How to Recycle, Refashion, Upcycle or Repurpose a Man's Shirt

The other day, my DH brought me a shirt and told me he couldn't wear it anymore because it had "shrunk." Yeah, right, my clothes keep shrinking, too, which is why I have a closet loaded with three different sizes of clothing. But, I didn't want to make him feel badly, so I smiled sweetly and took the shirt to add to the pile of clothing going to the rummage sale.





I looked at the shirt and no longer did I see a man's shirt. No, I saw a summer purse. Just how or why this shift in reality occurred, I cannot imagine. But I felt compelled to turn that shirt into something else. I think my brain is going Green, or maybe it's just getting moldy. Who knows?


I have a stash of lovely, new fabric. Why did I feel the need to upcycle or recycle this shirt? Maybe it was the challenge of turning something unusable into something useful. Maybe it's because everywhere I turn, people are talking about being Green. Whatever the reason, I was now obsessed with this idea.

I didn't have a clue how to do this so I Googled "recycle man's shirt into a purse." There were many instructions for turning a tee shirt into an assortment of items, but there were very few articles on recycling a man's dress shirt. Most of these had to do with turning a man's shirt into a child's dress or an apron. I couldn't find any suggestions on how to make a purse. I tried using the words "refashioning", "upcycling", and "repurposing" and got the same results. Nothing. As a parenthetical thought (I just love parenthetical thoughts), can anyone tell me what the difference is between upcycling, recycling, refashioning and repurposing? Lately, I've seen all those terms used and can't figure out if they are referring to the same activity or if there are subtle differences between them.

I decided it couldn't be that hard and set about to figure it out for myself. To be honest, it wasn't all that challenging. Should you find yourself with this same compulsion, I've written a simple tutorial. I hope it saves you some time.


Pin button placket together. Cut along the right and left side of the shirt to just below the collar.

Cut along the bottom and the top of the shirt to form a rectangle.

(Note: You can click on any picture to enlarge it)






Take both left and right piece from the front and stitch the button placket together to make one piece.

Iron a piece of heavy fusible craft webbing (I used Pellon) to the wrong side of what was the front of the shirt. I wanted to use the shirt's front pocket for my cell phone so I wanted the pocket to wind up inside the purse. By ironing the webbing to the wrong side of the front, I felt the pocket would have more strength and stability.


Place the right sides of the front and back together and stitch around three sides. Leave the fourth (small side) open so you can turn the fabric right side out.

Turn the fabric right side out. Press to even out the corners and seams. I wanted my purse to have a flap, so folded my fabric roughly in thirds to allow for the overlap. If you don't want a flap, fold the fabric in half. Iron. Stitch both sides of the purse together being sure to reinforce the top and bottom of the seam by going back and forth a couple of times.



In the picture above, you'll notice a dowel to the left of the folded piece of fabric. I decided that I needed to add a dowel to give the bottom of the purse stability. I didn't want it to scrunch up after I filled it with all my junk. Cut the dowel a couple of inches shorter than the bottom to allow for the side seams. I used my zipper foot (for the first time) and sewed as close to the dowel as I could. I then evened out the open edge (top of purse) in preparation of sewing it shut. Fold the raw edges to the inside and press.



I made a shoulder strap by braiding some thin rope I had in the house and sewing it to the back of the purse. I was being Green and using up things I already had. Hint: When sewing on the strap, be sure to reinforce at the bottom and top of the purse so that it doesn't rip when you fill your purse. Before closing the open, top edge, decide what type of clasp or closure you want. If you want to use a magnetic snap, now is the time to attach it so you can hide the prongs inside. I wanted to use a piece of elastic and a button, so I pinned my elastic in place when I was pinning the opening. Stitch closed. Add trim and button.


Voila. The finished purse. I added the trim to cover my less then stellar sewing. To the right is a picture of the inside of the purse where the shirt's pocket now holds my cell phone. That sure does tickle my fancy







All in all, I'm quite pleased with how this project turned out. I used the purse today for the first time and was amazed that I got two compliments at the dentist's office. They were quite impressed that I made it, but what really amazed them was that I made it from an old shirt. Maybe they'll think I'm poor and stop charging me those ridiculous fees. LOL

Here is what I learned from this experience:

It's was much harder to write clear instructions (anyway I hope they're clear) than to actually make the purse.

