Since I am learning to sew (better) right now and actually don’t own t-shirts I want to cut up I decided to delve into the saucy project #69 “Cinch City” with some organic cotton scrap fabric. I bought my organic cotton for $2 downtown Asheville NC where the Spiritex warehouse sells off the leftovers from their locally woven organic fabric production. (Major score!) The “Cinch City” skirt truly was easy, although they say to only cut one rectangle to make the tube skirt, I actually had to go back in and make more of an angle to fit my waist. To make this skirt all you need is a swatch of organic or upcycled fabric big enough to wrap around your waist & hip, a ribbon, and the most basic sewing skills. It really inspired me to use more drawstring and cinching in my sewing for decorative effect! You can get super creative with this simple design too by making a longer more sultry skirt, instead of the Vegas style mini- or even adding a drawstring cinch at the waistline too so that you can fluctuate in weight and still sport your skirt, well, forever. Many of the projects in the book are also no sew, and so basic you will want to giggle. What’s even cooler is in the second half of the book they show you how to take all your tiny scraps and make hair pieces, fabric flowers, earrings, and shag-a-delic rugs so that nothing goes to waste. If that isn’t amazing enough, the finale project is an entire upcycled wedding dress made entirely from 6 white t-shirts! I give this book a green crafty star for being so environmentally friendly and resourceful, and for inspiring it’s reader (like me) to think of even more ways to use up the things we think are crafting garbage. If you now feel like you have to have this book (and I agree that you do), keep with your eco-minded style and buy it used or see if your local library carries a copy. Have you made any creations using t-shirts or fabric scraps? Tell us about it and send pics of them at craftingagreenworld@greenoptions.com! We love to see what you’re crafting green <3 !
