Blue Jeans Baby!

                      Another Up Cycled Denim Design.

                      An artful Apron.
                     
                      Stuff a set of oven mitts in the pocket and gift it to work in the kitchen.
                      Put paper, paints and a brush in the pocket and paint a starry night!
                      Supply sandpaper and incentive and employ it in the workshop.

The artfully up-cycled Apron

 The basic Apron shape. 
I cut the pattern from an opened leg making use of the original hemming as the bottom hem of the Apron.
The pockets of course are salvaged from the jeans and stitched onto the apron.
I start stitching the binding at a bottom side and go up and all the way around.

Up Cycled Denim Apron

 Seam Binding
I like to make my own seam binding for the Apron edges and ties.
 I prefer working with cotton as it presses well and is available in a huge range of patterns and colors.

Start by cutting the selected cotton into strips
approx. 2 inches wide.
Be mindful of the pattern and which direction you want (in this case) the stripes to lay in the finished garment. Cut accordingly.

Sew all strips together at ends, with right side together. Press seams flat.





                The Artful Apron

Fold over (1/4 inch) on one edge of entire cotton binding strip
 and press.

Up Cycled denim

 Pics are now blue binding. 

Pin unpressed edge of cotton binding 
 with right side down
onto wrong side of Apron fabric .
Be sure to fold in end edge (at thumb area) first.
Stitch binding in place around entire outer edge of Apron.

 Turn Apron over now with right side up.
Bring binding to front, tuck in corner at bottom edge, allow pressed edge to fold under and pin into place.

Top stitch binding in place.











Up Cycled Denim Apron

 The ties for the neck and the back area are also made from the cotton strips.
 Fold over and press in a smaller edge on both sides of the cotton strip. Fold in half and top stitch over folds.
Press. Cut to desired length and stitch in place for neck loop and back tie
  

 Applique Heart

Up Cycled denim apron

 Alleen's Glue to the rescue.
Paint the back of your heart with a layer of Alleen's glue.
 Let sit for a minute of two before turning over and applying heart to apron front.
Although it takes 24 hours to really set it is not easy to move because of the glue residue that will be left from the first placement.
Be sure of where you want the heart the first time.

Craft Apron

Zig zag over the edges of the heart with your machine.

Blue Jean Apron

Squeeze on a thin line of Fabric Paint.

Up Cycled Denim Apron

 Set to dry overnight.
















I don't know why this will not sit up properly..lol
The artful Apron can be washed in machine and dried in the dryer.

A baby denim Sunsuit on a handsome little model.

I have had this pattern running round in my head for over 20 years. 
The last time I made denim summer suits my oldest Son was about 2 and happily modeled this version of the summer suit for me. 

Denim Summer suit @ Craft Blog here

I made his suit in 1992. Here it is!


I purchased the seam binding and the snaps.
I decorated the denim with both the fabric paint and acrylic paint spatter after it had been stitched.
The white paint was a puff paint and so required that I bake the garment for about 7 minutes at 250 degrees. 
It is machine wash and dryer safe.




These are the 2015 version of the summer suit.
 Fashioned from the leg of blue jeans these adorable sun suits are a super summer solution for little boys and little girls alike.
Velcro and or buttons and snap enclosures help to make putting on the denim summer suit as easy as ABC
Open the suit up at neck and sides and lay it flat out. Lay the baby in the back bum area.  Pull the bib up at front and secure shoulder and sides.
Add  suede baby boots and a cute t-shirt to the outfit and smile out loud at the outcome. 

Denim Summer suits @ craft blog

      Thanks to little Landon 
                     for being such a happy, 
                                     handsome and willing model.

Lillian the Domestic Engineer.Blogspot.ca

                      in spite of the fact he was a bit too small for his britches.

 

 I love summer and babies too!!

Sew, are you up to it?

Plant your own Garden

Love yourself

COMES THE DAWN

After awhile you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul, 

and you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't mean security

 and you begin to understand that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises 

and you begin to accept your defeats with your head held high and your eyes open 

with the grace of a woman and not the grief of a child. 

You learn to build your roads on today 

because tomorrows ground is too uncertain for plans

and futures have a way of falling down mid flight. 

After awhile you learn that even sunshine burns 

if you get too much 

so you plant your own garden and decorate your soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers

 and you learn that you really can endure, 

that you are strong and really do have worth 

and you learn and learn and you learn 

with every goodbye you learn

        - Author Unknown

Denim Vest - upcycle

Denim wear- second time around

                       All that glitters is good!
                         
                       Spring is the season of the joys of new life. 
                     A season of clean outlooks and fresh starts. 
                     
