Upcycled fashion design!

There's no better way to explain ReMaking than to wear it on your sleeve. So that's what we've done here! Here are a few of my favorite upcycled fashion items that I've created from something almost trashed. Can you guess each scrapped material?



The design of this dress started out a little baggy, but I transformed it into a dress with a little upcycling magic... and some help from my iron and sewing machine.


This dress fits Kathy to a T.


Perfect for a rainy day, you can even find instructions for this skirt on our website. If that isn't enough of a hint, then our clues are all dried up.

Guesses? Ideas? Have you made your own upcycled fashions?

Necktie Gadget Case for Father's Day!

Father's Day is fast approaching, and we have a DIY project that will make a super-fun gift for Dad.  It's the Necktie Gadget Case, and you can make it out of one of Dad's old ties.  (Just be sure not to cut up a tie he's going to miss!)  For step by step instructions, check out our DIY video tutorial below!

A minty fresh Halloween!

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween out there! As usual, I remade mine from scrap I had at my studio. I was an upcycled tooth fairy complete with a pleated skirt made from toothpaste tubes, a wand made from toothbrushes, toothbrush jewelry, and sparkly wings, tank top, and tights.

Want to make your own upcycled tooth fairy skirt? Head on over to Make:Projects for my step-by-step instructions. You can get a head start on next year's costume and try this pleated, upcycled skirt. It'll take a little while to collect all of those toothpaste tubes. But don't fear, after all of that candy this year, you'll be needing an extra dose of toothpaste.

What were you for Halloween? If you made (or remade) your own costume, you have 2 more days to enter it into Make's Halloween contest. I hear there are some scary-good prizes!

Plastic bag bangles by Garbage of Eden!

This week we're featuring our friend Stephanie Huffaker of Garbage of Eden! Stephanie, who is also a RePlayGround instructor, creates beautiful bangles out of plastic bags and yogurt cups. Below you can see the process of creating the yogurt cup base. Stephanie uses pre-consumer and post-consumer waste to make her upcycled designs. Materials include misprints from companies and also used materials that are sterilized for reuse. Garbage of Eden seeks to raise consciousness about sustainability. "If we take the time to seek out and realize the positive potential in the objects around us, there is no waste." To get your own recycled bag bangle, check out the Etsy shop!

Tie one on

I was just searching the internet for inspiration to make something nice to make my brother's upcoming 40th birthday. I want to make something for him from my dad's old neckties. I came across these great finds and just needed to share: Diane Gilleland's heart shaped necktie pins over at Craftstylish.
 

image courtesy Craftsylish 

This awesome dress from Glamarita's Etsy shop. Maybe not so appropriate for my brother, but something for my own wish list. 

 

image courtesy Glamarita's Etsy shop 

Here's Laura Martin's site Ties that Matter. She's my new friend and fellow upcycler collected from my recent Creative Connection event. Love her range of products from upcycled neckties. 

 

 image courtesy Ties that Matter

Whoa. Some of those neckties are up there on the styleometer with my dear old dad's neckties.

Then there's this whole Sewing With Neckties blog devoted to cool tie finds.

 And don't forget project 50, necktie gadget case, from my own book, ReMake It.

 

So, definitely inspired, but still trying to figure out that perfect gift for the tech-savvy brother who doesn't-really-wear-ties-himself all that much. Any ideas out that can tie together the sentimentality of my dad's neckties and a gift my brother would definitely use?

Turn an outdated necktie into a picture perfect camera strap!

Here's a project that's "suit"able for any occasion - a necktie turned camera strap.

Stop on by Ecouterre.com for the complete how-to.

If you'd like more of a hands-on tutorial for turning neckties into new, come out to the Creative Connection in September. I'll be teaching a class on turning neckties into new. Fun! And trashy!

2nd Take on the VHS Tape

Warm weather is around the corner, and so it's time for spring cleaning! This year, remake your old junk instead of leaving it out for the trash collectors. As I did a little of my own spring cleaning, I discovered a pile of old VHS tapes in the back of the closet. Check out these cool takes I found on the upcycled VHS tape!

External Hard Drive VHS
Find it here: http://blog.metroparkusa.com/2010/01/21/vhs-upcycle/



VHS Tape Loomed Flowers
Find a tutorial here: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/43650/crafting-with-vhs-tapes



Video Tape Frock
Find it here: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/scianca-vhs-dress#!/photos/78908/1



With such inventive recycling ideas, you can count on your VHS tapes never going out of style!

Do the T-shirt Trash Can Twist!

Hi again! I hope you've all been thinking of fun designs for your ReMake It! Trash Can. Here's my new DIY trash can project of the week. It's the T-shirt Trash Can!



Materials:
ReMake It plastic bag trash can frame
A few t-shirts (we used 3)
Scissors
Ruler
Time:
About an hour

1) Find some old T-shirts that you are ready to recycle! Cut the t-shirts into strips 40” long X 2” wide. You will need a total of 17 strips. I chose 3 colors, but use as many different fabrics as you like!

