For some reason, I’ve always associated Memorial Day weekend as the “official” spring cleaning weekend. Plants must be in the garden before then, because Memorial day is going to be wet and cold and devoted to all the inside cleaning and organizing tasks that need to be done before the summer heat is upon us. It’s the other side of Labor Day Weekend, where all the things that need to be done to prior to chill really being in the air get accomplished.

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I got my Malphi Frills a flapin’ apron kit in the mail today. Looks like I’ll be sewing soon.

I also got two packages of bulk buttons from different sellers. One was two pounds of buttons in what could have only been Grandma’s old button container. The buttons were dirty, filled with pins and other dross (including someone’s first molar lost, eeew!), and had to be cleaned. Nay! They had to be sanitized in scalding sudsy water. I’ve scrubbed and I’m still feeling psychosomatic itchies because of it. Yuck! I’ve learned my lesson, though: always buy presorted. It’s worth the bid inflation to pay someone else to make those discoveries.

Despite the icky factor, now scrubbed away, I was rewarded for my efforts. There were some solid buttons for button jewelry, lots of ivory colored ones in particular. There were even some real shell buttons. The real tragedy of the box was that there were two really interesting looking Bakelite buttons that literally disintegrated on contact. I nearly cried. One was a rose floral looking thing that came apart in my fingers. The other was a simple faux amber button and not nearly so tragic a loss. Fortunately, one of the prettiest buttons survived, probably a later example and not actually Bakelite. I’m not sure what I’m going to use it on yet, but it’ll go on some simple project to show it off.

The second box was from Gateway to Vintage, a clothing recycler. Their buttons contained another solid collection of buttons, but were (thankfully!) clean and ready to use. I found several pretty brass buttons in the box, along with the usual plastic standbys. Most importantly, I found the perfect button for ’s tough motor cycle riding mini-clutch, an understated brushed brass button the size of a quarter. I’ve been searching for just the right button for months, so score right there.

On top of it all, I got a refund from my eye doctor for an overpayment. It’s just the cost my co-payment, but it’s still money back in my bank. Overall, I’d say that’s a pretty good mail day.

I’m a little embarrassed because I’m still fighting my iritis and struggling with my vision. It’s annoying because it’s making it impossible for me to sew anything new, at least not without risking sewing over a finger which I know from experience is not fun, so I’m sharing an older project. This is a fun way to salvage an old favorite t-shirt for a child or teenager and snazz up a plain old hoodie. It’s a very simple project. It only took a couple of hours one Saturday afternoon. It was my first successful refashioning project and remains my favorite hoodie.

I lost about 30 pounds and suddenly my favorite t-shirt hung on me like a sack. I tried taking it in, but that was a disaster. I also had a plain, boring black hoodie, which I had ironed-on patches, but the patches were peeling up and looking ratty. I decided to salvage the graphic sections of the t-shirt and fix my hoodie’s problems by appliquéing the graphics from the t-shirt to the hoodie.

Baked Potato Betty
Everyone who sews should have a dressmaker’s dummy or at least a duct tape double. My duct tape double has a pvc stand made from pipe leftover from a plumbing project, so she’s refashioned, too. Baked Potato Betty rules my sewing dungeon. If she had a head, she’d try to take over the world. As it is, she helps me with my sewing. She’s adjusted so that her shoulders are even with mine, so she can help me pin hems. Yes, I’m really that lumpy. Such is life.

The Tick Hoodie

Cut out around the graphics on the t-shirt, leaving as much or little border as you like. Since the t-shirt and the hoodie were both well faded black, I left about 1/4 inch around the graphics.

Position the graphics on hoodie. The back of my hoodie used to be the front of the Tick T-shirt. I dressed Betty in my hoodie and she patiently stood there while I positioned the appliqué to the best advantage. Since the graphic was really huge, I trimmed it down a bit at the top for better positioning.

I machine appliquéd it down using black thread and a zigzag stitch.

The Tick: Left Shoulder
This appliqué used to be the center back of the t-shirt. It covers up a glue spot from one of the patches I removed.

The Tick: Right Front

This is from the bit I cut from the graphic I used on the back. It pulls a bit of the color up to the front for continuity. It also covers up a nasty glue spot from another patch that peeled up, but didn’t have the decency to peel up nicely.

Once I can see clearly again, I’m planning to do this again with another t-shirt and a plain polar fleece pullover I’ve set aside for the project, so I’ll be able to get full step by step pictures then.