Cedric's Green Backpack

 We have dozens of bags, totes, purses, backpacks and briefcases.

I have attended many a conference and come back with another bag of some sort.

Sometimes they're great like the one below.

When someone in our house is in need of a bag I refuse to purchase one.

Now I'm not above sending my kids to school with a "corporate" backpack but I knew that I could easily make it better.

 I started with the backpack {naturally} and a grown out of T with a cute logo.

I cut out a piece of paper to the correct size then folded it in half twice and rounded the edge to get a uniform shape.

Next I traced this shape on the shirt with a fabric pencil {chalk would do the trick}.

I cut the shape out of the T and pinned it to the bag.

If I'd had some, I would have cut the same shape out of iron-on interfacing {then ironed it on, of course} which would make it more like a true patch and much easier to sew on.

Lastly I sewed around the edge with a zigzag stitch.

 Just to keep it real, this is what happens to the office/sewing room/playroom/storage/attic when I'm focusing on a project.

And, let's be honest, this was over a month ago and it still looks like a variation of the same.

Green Boy Leggings

Jeff would argue that there is no such thing.

Boy leggings that is.

I disagree and I'm in charge of wardrobe so I guess I win.

{Right?}

Anyways I decided to hand down a couple pairs of Fiona's old leggings and wanted to boy them up a bit.

I think if Cedric wore these with the heart buttons it might just push Jeff over the edge.

I had already cut up the shirt for another project that I'll share some other time.

This one went a little something like this.

1. Cut the bottom hem off the pants {in this case all the girly stuff}.

2. Cut the sleeves off the shirt {measure the width cuff you want + 1cm}.

3. Pin right sides together, matching raw edges.

4. Sew with at least a cm seam allowance.  {I turned mine inside out so I could sew along a stripe.}

Done, easy.

You could obviously buy fabric for the bottom but this way the cost was $0.

And then you too can show off the cutest little chicken wing legs.

PS. Don't judge my cobwebs.

Green Toddler Outerwear

Sometimes it pains me to pack away Fiona's outgrown clothes.

There are always a couple of outfits or pieces that are so sweet on her I can barely stand to see them go.

This sweater was one of those things for me.

It's really not that special but there was just something about the colour and detail that appealed to me.

So, I decided to give this sweater another life.

It has been reincarnated as Fiona's newest hat and mitts.

Here's how we did it.

This process involved a lot of toddler involvement so the pics took a backseat.

When the toddler doesn't feel like being involved it takes some estimating.

{If you know me well you already know I'm the master of estimating, at least I think I am.}

1. Measure.

Put the end of the sleeve over the toddler hand and see how far up their fingers go.

Cut about an inch above this point {please remove before cutting}.

Turn these pieces inside out, lay their hands on top and mark where their thumb would be.

{I used pins but a fabric pencil or chalk would be safer if you have a fidgeter.}

Yes, those are Halloween tattoos, no we didn't make these at Halloween.

Fiona found them in her sticker box and insisted they would be great.

Cut those pieces into mitten shapes.

Turn the body of the shirt inside out.

Put the hem over their head and see how tall it needs to be to cover their ears.

Once I had 2 hands I actually marked the shape of her head {more or less}.

I also marked how much it would need to be taken in to stay on her head.

{This picture shows the shirt on right side out. I actually did turn it inside out after but this little miss was done posing.}

Always a ham.

2. Sew.

Around the edge of the mittens {keep them inside out}, I tried to only leave a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

For the hat, sew on the markings then cut the seam allowance after.

This way you have some room to play if you need to adjust the shape or size.

I tried Fiona's on a couple of times before I cut the rest off.

I wanted to keep the whole bow from the shirt so that's why it ended up not perfectly shaped.

I was still so happy with the result and she loves them.

"Mommy makes a spesho hats for Fiona."

Green Pillows

I have a clothes bin in the attic that I put my out of season stuff in.

I always like turning over my closet.

Otherwise your sundresses are just hanging there taunting you.

"You wanna wear me but you can't for another 8 months, sucka!"

Well, I feel the same about my home.

In the summer I have bright blankets and throw pillows.

{This year I used the leftover fabric from our wedding favours to make pillow covers.}

Then as soon as I start to take out the Christmas decorations it feels all wrong.

I really wanted to neutralize but still have something interesting.

I knew I needed a nice warm texture in a muted colour, maybe grey?

In the spirit of recycling what I have, I raided my clothing and fabric bins as well as the linen closet and couldn't find anything that fit the bill.

As a last resort I went down to our coat storage and came across the perfect fabric.

I wore this Zara coat postpartum 2 winters ago and pregnant last winter.

It has been stretched and pilled beyond recognition so I felt ok about tearing it apart.

I started by ripping out the lining and removing part of the zipper.

Once I had a workable section of fabric I laid one of my old pillowcases down and cut with a 1/4 seam allowance.

I was able to get 2 pieces from this coat.
{Bailey enjoyed a nap in the hood while I worked.}

I really wanted 2 pillows so I needed another fabric for the back.

