Tutorial – How to make a scarf from t-shirts

Here is my very first repurposed project tutorial to make a rag scarf.

It took me about an hour and a half from start to finish….no sewing machine required.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

3 t-shirts of any color combination.  ( they can have bleach marks or stains, it doesn’t really matter)

1 needle and thread

Scissors – they should be fabric scissors or else you may have blisters before you are done.

Step 1 – find three lengths of t-shirt fabric.  They can be alternating colors or the same color.  It’s fun to use different textures and patterns.  They can be the same width or slightly different as shown in the drawing.  Cut pieces as long or as short and as wide as you’d like – you have lots of flexibility!  For an extra long scarf you could sew two pieces together.

Step 2 – Either hand sew or machine sew a straight line down the center of ( and through) all three fabrics.

Ste- 3 – using FABRIC scissors, cut on each side of the sewing line, just up to the thread.

That’s it!  You can wear it tonight!

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On being a Fool and a Failure – WWFM

What works for me this week is reading something that helps puts words to my new understanding that POVERTY can mean many things.

Read this book:

“Our mobile society

encourages competition

and economic aggression

rather than contentment.

Someone who isn’t

climbing the social

ladder is regarded as

a fool and a failure.

We’re taught to climb

to the top of the heap.

What we’re not taught

is that the heap is

a garbage heap”

- Peter Kreeft

Death and such

Here is something I’ve learned on this journey called life. Everything in life is meant to be held loosely.

That means things come and go, money comes and goes, people come and go.

Every time I feel stressed or anxious I need to examine it for it’s root cause, identify it and then let go….

We allow ourselves to be bound up by feelings of what ifs….what thens…if onlys….and I can’ts…..

There is something valuable to be learned from every thing and every person and every circumstance.

Sometimes the things we learn have less to do with those things, and those people, but more about how we react to them…how we see ourselves in relation to them.

I’ve learned this….we can question those things, and allow our minds to become obsessed with the search for answers, or we can allow our minds to be transformed to a new way of thinking – to a new understanding of this earth of our place in it.

“Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”

***

Peace.

Repurposing Gone Bad

Y’know…it isn’t always successful…

I’ve ended up with a few duds as I run with scissors and cut up everything in sight…

You may not have been around long enough to remember this monstrosoty…

She was from this week a long time ago…..

There are things I’ve cut up but never sewn….things I’ve torn open but never glued back….and many, many, many projects have been inspired by the BEST PIECE OF FABRIC….that are still sitting in a pile.

Here’s my latest miss….I’ve seen all these cute fingerless gloves on ETSY…some from recycled or repurposed or upcycled materials…

I thought this should be something easy enough to recreate out of an old sweater I pulled from my sister’s donation pile…

um..wrong…I think unless you have a clue about how knitting actually works, it’s not a good idea to cut up a sweater sleeve that needs some major reconstruction and/or tapering.

end result:

too floppy….too big….not tight enough to stay up…messy edges…just overall, not quite what I had in mind…

Now that’s not to say the idea is bad, or I won’t try again….it just means that sometimes, it’s not going to work out..and that’s OK.  It’s all a part of the craft.

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Make Do Mondays – My Living Room

I found this delightful blog that is hosting Make-Do Mondays and boy-oh-boy, I knew that was one for me to tag onto!

My life is about a big ol’ make-do.  I’ve written before about my inability to spend money…. so we tend to live with alot of ‘make-do’s’.

One of which is my Living Room ( left view and right view from the kitchen):

The big Make-Do in this room is the sofa and chairs.  Many years ago – more than 10, I’m thinking…we needed something for the basement family room in our other house.  After looking through many options, both new (gasp!) and used shoppes, we stumbled upon this 1960’s four-seater sofa and two armchairs at a garage sale.  They were still in the 1960’s tiled floor basement, just waiting for a new home.

For a mere $125 we loaded them up and were off!  Fast forward 2 or so years when we bought our next home.  No longer relegated to the basement family room, they took front and center stage in our upstairs living room….the punch of color was just right for our 1960’s bungalow home.

So…what started as a Make-Do, has served us quite well for 10 years now….unfortunately the pieces are beginning to show the wear of a bouncy dog and very social cat, and a mischievious young boy…..we’ve been looking for our ‘next set’ for over a year now, but so far….have not found a replacement.

Oh well…I figure for $125 and 10 years of service, I can’t complain about the $12.50 per year this set has cost us!

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Here’s the skinny on the other pieces in the room:

Left Wall:

‘Orchids’ by Vladmir Tretchikoff ( signed ) – garage sale find…$5

Wall Mirror – inherited when my dad moved away

four drawered oak chest – garage sale – 5 bucks

Cubist coffee and end table – auction sale $10

green shag rug – Home Outfitters – sale priced 50% off..cost me $125

Brown Corduroy curtain panels – JYSK…bought one panel for 10 bucks and cut it in half…had enough for both sides of the window…

You can hardly see it, but there is another Tretchikoff there to the right of the window named ‘Chrysanthemums’ , also signed and bought at the same sale for 5 bucks…

chrome ball lamp – garage sale $1 with original shade..!!!!!

