Turning old things to new

Last night I was going through a trash bag of old clothes that I was about to take to the Free Store on campus and as I went through it again I found myself pulling half the items back out of the bag.  No, it was not because I decided I'd actually wear the clothes again.  One thing that I have discovered about myself since I have not been working full time (since arriving here in St. Louis) is that I LOVE to make things.  I don't really have a specialty because I jump from knitting to sewing to cooking to home design.  The key is that I am a much better person to live with if I have some sort of creative outlet. 

The latest was pulling an old Gap, very soft long sleeve t-shirt out of the bag and transforming it to a dress for Ella!  Being that most arts and crafts typically require a steady cash flow to by material and supplies I have tried to figure out how to still be creative on a very limited budget.  So alas, my idea to reuse fabric from old clothes that we don't want anymore.  Here is the latest creation for Ella.

This is what I started with.  Really good quality jersey knit from the Gap. 

 Ella was not excited about standing still with sharp pins on her clothes!

The transformation begins!

 Ella is feeling much better about trying on her new dress now that there are no pins in it!  Notice the pink snow boots.  They were given to us yesterday by a friend, but they are too small for Ella.  She obviously doesn't care because she has worn them a lot in the last day! 

 

 

This is the finished product...at least for now.  I put elastic in the sleeves to gather them in and also put some elastic at the bottom left to pull up the fabric some at her leg.  

This is a close up of the sleeves.  

 This is my favorite part.  Tonight I learned how to make a "Yo-Yo" out of fabric.  I thought it was the perfect accent to the dress.  Unfortunately my model is asleep right now.  So I'll have to wait to try it on her tomorrow.  I'll post a finished picture on Ella soon.  So much fun and such a simple project!