Renewing the closet I – a new top from an old one

This was the original top. I didn’t like its small neck, so I decided to make it larger

*Versión en español aquí*

We open our recycling section with a very common object: that t-shirt we once bought and don’t like any more but is still in too good condition for using it as cloth. In my case, I didn’t wear this long sleeve top because I found it quite boring and also had a very small neck that wasn’t really fetching. I don’t like dumping things that are still usable, so I decided to try my sewing skills and modify the top to make it look better.

Marking where to cut the new neck

A detail of the backstitch in the neck

First I cut a wide neck, using another top I had as a pattern. After cutting, I sewed a little turn-up to prevent the fabric from fraying and make the result look nicer. To prevent the new neck from stretching I sewed it using backstitch.

Now we can add something to decorate the top. I chose a black blond lace, a quite narrow one that looked nice but not excessive. I sewed it to the inner part of the neck, and sewed little wrinkles at the “corners” to make it fit better. And I added the same blond lace to the cuffs. In my case, for a medium size top (UK 12, USA M/10) I needed 75 cm (29.5 inches) of blond lace.

This is the final result. Now I’m thinking on adding some blond lace to the lower part, or some embroidery to the neck…any ideas?

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Photo frames made with plastic bottles

*Versión en español aquí*

Surfing the Internet I came across this idea that is both innovative and ecological. In the following link we can learn how to make photo frames using plastic bottles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dukwNu9TOes

Thanks for the idea, TheBrisalatina!

I made two frames. I needed 5 bottles for each of them, since we can only use a small part of the plastic.

This was the first frame I made, using transparent and blue bottles. I also used a punch for engraving some details

In this second frame I added some green details to the transparent base