Dear Sewing Machine

Dear Sewing Machine,

It has been a while since I wrestled with your upper tension for which I apologise. But you are just one of my many diversions and I was lacking textile inspiration. But then I found some funky fabric (in the form of a tunic top that would never fit around my bust but might just with a tug and a pull of its A-line silhouette be re-fashioned into a top).

This was shortly followed by a stripey maxi dress in a rainbow of summery colours begging to be shortened for the Princess to parade in.

I'm sorry it has been so long. I even had to dust you off a bit. But now that I have found you again I shall be getting a bit more use out of you. I hope you enjoyed your little break because I now have plans for you and you will not be getting any time off for good behaviour.

Yours sewingly
X

Plastic Bag Upcycle

I am embracing the whole upcycling vibe and stashing stuff that will be reincarnated into something useful and beautiful just as soon as I can work out what.

Yes it is bonkers, but today, a humble plastic bag will become a soap dish.

One plastic bag - Useful lifespan: about 20 minutes being the length of time to walk home with a 3 year old from the shops, empty the bag and throw it away.

Yet, with a couple of folds, snips and a flick of the crochet hook it's useful life is miraculously extended about 13,650 times assuming its reincarnated form lasts 6 months.

The first step is to convert the plastic bag into a length of plarn (plastic yarn).

Here's the best way I have found to make a continuous length of plarn. This can equally be used to cut a continuous length of tarn (t-shirt yarn).

1. Take a light weight plastic bag. (Other supermarkets are available).

2. Trip off the seam at the bottom.

 3. Extend out and flatten the sides so it lies completely flat with no folds.

4. Fold the bag lengthwise so the side seams are within 3cms of each other.

5. Cut a 1cm strip along the bottom through all the layers passing through one side seam but NOT all the way across to the other side seam. Stop just after you have cut through the first side seam.

6. Continue to cut 1 cm strips till you are at the top of the bag. Discard the handles.

7. Open the bag out where the side seam remains intact.

8. Starting at the bottom, cut upwards and across the side seam to where the next strip has been cut. Continue to cut diagonally across the side seam until you reach the top.

9. Tah-dah - one continuous length of plarn.

With my plarn I crocheted a simple circle of 6 rounds using UK single crochet stitch increasing by 8 stitches on each round. I then continued to crochet around the edge 2 times to form a slight rim.

From one plastic bag you will have enough plarn to crochet up to 9 rounds to suit the size of your soap.

Here is my upcycled, hygienic soap dish. Rinse daily to remove excess soap under the tap. 

An upcycled Thank you

Thank you for your readership.
Thank you for your comments, feedback and suggestions.
Thank you for filling my comment box with love (not an euphemism).
Thank you for inspiring me.
Thank you for sharing.

And most of all, thank you for your ideas, your wit and your wisdom.


I am looking forward to a busy, industrious and inspiration fueled 2013.
Although I may wait until I've had a caffeine hit before I get started.

Should you wish to say Thank You to anyone, you could do a whole lot worse than chop up some of those Christmas cards you've been given and fashion them into something homemade and personal.

Taa-dah!

365project Week 48

I am not the person I was four or five years ago. I do not have the disposable income I had four or five years ago. I have discovered a love of crafting and upcycling. My Christmas shopping list this year hasn't been compiled from the great gift guides of our favourite retailers.I am on a thrifty mission. A mission to craft my way through Christmas. Yes, I will save some money but I will give what can't be measured. My time and love and thought.

And a lot of time and love and thought has gone into my week.

My Bagpuss mouse, unearthed at the school Christmas Fair, sings "We will find it. We will bind it. We will stick it with glue, glue, glue." This is my new mantra.
My paperback Christmas trees sold out at the fair.
Sometimes the greatest pleasure is free: watching the wee one squeal as he runs.
A cup of tea. Cheap as chips and oh so perfect.
Handcrafted (squished and squashed) salt dough Christmas decorations in production.
A fast paced walk to school burns as many calories as a custard cream biscuit (probably). Who needs a gym membership?
Crocheted snowflakes experiment turns out better than hoped.

