I'd say the majority of Keira's clothes are homemade, and of those, the majority were made using recycled fabrics of some sort. And now she (and her friend next-door) have a few more recycled things to wear, which should be useful when school starts again. Because you see, I discovered the easiest garment to make from an older garment- jersey skirts. The children report that they are soft and comfy to wear, and quite useful for a hard day's work tending to the pot plants.
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Here's how I made them (the process is so simple, I don't think a diagram is required.)
1. I brought home from the op-shop several large-sized, stretch-cotton T-shirts (from memory, I think they were even in the 'free-bin', so stretched out of shape were they). Then I washed, dried and ironed them flat.
2. Using tailor's chalk, I drew a straight line across the centre of the shirt, just underneath the sleeves. Then I cut along the line, through both the back and front of the shirt. (I still haven't thought of a good use for the leftover sleeves- maybe baby leggings?)
3. I folded a narrow channel along the top of the rectangle and pressed it down with a hot iron. Then I folded this down again, to make quite a wide channel, pressed and sewed in place, leaving a small gap through which to thread the elastic.
4. I cut a piece of wide elastic (mine measured 1" wide and 18" long) to fit around the recipients' waist, threaded it through the channel and sewed it closed. And that's all! Thank you, t-shirts, with your ready-made and neatly-sewn hem, that i could never achieve on my own.
Happy weekend. See you next week.