to turn it inside out.
Add stuffing.
Fold over the edges at the opening, pin in place and hand sew the opening closed.
I love wire crafts so I had lots of left overs! For this project I used 14 gauge wire from the hardware store. Use big pliers to cut the wire approx. 8 inches long. Fold the wire in half. (if you don’t want to use wire just use ribbon or twine to hang it)
Using round plyers twist the ends into a bit of a spiral.
Hook the ribbon loop around the curled ends of the wire.
These turned out so pretty!
In the past year I’ve done a few heart shaped gifts and projects. Have a look below!
Upcycled Jeans – Sweatshirt Refashion
On a previous post we took the leg of a pair of jeans and turned it into a wine bottle gift bag. (See below for a link on that!) Today we have another upcycle project for those jeans that we are cutting up for parts. We are going to upcycle a plain shirt and add a love heart made out of old jeans.
You will need:
- t-shirt or sweatshirt
- old blue jeans (actually just a leg)
- needle
- thread or embroidery floss
- scissors
I found this shirt on a clearance rack for $7.00. Perfect for my project. You can use an old t-shirt or sweat shirt you already have in the closet. Or, this is an awesome solution to a favorite shirt with a stain on the front.
I just realized I didn’t take a photo of the jeans before cutting them into the heart. To make the perfect heart, find the widest part of the pantleg and cut out a square piece the maximum size you would want your heart to be. You can always trim it down if you cut it too big at first. Fold the square in half with right sides facing in. Draw a half heart onto the back of the denim with a white chalk. Cut through both layers of fabric so its perfectly matching.
It’s a shame to ruin the perfect heart but we want to make it a little frayed. Using your fingers, pull on the edge pieces of the denim heart so the threads begin to pull away.
After pinning the heart in place I decided I wanted it a bit more frayed than it was. I pulled the edges again with a scrap of sandpaper and pulled some more on the edges. This works surprisingly well.
Sewing on the Heart
Choose a colour for your embroidery thread. I decided to go with white. Thread your needle and knot the end.
Start from behind and pull the needle through the shirt and denim heart. Continue in and out doing a running stitch. Try and make your stitches the same distance apart all the way around the heart.
Finish by knotting it on the inside. Could it be any easier!?!?!
Here is Gus and Gemma with the upcycled shirt’s new owner. It was a surprise gift to my daughter B and she seemed really touched by it. Her pants are also an upcycled idea using strips of old leggings to sew onto a new pair. See the link below-they turned out pretty fun!
Upcycle Sweater into a Wool Skirt or Bum Warmer for Winter!
Have you been ice skating or waiting for the bus and felt a cold gust on your behind? Can you get your hands on a wool sweater you don’t mind chopping up for parts? Keep reading and I will tell you how to make an upcycled skirt or BUM WARMER and if you like…put a dog applique on it.
You will need:
- a wool sweater
- scissors
- sewing machine
- elastic
For the optional Dog Applique-you will need:
- embroidery floss (brown, black, cream)
- needle
- felt (cream and brown)
- paper and pencil
- scissors
- 1 black bead (optional, you can do with out a bead and sew a black dot on)
Do you remember the wool sweater above? It’s been upcycled before and now we are cutting it up for more parts! You might already know this but knit sweaters will unravel if you just cut them. So you need a sweater with wool in it. When you wash the sweater in hot water and put it in the dryer it will shrink and “felt”. This prevents it from unravelling. Now we can cut it like it’s fabric.
The sleeves are already gone to the dog, now we are going to use the best part! The area below the armpit could be made into so many things! A purse, tea cozy, slippers, mittens, big dog sweater….So many ideas so little time. If you would like to see what we did with the sleeves scroll to the bottom of the post.
Cut straight across the sweater.
Fold over the top one inch (2 cm), and pin in place.
Sew almost all the way around to make a casing. Leave a 1 inch gap to slide the elastic inside.
If you don’t put on the applique and decorate it with felt then slide the elastic in now. However, since I wanted to add something fun to the booty of the bum warmer, I’m going to insert the elastic as the final step.
Cut a page in half. Find a photo of what you would like to applique on the bum. I recommend a flower or an animal that is really simple. This dog was found when I searched for dog felt projects or how to draw an easy dog. I tried to copy the simple dog I found.
Pin the page to your felt and cut out the dog applique.
Try on the bum warmer and pin the applique into the area you would like to have it. It can go on the front or the back.
Grab your embroidery floss, needle, scissors and black bead.