I'm not a Bah Humbug kind of person, but the exuberance of Christmas is definitely looking a bit tacky this year.

Hope your Christmas preparations are coming on nicely x

I'm joining in with my fellow 365'ers who never let life get in the way of a good photo over at The Boy and Me.


My photos are in my album on the 365project site. I'd be so happy if you went to take a look.

How To Make Angels and Christmas Trees From A Paperback Book

It is a sad fact that even charity shops have to pulp books after their pages have curled on the shelves too long. Incredibly not everyone wanted to read Mills and Boon 'Christmas Nights' by Sally Wentworth. If I was Sally I would be gutted.

But I have found a craft so simple, so easy, even those missing the craft gene can do it. And in the process we save unloved books from a fate worse than landfill.

Turn unwanted and unloved paperbacks into Christmas Trees and Angels.

I should warn you though, there is one problem making these, especially for a book worm. The temptation to try to read as you fold the pages is IMMENSE and you may find yourself drawn into a fictional world unwittingly. If you resist, these decorations can take less than half and hour to make. If you are sucked in, more like 72 hours.

Here are examples of what you can do with that unwanted fiction...

Simple Christmas Tree made from The Yellow Pages:

Embellished with a little gold spray and a Star:

Blinged baby!

Here's how.

You want a paperback that is about 120-150 pages long (that is numbered pages, not leaves of the book). If you have one longer, just tear it in half. I know that this goes against all things literary but take a deep breath and rip. Now rip off the cover and bend that spine back. If anyone is hyperventilating at the thought of mutilating a book, have a paper bag on stand by.

For a simple Christmas tree.

Fold each page so that the top right hand corner folds down into the middle of the book.

Then fold the page again so that it meets the middle of the book.

Turn this folded page over and fold up the triangle that is sticking out at the bottom.

Tuck this in.

Carry on doing this for every page.

It will get a bit difficult towards the end as the folded pages increase the volume of paper at the spine but try to get each fold into the center of the book. When all the pages are folded it will stand up on its own in a tree shape.

To embellish it, paint with a little glue and add a dash of glitter.
Or lightly spray paint it.
Add a bauble star.
Make an origami star.
Add tinsel. Okay maybe that is a step to far.

To make an Angel:

Fold the first 20 leaves of the book as if you are making a Christmas tree. Then fold the next 5 or 6 leaves upwards, varying the amount of the second fold for each page to create a fan effect.

This is one of the angel's wings. Continue folding pages as you did for the tree until you are about 25 leaves from the end. Then repeat the upwards fold for 5 pages reversing the order of the fanning effect in order for your angel's wings to be symmetrical. Fold the remaining pages as you did for the tree.

To complete the angel glue a bauble on the top for a head or a polystyrene ball or ping pong ball. You can spray paint it or glue and glitter it to create your desired effect.

You don't have to use a book if you find you cannot bring yourself to do it. You could use a quality magazine (as long as it has a glued spine) or a catalogue.

These are seriously easy and hopefully I have inspired the bloggers who are making decorations in aid of The Society of St James, a charity for the Homeless. If you want to know how you can get involved to add a little Christmas cheer for the homeless of Southampton, then visit Mammasaurus blog to find out more.

Wish upon an Origami Star

Call me a cheapskate but if you can make a cute origami star in 5 minutes from a sheet of newspaper or wrapping paper or a magazine why wouldn't you?

These origami five point stars are really simple and after a couple of practice ones *cough* I can knock them out in minutes. I made a garland of them but I'm going to stick 2 or 3 together and make a couple of decorations for the tree too.

First cut yourself a pentagon template that is about 10cm in height to make a 5cm star. If you want bigger stars go for a bigger template but make sure it fits the paper you are using! You can buy templates from a craft shop but being a cheapskate I found an image online and traced it straight off my PC screen.

