DIY: 

Recycle old T-shirt to skirt and bracelet 

I was recently cleaning out my closet and I found a couple old T-shirts that no longer fit me well. I took this as an opportunity to be creative and fun! Since there wasn't much work to do, I thought I’d make a DIY tutorial as well =D This is what I did with one of the T-shirts:

How to make the mini skirt

Making a skirt from your T-shirt is easier than tying your hair up in a ponytail. All you need for this is a good pair of scissors, fabric scissors would be best but normal ones will do fine too. First lay your T-shirt on a flat surface and draw a line right under the neckline. If you want to be more precise, you can fold your T-shirt in half and then draw a line on one half (The line I drew isn't straight). Then all you have to do is cut. That’s it! Your Mini skirt is all done. =D Wasn't that

super easy!?

My T-shirt had a print of a man’s face on the front and the back, kind of facing each other so I wear my skirt with the seam in the middle. This way both faces are visible. If your T-shirt doesn't have a print on it and you would like it you, you could always use fabric paint to create your own unique print.

How to make the bracelet 

To make this bracelet, you’ll need:

• ·         Your old T-shirt
• ·         1 or 2 chains or old necklaces
• ·         Scissors
• ·         Matching thread and needle
• ·         Sticky tape, clipboard or something to hold strands together

Firstly, cut out all the seams so that there are no sewed together parts. This is what I was left with.

Now cut out 6 strands of approximately 1 inch/3cm and you don’t have to be very precise while cutting them. Then pull on the ends of each strand until they curl up and elongate a little. 

Make 3 bundles each consisting of 2 strands. You can add your chains to any bundles. I added one on each of the outside bundles. Then tape together one end so tightly so that they won’t come loose. 

Then you start braiding. If your chain has charms on it like mine does, try to get all the charms showing on one side. Once you’re done braid till your desired length, sew the strands together tightly to ensure that it won’t separate. Take off the sticky tape and do the same on that end too.

Now bring together both ends and determine how big you want your bracelet to be. Cut off the excess cloth and sew both ends firmly together. This is most probably going to look a tad bit messy, so cover it up with a small piece of cloth. Wrap it around the messy portion, and then invert your bracelet so that the wrong side is outside. Bring the ends of the fabric together and sew it securely together.  Then invert your bracelet back to normal and voilà, you’re finished! 

Recycling Old Sarees

Photo

While we were moving, the ‘throwing out old junk' part was very hard for me! Even though most of the clothes we had to get rid of were old or torn, if the material looked nice and was remotely useable, I kept it!! I found a bag with rolls of my mom’s old saree borders and by the looks of it….they were very old and so pretty! I immediately thought of things I could make with them so I packed them up and brought them with me. These are a few of the ones I found:

So I decided to make a short skirt with the bottom border. I didn't want to place the border one after the other so I slightly played with the arrangement of it. It’s comfortable, easy to walk around in and without a doubt one of the most unique pieces in my closet. Here is the final outcome:

Before & After

My mother’s old jacket has been laying around in this house for a while now and I've always been keen on throwing it out. Thankfully, she always wore coats over it. She’s a tall beautiful woman, and this jacket...was too big on the waist and the sleeves were an awkward short length. She bought it in 99’ right before we visited Italy in December.

Somewhere in Venice 

Trevi fountain, Rome

Milano Centrale , Railway Station

That’s 5 year old me and my mother wearing the jacket inside

 Rather than throwing it out, I thought I would cut it up and make it a bag. It’s the first bag I've made and of course there are limitations to the fabric and pattern but i'm quite happy with how it turned out.