With spring cleaning underway, what to do with all that useless junk you find in such great condition - the mate-less sock, the yogurt cups, that hideous bridesmaid's dress in the back of the closet? Borrowing the idea from ReadyMade magazine's MacGyver Challenge, tbt* asked three Tampa crafters to come up with new uses for some seemingly worthless stuff. Here's how they did.

Meli Mossey

Nauseated by cutesy baby clothes even before she became a mom, this 27-year-old seamstress began making tot-sized attire out of big-people fabrics. She’s also a co-organizer of Crafting Out Loud (www.craftingoutloud.com).

Day job: Mossey has her hands full with 14-month-old daughter Maya. She also teaches sewing classes at Keep Me in Stitches.

Side hustle: Melimade; www.melimade.com

Signature creations: Sassy items for Baby — wool teething carrots, bibs fashioned to look like giant leaves, fruit and veggie onesies, tops stitched from Paris street maps or skull-and-crossbones fabric and booties that’ll make you wish you had smaller feet.

MacGyver Challenge: Three oatmeal tins.

She made: A lamp. “I had made a hanging lamp probably a couple of years ago, ... so I had a lot of the hardware,” Mossey said. “I think it’ll go in my studio somewhere.” She plans to turn the other two tins into painted candle holders.

Irma Niekum

Niekum grew up sewing by hand in her native Indonesia. Her husband got her a sewing machine for her 32nd birthday last month, but she continues toiling up to 20 hours a day (no, that’s not a typo) on her hand-sewn pieces.

Day job: Niekum works from home editing Belleair Country Club’s newsletter.

Side hustle: Gifts Define; www.giftsdefine.com

Signature creations: Hand-stitched felt decorations — personalized dolls; stuffed horses, owls and a menagerie of other animals; hair clips shaped like strawberries, cupcakes and ladybugs; and whimsical cell phone cases.

MacGyver Challenge: Gasparilla beads and drink umbrellas.

She made: An embellished cell phone case and a doll’s skirt. “It’s a good thing that you left all of the umbrellas here with me. I used four umbrellas before I came up with that idea,” Niekum said. “And I’ve been thinking that for Mother’s Day, that could be cute for little girls. That’s why I think I want to make that as one of the gift items for my upcoming show.”

Jen Leon

Leon, 25, is one-third of Girlfriend Sweatshop, a group of Bay Area crafters that also includes Rachel Threet and Kimberly Yau. Newcomers are welcome to join the ladies every Wednesday to work on projects and shoot the breeze. See info box for details.

Day job: Leon is an administrative assistant for Animal Coalition of Tampa.

Side hustle: Ligurian; www.girlfriendsweatshop.com/ourwork.html

Signature creations: Handmade cards and books, using a technique she learned in Cortona, Italy — journals, albums, memo books and sketch pads covered in exotic papers.

MacGyver Challenge: Coffee stirrers, a glass bottle full of paper clips and a cardboard box.

She made: A notebook, using the stirrers, one paper clip and two pieces of cardboard. “I decided to do a book just because that’s what I know how to do, and I figured it’d be the easiest for me considering they’re materials I’m not used to,” Leon said.