How to.. make a No Sew new Tee out of an old favourite Tee! (Guest Post)

 

The lovely Helen from Ickle Babe makes a range GORGEOUS gifts, from baby quilts, to bunting, to Aprons and New Home gifts. You simply have to pop over and check it out! I knew that ANY Guest Post from her would be a winner and a winner it is! Ever had your child grow out of a favourite t-shirt that tearfully had to be packed away? Look no further, re-use key features and make a new one. Not only is it clever, cut and fun, it is NO SEW! Hurray!

Recycled Tee Project!

This make was inspired by the lovely Milly, at a year and a half her most favourite thing in the world is her Lola tee. She Loves “yoya” (lola) as she calls her , and wears this top constantly, patting her belly as she runs about, as if Lola is actually playing with her. Its very cute! But unfortunately, we all knew the day would come… it’s getting to small.

So I have decided to re-cycle it, it was super easy and Milly LOVES it, maybe even more now that she did before. I figure I can just keep doing this until “yoya” falls apart or when Milly gets bored of her and wants a boyfriend instead ;P So here goes…..

You will need…

• A sharp pair of scissors Pinking shears (optional)
• An old t-shirt
• A plain new t-shirt
• A sheet of BondaWeb (like big sheets of wonderweb, John Lewis or Ebay always has it )

1) First roughly cut around the pieces you want to feature . I used two old jumpers for this. One had Lola on it and as she looked like she was running away on the pic I cut a little bee and some flowers out of the other one to create a little scene. Find a background piece, this can be new fabric like mine or another recycled piece, you could even use the back of the old tee, as long as its in a co-ordinating colour from the new tee your putting it on to.

2) Using a hot iron, fuse the bondaweb to the pieces. All you have to remember here is to place the rough side on the wrong side of your fabric and iron for 4-5 secs using dry heat. Use the wrong side and you just end up with sticky bondaweb on your ironing board!

3) Cut around them carefully, I used pinking shears for an extra bit of texture, but you don’t have to if you don’t have any, normal scissors are fine.

4) Peel the back off the bonda webbing and arrange your “collage” on your new tee. Place a damp tea towel (make sure its a plain one, I did this with a red one once and dyed the t-shirt pink) over the piece and iron down. I find it easier to just put the iron on sections and leave for about ten seconds at a time and then move to the next. As if you just sweep your iron around you can disturb your pieces underneath.

5) Remove the wet tea towel, Give it a final good iron and leave fused pars flat to cool for about 20mins.

And there you have your new fully washable original *designer* tee!

 You could customise it further with buttons (I have some cherry red vintage ones to add to Milly’s) or ribbons. Very easy but very fun, you can let your imagination go wild. I have even saved some of the other jumper for customizing some jeans too, the possibilities are endless!

I think Helen came up with a fabulous way of recycling AND keeping little people happy! Fabulous!

Previous How Tos:

Super Cute Flannel Cupcake (Guest Post)

 

– Tactile Felt Donuts

– Delicious No Sew Lavender Bags

–Make Scented Playdough

– From T to Halterneck (Guest Post)

– Felt Strawberries & Gingerbread Men (Guest Post)

– How to make a No Sew Tea Towel Kid’s Apron

– Easy & effective Fish Pinata

– Simple but effective paper frames (vlog) 

– How to make a Flower Pom Pom (guest post) – simply gorgeous – use as wedding decor! 

– How to make a Paper Envelope  

– How to make a No Sew Bib (out of an old shirt)  

– How to make a Fabric Mâché Bowl (from old scraps of fabric!)  

– How to make a Paper Flower (from newspapers)  (guest post)  

– How to make a Paper Boat (vlog)  

– How to make a Paper Cup (vlog)  

– How to make Swedish Hearts (Paper Baskets) (Guest vlog)  

– How to make No Sew Bunting   

– How to make a Balloon Poodle (vlog)  

– How to make Seedling Pots (out of newspapers) (vlog)  

– Funky comic party bags   (Guest vlog)