You might be tempted to throw out your old clothes whenever you grow tired of them, but one mom has come up with a brilliant way to put them to use. She turns her husband's old unwanted shirts into outfits for her young daughters, and the results are as creative as they are adorable.
Stephanie Miller, an art teacher and mom of four from Utah, came up with the idea after her husband brought home a $50 sewing machine from Walmart. “We were living in a one-bedroom apartment with little space for me to set up my paintings, the oil paints have unhealthy fumes, and it took me too long to set up my paints with a baby to care for,” she said. “I was suffering with postpartum depression, and with the lifestyle shock of motherhood, I felt a loss of identity.”
The sewing machine helped her to rediscover her creative side, and after learning how to make stuffed animals, she started to watch YouTube tutorials about how to make dresses. “Three months ago, my husband was getting rid of clothes and on top of the pile was a shirt I had just given him for Christmas,” said Stephanie. “I was frustrated at him for wanting to get rid of something so new, but it had shrunk. I kept it and a few of his other shirts in hopes of making something out of them. I follow some other seamstresses on Instagram and saw some of their refashions and thought, ‘I could try that.’”
Since then she's made various outfits for both herself and her daughters, who love their new creative clothes so much that no shirt seems to be safe anymore! "My 3-year-old calls the dresses I make her ‘Elsa dresses’ and wears hers every week,” she said. “When I’m doing laundry my little girls will pick up their daddy’s shirts and make requests for dresses.”
Fortunately for her husband (and his favorite shirts!), friends and neighbors have been donating their clothes and other fabrics so that Stephanie has a constant supply of material to work with. Scroll down to see her awesome creations for yourself. You can also follow her on Instagram.
