Recycled Archives - Page 28 of 38 - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

Celebrate The Boy – The Perfect Boy Gift (and Wrapping)

February 4, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

Need a gift for that special little boy?

I’ve been saving this post for a special occasion: CELEBRATE THE BOY month over at MADE! Dana has asked me to be a guest blogger for today!

I don’t have a son, but I do have nephews that I get to sew for. I get so many requests for more boy projects that, a while back when working on a new recycling pattern for a hoodie, I decided to make it unisex! The Recycled T-Shirt Hoodie is one of my favorite gifts to make for that special little boy.

Why is it the perfect gift?

1. It is handmade and one-of-a-kind.
2. It is recycled.
3. It takes under an hour to make.
4. It is a functional gift.
5. It is cool and funky.
6. It is personalized.

I love finding the perfect combination of t-shirts. I use my own pattern: the Recycled T-Shirt Hoodie.

I collect t-shirts with bright graphics and I love mismatching bold colors.

A personalized touch to the back of the hoodie:

Mismatched thread on the hood:

To add an initial to the back of the hoodie, I used my contact paper screen print method:

The finished “J” initial with a lightning bolt:

I used the same screen printing method to print some brown recycled wrapping paper (you can use either brown shipping paper or an brown grocery bag, cut and turned inside out).

To make a tag for the present I stitched leftover t-shirt scraps together, trimmed them to the size of a small piece of cardstock…..

…..and then stitched the paper and fabric together around the edges.

My favorite part is folding the hoodie up nice and neat…..

….then wrapping it up, tying it with string and writing a special little note on the card!

The Candy Dress – A Tutorial

January 31, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

I am addicted to sweets. I am constantly buying candy and I am always trying to find ways to use the colorful packaging in my projects. Here is Sienna’s new favorite dress I made using a colorful Nerds box and some tie dye:

She wore it for three days straight. I finally got her out of it tonight by promising she could wear her tinted goggles to dinner (see bottom of the post for that photo).

She pretty much looks like she got tangled up in the Willy Wonka conveyor belt.

Look how great all these packages are! The Nerds were my favorite for Sienna and I thought the Hot Tamales would be perfect for a boy. I scanned them into my computer…..

….and printed them out on transfer paper. This was the first time I’ve used Dharma Trading’s Super Soft Transfer Paper and I am now officially hooked…..this stuff just feels like part of the fabric after one washing (the other stuff I was using felt a little plastic-like….and is going in the trash).

For this particular dress I made a patch to sew on, but you could iron the transfer directly onto the dress as well. Make sure to follow the directions for the transfer paper you are using.

Peeling the backing off is the best part.

I adhered my patch to the dress using fusible web and then stitched it into place.

Once the transfer was finished, I soaked the dress pieces in water (with table salt) to prepare them for dying.

After soaking for a few minutes, I took the pieces out of the water, squeezed the excess water from them, twirled into little spirals and secured with rubber bands.

Next, I covered them with pink and purple dye, wrapped them up tight in plastic and left them overnight.

The next morning I rinsed out the dye and ran the pieces through the wash. Here are the finished pieces before I sewed the rest of the dress together. I love how the dye becomes part of the transfer.

Sienna’s replacement outfit for dinner tonight…..only because she got to wear the goggles.

This tutorial is part of a series for the Lil Blue Boo / Dharma Trading Challenge running until the middle of February. If you haven’t checked it out yet please do! All levels of design/sewing/printing encouraged to enter! Entries are due by February 15, 2010.