It's fun the get an idea and run with it.

No matter what Kermit the Frog says, it isn't all that hard being Green.

Thank You Cloth Paper Scissors

Here's a tidbit about me that you may not know. I love to buy magazines. When I get home, I flip through them, get all fired up, plan what I'm going to make after being inspired by an article, and then put the magazine down and promptly forget about my intentions. Can you relate to this?

The November/December 2008 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors had a wonderful cover article about decorating small jars to look like snowmen. I have been dying to try to make some myself but didn't have time until this past weekend. I couldn't get this project out of my mind. Maybe it's because I had 15 perfect jars (bought from a garage sale, of course) just sitting here calling out to me.

I'm part of a group of local artists who meet at my house about once a month. It's a very informal, non-structured group. In fact we don't even have an official name so we're known as the No-Name Art Group. Someone will get an idea and suggest it for our next get together. Then everyone else breaths a sigh of relief knowing that they're off the hook and don't have to come up with a project.

I love having the meetings at my house. I know you must be saying to yourself, "Why that Judy must be crazy. Why would she want to have everyone over? First she has to make sure the house is clean and neat (at least a little bit), then she has to gather the materials needed for the day's project."

To be honest, that's one of the best parts of getting together. I get to share my valuable Junque with people who understand my passion for acquiring. If I were a gourmet cook, I'd have elaborate dinner parties so I could share my cooking skills with friends. So what better way for an inveterate garage sale shopper to spread her joy than by sharing her "stuff."

Howie loves when everyone is here. Deep down in the bottom of his heart I know he's thinking, "Maybe we can get rid of some of this stuff." I'm thinking, "Maybe I can get rid of some of this stuff and make room for some new stuff." After all, garage sale season is rapidly approaching. Also, one more thing, if I had to take "stuff" to a meeting being held somewhere else, I'd need an 18-wheeler!

Saturday's project was to decorate bottles to our hearts content. I was worried that we wouldn't have enough jars for all of us and that we'd run out before the afternoon was over. I kept emailing everyone to bring jars since I had only 15 and we were sure to go through those quickly.







What was I thinking? We each were barely able to finish one bottle in the four hours that we were together. Gosh, it looked and sounded so easy in the magazine article. But we did have a lot of fun.



Here's the finished results. Aren't they fab? (Double left click on picture to enlarge)
Projects from left to right: Elizabeth, Roberta, Judy, Doreen, Jan

So, here's a great big thank you to Cloth Paper Scissors for publishing such an inspiring article that even I was compelled stop procrastinating and start creating.

Today's lessons learned:
1. A play date with friends is always fun whether you're 6 or 60
2. You can never have enough Junque
3. Even the bad habit of "some day I"ll get around to it" can be overcome with the proper inspiration.
4. Just because the magazine article highlighted snowmen jars, it doesn't mean that you, too, have to make snowmen jars. We were all sick of Winter and didn't want to think about snow so we let our muse take us wherever she wanted.
5. Since all the "stuff" is still spread out all over the house, I might as well go and decorate some more bottles.

Post Script: In the middle of writing this, I stopped to eat lunch. We had left-over Chinese food from last night (after all, tomorrow is the Chinese New Year.) We had one fortune cookie left so we shared it (this means that Howie got to open it and I got to eat it.) Guess what it said?
"Begin...the rest is easy." Do you think the Universe is sending me a message?

One World-Heart Giveaway

And the winner is .........
Drum roll please.......
Doda from Doda's Creative Wanderings

Congratulations, Doda, as soon as I hear from you I'll mail off your prize.

As a relatively new blogger, I was amazed to discover Lisa Swifka's international event-ONE WORLD-ONE HEART. Not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, I just signed up to be a participant.

If you are not aware of One World-One Heart, please click on the logo on the sidebar for information on how to participate. Basically, the purpose of One World-One Heart is to make it easy to meet new friends, visit new blogs, and expand your horizons. Oh, and as an added bonus, you have the chance to win something wonderful.

Here's what I'm giving away. This 7-inch ornament can be worn as a pendant or a pin. Or it can be hung on the wall to bring a smile to your face.

In case you are wondering what you have to do to win, the rules are quite simple.

1. Please leave a comment on this post, and this post only, before midnight Eastern Standard Time on February 11, 2009. The drawing will be held on February 12, 2009.

