Homemade Dress Form

Lately, I've been thinking about making aprons to sell online through Esty. I figured I needed a way to display them, such as a dress form. I started looking around, but I'm not very patient. I did find a vintage one at an antique store, but even on sale it was $230. I found another one on craigslist, but it was too small. I searched online, but they were too expensive also. So, I thought to myself, why not make one? I picked up an old floor lamp with a chunky base from St. Vinnies for $18. A couple of wire baskets, wooden bowls, and a wire candle holder were purchased from another thrift shop. We had some scrap wire mesh in the shop, and I purchased a can of black spray paint. Some old sheet music, flour, and water, and I was in business. All together, it was about $30 in supplies.

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to use the heavy black bars shown in the picture. I was making an oval shape out of two of them that would hang by small chains from the bottom of the form. This would give more "fullness" to the aprons. The jury is still out on that thought. Also, not shown, is a wire candle holder that, when cut in two, became the "arms" of the form.

At this point, I figured paper mache would be a good way to go. I had purchased some old music books at a garage sale for .10 cents a book. They were perfect!

She looks pretty curvy from this angle with her

skinny little waist and full bust line.

The finished project...what should I name her?

This is what she looks like sporting a new apron.

A Child's Apron

My granddaughter, Shailey, is turning eight this month. Her mom is making her a cute little retro kitchen from an entertainment center. You can check it out at easy peasy pie, it's super cute!  I thought it would be fun to make her an apron. I started with a .75 cent secondhand maternity top. I thought the fabric looked kind of retro and it would also go with the colors of the new kitchen.

I cut the front away from the back, including the sleeves,

and also cut a curve on the bottom of the apron.

I used the fabric from the back to cut strips for the ties and pockets for the front. The back of the blouse had elastic gathers, so I incorporated that into the tops of the pockets.

The ties feed through a casing and go up around the neck, making them adjustable. I used part of another blouse to cut and gather strips for a ruffle around the edge of the apron.

Hopefully, Shailey will like it!

Library Book Bags

My grandchildren love to go to the library! But, with four kids, and about 10 books each, my daughter was getting tired of carrying all the books home in a basket. So I decided to turn secondhand shirts, pants, skirts, and belts into book bags for Christmas.

Camo skirt, belt, and size 52 pants!

Double cargo pockets on the front flap.

Each bag has a pocket under the flap that accommodates a laminated (dry erase) card to keep track of how many books are checked out and when they are due. I used clear vinyl to make it see-thru. It also allows them a safe place to keep their library card. Below the pocket is a place to put a dry erase marker.

This bag is lined with the pant material (size 52 goes a long way!), and one more upcycled
pocket from the skirt added to the inside.

An embroidered denim skirt and seersucker blouse.

There wasn't enough of the skirt fabric to complete the bag, so I did find another denim jumper that was close enough in color to use. The strap was made from denim and I added a buckle and eyelets to make it adjustable.

My granddaughter loves the Disney fairies,

so I added an applique!

This one was made from two pairs of pants

and a plaid shirt.

Upcyled pockets under the flap and inside the bag.

Extra pocket added to the back of the bag.