Master Sewing and Design Certification Program

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Thursday, January 3, 2013

What To Do With a Rag Bin Sweat Shirt

My husband and I hosted a number of foreign exchange students. Some were fun, some were a challenge and some left an imprint on our hearts. One of our boys was from Venezuela, but was of Italian decent. A GREAT kid. The most patient teenager I have ever met. He loved to go shopping ironically. Sadly, I would take him along with me and get caught up in things I wanted to look at and stay far longer than I had promised. I would apologize and he would always say, "No problem." Incredible. When he returned home, he left behind the sweat shirt pictured below. It had shrunk and so he could no longer wear it. It became mine. I would wear it on cold mornings when I just wanted something to easily pullover my pajamas. It had spots on the front of it and it was time to let it go...or so I thought. As I looked at it, I thought that maybe I could reinvent it. 
 And this is what I did! The flowers cover up the spots, so presto chango...no one will ever know.
I really had a good time with this little project. You can see that I cut 3 sizes of circles and just sewed in the middle,
 or did a crisscross over the circles. Some of the leaves were sewn only down the middle and others I added veins to. I wanted the flowers as well as the leaves to have a feeling of movement.
 The bottom of the skirt is the top of the sweat shirt. The little flounce at the hem is the armpit of the sleeve.
I cut a 5/8" wide strip and stitched it along the hem. 
The bottom band of the sweatshirt was cut open and then stitched back to the now skirt. To accent it and to give it a little more stability, I stitched 5/8" strips to the bottom, middle and top. The center strip covers up where the bottom band of the sweat shirt had been folded.
 Below you can see that the little flounce is the armpit of the sweat shirt. 
I even saved the tag and sewed it on the back side of the skirt. I thought it was a fun little accent.
Rather than the sweat shirt ending up in the garbage, it now has new life and I still have a little memento that brings back very happy memories. 
I'm working on a white turtleneck where I'll use the navy blue Nautica Competition stripes that ran down the arms so I have a little more repurposing left to do with this sweat shirt. Like I said, this has been a super fun project! Great way to start the new year!

39 comments:

  1. That is the cutest thing I have seen in ages! Well done, Rhonda!

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  2. I want to get inside your brain for a few hours - your thought process in coming up with all of these creative ideas is amazing!

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    1. We need a play date as I would enjoy a day of play with you as well!

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  3. Omigosh, that is *adorable*!!!!!!! And a special way to remember a great student.

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  4. Your talent and ingenuity amazes me all the time

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  5. Oh, my! This is fabulous! Great refashion and I just pinned it to my Awesome Refashion board. You really thought out of the box for this one!

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  6. Fully prepared to see it made into a cardigan that you cut down the center to refurbish for your Grandmother....OMG! I am awestruck.

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  7. It is adorable. What a great way to reuse those nasty overused sweatshirts and make them something adorable and feminine! Rhonda, you Rock!

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  8. You are so creative Rhonda.

    Deirdre

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  9. What a great creator you are. Love it

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  10. What a great creator you are. Love it

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  11. I love this! And I want to make me one some day. Very nice job!

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  12. Where do you come up with such creative and out-of-the-box ideas! You are just flowing to the brim with inspiration, and amaze me every time - just love it!!!

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  13. So fun! Your creativity is endless, Rhonda!

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  14. That is so cute! I'm not usually a fan of refashions but this one is fabulous.

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  15. Amazing. I love how you were able to refashion an ordinary sweatshirt to something so beautiful. Very classy.

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  16. I love how you were able to refashion a plain sweatshirt into something so beautiful. Lovely!!

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  17. I flat out LOVE IT. I wish I was half as creative as you. Well done Rhonda - and I am sure the guy who left it behind would be amazed to see what has become of his sweatshirt!

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  18. This is so creative! I just love that you used the tops of the sleeves as sewn; that is such a great idea!

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  19. The best refashion I've ever seen! That's really thinking beyond limitations - excellent.

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  20. Oh, my Gosh, Rhonda!!!! I would be happy to gossip in your mind, you have ideas so clever! I can not think of that beautiful skirt as it had previous life sweatshirt!! You are my hero!

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  21. this is amazing...I love it! You have such a gift for thinking outside the box! I am currently working on a bag from a felted sweater for my sister-in-law, would you mind if I co-opted your flower idea to embellish the bag in some way?

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    1. oh, please do! I think that the stitching would look wonderful done by hand with embroidery floss.

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  22. Goodness you are so clever! Never in a million years have seen that in the original garment.

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  23. Wowza! I would have never come up with that. Great job and such fun to look at.

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  24. The words "Wow" and "Clever" aren't remotely strong enough words to describe this transformation. A slack jawed "Holy Cow" is more like it! Amazing job!

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  25. What a great idea! and beautiful as well. Rhonda M.

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  26. I am speechless. Beautiful work, amazing idea. What an inspiration! Thx for sharing!

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    1. Thanks Andrea! I had a lot of fun making the skirt.

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