Back in September, I shared the story of a group of Portland crafters who were rallying around to support a beloved local craft store. They've released special projects each week, showing things you can make with items you can find at the Knittn' Kitten or your own local thrift or craft store. So far, the only way to get a copy of these project sheets is to visit the Knittn' Kitten in Portland, but CRAFT has been given special permission to share the final project with our readers. This t-shirt and doily scarf from Bridget of Eyes Aflame is a great way to use up simple items you can easily find in your stash or at the thrift store. Feeling inspired by the project? Don't forget to check out and enter our Me, My Scarf & I contest for your chance to win a SINGER serger!

Download the T-Shirt and Doily Scarf Instructions PDF

Berkeley-based Vaska, makers of botanical-based laundry soap, is holding a Get Cozy With Vaska Contest, which sounds like it's right up our alley.

Twelve winners will get $300 in cash and a page in the 2010 Vaska Cozy Calendar, sure to be a collector's item (or so they claim). The contest ends at midnight Jan. 4, 2010, with winners announced on Jan. 10. So now's the time to get making cozies! The cash would be a nice help in paying off some of my holiday debt, is what I'm thinking.

And I appreciate the fact that their PR efforts are focusing on crafters and our mad crafting skills:

"The Get Cozy Contest is a way of introducing the crafts community to laundry care products that conserve the integrity of their designs and, at the same time, we can reward them for their creativity. We know crafters will appreciate Vaska's softer, brighter, greener results," says Julia Fry, Vaska creator. Fry is a former fashion designer, whose love of textiles led her to create the herb-based detergent.

All the details, contest rules, and info on where to buy Vaska detergent can be found on their website.

When your Dance Dance Revolution pad controller breaks, don't throw it away, make yourself a DDR purse! Instructables user quantazelle shows you how.

Jessica of Happy Together shares a tutorial for a hoodie transformation she completed for her husband. She took it from a basic hoodie to a handsome collared sweatshirt. Love it!

I'm left speechless by this gorgeous wedding gown that Andreae of With the Crickets made from a set of ivory silk drapes, so I'll just direct you to her blog post on Wardrobe Refashion where you can learn about the dress and accessories she made for her wedding day.

Kayte Terry shares a project from her new book, Applique Your Way, for this stylish rose petal applique t-shirt over at Etsy's Storque. The rose petals are actually made from additional tees, making it a great way to upcycle old or thrifted clothes.

Amber of Berlin's Whimsy shares how she created this reusable, reversible Swiffer mop cover from old towels.

While I was cleaning out my closet a few weeks ago, I found an old brown paper grocery bag with the words, "Clothes of sentimental value! DO NOT THROW AWAY!" scribbled on the outside in black marker. Inside were more than a dozen t-shirts and items that I'd saved throughout my life, and I was hoping to protect them from my mom's purging habits with the scribbled warning. As I looked through the old t-shirts, ranging from elementary sports to high school plays, I was inspired to make them in to something special and wearable.

Having seen so many cool scarf ideas through our Me, My Scarf & I contest, I realized just what I could do with the shirts, and set about fashioning them into a Texas weather-appropriate scarf. I started by taking a couple of scarves I already had so I could take notes on their measurements. I decided to cut 11-inch panels from each shirt and use half inch seam allowance to result in a 10-inch wide scarf (I like big scarfs, and I cannot lie). I also like long scarves that are meant to be doubled up and looped through themselves, which worked perfectly for how many t-shirts I had.

I created an 11-inch square template and cut panels out of the front and backs of the shirts. From there, I pinned the panels right sides together and sewed across their widths to attach them in a patchwork fashion. I did the same with the panels from the backs of the shirts to create the backside of the scarf (I alternated the pattern of the shirt fabric from the front to the back so I didn't have to worry so much about things matching up perfectly). From there, I stitched the scarf right sides together, leaving an opening on one end for turning. I then turned the scarf right side out and edgestitched the entire thing, closing the opening on the end.

The scarf is big, unruly and imperfect - just like me. I love it! My childhood Incredible Hulk piggy bank served as a nice model for me this morning, since I couldn't get a good picture of myself in the scarf. My one complaint is that the Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt that ended up right at the nape of my neck is very stiff and hard to work in to a comfortable position. It's the only shirt with a large, heavy print, and if I'd just moved its placement one or two spots, this would be a non-issue. Live and learn!