2. You must make sure that there is a way for me to contact you. Please do not leave an anonymous comment with no way for me to contact you.

3. You do not need to have a blog to enter and you can live anywhere in the world. I can't wait to see where all the entrants live.

This isn't a rule, but it's a great idea. Click on the logo above or on the sidebar and you'll find a list of blogs to visit and see what is being given away by the other participants. I'll bet you find blogs that you'll want to revisit again and again.

Happy surfing!

The Continuing Saga of the Intrepid Curtain Embellisher

Allow me to continue to amuse and amaze you with my adventures embellishing the plain white curtain (see blog post dated January 6, 2009 ).

But, before I do this, I would like to go on record as having developed a new art craze.
I am sure you are quite familiar with the world of mixed-media and altered art. One month, everyone is altering cigar boxes and everywhere you turn, there are articles and posts showcasing these charming, altered boxes. Three months later, we're all decorating corsets. You can't turn around without being hit in the head with a corset (perish the thought). And so it goes, from altered books to embellished sneakers.

But, have you ever seen anyone alter a curtain? I'll bet not. I know I'm on the cutting edge of a new trend. Remember, you saw it first here. Before long, I'm sure there will be articles in Somerset and Cloth, Paper, Scissors on how to alter plain white curtains. Workshops will be held at various venues on how to embellish the plain white curtain. Before you know it, many people will claim to have created this art form. But I will have the satisfaction of knowing that it all started with me. LOL

I digress. Back to the saga of the now blue sun printed curtain. As I mentioned, I was still not particularly thrilled with the results of my day's labor of love (or maybe that should read my day's frustration).

I proceeded to spend the next day, working on the curtain. You may have heard the saying, "less is more." Well, my saying is "more is never enough." With this in mind, I set about to try to salvage my project.




The first thing I did was to try to add texture and depth to the curtain by using fabric inkpads and a brayer wrapped with rubber bands.

















I was totally unimpressed with this step. Next, I tried using rubber stamps. After using both bold stamps and alphabet stamps, I began to like my results.

Feeling encouraged, I decided to make some fabric birds and butterflies to add to the curtain.


I found some interesting fibers and attached them to the curtain hoping they looked like branches. Then I pinned the birds and butterflies to the curtain. Here's a close up of the top half of the curtain.













But, standing back, I think that the bottom half of the curtain still looks a little sparse. What do you think? I'm thinking maybe some flowers would be a nice addition.





One of these days, I'll get to it.













However, I'm still very pleased with the way this altered curtain has turned out so far. (Now don't forget that you first read about altered curtains here.)

The Dolls of 2008

A year ago, after an amazingly successful Twelve Days of Christmas swap in which I participated, I jokingly said, "Next time, why don't we have an Eight Days of Chanukah swap?" I, of course, promptly forgot about this idea until August when I was gently reminded about my suggestion. Hence, the first ever (that I know of) Eight Days of Chanukah Swap was launched. What a fun swap!

I decided to make a doll for each of the seven participants.


The first doll I finished was a mermaid for Joanne Thieme Huffman. Being a fan of Joanne's blog (see side bar for a link to her blog), I know she frequently uses mermaid images in her art. I decided to crochet her doll and then embellish her with some doo dads. Originally her hair was a mustard-green colored fringe, but I sprayed it with Color Mists which I had gotten from Aileen (Outside the Margins), and got just the perfect blue/green/gold color I wanted.


When last seen, Ms. Mermaid was swimming in Lake Michigan.











Next up was Connie William's doll. Connie happened to mention that her favorite colors were black, white, and red. Immediately I thought of making her a Pierrot doll. Amazingly, I had the perfect head and arms to use for this project. More amazing was that I knew where I had put them! I used a wonderful product called Apoxie Sculpt to attach the head to the base. I first fell in love with this two-part, putty-like product in Linda and Opie O'Brien's "Who's Your DaDa" class at Art and Soul '08. (More about Art and Soul in another post.) I used antique white buttons for the hair and a small piece of window shade for the collar.

Being a Chanukah swap, I decided to make Jewish Grandmother dolls for Sandee Hyde, Fran Saperstein, and Kara Klein.


