Embellished Pirate Patch

Who wants to wear a boring, plain, plastic eye patch when dressing up like a pirate? There might be someone out there, but there is an easy fix.With some glue, scraps of fabric or jewelry, and a little inspiration you can turn blah into something fun.

I took a plain plastic eye patch (the cheap ones you can usually find pretty easily) and gave it new life by cutting a scrap of burgundy velvet-like fabric to cover the entire front of the eye patch. (You can trim the edges for a cleaner look after the glue is dry.) I then glued it securely across the front, making sure not to leave any air bubbles. Using my trusty hot glue gun, I embellished the front with a simple cross using a decorative pearl wire.

It only took a few minutes to fix the boring blah patch into something fit for a Pirate King or Queen. A nice addition to my costume collection and sure to be used soon.


Go! Play dress up. You're never too old. Arg!

T-shirt Bag

I had this great t-shirt that I loved and then one day I found that it was getting a couple holes along the bottom. I didn't want to just throw it away or cut it up, so I re-purposed it into a handy bag, lined with some coordinating green fabric I had one hand for the lining and the strap. I added a couple iron on patches I had picked up before.

I love having fabric bags on hand for everyday things or for those summer trips to the farmers' market (forget plastic bags, reusable bags are the way to go).

Demin Purses (from Re-purposed Jeans)

 Don't throw away those old worn, torn, beat up, unfixable jeans! Oh, the possibilities...

These little purses were made from scraps of denim from old jeans (I use as many of the pieces as possible for bags, rugs, or other projects), scraps of other fabrics, and yarn (depending on what I had on hand at the time). There was no pattern, just the piecing of the things as I went along.

I paired some smaller pieces of discarded jeans with scrap fabric I had on hand to make these little purses. Of the four purses pictured, one is made from a front side pocket (the lining and back from leftover fabric); for one I took the zipper from the tapered pair of jeans to make a side pocket, the unzips; and one has a smaller piece as a pocket along the bottom. Two of the straps are made from braided yarn and two of the straps are made from the side seams from the legs of of jeans. They are are all lined with fabric.

You can find find ways to reuse and re-purpose all sorts of things into something usable and cute.

Pieced Denim Skirt

What do you do when you have a pair of jeans that fit around the waist, but the legs are falling apart? Make them into a skirt... of course. (Waste not, want not, and all that stuff.)

This pair of jeans was literally falling apart at multiple places on the leg, but they still fit pretty good. Piecing the salvageable parts of the old jeans with a light weight red fabric and side panels from the legs of another pair of scrap jeans I patched this denim skirt together into a wearable piece of art. Patches, yarn, and embroidery floss were used to decorate,  stabilize weak places, and cover holes or tears.

Some of the pockets were in really weak condition and patch work had to be done by hand with patches or stitching. It was very much a labor of love using both the machine and a lot of hand work to secure and reinforce. (I guess lucky for me I learned hand work first and for many years preferred it almost entirely over the use of the machine.) The bottom edge has a straight stitch sewn all the way around around about 1/2 inch from edge, the the outer edge left raw.

Backside

I wanted a longer skirt (this one coming to about mid calf) that was comfortable, easy to wear, and unique. I love the contrast of fabrics for spring or summer days. Instead of going out to buy a new skirt, I got want I wanted by my own hand and I got to bring new life to something that might have otherwise been thrown out. Be who you are and who you want to be - express you.