vintage may and vintage sheets

May 23rd, 2012

collar detail

Have you been following along with Jess and Kristin’s Vintage May? These two bloggers teamed up to show off handmade vintage-y kid’s clothes all month long. Many amazing bloggers have been making many amazing garments and tutorials too.  Today, hey, it’s me! Head on over to skirt as top to see more of this button up shirt made from a vintage sheets.

sheets from sheets

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While I was making this shirt, I started to think of all the other things I’ve made from vintage sheets. I used to be skeezed out by second hand sheets. All that yardage in awesome prints, though? Hard to pass up.  To over come my heebie jeebies, I wash the sheets a few times with extra hot water and let them dry in the sun. When you iron the sheets that thrift store smell appears again, but I power through knowing after I sew whatever it is I am making, I will never iron them again. All the projects above are new sheets made from old sheets (and one quilt). I’m a genius I know. We have extendable beds from Ikea, so the kids’ beds are all different weird sizes.

clothes from sheets

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Clothes from vintage sheets are much more fun. I think pajama pants from sheets and pillowcases are my favorite, but obviously I like a good floral tie too. More boy’s button up shirts from flowery sheets are definitely in my future.

sheet shirt

Posted in sewing clothes.

18 Responses to vintage may and vintage sheets

  1. kristin says:

    haha so yes you’ve been sewing with vintage sheets forever too – add it to the list of ideas i probably got from you originally! ;)

    thanks for the awesome post, meg.

  2. Heather says:

    Super cute!

  3. Becky says:

    I once bought what I thought was a sheet that was actually a sheet that had been turned into a shower curtain. I turned it into matching mother daughter skirts.
    I love sewing old sheets.

  4. Vintage sheets are awesome! I love sewing with them, especially for charity projects. I really like how you used a print that some would probably pass by for boys and made it into this shirt that totally works.

  5. Sharon S says:

    Hey, I had those sheets when I was little! Nice to see them again.

  6. Kayanna says:

    This is TOO stinking cute!!

  7. Always love things you make, they are so creative! Reading this inspires me to get back on the sewing machine and get my butt in business!

  8. Katie says:

    Love the tie! I think one of those is in my sons future! :)

  9. Caroline says:

    Enjoyed looking back at some of your old posts! Looks like you’ve come a long way since your fear of sewing clothes circa 2008! Love the shirt.

  10. Erin says:

    I love a boy who is willing to wear flowers–as much as I love a mother who is willing to make a flowered shirt for her boy. What a great shirt.

  11. Heather C says:

    Love the shirt! That is the same print, slightly different colors, that I used for dresses for my daughters that I _started_ on during KCWC. I’m kind of slow…They were my nursery curtains and my mother saved them all these years. All the vintage sheet projects are great.

  12. Shelly says:

    Wow, you’re thrifty (and smart)!
    Love the flower shirt!!!!!

  13. Antoinette says:

    I love the boy’s floral shirt from vintage sheets as well. Still inspired by your quilted sheets and finally found two for my son’s room. And though I have been skeezed at the thought of used sheets, I am far less skeezed by flat than fitted sheets. Ultra-high skeeze factor!

    Thanks for putting the spelling of “skeezed” out there. Random House Dictionary will thank you later.

  14. Holly says:

    I totally had those rainbow sheets and a matching comforter when I was a kid! I loved rainbows then and still do!

  15. manda says:

    hi Meg
    cuteness overload in the little boys flowery shirt!
    strange about ironing the smell back again…..skeezed! hehe..

  16. CitricSugar says:

    Love the results! That boy’s button-down is really great.

    About the sheets, try throwing white vinegar in the final rinse instead of fabric softener and the smell should become a thing of the past. Plus, vinegar is a natural disinfectant and softener. It’s kinda magical.

  17. Dara Weyna says:

    Awesome! I too love me some vintage sheets (recently I posted about them, actually….http://coffeeandlilacs.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/sewing-dreams/)
    I second the idea about the white vinegar in the final rinse. This is what we do with our cloth diapers when they start to smell too nasty. It works!
    “Skeezed”…best new word.

  18. Elisha says:

    I saw that shirt on the vintage sheet blog….. what a fab idea. love floral vintage sheets but havent had the guts to put them on my son….. But now I am going to try it. I have a shirt pattern there too :-)

    Oh and I was wondering about the house post you did…. we have turned our linen cupboard into an office nook also but now I am not sure where to put the linen….. our house is very small…. where do you put your linen?