Whitney SewsWhitney Sews - Upcycled"

Garage Sale Haul and Thrifting Tips

Whitney — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 01:09:09 +0000

Jeremiah and I love going to garage sales to find great deals and fun items. Last weekend we went to a few garage sales and I did a little haul video to show what we found.

Check out my haul video HERE!

Then following that same theme I also wanted to share some of my tips for finding items to repurpose at the thrift store (or garage sales!). I love using clothing and other items as low-budget materials for my DIYs!

Click HERE to find my thrifting tips!

Feel free to share your own tips for thrifting in the comments below

DIY Fabric Bookmark

Whitney — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 18:16:57 +0000

Many of you all know that I LOVE reading! When I was in elementary and middle school I would come home from school, curl up on the loveseat, and read a book every afternoon. I still love reading, so I wanted to use some of my pretty fabric scraps to make a cute bookmark. It looks so adorable and inviting sticking out the edge of my books, inviting me to open the book and read some more!

The bookmarks are very easy to make, but look so great!

Check out the tutorial HERE to see how to make your own bookmark!

**I also have a reading channel where I post audiobooks that I narrate, along with the corresponding text on-screen. If you want to check it out and listen to my audiobooks click HERE!**

DIY Messenger Style Purse

Whitney — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 00:40:12 +0000

Almost a year ago I posted THIS vlog showing a DIY purse I had made on a whim for myself. After that I got a TON of requests for a tutorial. I kept putting it off because purses take a lot longer to sew then most of the projects I do…and because they make such loooong tutorials.

However I finally bit the bullet! I made a new version of the purse (slightly altered from the first) and created a tutorial for it.

Just for fun I used a ton of upcycled materials for the purse. I used a pair of jeans, a button up shirt, a vintage placemat, a belt, a leather jacket and a few other supplies to create a fun and unique looking purse.

I hope you’ll check out the tutorial HERE!

Pillow Sham from Shirt

Whitney — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 01:05:56 +0000

I love making pillow shams. They are a great way to quickly and cheaply change your decor. One of the easiest ways to make a pillow sham is to use a button up shirt as the material. The buttons provide the closure for the back and the shirt back then becomes the sham front.

For the tutorial I used a shirt of Jeremiah’s that he no longer wanted to wear. You can use a shirt of your own or find a shirt at a thrift store that you like.

Click HERE to watch the video tutorial and find out how to make your own pillow shams!

Button Flower Art

Whitney — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 22:27:43 +0000

A few years ago I made button flower art using an embroidery hoop, white cotton, buttons, and embroidery floss. I got a lot of compliments on it, so I decided to make another project inspired by it and show you all how it’s done!

For this version I used a wooden photo frame from the dollar store and wrapped my fabric around it like a canvas would be made.

This project is easy and super easy to customize with the colors, size, and number of flowers. I hope you will check out the tutorial HERE and give it a try!

Feature Block Ideas

Whitney — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 23:37:04 +0000

A while back I did a tote bag series on my channel. The last tutorial included using a paper pieced block as the focal point for one of the totes.

Since then I have made a few more of the bags with different designs at the feature. I wanted to share those blocks in a video to offer some extra inspiration to anyone wanting to make one of the bags (or any other project with a feature block).

Click HERE to see the video!

Scrappy Gibbous Inspired Skirt

Whitney — Thu, 29 May 2014 20:24:55 +0000

Several years ago I was introduced to an amazing website full of incredible, scrappy, pieces that are so inspiring to look at. Since then I have been wanting to make a skirt inspired by the ones on the site.

For this year’s medieval faire I finally got the perfect inspiration…I started the skirt late the night before the faire and made a super fun and scrappy skirt.

If you want to see more details of the skirt and how I made it then click HERE!

**Click HERE to see other ways I style my corset!**

Fabric Catch-All Bowl

Whitney — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 02:51:47 +0000

Now that I have a part-time job at a thrift store I sometimes acquire random things…like 41 pant legs cut off ‘mom jeans’ (have no idea where the mate for the last pair ended up).

I am now on a mission to come up with lots of projects I can use the recycled denim on. This project uses denim on the underside of the fabric bowl and a printed cotton on the inside. The bowl is perfect for holding keys, loose change, buttons, etc. The project is really easy and can be made in any size.

Check out the tutorial HERE!

Adjustable Steampunk Skirt

Whitney — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 21:39:32 +0000

A year or so ago my dad bought me two vintage curtains at a thrift store. They were really cool – printed with different trains and train signs. I was saving them; trying to come up with just the right project. I had been considering them for a feature segment on a corduroy bag, but after a lot of thinking decided the print was too large and too busy for a bag.

About three months ago I shared a pic of the fabric on instagram and someone commented that it would make a great skirt for my steampunk costume. The idea didn’t really stick with me, until a short time ago when I was inspired with a certain skirt shape.

Once the idea of the shape was in my mind the entire project fell into place! I jumped right into making the skirt and it turned out so awesome!

I filmed enough of the process that I was able to put together a tutorial of my impromptu project. You can find that tutorial HERE!

I hope you love the project as much as I love my new skirt!

Sunburst Zipper Bag

Whitney — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 01:05:34 +0000

After carrying my Sunburst Tote for a couple of weeks I decided to make another sunburst paper pieced block, but smaller. I hung it on the wall for a couple of days then decided it would make a perfect pieced zipper bag.

I combined techniques from my Pieced Tote Tutorial and the Zipper Bag Tutorials in my Etsy store to make the bag. It turned out EXACTLY how I wanted! I love it so much and now I have a matching Tote and Zip bag.

I posted a vlog about the bag, how I made it, and with lots of pics. Check it out HERE!