Hand sew the applique on using embroidery floss. I used matching thread but you could make it stand out by using a contrasting thread. I just did a very quick running stitch to attach the dog to the skirt.
Then I added the ear and too spots to his behind.
The last step is to insert your elastic. I like to put a huge pin on the end of the elastic and insert it into the 1-2 inch gap we left. Then wiggle it through the casing. When you get it all the way around the waist area and back to the gap, pin it to the other end. Check to make sure that the elastic didn’t get twisted. Adjust to the desired width. Try the skirt on again and test out the size. If you are happy sew the elastic together and remove the safety pin. Machine sew the casing closed.
This sweater will fit a preteen daughter to an adult XL woman. As long as the elastic is comfortable, the wool will stretch with your size. I could have tightened the elastic and made it a skirt for my 8 year old too. If you find its getting a bit stretched out just wash it again. Use warm water instead of hot and warm dryer so it doesn’t shrink too much.
Make Hand Warmers or Ice Packs
Easy to Make Hand Warmers or Ice Packs
Last year I tried my hand at making a long soothing lavender/rice pack and I LOVED IT! Perfect for sore muscles, tense shoulders or out of the freezer when you need a cold pack. (Link Below)
When summer came I thought how nice it would be to have an ice pack when you hurt yourself. So I put the rice/lavender pack into a Ziploc bag and left it in the freezer to cool. Since its winter, and cold, I’m posting this time a smaller one to warm up your mittens or socks.
What you will need:
- cotton fabric scraps
- scissors
- sewing machine
- needle and thread
- uncooked white rice
- lavender (optional)
- essential oils-lavender, peppermint, citrus etc (optional)
Cut fabric to the size. 3 x 3, 4 x 4 or 5 x 5inches. (I chose to make mine 5×5)
Sew all the way around the fabric leaving a 2 inch gap.
Trim the corners off.
Turn the square inside out by pulling it through the 2 inch gap.
If you like the smell of lavender add a pinch to the uncooked rice. When it is warmed in the microwave the lavender smell will get stronger.
I used my gravy boat to help pour the rice and lavender into the hole.
Fill the square fairly full but not rock hard. Fold over the edge and sew the 2 inch seam closed with a needle and thread.
To keep it away from my ice cubes I keep the rice packs in a ziplock bag in the freezer for ouchies.
As a warm pack I still store them in ziplock bags while not in use. Microwave for 30 seconds each and hold onto it or pop into your mittens to warm up you hands.
Easy to Make Fleece Hat with Flowers – Simple Sewing Project
Patchwork Leggings DIY
Upcycle Patchwork Leggings!
Have you got old clothes you’d like to add to your new clothes. Well might I suggest making patchwork leggings by mixing patterns together. I’ll show you how!
Here is a stack of hand me downs. The grey piece is an adult sweater top and the red and white polk a dot is also a waffle top. I added both of these so that it gave it a bit of texture. The other patterns are all leggings worn a few years ago by my eldest waiting for her little sister to grow in to them.
Change of plans – I’m chopping them up for parts!
I laid out the new black leggings which is going to be the base piece. Eventually I will cut it off below the knees – But not yet!
First I used it as a sizing guide. The legs will need to follow the same tapered pattered. The sleeve from the grey shirt was the most narrow so it became the lowest on the leg. It was already hemmed so that saved me hemming it at the end. The red polka-dot shirt I had used a wide piece from the front. That also needed a side seem to make it a tube like the others.
I only wanted below the knee to have patchwork because kids playing on the floor will find seems on the knees irritating if not painful.
Starting from the bottom of the pantleg, pin the first two pieces – with right sides together.
Turn inside out. Next. with right sides together again, pin on the third piece to the second one. Stich this seam.
Leggings tend to have one seam on the inside of the leg so make sure they all line up.
Turn it right side out.
On this pair of legging I sewed 4 pieces on each leg. Then I cut one of the legs off the black pants and pin and sew the 4 patches of the lower leg to complete the pants.
Remember that right sides go together. For some reason I kept sewing it on wrong and then removing it and doing wrong again. Doh!
With one leg completed do the next leg. Make sure they are the same length when completed.
After a while of me taking photos of her while she read she let me know what she thought of that….
I love how one eye is peeking at me.
Okay I think she has had enough…so I found her sister…
For her leggings I didn’t have them matching with similar patches on both legs. She has a long one and a short one on her right pant leg and smaller patches on her left leg. She was delighted when I pulled this out on Thursday night because Friday was pajama day at school and her pj’s were not for public viewing.
On super cold days these would make great long-johns or pants under snow-pants.