2) Tie the end of each strip to a spoke towards the bottom of the trash can.

3) Starting with one strip, wrap the strip over the spoke to the right of the spoke the strip is tied to. Complete the wrap around by pulling the strip up between the two spokes. Now wrap around the spoke the fabric is tied to and pull the strip back up between the two spokes. Repeat until you’ve reached the top rim of the trash can.


4) Knot the strip to the top rim of the trash can. With the excess fabric, tuck neatly back down into the top weave. Trim any extra fabric that sticks out.


5) Take the strip tied to the left of the spokes you just finished. Repeat steps 4 and 5 from above for all strips, overlapping the last strip you just finished weaving. You may need to spread apart the already weaved strip so you can loop the new strip over the metal.


When you’ve tied on your last T-shirt strip, your new trash fashion will be this season’s must-have trashion accessory.

Have fun! I'll be back next week with a brand new design!

Upcycle away,

Kathy

We're in a generation T!

I'm pretty busy these days creating DIY projects of my own, so it's not often that I find time to follow a project that someone else has created. But there are times when I'm feeling a little crafty and come across that perfect project that is clever and just plain simple. Like this tank top project - from my friend, Megan Nicolay's newest book - Generation T - Beyond Fashion. This style is "The Best of Two Tees" and you can get the book and do-it-yourself just like I did. Super clever, super easy, super-duper DIY!

Plus in true making stuff DIY style - you can see Megan's recent blog post about my t-shirt skirt on her blog.

And if you're in the NYC area this weekend, you can catch Megan, myself, and a whole slew of DIYers at the biggest DIY event around - the World Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science. If you can MAKE it here, you can make it anywhere.

T-shirts and tomatoes

It was a year ago today that my good friend Josette and I got ready for the tomato festival of our lives - La Tomatina in Bunol, Spain. Imagine a city-wide food fight with only tomatoes to throw. Most anyone who knows me knows of my love of tomatoes, particularly of the homegrown variety. But I must say after having tomatoes thrown, smeared and smushed all over you, you kind of lose the taste for salsa for a while. It's been a year now and I've long been back on the tomato wagon, partaking in this summer's bounty.

In preparation for last year's exciting event, I didn't want to wear just any old shirt. I wanted to show off a little crafty New York love. Here's the how-to for turning an old I heart NY tee into a one-of-a-kind tank.

Materials:
2 old t-shirts
fabric scissors
safety pin
ruler
sewing machine or needle and thread
iron

Transform a t-shirt into a tank:
1. Cut the arms off the t-shirt. Then cut straight across the top, just under the neckline.
2. Fold in the edges .25” around the armpit. Iron down. Sew in place. Then, fold .25” under on both flat sides across the top. Iron. Then fold under again by 1” and iron. Then hem along this edge. These sewn strips across the top will become the casing for the top ties.
3. Cut 1” wide strips off of the bottom of another t-shirt. Pull on the ends to make the edges roll in. Tip: you can also use ribbon in place of t-shirt strips.
4. Attach a safety pin to one end of the t-shirt strip. Work it through the casing. Repeat with another strip for the other side. Tie the ends in a bow on either side. Your new tank is ready to wear!

Etsy Recyclers Guild

A fellow design junkie and friend, Erin Stevens, turned me on to the Etsy Recyclers Guild which is "A GLOBAL community of eco-artists, crafters, and vintage sellers who have united in the name of green."

We love Etsy, we love recycling, and we love supporting communities of eco-artists. Stop on by for a visit and support your fellow trash lovers. There's even a shop that puts members' upcycled goods all in one convenient shopping spot.

Be sure to check out Erin's "trashy" couture site like this necktie camisole. I own a similar one and get compliments every time I wear it.

Make a pillow chair from old t-shirts!

I stopped by Crafty superstar, Becky Stern's design studio and helped her make a bean-bag-type chair from old t-shirts. It was super fun and super upcycled! Watch the video for the complete step-by-step to transform your worn-out t-shirts into this comfy chair.

Auto couture

I'm a little late on this one, but just had to share this amazing gown I stumbled across (via Craftzine and Ecouterre). It's made of discarded radiator copper and is a fabulous example of how upcycling can be sensible and beautiful! (Learn more at the designer's site: emmawhiteside.com.)

Shirt Cuff Wallet

Just wanted to share the upcycled wallet I made earlier this week.



I was using some of the fabric from an old button-down shirt for other projects, and the odds and ends (cuffs, collar, buttons) always tend to be the hardest bits of clothing to recycle. I had been wanting a wallet upgrade - just a simple, good-looking outer shell with a cash pocket, to hold a photo sleeve / card holder I already had. It turned out that these particular shirt cuffs were the perfect width for the holder. I loved this plaid fabric and was totally tickled that the size worked out.

