Upcycled, recycled, cycled all over...

Another goal for 2018 is to make as many of my own and my sons clothes as possible, but to make this just that tad more challenging I am also trying to not buy any fabric this year! 

Sounds impossible? Well, looking around my sewing room I think I probably have enough fabric to keep us clothes for many years to come - it's going to be tough not to buy more though...

For almost 12 months now I have been on a diet - a BIG diet - so far I am 1lb off loosing 6 stone, I have another 4 stone to loose before reaching my goal, so a good source of fabric is my ever increasing pile of clothes that are tooooo big. Some I have donated to charity, some I intend to sell on e-bay but others are perfect to down size!

My first down sizing of 2018 is jeans that I have cleverly re-invented as....well, jeans! 

Arranging my pattern onto old jeans

I bought a load of PDF patterns last year, there are three designers I buy from at the moment, they are brilliant, Most of the patterns come in multiple sizes, and when you pay for them, you get them instantly - Most of them are now moving to 'layer' formats so when you open up the PDF in Adobe, you choose the layer with the size on you want and just print that off, simple! 

This finished Ants in the Pants pattern from Puperita

The pattern I used was Ants in the Pants from Puperita on Etsy - the great thing about all these designers is they also have great support groups on Facebook, so if you have any questions, there's always someone there to help - often the designer themselves. 

All of the designers I use are also happy for the finished garments to be sold by the makers. One does ask for anyone doing this to make a donation to a womens refuge, another charity, or to her sponsored child in Africa, and they all ask that they are named as the designer - fair enough I say!

Here they are being modeled - He is hard work to get to model anything! these are the least blurred shots.

His top is also made by me, this is a MBJM (Made by Jacks Mum) pattern.

I will pop the links at the bottom to my favorite PDF pattern shops! 

Happy sewing.

Puperita - pattern for babies and kids

mbjm - from new born to adult

MotherGrimm Kids and adult patterns

195 Thrifty Days till Christmas

I have been a thrifty girl of late, although not everything goes to plan. The socks I knit for Dad for Christmas will actually be given to him for fathers day (I forgot about that one!) and the socks I was knitting for hubby - well, he saw them and really liked them so I just gave them to him - he then quizzed me incessantly about the next pair I was making and well, he's now wearing them as well - Still I am determined the Aran sweater I am knitting him will be for Christmas, I just need to make him something in secret for his birthday on new years eve rather than frantically search the sales for anything he may like.

Last weekend we were invited to my sister in laws wedding. I had been very apprehensive before hand - for many reasons that all seam very trivial - the main reason was that the whole of my husbands family are incredibly thin - I on the other hand have never even been remotely thin! they always look glamorous and gorgeous, I always feel fat and frumpy. 

I spent weeks deciding what to wear, I don't own a skirt or a dress and wouldn't wear one if I did, and we are so skint at the moment that a new outfit was out of the question. 

My dad took me to Burnley to the littlewoods catalogue shop and I found some white linen pants for £4 and a top I kind of felt comfortable in reduced from £70 to £5 - which he kindly paid for - but I still um'd and ah'd over it all. I even cried more than once - I couldn't believe it because for the rest of the time I am perfectly comfortable in what I wear, how I present myself etc.

On Thursday evening after looking through my Molly Makes vintage wedding supplement for the umpteenth time I decided to get a lovely white top my mum had given me last year that I had worn once and managed to get a coffee stain on - out of the cupboard. I rubbed vanish into the stain and found my stash of fabric dyes bought from a closing down sale a couple of years ago. Among them was 'French Pink' - 20 minutes later I had a new pink top. A frantic search through my mountain of vintage lace then ensued to no avail, so on Friday morning I popped into Clitheroe and came back with 2 meters of white cotton lace for £1.80 

A couple of hours in the sewing room and I had pinned, pleated and sewn my new creation. Something was missing though - A coat or cardigan. Off down to mums who said "I don't think I have anything like that but have a look"

In her wardrobe was a pink dressing gown she had worn once on a hospital stay, she had forgotten it was their! She can't stop laughing at some of my ideas and this was yet another.

Off came the bottom 2 foot of the dressing gown, 2 darts sewn into the back, the buttons removed and replaced with some vintage style ones given as a free gift on MM's then disaster! I tried to iron the darts on the back and the second the iron touched the fabric it melted! 

So a patch went over it with 2 more buttons and voila! one hand made vintage style wedding outfit! 

I am not a 'pink' person - but I felt really comfortable in the outfit, and a lovely day was had by all!