There you have it two girls in upcycled original pants. There is enough scraps left over to make more pants…or to make co-ordinating sleeves on tops.
Thanks for reading another one of my posts. I’ll link some of my other upcycles too.
T-Shirt Refashion – Add details from baby clothes to jazz up plain clothes!
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Make a Huge Black Infinity Scarf!
Make an Awesome, Huge, Black Infinity Scarf for $10 in 10 minutes!
I love scarves and I am almost always wearing black. So I was inspired to make a big, black infinity scarf from a photo I found on Pinterest. Unfortunately, I can’t find the original source.
They have done some fancy stitching on this scarf. That is a bit advanced for us. We are just going to make a really wide and long scarf for a similar effect.
https://www.stilechtonline.de/index.php?cPath=2
I want to give credit to the right folks if I include their photo….so correct me if I’m wrong. It appears to have come from a European website called…. www.stilechtonline.de, from a clothing line called Rundholz Black Label. Possibly from the Winter of 2014. I don’t understand it but I think the website language is German. They make very original styles of clothing and a lot of BLACK.
This inspired me to make a big black infinity scarf for myself. It turns out infinity scarves are super easy and take very little sewing.
You will need:
- black jersey stretch fabric (60×70 inches or 152x178cm)
- sewing machine
- pins
Fabric
Find jersey stretch fabric 60 inches wide (150cm) and have measured 70 inches (180 cm). I found my thin jersey fabric on a clearance shelf at my fabric store for $5 per meter. So this project cost around $10. It’s usually recommended to prewash the fabric.
Open the fabric up. Fold the side of the fabric that is 70 inches long in half.
Pin the ends together and sew down the seam. This is all the sewing that you need to do. If you don’t have a sewing machine you could hand sew it with a needle and black thread.
Fold the fabric in half again, sliding the top portion inside to make a tube. I chose not to sew up the bottom the way a lot of infinity scarves are. This makes it so you can adjust the shape of the scarf. I like to pull it over my shoulders a bit.
So for the cost of 2 yards or less than 2 meters of fabric you have an awesome, huge infinity scarf.
How to Make an Easy Infinity Scarf with Zipper Hidden Pocket
Easy to Make Fleece Hat with Flowers – Simple Sewing Project
Upcycle Jeans into Wine Gift Bags!
Repurpose Jean Pant Legs Into Wine Bags!
Want to bring an original hostess gift to a casual dinner party? Dress up your wine bottle with a pair of old blue jeans!
This will get your mind inspired for other upcycling and gift wrapping ideas too!
You will need:
- Blue jeans you don’t mind cutting up (child’s size would be ideal)
- Sewing machine or needle and thread
- Ribbon/String/Twine
- Burlap for bow or something else you can add to embellish
As long as the jeans are freshly washed it doesn’t matter if there is fraying on the cuff. We want the bottom of the jeans to be at the top so it can add character.
The pant leg opening should be around 6 inches (15cm) wide. So skinny jeans or children’s jeans are perfect. I picked up 4 pairs of kids jeans from my goodwill for around $3 each. I will be making more blog posts out of the scraps and pockets too. Save any decent leftovers when you are done.
If your jeans are adult size, no problem you can trim the pant leg width and make a seam.
Cut the pant leg approximately 15 inches (or 38 cm). This will give you a bit extra for the seam on an average 13 inch bottle.
Turn the pant leg inside out and pin closed.
Sew straight across the bottom 1/2 inch or 1 cm from the edge. You could hand sew this if you don’t have a sewing machine.
Now flatten the bottom of the bag and pin 1 inch (2.5 cms) from each corner. This will make your bag more boxy at the bottom and easier to stand up. Stitch across this line.
Cut off the triangles on the outside of your last stitch. Turn it right side out again.
See what I mean? Boxy on the bottom to help it stand up.
Now decide how you would like to decorate it. Put the bottle of wine in the bag and tie a ribbon or piece of twine.
If you like the felt pink flower in the photo on the left have a look at my cup cozy project link at the bottom of this post. http://mybrightideasblog.com/easy-to-make-felt-coffee-cup-cozy/
I also went a bit nuts with hot glue gun and pompoms in the photo on the right. Maybe you should save that for friends with a great sense of humour. Your accountant friends might think its a bit ridiculous! (no offence to the accountants)
This bow is so easy to make and versatile for other project too!
I hope this has inspired you to dazzle up a hostess gift of wine!
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Easy to Make Fleece Hat with Flowers – Simple Sewing Project
