I am in love with the unusual looking kind of clothing. If anyone remembers junkyard wars then you will remember the futureistic recycled looking clothes they wore there.  I have a facination with this and have founs someone to be inspired by. Her high collars are very inspired and the mixtures of materials and cuts it to die for. She has a very keen eye when it comes to embelishments and this makes me so jealous!

the pic links to myspace page for Jodito and then there is her craftster link here 

maybe i will be ambitious soon and try my hand in the remaking of clothes that would be less of a standard and more into the unusually hip :) 

I have been wanting to organize all of the cllection of mail that lies on our half wall. It seems that no matter how many times i clean it it get messy again, but here is a solution i want to try.

Photo from : Ann at all things handmade  

Ideas for adjustments would be

-make the sides more rigid so it does not fold and hang oddly.

-make straps or pockets for cell phones and other items with chargers,

-make a way to have the charger attatched.

-decorate to match interior..

-possible place to have live plant :) 

I just came across this blog that someone pointed out in a comment and i read about how she made fabric blocks.

see the article and blog here 

Picture BY: nikki on http://craftnerd.blogspot.com 

I think this will be a great idea to add to my cache of things to do for the month of recon!!! 

Now that i got your attention I will show you how!

things i used..

Breastfeeding cooler bag  (sometimes they come as a gift from the hospital)

scissors, needle, thread, sewing machine, all that kind of stuff.  

sillicone adhesive caulking.

marker

drill and small bit

nips for cutting heavy plastic  

old cell phone holder with belt clip or anything like this.

All of that made my husband a beer cozy good for wearing on your belt in istuations where you have no cup holder.. like mowing the lawn …

also this cozy will keep the beer cool and the sweat off the table.

 here are the bag i used and the cell phone clip i used. 

 I started by cutting the plastic that is around the clip so i just had the clip .. i made sure there is enough parts of the plastic to drill holes to use it to attatch to the cozy.(hope that makes sense)

 Here is what i have left.. you can file the edges down if you choose

 Here is the part of the bag i am using .. it has a nice layer of insulation and a cool pattern for the cozy

 Using the rigid bottom of the bag i cut a piece of the cardboard that is exactly the size of the base of a standard beer bottle and then glued some of the vinyl, with the sillicon, all around †he piece of cardboard to help make the cozy more rigid on the bottom.. after i gued mine i put it under my heavy candle to help it adhear. 

 Measuring the fabric around the bottle i pinned it and set it aside…

 Using a small drill bit i drilled three holes (shown by arrows) in the clip so i can stitch it to the cozy.  

 Start by sewing half way up the cozy side inside out… cut a round piece to stitch to the bottom and attatch……you will probably have to do this by hand and make sure to double up (by folding)  the bottom of the big piece of the fabric  so that the raw edge is hidden and also it willl provide more support. 

 You can leave the top open but i found a pull close part on my bag that i attatched to the top of the cozy and stitched in place .. then turning inside out i finished it by sewingall the way up the side. 

 After finishing the seam then insert into the bottom the rigid cardboard circle to help the bottle sit on a table when in the cozy.. also stitch the belt clip by hand to the side of the cozy and there you go! functional beer cozy!

Months worth of recon begins!

I start by pulling my hair back. I do have headbands in my bathroom but i am not satisfied with their legnth, the tightness, the color, durability and so on. I like cloth headbands but they do not stay put. So.. i made my own from some maternity pants.

 Here are the maternity pants. they are a little bit more lightweight tand denim and they are stretchy so this is nice for a headband

 Keep in mind to press the fabric with an iron after almost every step to keep it nice and even. so we atart by pressing the bottom of a leg, sever the bottom hem, measure your head from middle of ear to middle of ear,  cut a rectangle leaving the inseam (one less thing to sew) but make sure to cut it 1/4 " larger around the edges to have enough room for your seam allowance. 

fold inside out and sew your seam then turn right side in pressing with iron after this step (do not mind the nasty carpet) 

Using the material from the bottom hem feed elastic through it. fold in the edge to the headband and press, insert one part of the elastic to the headband and sew in place and sew the side closed. (pic shows the wrong placement .. should be in the middle of the edge.

Then place on your head and determine the pull of the elastic and then stitch in place like you did with the previous side.  

 Here is an add on that i thought of.

I hate headbands slipping so i had some old puffy paint that i applied and following the directions i used an iron to heat it in place .. now i have a no slip grip on the underside. I know it does not look pretty but i have been wearing it all dat and i have not had to readjust it. :) 

Now i plan on doing something a little big for me. As everyone who is a regular reader knows i am a reconstructing clothes newbie and now i am an addict to it. I have been saving lots of clothing in storage for no reason other than memory and the "just in case" state of mind and lately i have attacked the storage and now am on a mission. I have been doing a lot of reworking and tutorials for what i have done but now i am challenging myself. I will be doing a months worth of recon self challenge. I am challenging myself and others to do a months worth of recon. Personally i will do it and post every bit of a day in a recon addict when it comes to what i do, how i do it. I will do every step for a month.

This will start next week so keep checking. I have a wedding shoot to do and edit for this weekend but will be getting things ready to do this.

My first steps is to make sure all the clothes in our house are cleaned. so i must do all the laundry. then i need to go through the kids' closet removing all the stained, damaged, out of season clothes and then all the clothes that do not fit. I need to make sure to mend the small things like lost buttons, severed seams, and so on. Then I need to go through my husband's and my clothes and do the same. I need to then collect the storage clothes, blankets, towels, retired bedding, blankets, old fabric scraps from sewing and crafting, basically everything that can be sewn.  I will then collect it all in one are, organize it and then get to work! I will document everything that i use and also my total purchases too for supplies if i have to make any purchases. I will then also show shots of the sewing area, showing everything that i have done collecting, showing all of my mess, showing also my pile of storage reducing in size. I think this will be exciting and could go past a month. So please keep checking back! and i will be creating a category just for this month's challenge.. 

Happy recon everyone! and i hope to hear for everyone!