DIY: Upcycled Felted Ornaments

Here is another wonderful tutorial from Dollar Store Crafts blog!  We love them - you absolutely need to check them out...now.  Go on, you won't regret it.  Then come back here and enjoy the felt ornaments.

I made these tree ornaments from a felted/fulled wool sweater last year and gave them to my family members for their handmade gifts (we try to exchange primarily handmade). You can find wool sweaters by the dozens at thrift stores (although, I admit, they are probably not commonly represented at dollar stores!). Wash in hot water and dry in the dryer to shrink them into fabric that can be cut and sewn and won't unravel. These cute trees are a great way to show off your button stash, too!

Handmade ornaments are also a great gift for co-workers or people who you need to give a token gift to, but who you don't want to spend a lot of money on.

Project Estimate:

• Wool sweater, $3-5 at thrift store
• Assorted buttons, on hand
• Embroidery floss or ribbon for hanging, $1

Total cost: $4 for about a hundred ornaments (if you use the whole sweater to make them)!

To make:

1. Wash and dry wool sweater to felt it. Repeat if necessary.
2. Cut tree shapes (triangles) and trunk shapes. I used the contrasting cuff cut in strips for the tree trunks. Use two matching triangles and one trunk piece for each tree.
3. Sew buttons as desired on front tree triangle piece.
4. Sandwich tree trunk piece at bottom between front and back tree pieces, and ribbon for hanging at top. Triangle pieces should be placed with right sides facing out. Sew around perimeter of triangle.

DIY: T-shirt Pom Poms

Lebenslus Tiger's blog is a fun DIY site for a litany of crafts!  We love t-shirt crafts and this one is definitely one we'll be doing.  Don't fret if you were hoping for another ornament tutorial today - we'll be doing two blogs today (the next one being an ornament tutorial)!  Check out their blog for more fun DIY if you need even more!

Don't they look like hundreds of little rosebuds bound together?

I did them traditionally with two cut out cardboard discs and gave them a little haircut afterwards...

DIY: Lined Paper Tee Tutorial

U Create has some amazing tutorials and DIY projects.  We highly recommend checking them out for more!  Today's highlighted tutorial is a lined paper tee.  These are so cute and would make a great gift for not just students, but teachers!

 

A little about me first . . .

 

My name is Rachel, and I blog over  Maybe Matilda. I'm from small-town New York, currently living in Utah with my soon-to-be-chiropractor husband and our soon-to-be-one-year-old son. When I'm not sweeping up Cheerios, I love sewing and crocheting for my etsy shop, and sharing what I make on my blog.

 

I think this lined paper tee is such a fun way to bring out the inner student, and possibly even encourage a little bookishness in a little one (maybe that's a stretch, but a girl can hope, right?).

 

 

It's really simple to put together, and you can easily make it in any size. And how cute would it be if you embroidered or stamped your child's name or a favorite quote onto the lines?

Here's what you'll need to make this tee:

 

a white tank, tee, or onesie

masking tape

foam brush

blue and red acrylic paint

fabric painting medium (available at craft stores--you'll find it with the paint supplies)

 

To start, place some cardboard between the front and back of the top so your paint doesn't bleed through to the back of your shirt, then place your tape in straight horizontal lines across your shirt to mark the areas where you'll paint your blue lines. I put my first strip of tape right beneath the sleeves. I spaced the tape strips about 1/4" apart from each other, but only painted in every other open space (on an adult size tee) to create a little more distance between the lines. For my little guy's onesie, I painted in the spaces between each tape strip.

 

Mix your blue paint and fabric painting medium according to the directions on the medium (usually a 2 to 1 mixture of paint to medium), and lightly sponge it between your tape strips. A little goes a long way, so try not to get too heavy-handed with your brush. (And personally, I really like the look of a lightly painted, sort of splotchy paint line!)

 

 

(You can see here that I only painted in every other open space for the adult tee. For a baby/toddler top, you can paint in each open space.)

Give it some time to dry, then carefully remove the tape. Place two long strips of tape vertically down the left side of the shirt where you'll paint your red line. Again, place the strips about 1/4" apart, and make sure they're running straight down the tee so you don't end up with a wavy line.

 

 

Mix your red paint with the fabric painting medium according to the directions on the package, and sponge it on as you did for the blue lines. Let it dry for a while and carefully remove the tape.

 

 

If you're making a baby onesie, don't forget to lift up the shoulder flap to tape and paint underneath it!

Make sure you read the directions on your fabric painting medium to find out how to finish your shirt--you'll probably need to let it air dry for 24-48 hours, then iron it to set the paint. You can just turn the shirts inside out and toss them in the washing machine, and the paint holds up just fine.

 

DIY: Easy Screen Print T-Shirt

We just love this tutorial from Calico Skies blog showing how to make a quick and easy (and CHEAP) screen printed t-shirt!

Be sure to check out her blog for more!!