I cut the cuff off above the hem, leaving it intact so I'd be able to use the button and buttonhole to close the wallet. Then I cut a rectangle from the front of the shirt, hemmed it, and sewed it to the cuff to serve as a pocket for cash and to hold the cards. (The top edges look a little frayed because I cut that part directly from the shirt - but I made sure to cut along the part where the cuff joined the sleeve so it wouldn't fray any further. I could have tidied it up with bias tape, but I kinda dig the weathered look.)



Less than an hour's worth of work, and bits and pieces of fabric I thought I'd have to throw away, and my cash and cards have a nifty new place to call home!

Super Crafternoon!

My lovely crafty buddies swung by the RePlayGround yesterday for a SuperFun SuperCrafternoon!

It was a free form craft party and clothing swap all in one. Since it was Super Bowl Sunday cheese-flavored snacks that turn your fingers orange were promised. Of course I got the organic kind and they turned out to be more yellow than orange. But people were too busy cutting and sewing up a recycled storm to notice.

Naomi and friends whipped up some old-sweater whales in no time.


Leslie crafted up some lovely slippers from an old scarf, sweater, and some billboard material.


even more crafty goodness after the jump!


Ana made a brand spankin' new necktie gadget case.


Matt and Mandy followed suit.


And since nothing goes to waste 'round these parts, they transformed the remaining necktie parts into stylin' headbands.


Josette even learned how to knit from the lovely Riva (wearing freshly swapped cowboy and Indian earrings). Wow! Look at how much she already has done!


And everyone got a chance to pick up some new threads from the clothing swap. Sometimes to refresh your closet, you just need to pick out a few things and switch with the person next to you. See Abby and myself here with new-to-us clothes, courtesy of each other. We were debating whether it's more rewarding to be the one to find a fun new garment in the pile, or to see someone excitedly taking something that you brought that you just didn't want anymore.
Both, I think.

Happy after Halloween!

Looking for something to do with all of those candy wrappers leftover from Halloween? Try this trick from your Halloween treats – turn the wrappers into wearable gems. You can find the complete DIY over at the eco-fancy eco-fashion site Ecouterre.

Below is a pic of my own upcycled Halloween costume. I'm a Designer Bag Lady - the dress, purse, bracelet, and headband are all made from plastic bags. The dress turned out to be way more comfortable than I expected. Who new plastic bags could be so wearable? Any guesses as to how many plastic bags do you think it took to make my dress? I'll give you a hint - it's 3 bags thick all over.

No-sew t-shirt recycling

Here are a couple of my favorite, and super-simple, ways to recycle t-shirts that may be a little past their prime. All you need is scissors and an old shirt - an oversized one is great for the headband, and snugger shirts turn into fabulous jersey cowls (or, as I like to call them, "neck tubes").

Sleeve headband: this works best with a larger shirt. I generally cut the whole sleeve off just past the seam and then try it on to see how much more I want to cut off. You may have some curling or stretching as you put it on, but other than that it should retain its shape and edges pretty well, even after being put through the wash.



Cowl: a slimmer fitting old t-shirt is great for this. All you need to do is cut the sleeve and shoulders from a shirt and use the rest to keep your neck cozy and fashionable. (This one's saved me from frustration a few times when I bought salvation army T-shirts that were a great color but too small for me.) If you're feeling super-frisky, you could try cutting down the middle of it, twisting and sewing back together for a Mobius cowl.



Bonus project: t-shirt yarn. Cut any leftover jersey material into strips. Cut a small notch (the smaller the better, as this will stretch slightly) at each end and weave through each other as shown in illustration. Pull the connection tight - the edges of the "yarn" will curl slightly and the connection will become a tight knot. Once you have enough of this stuff, you can use big crochet hooks or knitting needles to turn it into all sorts of great things (bathmats, potholders, welcome mats and more!)

Send us your junk!

At Replayground, we make projects from corks, used plastic containers, keyboard keys, dead umbrellas, and just about anything else you can imagine. We always appreciate getting new and exciting trash in the mail, whatever it may be. (See this page for guidelines if you'd like to send us something.)

Occasionally we have specific needs for specific projects, and this is one of those times. We're looking for:

• CDs
  
• Wool sweaters
  
• Neckties
  
• Buttons

Do you have a surplus of any of this stuff? If so, we'd love the opportunity to work some eco-magic on it. Email us at moreinfo [at] replayground [dot] com for specifics before sending anything along. Thanks, and happy recycling!

juicy clothing!

We introduced our eco-friends over at Compai with our eco-people TerraCycle to create this one-flavor-of-a-kind juicy dress. It's made from recycled Capri Sun juice pouches, and can be yours today! Place your bid on ebay today and feel great because all of the proceeds go to charity.

Give that skirt another go with scrap fabric yo-yos!

March is mending month at Craftzine and I swung in with this fabric yo-yo project - ready to cover that stained skirt that you just couldn't bear to get rid of. Plus the yo-yos are interchangeable so you can mix and match to all of those vintage shirts of yours. Get the how-to here.