Dickie Head Case

What?  I'm sure you all think I have lost my mind - but hear me out.
Between the house projects I have been playing with recycling ideas for clothing.  So in the spirit of the New Pioneer Style, I have come up with one more way to use those old t-shirts!

As you know I first started using the bottom half of the shirts to make a circular scarf, hand dyed and 100% cotton - bonus.  (For sale here on the blog!)

Now, I give you the sleeves - yes, I said sleeves.  I have taken the larger sizes, kept their shape and created a double function head scarf (bandana style) and neck scarf, warmer, etc.

I give you - The Dickie Headcase.

Remember the Dickie?  You might have to be a Boomer to remember them, but I have fond memories of those turtlenecks that you could wear under anything.  I liken this one to more of a lightweight neck warmer.

I of course dyed these in all my favorite colors;  teal blue, deep purple, bronze and dark green.

I was wondering if there was a market for these.  I plan to wear them in the garden, with t-shirts in the summer, or to accent any other New Pioneer outfit I have.
I also thought these would be great for those with dreadlocks, making them a unisex item! 

Have you got any ideas on other ways to wear them?  Please share! 

 

Scarf Ideas

OK, I promised to post some photo ideas for how to wear the new 100% cotton up-cycled scarves made from thrifted t-shirts.
For those you who haven't been following the posts, or are new to the blog, these scarves have been hand dyed and made from recycled white cotton t-shirts.  It's basically a no sew project that anyone can do.  Just cut off the bottom half of a t-shirt!

OK, starting off the fashion show with our glass head model (who is nameless right now), showing above is the bronze colored scarf dyed solid, which comes out marbled, wrapped twice around our models neck.  This is the most practical way to wear it.  They stretch well and are quite warm by the way!

This scarf is tie dyed by using a twist method.  I have wrapped it once around the neck and then over the head.  A little spooky looking on our model here, but you get the idea!

Now this is both of them together, intertwined.  On a real person they would hang down in front.  But this is an example of how to combine the two colors together.

I thought this version was really cute for a bad hair day.  Twisted, and wrapped twice around the head.

So those are the first few ideas I had on how to wear these.  They will be available for sale at the Wandering Wardrobe  http://wanderingwardrobe.com/ in Port Townsend after Tuesday Oct. 18th.  They sell for only $10 each!  The colors available now are the above bronze, amethyst (which is closer to hot pink), deep purple, dark green, new black, olive drab and teal blue.  There are about four of each color, two are solids and two are tie dyed. ( Please see the previous posts for photos of these colors.)

It's been really fun making them.  They tend to be unique unto themselves as they are all different sizes, lengths and weights.  Even the dye takes differently to some of them.
I hope you have enjoyed the process as much I have!

Odds & Ends

Playing with t-shirt scraps today and came up with this.

The hat band is made from the bottom hems of three t-shirts!  I just braided them and put them on this cute hat.

Recycling and re-purposing.  Good for garden wear.

More Scarfing...

OK, carrying on with the up-cycling theme.  This double project came from two white cotton t-shirts.
The neck scarf (worn by our wicker model) is an infinity scarf that is longer and narrower than the first one I made, it wraps four times.  This scarf is for my friend Mira, who is donating a load of clothing and fabric to me!  (My pledge to all donators btw!)

The headband / scarf is my little creation for working out in the yard... probably the hummingbirds will love it!
Both are dyed Deep Purple.

 And pictured here is Mira wearing her new scarf! 

Patchwork Pants

This project took the whole day and was more involved than I originally thought it would be!  But, I was determined to see the creation through as I had visualized it.

I used 6 of my favorite t-shirts that were ready for the rag pile.  Coordinating the colors, I cut out the pieces that made the most use of the fabric.  The hard part was patching the pieces together within the lines of the pattern!  I sewed them first, then cut out the pattern.

In the end I had a pair of casual drawstring pants from my fave shirts!  Even the drawstring is from another pair of pants I wore out.

Upcycling is as much fun as it is environmentally friendly.

Scarf it Up!

My next project was to create a spin off of my favorite infinity scarf, I'm sure you've seen them, a long hoop of fabulous fabric you can wrap around your neck once, twice, or even three times.

My new scarf would be made using a recycled t-shirt from the local thrift store.  I started with an extra large, white, 100% cotton t-shirt.  The best use of the fabric was to cut it in to two pieces about 10 inches wide, by about 24 inches long.  Not as long as I had hoped, but it works out in the end.

I sewed the two ends together, forming a loop.  Washed and dried it to see if the sides would hold up without seams, and yes!  It worked.


Next I dyed it.  My favorite colors are earth tones, so I used the Khaki color Dharma Fiber Reactive dye.

Here is the finished product.  If you can zoom in on the scarf, note how the dye has a marbled effect.  I do this by pouring the dye over the item inside the zip-lock bag and soaking it in its crunched up form.


This scarf is not as long I had hoped, but it can still be folded twice, as in the photo below.  I like how the soft cotton folds nicely and isn't bulky.

You can easily make one of these yourself.  Stay tuned for more!!!