Here's what you need:

Shirt (thrifted), modge podge, fabric paint (this was my first time using Martha Stewart's all-purpose acrylic paint and it's amazing!), design, cardboard piece, embroidery hoop, nylon or panty-hose fabric, paintbrush, and permanent pen.

1. Create a design for your screenprint. I started with something simple since it was my first time using this method. Later, I did a more elaborate design for the front of the shirt, after I did this first heart as practice. Make sure that your that your embroidery hoop is large enough for your design.

2. Stretch the nylon over the hoop so that it is taut.

3. Trace your design using a a permanent pen.

4. Using Mod Podge, paint the "negative space", or, the space that you do not want to be painted.

5. Fill in the whole area, making sure there are no holes or gaps. I was obsessive about this because I didn't want the paint to seep through. Let dry completely. It took about 3 hours for this little one to dry.

6. Lay the hoop flat on the shirt and position where you want the design to be, and place a piece of cardboard beneath the area so that the paint doesn't bleed through the back. Squirt a generous amount of paint over the design.

7. Use the cardboard to spread the paint over evenly.

8. Carefully lift the hoop off the shirt and voila!

9. Let the paint dry completely before wearing.

DIY: Upcycled Watermark T-Shirt

U Create's blog has a great DIY that we honestly never would have thought of - who knew that just using some glue could make a t-shirt look so much more fun!

Check out their blog for more DIY!!

What I love about this project is that it's completely customizable. I used favorite quotes to decorate my shirt but you could also use song lyrics, bible verses, favorite book excerpts, etc. You can also choose whatever color you like. I think it would be a very kid-friendly project as well. There are so many possibilities!

 Materials:

Elmer's Blue Gel Glue (it must be the blue gel, white won't work)

Fabric Dye (RIT is my tried and true brand)

A white cotton Tee, Tank, Dress etc.

 Tutorial:

If you're unfamiliar with Batiking, it's a method of dyeing fabric in which you create a design with a dye- resist. When you dye your garment in cold water, all will be colored except where you've placed your dye resist. In traditional batiking, you would use wax as a resist. I tried this out and found it to be messy and difficult to control. Using store bought glue is much more convenient and very easy to control.

Step 1: Prepare

Wet your tee with cool water and place a water resistant board between the layers of fabric. I used the lid of a bin.

Step 2: Design

I'm not much of an artist, so what worked best for me was writing favorite quotes right across the front of the shirt.

This quote was found via Pinterest

Source

You could also try drawing a simple design like my very amateur sailboat:

Let dry completely. This will take several hours.

Step 3: Dye 

Your dye bath should be prepared using cool water. Experiment with different amounts of dye until you find the right concentration. Keep in mind that the color that comes out of the dye bath will be a couple of shades darker than the dry, finished garment.

When you get the color you want, lay your tee flat to dry.

Step 4: Wash

When your tee is dry (to let the dye set) soak it in cool, soapy water for about 15 minutes. This soak washes the extra glue out. Throw it in the washer and dry as you would normally.

Step 5: Wear and Enjoy!

DIY: Recycled / Upcycled T-Shirt Bracelet

This is a great DIY tutorial that could easily go hand in hand with other t-shirt tutorials since it uses only a small part of the t-shirt after you've cut it up for other things!  We like multi-tasking with our materials.  Thanks to Dollar Store Crafts for coming up with and sharing this tutorial!

If you like cutting up t-shirts to transform them into necklaces, pillows, tote bags and other fun stuff, you often end up with a few extra pieces. Here's an easy project that uses up scrap pieces of a t-shirt to make a simple summer bracelet.

Project estimate:

• T-shirt scrap, on hand
• Aluminum conduit connector or similar hardware, $1 or less
• Tape, on hand

Total: $1 or less

After cutting the  useful parts off a t-shirt, save the pieces around the sleeve or collar.  In my case, I was able to cut one long strip about an inch or two wide and about 12 inches long.

Wrap the ends of the strip with blue tape or masking tape.

Feed the strip through a hardware tube. Wrapping and twisting the fabric a bit, feed both ends through a second time.

Depending on the length of your scrap, tie any loose ends into a knot or bow or tuck them into the rest of the bracelet (a little like a turban).

Fabric glue or stitch into place.

DIY: Upcycled T-Shirt Belt

We love all the ways that people have come up with to upcycle old t-shirts.  This tutorial from Delia Create's blog is no exception! She even shows you how to use this technique to make a headband as well. So, check her out!

It's pretty easy. The part that takes the most time is the braiding really.

To start you just cut four strips of T-shirt. I cut mine 2.5 inches wide.

Pin the ends together and hold it down with a can or a book.

 Now braid. This is a four strand braid. I like that it makes it a little thicker and belt like.

And this is what it looks like after several rounds.

When you are done braiding knot the end.

 Now sew the ends.

You want one end sewn just once so you can wrap it around the D-rings and sew it there a couple of times. It is quite thick so it can be tricky.

For the other end sew it several times.

I didn't have matching thread for the orange but I did for the green. It makes it look a bit nicer.

And that's it!