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Upcycled Clothing Blogs

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I’m always looking for inspiration for sewing and new ideas for upcycling so I thought I’d share my favourite upcycled clothing blogs. I’ve also got a few sewing and upcycling blogs I’ve subscribed to too, love the newsletters and free patterns that drop into my inbox!

Criss cross baby dressOne of the first projects I made for this blog was a criss-cross dress with ruffled pants to match. (you can see it here). The pattern was free, delivered to my inbox from Melly Sews. You have to subscribe for the free patterns but don’t get bombarded with emails. Around one a month, usually with a free pattern included. The patterns are well written and with easy to follow instructions, worth the sign-up for me!

 

 

 

free baby dress sewing patternAnother favourite of mine is Sew Kate Sew where I got the free baby dress sewing pattern. I didn’t need to subscribe for this one, it’s freely available on her site. I decided to subscribe anyway and again, not too many emails, only every couple of months.

 

 

 

Diaper BagI made this diaper bag from a tutorial at Karen’s blog. It’s probably one of the most useful items I’ve made for baby Lilly and has been in constant use since she was born. I plan to do another one for my latest expected Grandchild, a boy this time! Karen has some neat ideas for kids clothes, not many tutorials or free patterns, but I like her ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

the thrifty coupleOne of my favourite sites for upcycling and thrifty living is The Thrifty Couple. It’s easy to spend hours on there looking at all the great ideas! From tips to saving money on diapers to DIY around the home and printable guides it’s a great resource for upcycled living.

 

 

 

diaper cakeThe Tip Junkie is full of ideas and tutorials for upcycling and where I got the idea for making a taggie blanket. I have a long list of projects I’d like to make starting with a diaper cake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

kids activity blogIf you’ve landed on Upcycled Baby Clothes you’ve more than likely got kids or grandkids. Keeping them amused can be a challenge, especially during the winter months. Kids Activity Blog is loaded with ideas for keeping the kids happy. There’s also ideas for outdoor activities. The kids menu is sectioned into age groups making the site easy to navigate. I particularly like the printable colouring pages, a great resource.

 

 

 

Make baby sewDelilah at Make Sew Baby has built a great collection of printable patterns and tutorials. She covers everything from clothes to accessories for the nursery. She also covers baby food crocheting and knitting. I love the baby peasant top pattern and have made that one myself.

 

 

 

 

These are just a few of my favourite upcycled clothing blogs and other resources I use for helping me craft. Please leave a comment below if you’d like to add to this resource.

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Taggie Blanket

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A baby taggie blanket can be so expensive taggie blanketto buy, so why not have a go at making one? These are simple to make and don’t take long. A beginning sewer can easily manage this project. Making a taggie blanket uses up your fabric scraps too.

I’ve explained all the techniques used in this project in previous articles. Just click on the blue links if you need help.

I used microfiber fleece for the main part of the Taggie Blanket. You could also use pretty print cotton fabrics like fat quarters but, if you’ve read my other tutorials, you know I prefer the microfibre fleece. I’ve already made three pair of baby booties and a plush baby toy from it. Why? It’s very soft and feels so good on baby’s (or anyone else’s) skin.

fat quartersHobbycraft have some special half price offers on some very pretty fat quarters.

 

 

Materials

  • 2 pieces of micro fleece 30cm x 30cm (12″ x 12″)
  • 14 fabric scraps of differing sizes. (I used different textures to make it more tactile)
  • Thread
  • Scissors

 

Making the tags

Once you have all you materials, take the scrapsMaterials for Taggie Blanket first and cut into rectangles of various sizes. Remember these will be getting folded in half and sewn so allow for this. My largest piece was 10cm x 15cm (4″ x 6″)

 

 

 

 

Fold each piece in half lengthwise right Tags cut and pressedsides together and press till you have 14 tags ready to sew.

 

 

 

 

Sew two sides leaving one side open Sewing the Seamsfor turning right sides out.

 

 

 

 

Turn all pieces right side out and pressIron the tags. I pressed the seams to the side but you can press seams to the centre if you prefer.

 

 

 

 

Putting it together

Fold the tags in half and lay on 1 of thePin tags on fleece pieces of fleece with the folded ends facing the centre. Space them out as shown in the picture and pin in place.If you’re using fabric pin the tags to the right side.

 

 

 

Baste/tack in place, you can find an Sew Tags onto fleeceexplanation of basting here. Take the second piece of fleece and lay on top of the basted pieces. If you’re using print fabric remember to place the right side down.

 

 

All pieces placed togther ready for sewing

 

 

 

 

 

Stitch around all 4 sides leaving a gap Right sides out and pin open endfor turning right sides out. Turn right sides out then turn in and pin the open end.

 

 

 

Top stitch around the edge to give a nice Top stitchneat finsh.

 

 

 

 

 

The fleece centre looked a bit plain to me Baby taggie blanketso I thought I’d try my new found applique skills. I had an old charity shop cushion cover with animals printed on it so I cut out the giraffe for this project.

 

 

And there we are, I think baby Lilly likes her new taggie blanket!

Baby Lilly holding taggie blanket

 

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