Club chair – we’ve had this since we owned our retro-shop…The chair cost us $100 and then it was another $300 to re-upholster it, but we’ve always loved it and probably always will!

Oh yeah…the TV unit..a story for another day…but the three piece maple unit set me back $12.50….

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It’s fun to detail all of that…things that we have loved for so many years…with a major renovation coming up, it’s likely that many of those pieces will either be re-used in another part of the house, or sold / given away…kind of sad, but it makes me giddy to know that I’ve furnished my home with unique finds and I didn’t do it on credit!

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On Living With Balance

I admit, some who visit here, will think that I’m a country mama, with a brood of young’uns who homeschools, cans and hangs my wash on the line… ( not that there’s anything wrong with that…)..oh wait, that IS me on 3 of the 5….

Truth is, I think, for the most part anyways, if you ran into me on the street, I’d come across as a pretty normal, millenial type of gal.

I like my labels, I like quality, I like to be able to give people nice things…

but….

I don’t like those things more than I like working part-time (even though every fiber of my being craves the busy-ness of the full-time corporate world).

I don’t like those things more than I like my husband and son, and creating a home schedule that is un-hurried, respectful of each other and leaves room for ‘whatever’. (even though the ‘down-time gets on my nerves because I’m wired for speed)

I don’t like those things more than I like knowing what went into our food choices each day. (even though we still throw away WAY too much food because I let it rot in the fridge…)

I used to live what is considered now a pretty normal life…..working 9-5 (or more)……taking more work home for the evenings and weekends……using my credit card to fill up my house and closet……stopping to get fast food for dinner on the way home……being too busy to stop and ask my hubby how HIS day went before I unloaded on him about MINE…

A few years ago, that started to feel as far from normal as it could get.  I needed to submit to some hard-core changes in order to create some balance for us.

It’s NOT EASY, but if you are in the same boat, you KNOW when it’s time to do it.  Every day, you HEAR the things that tell you to change, you SEE the things that are out of order, the hard part is DOING it.

The hard part is fighting against those things inside yourself that say all those THINGS you are committed to are important …those voices that say you will become LESS important by reducing your commitments.

The hard part is fighting against those things from outside influences that say YOU’RE CRAZY…that say things will fall apart unless you speed up the treadmill.

The hard part is letting it all go.

Full stop.

Letting the pieces, letting the process, letting the people, letting the outcome go.

Here’s what I’ve learned….When you learn to submit, when you learn to relax, when you learn to let go of all the things that you hold tightly,  PEACE finds you.

JOY finds you.

CONTENTMENT finds you.

You can’t go out looking for any of these things…because each one is elusive on it’s own. When you find the magic, the magic works in you.

So the truth of the matter is, I get a kick out of seeing how ‘well’ we can live on ‘less’.  I enjoy finding a great deal, and creating something out of nearly nothing….to me, that is a fulfilling way to use my creativity and in the meantime, I hope that some of the things I write about will also serve to encourage anyone else who is walking that same path.

And I’m keepin’ it real by saying that most days I’d rather be DOING all the things that I used to be doing…it is a constant CHOICE I make to choose the BEST for us…(..’best’ not always meaning more or THINGS…or even the things that I’d LIKE to be doing…)

If you are feeling dragged out, dragged down and spiralling out of control, know that there is a better way.

It CAN be done.

HELP is available.

We can all agree to being REPURPOSED….it just takes a itty bit of faith to step out into something new.  Here is something I wrote a year ago to describe my new ‘place’.

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A REPURPOSED LIFE

I’m in a new place.

Call it what you will.

I no longer live in fear of not having, not doing or not being enough.

I am free of having to compete, of having to accomplish, of having to have.

I’ve turned my back on living a crazy life where nothing ever felt in control, and life never felt right. I’ve made a big income and left it because, it too, wasn’t enough.

My life was not designed to be stressful, disconnected or out of control.

My life was designed for peace, connectedness and to be full of truly good things.

Go ahead – believe that I’ve flipped my lid, but I am done with lap-dogging for the top dogs, I’m done with trying to be anything. I’m done with teams that lead and clubs that exclude.

Instead I look for the things that I was meant to learn from others, or from my interactions with them.

I’m living FREE and with control for the very first time.

Free to listen. Free to learn.

Free to do those things which bring life to those in my life.

If you’ve read this far, know that we are connected, and I hope that even just by reading this I’ve put some new life into your day, your outlook, or your life.

Go ahead…I dare you to ask me questions….

****

Did I spend 5 bucks or save 300?

One of the benefits of always being on the lookout for cool stuff to sell, is that I’m always out and about in thrifty places and have the side benefit of finding cool things for myself.

