Posts Tagged ‘reusing a sweater’

Reuse Tues: In Which a Sweater Becomes a Skirt

Posted on January 19th, 2011 by Tonia 1 Comment

That’s right, I’m posting this Rues Tues post on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday.  Have a cookie.

My fashion sensibility suffers severely during the winter months.  I start out with great intentions, of course…”Yay!  I love boot season!” and, “Hats are so cute. I’m so glad it’s cold enough to wear hats every day!” and, “Scarves look good with basically everything!! I need more scarves in my life!” 

I fold away my summer clothes and pull out my winter clothes, and it’s like seeing a bunch of old friends.  It’s also a huge pat on the back when I go to try on a peice of last-winter’s-wardrobe to find that it’s a little roomier than I remember it being last year {congratulations for sticking to your running routine, Tonia!}  But then, soon after this initial wave of happy feelings about dressing in cozy fashions, the reality of winter sets in. 

The reality is that the house is cold, the outdoors is even colder, and the idea of getting dressed in the morning- or even getting out of bed at all- is terribly daunting and un-appealing.  Slowly but surely as winter wears on, I slack off in the fashion department until I’m at the point where I no longer put together outfits at all anymore…I simply pick up whatever is the warmest thing and layer it on my body with as many other items as possible, as quickly as possible, and call ‘er good. 

This is sad for me because, being female and all- however tomboyish and backtothelanderish I may be- I like clothes and fashion a lot.  A lot a lot.  It’s a major guilty pleasure. I spend terrible amounts of time window shopping on the internet and dreaming about the kinds of things I would wear if I were rich enough. Which is sooo silly, because I live in the middle of the woods and there wouldn’t even be anywhere to go to show off my beauteous clothes {and no one would care…they’d probably just look at me like “Who do YOU think you are, anyways?”} 

Either way, cute outfits aren’t practical when you need to chop firewood and empty the mouse traps and take out the compost.  I know this, and yet, I like clothes.  Beautiful clothes feed my soul and make me feel good. Which leads me to my point {hooray!}: I should probably, at some point this winter, maybe think about wearing something other than my pajamas under my Carhartt coveralls.

And what better way to get something new to wear than to make it out of something else that I never wear anymore?  I was so excited when I saw this tutorial…Probably when you see it, you will want to do it immediately: Click here for awesomeness.  Mike and I have a plethora of old sweaters that were handed down to us from cousins and older siblings, so I could probably make 20 of these skirts if I wanted to.  I just absolutely love how something old can become something new. 

My mom is coming to visit for a week at the end of the month, and she’s bringing her sewing machine.  I do believe we will tackle the sweater-skirt project and a few others!  Happy Reuse Tues!

{Photo credit: The lovely Lauren Winter of Blooming Leopold}

Reuse Tues: Warm Things

Posted on December 21st, 2010 by Tonia 1 Comment

Brrrrr!  I don’t know about you, but it is freezing here in northern WI!  You may have seen my Snowed In post about a week ago.  Winter is in full-swing in this neck of the woods {literally…because today is the solstice!  Shortest/darkest day of the year, you guys.}  Every morning when I wake up, it’s my mission to layer on as many warm clothes as possible.  So, logically, today’s Reuse Tues post is about staying warm, being warm, things that are warm….warmwarmwarm!

On Once Wed last week, I spied this cute little DIY project.  Hand-warmer pouches!!  This would make a great stocking stuffer!  They used wool from this Etsy seller, but you could just as easily cut up an old sweater!

And speaking of up-cycling old sweaters, this Etsy seller makes nearly everything in her shop out of old sweaters.  Doesn’t her stuff look sooooo cozy?  I would love to wrap myself in one of those ponchos RIGHT NOW!!

And if you’re in the DIY mood instead of the buy-stuff-on-Etsy-mood {good for you!} then you’ll enjoy this tutorial for a circle scarf made from- again- an old sweater!

Stay warm out there, and happy solstice!!