I was tweeting as I cut the shirts to make this scarf, and put the question out: Do I cut up my Space Camp t-shirt? The shirt is more than 20 years old, and is one of my prized possessions. Overwhelmingly, folks voted to spare the shirt, which I did. I have plans to stretch it and hang it in my office.

Here's the low-down on the shirts I included. With the exception of a representation of my space geek influence, it's a pretty fair picture of my personality and experiences! Now if it will just get cold enough here in Austin to wear it ....

Top L to R:
Makezine Permission to Play shirt One of my favorite Makezine slogans!
My T-Rex t-shirt that I wore all through high school and college, to the point of it almost disintegrating. I love dinosaurs!
Vintage San Angelo Standard-Times "Best News Running" T-shirt My father was the publisher of our hometown newspaper when I was a kid. This was the place where I developed my love of journalism and the smell of ink.
Les Miserable t-shirt from a trip to Toronto. I love visiting Canada, and I loved this play!
My high school newspaper staff t-shirt that reads, "The Power of the Pen" I was the editor of my high school newspaper, and this was one of my favorite shirts. I thought I was so cool (very Andrea Zuckerman)
My Clinton-Gore election t-shirt that I wore on the night of the election. I worked at the city newspaper that night, running returns from the library to the newsroom. Such fun!
My Fiddler on the Roof high school theater t-shirt. I was also a big drama nerd in high school, and Fiddler on the Roof was a major production we did. It was loads of fun.
My Obama hand screen printed shirt from my pal Sarah in Portland.
My New York Yankees t-shirt from my 3rd grade little league team. I played left field, where I would spit and pick weeds and never see a hit.
My Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt from a concert at Southpark Meadows here in Austin. I found a twenty dollar bill on the ground and bought this shirt.
My Tiny Scarecrow "Nobody Panic" t-shirt. I did some marketing and PR work for The Biscuit Brothers, an Austin-based children's duo and television show. It's a brilliant show, and the guys are sweethearts. Tiny Scarecrow is one of my favorite characters ever.

I was shopping for some warm layers recently, and I got tangled up in a tiny dressing room with bad lighting. I accidentally put a loose and draping cardigan sweater on upside down. The funny thing was that it actually looked pretty cute. I was immediately inspired to stop looking for something new, and head home to cut up all my old sweaters and put them on upside down. With a sharp pair of scissors, you can take any sweater and transform it into a totally new shrug. For this tutorial, I used three different sweaters to demonstrate the versatility. The steps are the same, but the results are each one of a kind.

Halloween T-Shirt Trick or Treat Bag
By Future Craft Collective

Halloween season is here! Time to break out the pumpkins, the masks, and the scary makeup, and get out there to do a little trick or treating. When I was a kid we used pillow cases for our candy collecting, which were good in size but weren't very easy to tote around for the several miles we did of door-knocking. This super simple project will serve as your pillow case replacement. And after Halloween you can use it all year long as a handy tote for all of life's sweet tote-ables.

Monica from Crafty Nest shares how she transformed tank tops into stylish tote bags. She includes two different versions: a gathered tote and one with multiple pockets.

Disney of Ruffles and Stuff shares how she transformed a pair of dollar store PJs into this sweet ruffled shirt for her daughter. [via Wardrobe Refashion]

How-To: Rainskirt
Take an old raincoat and make it into the perfect garment to slip on over pants or skirts.
By Diane Baker

When I moved to Seattle I spent a considerable amount of time looking for rain wear for my lifestyle. The only gear that covered my legs were rain pants, which were not only hard to get on and off, but ugly, and incompatible with skirts. The solution turned out to be cutting up an old raincoat and making what I call, the Rainskirt.

If you have a question for Ask CRAFT, shoot me an email at becky@craftzine.com, or drop us a note on Twitter! We'd love to answer your crafty questions on any topic: technique, projects, crafty culture, or anything else! Each week the answers are here; include your name, where you're from, and your website or blog if you have one!

