Re-purposed onsie & giveaway #11

In honor of my practice of the principles of 'Green Craft' and inspired by Disney of Ruffles and Stuff's re-purposing old clothing comes this weeks project!

Max had this cute blue and white striped onsie that became, let's say, a little too soiled around the leg. I tried soaking and spray & wash to no avail. In order to dress up another plain onsie I made this little fishy:



Here is how:



Step 1 - pick out the old (too small or too stained) garment
Step 2 - draw the design. I got this fishy design from a dingbats font, called Efon that I downloaded for free from dafont.com, then printed it out and traced the drawing. I could have done it free hand, but I really liked this shape.
Step 3 - Cut out the fish drawing and pin to the the old onsie. Cut the fish shape out.
Step 4 - Iron the fish onto some fusible interfacing (to stabilize the fabric for sewing) and trim.
Step 5 - Line the fish up on the new onsie and sew it on with a tight zig zig stitch.
Step 6 - I added a button for the eye.

It was SO quick and simple to do, but so satisfing. The hardest part for me was sewing around the curves, but I think the uneven stitching gives it that 'handmade' appeal. I am not a sewer. I am learning by doing. I believe that if I keep at it one day I will improve.

I love the idea of using supplies that are on hand and not always buying the latest. Check out Brandi Reynolds post over at the Wishstudio on this very topic.

Also see Sewing With Trudy's scarf!

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To thank you for following along with my artful journey & the celebration of the launch of my book I am doing these regular Saturday giveaways!

This week the winner is

Kathryn Lantz of Sassmowth Designs

Congratulations!

You get to choose one of the following gifts:

Choice #1 - 12 month old altered onsie & matching gift tag


Choice #2 - mini notebook, 4x4 inches


Choice #3 - an original Holga camera print mounted onto a 5x5 inch stretched canvas, sides painted black. Ready to hang.


If you are not listed as a follower of this blog, please do sign up, the more the merrier!

Also, if you would like to win a copy of my book click here, all you have to do is write a post on your blog or on Facebook/twitter about my new book 'The Artistic Mother - A Practical Guide to Fitting Creativity into Your Busy life' which is now available from all major bookstores in the states, (March 8 for other countries). Check here for all the details.

Thanks Mindy for this photo of my book on the shelves in a store in Boston!

I have benefited from and practice everyday the principles I lay out in this book. I think that it can help Moms who want to, but are just not getting around to practicing their artistic skills. I need you to help me spread the word so those that could also benefit from reading it will know about it. I can't go on a book tour or teach classes as I have to be here with the kids, so this is my only venue for telling folks about the book. So anything you can do to help me would be MUCH appreciated.

Thank you for being there to support me, a mom and fellow artist :)