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Upcycled Puffer Shrug: A Tutorial

April 1, 2011 By crafterhours 44 Comments

Really, not all diapers are ready for disposal, right? There are plenty that are barely used and have plenty of life left in them. Knock off any contents, let them air- or sun-dry a bit, and they’re ready to be upcycled. And the puff-factor supplied by what is essentially batting and a whole lot of elastic makes them perfect for this:
To make your own puffer shrug, you’ll need a supply of these:

This version required 8 “Size 4” Target-brand diapers. Your choice of brand will impact the design aesthetic. If you’d like a pattern, leave a comment below. If there’s enough interest I’ll calculate the quantities and sizes required based on the most popular/widely-available brands.

Let’s start with sleeves. Take two diapers, stretch them lengthwise and pin right sides together. Stitch along the edge just outside of the elastic.

Like so:

Repeat this process for the second sleeve.

Repeat the process yet again for the back of the shrug, but this time clip the bottom corners to create a nice curve. One lovely fact about diapers– they’re non-woven. No fraying, no edges to finish.

Going back to the sleeves, turn the pieces in half width-wise, right-sides together and pin.

Stitch and trim excess. You can decide whether or not to hem the wrist ends.

Turn right-side out. Voila! Perfectly puffy.

Pin the sleeves at each shoulder, right sides together. Stitch.

Now we need edging for the shrug to give it a nice round shape. Without that, it’d look silly. You can go with the center portion of your diapers to give it a nice plump edge, or you could upcycle a greater number of diapers to use the frilly elastic leg bits. Your choice. I went with a rounder edge.
Fold one diaper lengthwise. Trim edges to make neat line. Repeat with second diaper. 
Stitch one of each of the short ends, right sides together, to form one really lengthy u-shaped piece. Pin ends at top of shoulders and all the way around the bottom of the shrug. Stitch. 
And here’s what we have. An (outer) water-repellant upcycled puffer shrug, ready to party.
The elastic sections in the back allow great freedom of movement.
Both of my kids were excited to try it out. And neither wanted to take it off. I’d call that a success. And the best part? Using materials that were just going to get thrown away if we hadn’t upcycled them!
If you make one, be sure to add it to our flickr group! We’d love to see it!

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Filed Under: tutorial Tagged With: clothing, tutorial, upcycle

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Comments

  1. Lynette says

    April 1, 2011 at 8:52 am

    I want one in MY size!!! Happy April Fools Day!!

    Reply
  2. Bless by Tone says

    April 1, 2011 at 8:52 am

    Happy April’s Fool day – you made me laugh

    Reply
  3. Jennifer says

    April 1, 2011 at 8:59 am

    I love you.

    Reply
  4. Taylor {Sew Much Love} says

    April 1, 2011 at 9:01 am

    You get serious credit for taking pictures and making a tutorial for April fool’s day! Haha great job! You had me for a second!

    Reply
  5. Farah says

    April 1, 2011 at 9:12 am

    Okay all jokes aside, my little girl would love that. The last time I was in the US i bough a bag of those Target diapers and they were her absolute favorite. She LOVED her polka-dot diapers.

    Reply
  6. Camille says

    April 1, 2011 at 9:23 am

    Wow, you had me going for a minute.

    Reply
  7. little love says

    April 1, 2011 at 9:26 am

    Happy April Fool’s! xx

    Reply
  8. Polly @ Helping Little Hands says

    April 1, 2011 at 9:29 am

    Nice… ;)

    Reply
  9. Rachel says

    April 1, 2011 at 9:51 am

    I fell for it. I was about to ask if you seriously reused the diapers and how you planned to wash this. Great joke!

    Reply
  10. Laura @ ON{thelaundry}LINE says

    April 1, 2011 at 9:53 am

    LOL

    Reply
  11. Jess says

    April 1, 2011 at 9:57 am

    Perfect! love the puffiness. ;)

    Reply
  12. The Cherry Family says

    April 1, 2011 at 10:37 am

    Wow you worked really hard on that! you are hilarious!!

    Reply
  13. Christie @ A Lemon Squeezy Home says

    April 1, 2011 at 10:57 am

    Ha ha ha! I think this is one of the best ones out there:).

    Reply
  14. Sarah says

    April 1, 2011 at 11:02 am

    Too funny! I thought it was gross then realized it was 04/01.

    Reply
  15. Janet says

    April 1, 2011 at 11:48 am

    Very nicely done, and wow, the best of April 1st for certain! Thanks so much for this gift of upcycling and laughter!

