Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sunday, September 12, 2010

old T-shirt cushion covers


my husband loves T-shirt from Granif, a Japanese T-shirt company.
every time we go back there to visit my family, he brings back a couple of their T-shirts with him.
they have a lot of cool designs, and it's perfect for my husband who doesn't like words/writing on clothes. 

over a few years of being well loved/worn by him, and being washed and dried in the machines,
they are no longer the right size/shape for this very picky man.
so he passed these down to me to give them a new life.
 I decided to make our little cushions covers.
they have been naked for a long time, well as long as I've know them.
that is kind of gross...

it was about the time and a perfect opportunity :)

How-To 
[[Turn your old T-shirt in to a cushion cover]]



you'd want to use as much material out of the T-shirt as possible.  
cut the sides as closest as the sleeve seams. and it is okay to go over the seams as long as it is going to be the seam allowance (it will be hidden!)






also, cut off the neck/shoulder part.  you can get more out of the back, because the neckline is higher.

cut the front part into a square, the back into halves.








I sewn a piece of twill tape on the back edges, which make the opening where cushion goes in and out.  this way the opening won't be stretched out and look sloppy...
put all three pieces facing the right side together and sew/serge all four seams.  make sure the outer side of the two back pieces lays in the middle of the three when inside out.  

turn it right side out and put cushion in from the back opening!









taddaaa!

    these even had a nice designs on the back of the shirt, 
which I collaborated into the back opening. 










Wednesday, September 1, 2010

kids clothes inspiration

I have these books checked out from my friend Tiffany's craft/sewing library.

above all, this one is my favorite!





the dresses in the book are absolutely adorable 
and I love the nostalgic styling!

oh how much I love the Japanese kids clothes books!
and I wish I could be in those dresses!!

all the pattern are in size 4~7, which my daughter has still a few more years to grow into.
but I may copy some/all patterns anyway, so I have them for later.

another great thing about this book is it is all in English.
so if you're Japanese sewing book lover, but intimidated by Japanese sewing instructions,
this might be a good one to start with :)
(not to mention that most of Japanese sewing instructions come with some diagrams and easy to figure out!)