Upcycle Living

It feels almost like yesterday that we made that Christmas Tree from old Christmas cracker case , and just last week that we made the CD Christmas Tree . The thing is, it's only November and I'm already itching for another handmade Christmas tree idea. Time to start scouting around the house for some useful scraps... any suggestion, anyone?

Here's one of those tasks that I get given by my husband from time to time: fix it! He loves these trousers so much that he wears them again as soon as they get cleaned. And look what happened? The cloth at the waist band is all ripped. There is such a big hole that can't just be sewn back with threads. Also, the print is a very specific camouflage pattern which means that I can't just take any excess cloth and patch it on. But since the back pockets are mainly for decoration purposes, the rescue is here! I took the left back pocket out stitch by stitch very carefully so that I don't leave yet another hole behind. After a little ironing to get rid of the creases, I now have enough material to patch the waist band back. (It's like how they take a bit of the buttock skin to patch scars on the face in plastic surgery) Here comes another problem: the waist band is elasticated and sewing can be tricky. So I've used a hanger and some pegs to stretch it out. The actual...

I don't wear T-shirts. Just don't like the look of them on me, full stop. They are often too big or loose, or just unflattering. Although I don't buy them myself, I can't stop anyone from giving them to me, especially when it is a Depeche Mode T-shirt. I was given this Depeche Mode T-shirt months ago, but can't bring myself to wearing it as it is still too big although it is an S. Wearing it to bed is completely out of the question because that would have been a blasphemy! I've been wanting to do some alteration so that I can enjoy wearing it and finally found the time to do so last week. And here's what I did: outline the shape of my desired outcome, cut away the unwanted part of the material then hem the sides up (all hand-stitched, no cheating). And this is what I can finally put on and walk out the door, proud :)