So when I saw these brand-new-never-been-worn shoes  for $2.00, I thought to myself, “self, that’s a good brand, your out-and-about-casual-shoes have just about had it, and it’s probably a good deal….

When I got home I looked up the website for FEETFIRST, and discovered that at full retail, these would have been around $100 new…. score 1!

Then I found this handbag.

I’m always on the lookout for nice handbags because a girl can never have too many y’know….

It was made by Danier Leather, and again, I don’t think it’s seen a day of use.  For 3 bucks I figured “sure!”..

When I got home, I looked up the website and again…a similar one with same number of pockets / detailing on their website was regular retail priced at $199.99!

Pretty good day I’d say, getting top quality goods that sold for 300 bucks at retail, and it only put me back a five-er.

So….does anyone else struggle with this?…….I got a great deal sure, but if I didn’t need those items and wasn’t really LOOKING for them, did I save money or spend 5 bucks I didn’t need to spend?

The life of a scrounger…

Puffy Jacket – Zipper repair – WWFMW

At least two years ago, the zipper on my black puffy winter jacket went kaput.  Since the jacket was still good, I had great intentions of replacing the zipper instead of spending money on a new winter jacket.

When the temperature is -30 Celcius ( that’s a big ol’ -22 Fahrenheit) PLUS windchill, a coat like this comes in handy!

Problem is…because of my good intentions to replace the zipper, I’ve been wearing the jacket for the last two winters without zipping it up….I just closed up the velcro tabs, tucked in a long scarf, and for trips in and out of the car, it’s been just fine.

Finally this year, I thought I would get adventurous and went to look at zippers….hmmm…the job of sewing a zipper into nylon would be more than I think I want to tackle….what now?  look for a new coat???  Well if you’ve followed me at all , you know that buying a new coat sure doesn’t sit well with me….

So, I stopped off at the tailor shop and she told me it would be a mere $13.95 for the zipper and $14.00 for her time to do it, but she would give me a discount and do both for $24.

“Thank you very much” I said, and kept walking.

She said “wait” for $13.00 she could just replace the ZIPPER PULL without redoing the whole zipper.  “hmmmm I thought, that’s more like it” but I suddenly had a light-bulb moment.

I stopped off at the fabric store and for 90 cents….(that’s less than a buck y’all) I bought a zipper pull, came home and in about 45 seconds, my zipper was back in operation…

The pull I bought was brown because for 90 cents I wasn’t going to worry about color on a zipper that is under a velcro tab anyway…

The 90 cent zipper pull

The 90 cent zipper pull under the velcro tab!

I’m a happy camper, I just wish I had looked into this two years ago!!

*****

Repurposing Inspiration – a blog round-up

Due to a self-imposed, overfull schedule, I’ve not been repurposing as much as I’d like over the last few months…although, I am working on a  new studio space, and once organized, that should help things a little…

I’m always bookmarking interesting items that I see as inspiration and I thought I’d dedicate this post to some of the fun things that I’ve seen people do in the name of repurposing old clothing!

See how a normal, every day sweater was transformed like this:

See it here

Or something I’m dying to try…. this truly icky sweater and shoes have been transformed like this:

See the info here

Or, how about a t-shirt transformation – we’ve all got more t-shirts than we know what to do with…couldja use a new pair of yoga pants?

See that transformation here

My challenge to you is….try just one thing..even if you can’t sew.  Just grab a pair of scissors and something that is in your donation pile….can you make something out of it that changes it’s purpose?  that gives it new life?

I’d love to hear about your experiences!

2009 has me renewing my plans to look to the things I already own instead of simply going and buying things I think I need.

I can live with much less junk….more creativity and more meaningful days…

Happy New Year!

This is not your standard New Years’  day post.

That’s probably because I’m not ’standard issue’.

I’m an oddball in a standard issue world and that’s OK with me….I roll a little differently and I thought I’d encourage you to do the same.

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Instead of filling it up…. empty it out.

Instead of accumulating… destash

Instead of panicking… pray

Instead of talking… listen

Instead of leading… follow

Instead of

“Me” choose “You”

Instead of

“too busy” choose “I’ll make room for you”

When you find yourself saying

“I need it”, ask “who could use it more?”

When you find yourself saying

“I’m important”, remember to live as though there are no levels…

Instead of

“won’t” choose “should I?”

Instead of doing it the same old way, ask “is there something better?”

Instead of …….?  There are between 80 and 200 people who read this blog every day ( yeah, shocks me too…!) and this is a call to delurk….if you’re reading this entry, it’s time to raise your hand and complete this list….

What can you fill in for an “Instead of……” for your life in 2009? click on the comments below…

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find others who are listing their 2009 resolutions:

http://laurelwreathsreflections.com/years-reflections

http://www.thehappyhousewife.com/

http://theinspiredroom.net/2008/12/31/a-beautiful-life-12-months-of-goals/