During Spring break, I went to a concert in LA and wasn't inspired until after the concert. I really should have come up with the layout of the t-shirt earlier so that I would have been able to wear it for the concert. 
Here is the project in progress. I use two old t-shirt and left over black cloth. I cut out the letters and the Matoki(the bunny) which I traced onto the black cloth. 

Just one more day till we go on Spring break! Finally, I can really use some time off from school but I am even more excited to actually get to work on my 20% project. I have not had the time to create new designs because of school work, a play we are doing for Hmong class, and reading assignments. In order to have a relaxing and productive break, I will be doing both, relaxing and working on my project. .  

I was not able to blog the heart garlands but I finally got to blog it. It took a lot of time to get it together and to come up with an idea of how to hang it up but it turned out better than I expected. 

It was hard trying to put the shirt and the dress together but in the end all it took was dedication and time. After finishing it, I had asked one of my friend to model this dress, which she was willing to help. I actually thought that I could have done better but I did the best that I could. Thanks to my lovely friend, the pictures turned out perfect.  

This dress was given to me by one of my friend. I am really grateful that she gave me her old dress for my 20% project. 

Pahuaja Thao

Upcycling 20% Project

100 W. Farmland

Merced, Ca 95348


February 28, 2014


Ms. Sheng Thao

1204 Farmdale Ave 

Merced, Ca 95345




Dear Ms. Thao,


I am writing this letter to thank you for being my mentor. You have helped me find clothing that could be use for my project. You showed me how to use a sew machine and helped me finish my first upcycled cardigan. You event taught me on how to cut so that it could turn out nice and straight. You have helped me learn as much as I need to learn, even when you were busy.


Thank you for taking time out of your day to teach and help me. Your knowledge on upcycling had helped me very much on my 20 Percent Project. Thank you for your patience, when teaching and explaining on how to sew. You have took your time listening to my idea and gave me advice to make it better. If it weren't for you, I would have never learned so many things about upcycling.


The results of your help, knowledge and patience had turn out great. You have inspired me in so many ways. Your inspiration gave me more ideas that I can do for this project and to make it better. Your guidance for this project had helped me more than I can explain. Thanks to your guidance, I can blog more things on my website and get my project moving in the direction I want it to go.  


Sincerely yours,


(signature)


Pahuaja Thao

These heart garlands are turning out to be beautiful.

I saw a cute way to reuse the Capri sun pouches on the internet. I am redesigning an apron with Capri sun pouches. The Capri sun pouches will be sew onto the apron, covering the stains on the apron. Here is my finished apron. 

I got to see and learn how to use a sewing machine and finally got my first up cycled cardigan done with. Here is the finishing cardigan. 

After searching the web for ideas, I came upon a neat way to reuse the egg carton that we usually throw out. It turn out great after a long time of cutting and painting the egg carton. 

I have been researching on what I can up cycle beside old clothing. I have found out that we can up cycle almost anything such as plastic bags, light bulb, egg carton, and even the Capri sun pouch. I found out that we can even up cycle the empty egg shell. Before this month end, I want to try up cycling egg carton, light bulbs, plastic bags, and the Capri sun pouch with the ideas I found on the internet.  Here are some ideas that I found on the internet.

I have emailed my Mentor about my progress with my 20 percent project and ask her if she was a available Friday after school. She had email back saying she is available to meet up and can't wait to hear how I am going with my project. I am excited to share my Five Month Plan with her and to get some advice on what I can do to make it happen.

January: I am going to put the outfits I have into action and try to finish it by this month. I also want to research on different ways to up cycle other things besides clothes.
February: I will be trying to collect more clothes and other things to up cycle. 
March: With the clothes I collected, I am going to create more designs with the old clothes I have. 
April:  I want to be able to up cycle other things besides clothes and have a couple up cycled outfit. I will be creating more designs and put it to actions. 
May: I want to have a couple up cycled outfits done and some other up cycled item done.  

She is a great mentor who is willing to help me when I need her most. She will always push me to do my best and tells me to keep on trying even if it is hard.

The combination of a shirt and a tube top dress. This dress is for those women who feel insecure about showing their shoulder area but with this dress you can still look and feel beautiful.

An old see through, high and low dress that is combined with a jumpsuit that was bought but never wore. 

An old dress with rose pattern is cut up and combined with a simple cardigan.

I am going to meet up with my cousins over the weekend to talk about my project and collect more clothes but for right now I am drawing designs by myself. I got an idea of changing my cardigan and combine it with a dress. I redesigned my tank top but haven't had the time to create it physically.  I will be uploading the drawing of the my first design and will show the real thing once I am finished.