I had a bunch of plain white fabric {thanks Lori!} that was perfect.

I also wanted this to be easy and free.
 Read, not involve zippers and hemming.

I folded the white fabric selvages together and cut a piece that was double the length of the grey piece but the same width.
{Cedric helped.}

I folded this in half and cut along the fold so I was left with 4 pieces all with one selvage edge.

I then laid the grey piece down, right side up.

Laid one piece of white on top with a couple of inches hanging off the edge.

Laid the other piece on top of this with the opposite edge hanging off.

Make sure that the selvage edge is the one opposite from what is hanging over since this will be the edge not sewn into a seam.

I pinned around the edge of the grey piece then sewed with a 1/4" seam.

That's it!

Turn it inside out and stuff the pillow in.

The last time I made this type of cover I didn't overlap the back as much.

It's easier to get the pillow in this way but I found the back gaped open a bit.

I'm really happy with the result.

I also go the husband seal of {comfort} approval.

Cost: $0.

Green Dress {But Not a Real Green Dress, That's Cruel}

A little CanCon for ya.

Love vintage BNL.

I have a perpetual donate pile of clothing in my attic.

Usually I can't get rid of it fast enough.

Then I read this post on Blue Collar Red Lipstick and decided to let the pile sit for a while.

This way you avoid that feeling of regret after the hasty purge {you know the one}.

I'm so glad I did this because I was able to rescue that pair of jeans I recycled last week.

This week I salvaged one of my t-shirts.

I liked the pattern on this shirt but it didn't flatter me at all.

This shirt had a wide neck {meant to be worn off the shoulder} so I had to start by gathering it.

I tied my ribbon around a tapered chopstick close enough to the top so that it couldn't slip off the end.

Next I threaded the chopstick through the neck band.

For the shoulder seams I just did a little jump out and back in on the other side of the seam.

After I went around the length I just pulled the ribbon out and tied the ends together so it wouldn't slip back in.

It would be better to use thin elastic then you wouldn't have to mess with tying it to fit each time.

I just used the ribbon because that's what I had on hand.

Next I had Fiona put the shirt on so I could mark the fit.

I marked 4 spots in this order.

1.The arms hole size.  

2. The width at the hem. 

3. The width around her waist.

4. The point it should hit under her arms.

Sewed 2 seams connecting these 4 points.

 Cut about a cm seam allowance.

Put it on her.

The hardest part of this project was getting the girl to stand still for a picture.

These are not the best pictures but it turned out really cute and comfy.

Total cost $0.

Green Jeans

Not literally. 

Though coloured jeans are hot right now, they're not for me.

As I said in this post, I have been trying to recycle more lately.

Not like blue bag recycle but a more traditional kind.

This week I decided to take a pair of dated old flare jeans and turn them to skinnys.

In the past I would have thrown them in the donate pile and bought a new pair.

They're not the best jeans I've ever worn but they are exactly what I needed and cost me $0!

It was surprisingly easy.

I put the jeans on.

Marked the spot where they started to flare.

Measured how much they needed to be taken in at the ankle.

Took them off and turned them inside out.

Pinned the leg so they tapered to the measured spot at the bottom.

Sewed.

Cut off the excess a cm outside the seam.

Wore them.

These were cheap Gap denim a thin denim  so the new seam wasn't bulky which it might be if you were using a thicker pair.

The Green Thing

A couple of weeks ago I told you about the SEESA Rummage Sale.

On my second trip, one of the lovely volunteers packaged my items.

{By the way, this was done with more care for my $2.50 purchase than is usually done for purchases I've made for hundreds of dollars.}

She picked out a shoebox that was in really good shape.

"This would be a good box for wrapping gifts" she said.

I replied "perfect with Christmas coming".

Her eyes seemed to light up that I was on board.

"We call that recycling" she told me with a smile.

If it had been anyone else I would have thought she was mocking me.

She was, however, completely sincere.

It reminded me of a story I read {on Facebook I think}.

I searched for the story and couldn't find an original but did find this adaptation.

We do "the green thing".

We put our recyclables in the blue bag.

We started composting {and are horrible at it}.

We do cloth diapers.

I consider myself relatively "green".

The truth is though, there is so much more I can do.

Lately, I have been paying attention to how much we waste.

How much we buy on a whim that isn't needed.

How much we have that we don't use.

I am now making a conscious effort to reduce and reuse more.

Starting with:

Burps cloths to face cloths.

I have a ton of burp cloths.

My amazing friend Kim gave them to us when Fiona was born.

Thankfully we are now through the spitting up phase.

{Cedric was never really much of a spitter-upper.}

I do however need face cloths and lots of 'em.

We go through multiple each day for after meals and snacks.

I started using burp cloths to wipe faces and found they were too big.

This meant they stayed wet for a long time and started to smell.

I decided to take advantage of the serger I am returning today and went to work.

Each burp cloth yielded 4-6 face cloths.

Now we're all stocked up.

Cost $0.