 

 

1. Cut a pentagon from the paper you want to use. Fold it in half across each of its 5 axis. You don't need to draw the lines but I have so it was easier for you to see.
2. Fold a straight edge of the pentagon upwards past the centre so that the corners meet the folds (lines) coming from the left and right points. Do the same fold for each straight edge. You will have created a small pentagon based 'basket' shape.
3. Pinch the five points together.
4. When all five points are pinched in, bring them into the center.
5. Start to flatten the corners of the small pentagon you have created, folding down towards the left.
6. Continue to work around the pentagon folding each point flatter as you go.
7. You will eventually completely flatten each point down.
8. You will create a mini pentagon in the center.
9. Turn the star over where there is another larger pentagon.
10. Fold up the corner of this pentagon towards the center creating a narrower point to the star.
11. Fold each point of the hexagon up working around in a circular way such that the last fold tucks underneath the first and holds itself in place. This forms the finished star.
12. It also looks good on the reverse!

Have fun making them and feel free to add links to your own origami stars in the comments x

Homemade Business Cards For Pinaddicts

... or how to pimp yourself for no money if attending a blogging conference!

I am slightly in love with Moo cards. Particularly those dinky little ones.
But, when on a budget and attending a blogging conference, what takes priority? Pennies for post conference drinkipoos or pennies for business cards that are going to get lost in the plethora of free bumf*?

I made an executive decision and went for the drinkipoos option.

That decided, I was left with another dilemma: do I bother with business cards that are going to get lost in the plethora of free bumf anyway, or make some, thus losing any credibility as a serious blogger?

I went for the latter.

A surf of Pinterest and the net, shed light upon a couple of options of home made business cards which, as a blogger who sometimes likes to craft, had potential. So I pinned them on my Pinaddicts board.

Source: Lyssa-Beth.com

Source: Madalyn_K

Source: Craftingagreenworld.com

Then there was the challenge to reproduce something of an equally professional standard. Reminding myself of the less than generous budget for these cards (i.e. zero), I rummaged through my stationery stash and came up with these.

I have absolutely no idea why I would have index cards but there you go.

Next I had to design the card. I used the ever wonderful Picmonkey for this. And then sized it so that it came out the right sort of size for a business card. Trial and error, I'm afraid. After all, the cards would have to fit into my recycled jeans business card case! I found I could fit 3 cards onto one index card using standard UK business card dimensions.

Then I shoved the index cards through the printer and got the text part sorted.

My iconic Misty Moo had to be on the card so people would recognise me, so I decided to give her a multi-coloured facelift. I resized the original image so that when printed it could squeeze into the space on the card, and then copied it several times in different colours (again using Picmonkey), before arranging them to fit onto A4 paper. I did this on a Microsoft Word document. (Cue gasps of incredulity! But why didn't you use Photoshop/Gimp/Photoscape? I have no idea.)

After trimming the cards and cutting Misty Moos out, I sewed them together.

I made about 30 and gave out half of them, mostly to friends! I did hand them to a couple of sponsors at BritMums Live who will certainly remember them in their piles of cards. And isn't that what you want? People to remember you?

I'd love to know what you think of them. Uber cute? Or Uber trashy?
I'm joining in with the Pinaddicts over at My Love Bumps.



*Definition of Bumf: Printed matter, such as pamphlets, forms, or memorandums, especially of an official nature and deemed of little interest or importance.

Recycled Business Card Case

A couple of weeks ago I had a very fanciful idea of making 25 things out of an old pair of jeans or two. I then whittled  it down to a shortlist of about 6. I then forgot all about it, distracted by life and family until last week when I remembered it was Pinaddicts time and I really wanted to get crafty.

So out of the short-shortlist I found this.

And this.

I find it really easy to be inspired to make something. And even easier to run out of motivation/energy so this was a bit of a rush job at the last minute (last night in fact). Subsequently I have failed to take any photos of the work in progress (candle light is so hard for photographers you know) but instead I found this handy little tutorial which give full instruction on the main construction elements.

And here you are - the resulting recycled jeans business card case:

The decoration started out as post it pad illustrations that I then interpreted for the sewing machine. I had an hour people so don't be too critical!!


However it gave me a little inspired lightbulb moment!

