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?

Amigurumi giraffe

*Versión en español aquí*

This week brings us a new amigurumi animal. This giraffe is really easy to make, and the necessary materials are quite cheap. We need:

– Yellow yarn or thread.
– Brown yarn or thread (same material as the yellow one).
– Brown lace. In our case we’ve re-used an old shoelace.
– Cotton balls and sewing thread.

Here you can find the pattern that explains how to make the giraffe.
The pattern does not explain how to add the limbs (which are made of shoelace) or the mane of the giraffe, but this is really easy to do. For fixing the limbs and the little horns into the animal’s body just fit the lace on one of the holes of the crochet pattern, and put a few stitches to secure it. The process is the same for the tail, but in that case you can fray the end of the lace to make it look like fur. To make the mane, tie several short yarn threads forming a row along the neck and fray them. Finally, put a few stitches to make the eyes and accentuate the snout, and here it is!