Spring cleaning?
 Get started in your closet by hanging all the garments in your closet on a backwards hanger. I typically hang my hangers with the C facing away from me and over the rod  So instead I hung everything on the hangers with the C coming towards me from the back of the rod. 

Throughout the course of a year, as the clothes are worn and returned to the closet they are hung back on the rod in the opposite direction.
 The year end review of what garments to keep and what to toss will be clearly evident by the direction the hanger faces. 
Anything that remains hanging in the closet with the C facing forward has not been worn in at least a year and should be considered for removal.

This is the stuff in your closet that should be weeded out. You have proven to yourself that in fact you have was not worn it for at least a year.

You probably won't have to look far to find a deserving recipient of your donations.

 I was recently the grateful and appreciative recipient of exactly that. A garbage bag full of new to me, gently used garments.

One of those pieces happened to be this treasured little denim vest.
It is a girls size
Denim is always in style. Dress it up with some glittery leggings and a cotton top or go casual in a denim shirt and vest with cowboy boots and a pair of jeans. Denim is always in.

This vest was easily altered in the course of an afternoon.

Denim Vest

A little dab will do ya!
Aleene's fabric glue ensures that the finished piece
 will please.
The fabric to be added is cut to the finished size and simply glued into place.
Any trim that is desired  is then glued to the fabric edges.
 After allowing to dry for 5 minutes the edges of the design can then be finished with a sewing machine zig zag stitch or with a serger.

Denim vest- second time around.

Denim Blue Jean Vest

Denim Vest remake

The trim I chose has the finished appearance of being a zipper half.
I was quite pleased with the result.
The word JOY was easily accomplished by also using the fabric (good to wash) Aleene's glue.

Using the glue, simply spell out on the fabric what you want it to say. 
Wait a couple of minutes until the glue becomes tacky and then apply the trim.
Finally, zig zag a stitch directly over top the trim. I used a black thread that is not easy to see as I wanted to keep the zipper effect. Contrasting thread would certainly add another dimension to the project.


Remember there are no rights and wrongs, if you are pleased with your project then you have been successful!

Having it all

Life is a busy place.

Ever find yourself stumbling over the piles 
of stuff all bought in the name of having happiness?

Ever complain about the cost of living or the price of gas 
while en route to Walmart to save more cash?

Ever feel like you've had enough of buying into having the stuff
that piles up on the floor in front of us?

Can't see the forest for the trees anymore? 
Can't bag the joy that you're looking for? 
Having a tougher time justifying the cost of having it all 
 and yet
just can't get enough of that sugar crisp..... 

Money can't buy you love but can it really buy you happiness?

Simplify

                             
    We buy, we gather, we collect, we hoard, we sort, 
   we pack, we keep, we stash....we amass!
   We buy, we gather, we collect, we hoard, we sort, 
   we pack, we keep, we stash, we amass.

 We teach our children to desire the riches that only money can buy and they in turn buy into the tradition of the spirit of success.
And so it goes until a loved ones passes....

 After the grief
we sort through the pile that rises up over the course of time. 
We seek to keep the "precious" memories of a life out of the garbage bags with everything else. 
The value of the stash it seems is often correlated to the size of the pile and the pile amounts to the perceived value of a life now gone..
 
  If having it all is living the dream
  why does it look like a nightmare in here?

How do we value a happiness 
that is ever foreshadowed by the cost of having it?

Give up on it. 
Re invent yourself and the purpose for your being. 
The cost of having it all is much much higher than we are willing to see. 

Can't see the trees through the forest of need
can't see the ultimate result of our greed
can't see the forest for the pile of trees
that now sit transformed in front of thee?

Can't believe the insanity that we are buy into 
now more than ever from the face of a window?

What can you do about the piles of the past now tripping you
on the road to your future?
Sort, pack, keep and trash!

Can you repair, remake or reinvent a purpose for it?
Can you give it to a Senior in need or a young family that lives down the street? Can you donate it to the local charity store for the many others who need?

 Do you really need it?
Next time you head off to the market to buy
a little bit of happiness from the jingle guy
remember to ask yourself why, oh why 
would you buy into the notion of a happiness pile
that will never amount to having lived a good life.
 lp

 Not Buying anything Blog

    a good blog to visit







You may also like Happiness

Be good to yourself and kind to one another.

The Greenlid

 Check them out HERE
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I happened to see these young entrepreneurs on Dragons Den the other night. 
I wanted to give a shout out to their new Canadian Company by drawing your attention to their new ingenious product. The Greenlid.

THE COMPOSTABLE COMPOST BIN

 

Committed to reducing waste through composting & living a sustainable life by making eco-friendly choices easy!

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