    Reply
  16. Rebecca says

    April 1, 2011 at 11:49 am

    Hahaha

    Reply
  17. Sew Much Ado says

    April 1, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    Haha, thanks for a good laugh!

    Reply
  18. Beverly @ FlamingoToes.com says

    April 1, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    Oh my gosh. Awesome!!!! “Without edging it would just look silly.” haha. Perfect!!!

    Reply
  19. Caren says

    April 1, 2011 at 12:33 pm

    And they keep your skin dry when it rains. BONUS!!!

    Reply
  20. Twins Squared says

    April 1, 2011 at 1:00 pm

    That was really funny! I can’t believe you made a whole tutorial!

    Reply
  21. Jennifer says

    April 1, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    very cute! Happy April Fool’s Day!
    Jen
    Scissors & SPatulas

    Reply
  22. virginiamae says

    April 1, 2011 at 1:22 pm

    Ha Ha! Cute! ;-)

    Reply
  23. Larissa says

    April 1, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    HILARIOUS! Still laughing….oh still laughing!

    Just Another Day in Paradise

    Reply
  24. Jessica says

    April 1, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    so good.

    Reply
  25. Kelly's Korner says

    April 1, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    OMG hilarious!!!! And look! She’s got matching bottoms to go with it! Genius!!! You really crack me up!!

    Reply
  26. Nicki says

    April 1, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    This is great.

    Reply
  27. Jess says

    April 1, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    I didn’t think you could top last years….call this one a success!

    Reply
  28. Magpie Shinies says

    April 1, 2011 at 7:37 pm

    And so efficient in a rainstorm!!!

    Reply
  29. Shaylynn says

    April 1, 2011 at 11:06 pm

    Heeeeeheeee. ^_^

    Reply
  30. Stacey says

    April 2, 2011 at 2:49 am

    Ooooo, does Target make a camo print diaper? This would be perfect to keep the little guys warm. Great insulation, I’m sure!

    Reply
  31. SisterlyLove says

    April 2, 2011 at 3:28 am

    “knock off any content and air dry!” Oh my goodness! You are so funny. :) :) :)

    Genevieve

    Reply
  32. hungiegungie says

    April 2, 2011 at 7:16 am

    that was good.

    Reply
  33. Rissa @ Hazel and Honeysuckle says

    April 2, 2011 at 7:47 am

    Oh man, the images that went through my head with the “knock off any content” – ROFL! <3

    Reply
  34. viento says

    April 2, 2011 at 9:58 am

    that was just great! I am super impressed that you did all that work for april fools day.

    Reply
  35. Leslie says

    April 2, 2011 at 12:36 pm

    Okay, so the final product is actually pretty cute. You might be onto something in a more…traditional medium. Lol.

    Reply
  36. Sarah Faith says

    April 2, 2011 at 4:34 pm

    I love you guys’ april fools posts. You’re hilarious!! Mwah!

    Reply
  37. I?naptime w/ Chocolate Sundaes says

    April 3, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    haha this is hilarious. Love it!

    Reply
  38. Jackie says

    April 6, 2011 at 1:10 am

    Seriously, i have some outgrown diapers lying around somewhere…;-)

    Reply
  39. angie says

    April 6, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    Hilarious! It actually took me a second to recognize my favorite diapers. Good one!

    Reply
  40. neeroc says

    April 7, 2011 at 11:36 am

    I keep giggling every time I think of what this would look like after an afternoon of puddle splashing. *g*

    Reply
  41. Rebecca says

    April 11, 2011 at 11:57 pm

    Okay this made me LAUGH when I realized it was an April Fool’s joke…before that,I was in disbelief and was about to share this on FB as a “You’ve got to be kidding me” link…. ;) Great job! Very funny! :) Tackiest thing I’ve ever seen…LOL

    Reply
  42. Catherine says

    April 12, 2011 at 12:36 pm

    this comment is a little late but I followed someone else’s link to your post – brilliant celebration of April 1

    You might be interesting in my spaghetti knitting (http://chopkins2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/spaghetti-knitting.html)

    Reply
  43. Naomi says

    April 16, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    I’m reading this on my phone in the parking lot and the people right next to my car probably think I’m crazy, cause im laughing my head off all by myself! Too funny!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. It's That Time of Year Again - crafterhours says:
    December 10, 2014 at 10:11 pm

    […] First, there’s the upcycled puffer shrug: […]

    Reply

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