Monday, 20 August 2007

Won't wear? Won't use? Transform!

Won't wear this cute little T-shirt?



Transform it!



Sometimes I buy stuff for my kids against my better judgment. I love reading and buy them books hoping to instill this passion. So, it is sad to see the books collecting dust on the shelves. It was only when I gave their books away to the children's library set up by the Sg Long Buddhist Society that they started missing them. People tend to yearn for things they lost or that they cannot have, so I guess that philosophy applies to children too.

I recall when I was a kid, most parents buy new clothes for their children only for the new year. Grandparents cannot afford to dote on grandchildren by buying them new stuff because there maybe 5 to 6 grandchildren from each of their 6 to 13 offspring. Today, competition for business means that there are sales going on all year round. So, kids no longer have to work on behaving or getting good results in order to be rewarded because Mummy cannot resist some items on sales or maybe grandparents only has one grandchild to dote on.

So, clothes, that still look as good as new; how can these be transformed if Mummy love them too dearly to part with them? Come to think of it, maybe we are buying things for our children that we have always wanted and never had as kids? (Ha, so. Dad and his miniature cars collection for son).

The T-shirt posted here has serged bottoms that I will not part with because I just love the cute little faces printed on the material. My daughter refused to wear it, possibly because cute to me is monkeys' faces to her. Let me show you how I transformed it.

Place seams of sides together as shown in the picture below. Then sew the bottom up with running stitches and pull thread to form gathers.



Yes, this transformation works. My daughter is now willing to get her hands into the... sleeves?



So, what about T-shirts with faded pictures? Sew T-shirt up in the same manner and turn it inside out.



To hide the seams right in the centre of the bag, crochet some flowers and sew buttons over the centre of each bloom to hold it in place. Sew a few along the length of both seams as decorations.



Can't crochet? Buttons only can also do the trick.



A great way for you to use up your collection of mismatched buttons.

4 comments:

pat said...

whoa...so cute! hehehe

Nancy Poh said...

Thanks, Pat. Will most likely be fighting with my daughter on whose turn to use it.

Amy said...

nancy,

this is so brilliant idea.I have lots of spagehetti strp ( me and my sister and my nieces),will get one and try it out. btw, no sewing machine at home, can hand sewing ?

Nancy Poh said...

Thank you. I am glad it has inspired you to create your own. This piece is hand sewn along the serged stitches. Show off your creations once they are done.