Anita in Denver, CO writes in:

I saw a show on the PBS channel that featured a lady putting neat old pictures on an old suitcase, then using shellac and sealing the old pictures permanently on the old suitcase. I want to do that project so badly this winter when it is snowing outside. I cannot find it anywhere. Can you help?

You can get shellac at the hardware store, with the liquid wood finishes. They make it in brush-on and spray varieties. It has a yellowing effect usually (which may be what you want), and is a water resistant finish. If that's not what you're going for, try Mod Podge, princess of all craft adhesives. You can brush it on as an adhesive and finish for affixing and sealing old pictures to the suitcase. Just make sure the suitcase and pictures are clean (and dust free). You can wipe the suitcase down with a damp cloth and then let it dry, or try a can of compressed air (from the office supply store, usually for cleaning computer keyboards and the like), then use any number of the vast plentitude of decoupage tutorials online to make your own!

• Going to Grandma's Laptop Case (pictured above)
• Cathy Callahan's Old School: Decoupage
  
• How-To: Decoupage Lamp
  
• How-To: Make a Decoupage Stool
  
• How-To: Make Decoupage Coasters
  

By now most of us have figured out our reusable bag system for going to the grocery store. I know in the back of our van we've got myriad choices for small, medium, or large shopping outings.

What we hadn't figured out, however, was what to do for our produce selections. We ended up using the plastic bags offered because we hadn't yet thought of a better choice. It would have to be something that breathed, could be easily washed, and didn't weigh too much. It seems these same requirements are in order for any kind of sporting apparel. So we turned once again to the modern day tech fabrics — this time in the form of a basketball jersey. We created these very cool, very utilitarian produce bags to be used over and over again, thereby kissing the plastic bags goodbye.

I had a number of formal weddings to go to this summer (and a few more to go!), and at first I wasn't quite sure what to put my then-four-month-old in. A quick search on Etsy brought up some adorable tuxedo onesies. I couldn't resist this one, although it would be fairly simple to whip one up yourself: just applique the bow tie and stitch some quick ruffles down the front with T-shirt material. (On the other hand, if you're a new mom whose crafting time is much more limited these days, check out Corduroy's Closet!)

Care of Obsessively Stitching shares how to whip up these cozy baby leg warmers from a dollar store scarf.

[ via Dollar Store Crafts ]

Here's a way to let your inner geek shine: affix a mirror to the label portion of one of those old floppy disks you've got hanging around, and never again ask "is there something in my teeth?" Via EMSL.

Grosgrain has a tutorial for converting regular pants into maternity pants that takes less than half an hour to complete.

Related:
How-To: Maternity Jeans From Regular Jeans and a T-shirt

Instructables user emattrose made this super adorable dress from an oversized button-down shirt, and shows you how, too!

Here's a tutorial by Instructables user sarafish on making a skirt from recycled t-shirts, and it has a roll-down waistband you could use on your next set of yoga pants, too!

Instructables user dustinplatter shows us how to turn military surplus map bags into bike panniers, perfect for back to college or toting goodies around town.

Jess from The Adventures of Rory and Jess and Sadie shares how she took a pair of dollar store oven mitts and converted them to kid-sized oven mitts for her daughter to use with her play kitchen. Adorable!

[ via Dollar Store Crafts ]

Wardrobe Refashion participant, The Sewing Dork, shares how she salvages thrifted wool sweaters and transforms them in to wool soaker pants for her child.

As a cloth diaper mom, I was a little dismayed to find that wool soaker pants (the alternative to plastic diaper covers) were so expensive. Enter the affordable Goodwill wool sweater: from one previously loved sweater, I can make at least two pairs of pants, and I have fun making tunics to match.

I had been in denial about the 80s coming back into fashion, but I don't think I can deny it any longer. Even if you don't think fanny packs are hip again, this threadbanger tutorial is a great primer on deconstructing thrift store finds.

Dana from Made created this cute gathered dress for her daughter from a thrift store t-shirt that brought back memories of her trip to Seattle earlier in the year. With a little elastic thread and a few cuts, the dress-from-t-shirt was born!

File this under "brilliant" and "why didn't I think of that." Betz White shares her genius, and ever-so-easy, steps for covering a boring old canvas tote with fabric, resulting in a nicely lined bag with straps with minimal effort. Brilliant!