Here they are waiting at Newark Airport for their planes to leave so that they can spend Chanukah with their families. Being good Jewish grandmothers, their shopping bags are filled with food and, of course, they are bringing lots of presents. These are the first stuffed, cloth dolls I've ever made. I must admit, I think I have a new addiction.

I bought a copy of Knitted Babes because I liked the whimsical knit dolls on the cover. When making a doll for Joyce Vance, I immediately went to this book for inspiration and knitting directions since Joyce is the queen of knitting. This doll took on an identity of her own and became a ballerina. Joyce's daughter, Ellie, is a ballerina. I guess my subconscious was at work here.





I could have spent the next month, knitting clothes for this doll. I think my inner child was just screaming to get out.














Last, but certainly not least, was the doll I made for Amber Dawn. I know Amber makes wonderful jewelry. When thinking about jewelry and gems, I thought about gypsies. I don't want to be accused of being politically incorrect, but Gypsy Girl had a velvet bag with her that was filled with jewels of an unknown origin. She arrived at Amber's home hoping to trade the jewels for a place to stay. The biggest challenge I had when making Gypsy Girl was her clothing. Not having any patterns for doll clothing, I had to remake the dress several times until I figured out how to get the top of the dress to fit her.
























What a great swap. I had fun making the gifts I sent out, and I certainly loved the gifts that I received.

What's Behind the Curtain?

No, it isn't the Wizard of Oz. Guess again.

Hiding behind this boring white curtain is part of my every-growing fabric stash.

Let me explain. Years ago, this was my son's bedroom, and he used these shelves to store his games, books, record albums etc. Now it's the room my grandson sleeps in when he visits. Not one to let a nice set of empty shelves go uncluttered, I began storing fabric on them. At first, it was just a few pieces. Then I added a few more pieces. The next thing I knew, those shelves were overflowing with fabric. I just can't imagine how that happened!

Howie, who is usually not a neat freak, began muttering about the "room looking a mess (not the word he actually used)." I, on the other hand, thought the stacked fabrics looked colorful and inspiring. So we went back and forth about it. (Let me add, it was a rather loud and emotional type of back and forth.) Having been married for over 40 years, we've learned how to pull each others strings as well as how to rewind the string ever so nicely.

In the interest of marital peace, I decided to make a simple curtain to cover the shelves. That was easy. But I really didn't like the way the stark white curtain looked.

I wondered what could I do about this plain, white curtain. It occurred to me that I could dye that big, plain piece of white fabric. I had everything I needed and set about mixing the dye and letting the fabric soak. But then tragedy struck. Drum roll please. As I pulled my rubber gloves off, I noticed my right hand had turned blue.

How could this have happened? I had checked the gloves to make sure there were no holes in them before I started. You know what they say, "Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue."

Here's how the curtain look after it was dyed a lovely shade of blue.

I really liked the way fabric looked. But I'm not one "to leave well enough alone" as the saying goes. So I decided to try out the Setacolor Soleil sun printing fabric that I had in the house for a few years. This was back in August, and it was a beautiful, sunny, windless day. Perfect for sun printing.

This is a picture of some of the items I placed on the curtain after I had applied the Setacolor Soleil paint.

I was hoping to get some interesting shadowy images. . As with many of my artistic experiments, I was sorely disappointed. Here you can see how it turned out.

Here are the three things that I learned while doing this project. Perhaps this information will save you from screwing up like I did.

First of all, never try to sun print a huge piece of fabric. It was very unwieldy and I kept kneeling on my painted sections as I tried to reach the unpainted areas.

Second, the sun moves. Yup, one minute I was working in a nice, sunny spot and the next minute, the fabric was in the shade and I had to move the fabric which was a pain in the neck. I know this is basic science and I probably learned it in third grade, but for some reason I forgot to anticipate this phenomenon.

Third, trying to be clever, I had cut out cardboard birds and scattered them over the fabric anticipating I'd get some nice bird shadows and outlines. Well, this did not work out at all. I realized that my birds should have been much bigger. Can you see them? No. Neither could I.

Well, to be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with the final results of my sun-dying project. But I'm not one to give up.

To be continued......

True Confession

In an effort to maintain my reputation as an honest and ethical blogger (even if I live in NJ--the land of political corruption and personal mayhem), the following two posts actually appeared in another blog I started several months ago but abandoned. So, if they look familiar, you're not losing your mind.