Who fancies a business card case for Britmums? I would have said Cybher but time is somewhat limited now!
I can knock one up for you from one of 3 designs for the not too princely sum of £6 + £1.50 p&p.

Design choices:

If you are interested, email me with your preferred design choice (cassette, camera or @), your name and address would be handy, and I'll send you paypal details for payment. I reckon (depending on demand *ahem*) I can get one to you in 5 working days.

The outer fabric will be denim but the inside lining material may vary depending on demand!

How cheeky am I?

And here are some other crafters that have been a bit busy interpreting their Pinterest finds for #Pinaddicts.

25 Recycling Projects For Old Jeans

I'm on a revamping mission. Or is it upcycling? It could be repurposing I suppose. But then again maybe I'm recycling. I'm sure there is an argument to say I'm refashioning. What is the difference anyway?

Recycling according to wikiwhatsit is processing used materials (waste) into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials.
Whereas upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.
Repurposing on the other hand is to use a tool for use as another tool, usually for a purpose unintended by the original tool-maker.
And Refashion does not exist according to the authority that is wikiwhatsit. So it definitely can't be that.

Could jeans be considered a tool? Not sure so let me just say that I have a couple of pairs of jeans that are too big (yay!) and too shabby to be decent for anything more than gardening and I couldn't just throw them out. One pair has a particularly nice back pocket which I thought I could use for something so I googled recycle/repurpose/upcycle/revamp jeans/denim and after hours of research which uncovered a denim covered car (save that project for another day) I found I was spoilt for choice.

Some of the projects I found look really simple (I say look, but the reality may be anything but simple) and some are of a seriously professional quality. Now there's a profession: Jeans Upcycler. Explain that at a dinner party!

Here are some of my favourites:

 

1. Knee patches
2. Turn them into a skirt
3. Crop them
4. Make a bag
5. Make a pot for pens
6. Make a pot holder
7. Make coasters
8. Make a quilt (you may need a few pairs of jeans for this one)
9. Upholster an armchair (yeah in my spare time!)
10. Make a whale
11. Weave a handbag
12. Make a pencil roll
13. Create art (requires an artistic eye that I may not possess)
14. Make a corsage (check out missielizzie who has a Jeanius Challenge going on)
15. Make an owl
16. Make a coffee cup cosy
17. Make bunting
18. Make a dog coat (This is not Misty by the way)
19. Make an ipod, iphone, kindle case
20. Make a cushion
21. Noticeboard organiser
22. Mobile phone socket organiser
23. Make gift wrapping
24. Make some monsters!
25. Make a business or credit card case.

Challenge is I only have two pairs of jeans and a limited number of hours in the day.

I really want to try to get the most out of them though, so I am going to make a skirt, an owl cushion, a corsage,  a monster, a mobile charging pocket, and a business card holder.

So watch this space and who knows what jean-carnage will be erupting here soon!

Sorry Misty but you will have to wait to get your doggy jacket!

The £1 Dress

I love a bargain.
I also love a rummage.
I love creating things.
I love sewing.
I love the smile on the Princesses face.

So can you imagine the skip in my step when I delved into my local charity shop and came out with this little cotton top for the bargain sum of £1.

It was the fabric that drew me to it. I loved the bright blue and orange print and a little bit of me hoped that the top would fit me. [I can't ever bring myself to try clothes on in a charity shop. It is the smell you see].

It didn't. Too small. Must diet.

So instead I cut it up. Or partially deconstructed it like this.

Then I had to wing it.

I wanted to keep the yoke section and then have the dress attached from that leaving it sleeveless.
I took in the side seams of the dress and then gathered the top of the front and back of the body to fit the width of the yoke.
I then cut bias strips out of the excess fabric from the sleeves to finish the arm holes.
I attached the yoke front and back and then finished the edges of the yoke.

Not the neatest of jobs I have to admit but for a £1 slip-on dress I was chuffed.

And the Princess? Well she doned her model pose and declared that it was lovely!

Am I alone in wandering charity shops looking for things to cut up?
I'm going to start my own club.