I love recycling. It is such a rewarding way to be creative, and obviously so much cheaper!
I had some old clothes which were destined for the op shop but I thought, just this once, I might save them for myself and get a little crafty.
May I introduce to you - the Red Cord Denim Double Up
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The red cords were a little tight in the thighs and a regular boot cut. I created bigger flares as I like a little more covering over my shoes in winter, and this also allows for boots. (not that this particular outfit is appropriate for winter, but, you know.
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| I would wear this as separates rather than together - the vest is super cute over a dress! |
I switched up the pockets to give it a little more interest in both pieces, and it does work pretty well if I don't say so myself!
Ok and here is the second one: Embroided jacket with crochet hood and trimmings
There was a little more work in this piece compared to some of my other garments. I appliqued the floral feature first, rather roughly as I don't mind edges and threads hanging out, they tend to soften up in a few washes anyway. This was basically the easiest bit of the whole jacket, I just followed the seam along the back panel with a very narrow zig zag.
This was followed up with a lot of TLC by way of various hand stitches including blanket stitch down the main seams (soft brown) and along the edges for the crochet to hang on to, and back stitch swirls and the "jagged" feature stitch under the lapels. The most difficult part was the sleeves, I might actually open up the under seam of an arm if I ever repeat this.
Crochet was the final, easiest step (at least for me, I can crochet and watch TV at the same time, my fiance thinks I am a freak) to completing this piece. I crocheted the arms and along the bottom of the jacket directly onto the back-stitched yarn. For the hood I created a rectangle based off the measurements of the collar half the width which was then folded over with a seam along back. I tend to measure by eye for my personal garments, and for the length of the rectangle I put the jacket on and placed the crochet chain on my head at the back (the tallest part) so I would know I wouldn't have to hunch to wear my hood (I'm 6' tall, so I worry about these things). There were cute front pockets which I loved because it meant my granny squares are actually lined (won't stretch/have things fall out).
Et, voila!
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| I took the spare button and made a holder for the front in the event of cold wind. So snuggly. |
I found a lovely link to a free pattern of a crochet granny blanket with mismatched polygon motifs, it's available from RedHeart.com here
But as annoying as some of the lessons may have been at the time, looking back I do appreciate what my teacher was attempting to illustrate; be loose and don't be too careful about your markings, be 'flowy' and let it 'come through your system to your brush'. Sounds like a bit of waffle, I know, but in essence he was trying to make the point of making those mistakes that would lead to genius results, because if you're too rigid in what you are creating all of the time you will more than likely fall into a bit of an art rut rather than flourish.
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