recycling

I'm on a mission to use a pile of old clothes that I've been saving for a while, stuff I don't wear because they never quite fit right or something was torn and not fixable, or they remind me of someone or something I don't want to be reminded of, or because they were my "teacher clothes" and I'm not being scrutinized by a bunch of teenagers so I probably won't choose to wear button down shirts tucked into slacks for a while. It's pretty exciting, I have a lot of fun making stuff out of other stuff.

Here's what I ended up with so far.

Some blue linen pants that I bought at a thrift store years ago and I've repaired already several times, but they ripped in the pocket area and I couldn't fix it. Now, they are a shirt. I made the pattern up as I went, and somehow it worked out! I was able to do some creative cutting to get the back pockets on the sides of the shirt. I tried pintucks for the first time, then decided to put lace between them to add a bit of fancy. I like the medieval look, and it requires no closure, which makes on and off super easy!

Two more thrift store buys. I never liked the color of the shirt on me, but the fabric is great. The pants looked ok, but they never fit quite right. The fabric is also awkward for that style of pants. So, now they are a shirt too! The button placket down the back makes it!

A patagonia shirt, also a thrift store buy, that had this stain on it that always drove me crazy. So, now it is pants, and I never have to think of that pesky stain again! The awesome thing about making pants from shirts is that you don't have to hem the bottom if you cut the leg holes along the bottom of the shirt.

Here's a good one. This jacket was a gift from around when my 13 year old was born. I loved this jacket, but I hardly ever wore it because it fit weird. It didn't have any give in the sleeves, so when you raise your arms, the whole jacket raised up too. So I could only wear it when I knew I would be sitting still, which is never. And then all the buttons fell off when I did wear it, and I kept procrastinating getting a new set, until I finally decided it was time for the jacket to have a new life. I used linen for the waistband of these pants. They are adorable, and have quilted padding for all that climbing!

This is really one of my favorite things to do. I like the challenge, and the limitations inspire creativity. Tunics and dresses (sorry boys!) are probably the most fun things to play around with. I ran out of ideas with the other old clothes I have and a lot of them are summer-weight material, so I put them away for a while. When I feel inspired again (like when it gets down to 20 degrees) I've got a chunky wool sweater with holes in the elbows and I'm curious whether I can sew it with a sewing machine...