Showing posts with label recycle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycle. Show all posts

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Clutter and chaos

I am a messy person - it is something I wish I wasn't but I have grown to accept that mess follows me and grows around me!  I keep on top of it nowadays unlike in my teenage years when my bedroom was a bit of an explosion but in the areas I craft in chaos is highly likely at all times.

It is one of the reasons that I love having the attic room - I can go up there, start a project, allow chaos to have its way and then when I have run out of time pop downstairs and close the hatch.  No one sees it and I can just re-start exactly where I left off.  Of course this does have its downfall when my husband pops up to the attic to find something and I jump up in horror - 'don't look up there'

But as much as chaos seems to be attracted to me while I am creating there is something truly wonderful about having a good clear out.  Tidying everything away - clearing up the scraps from the last project and packing up elastic, ribbons and threads.  There is definitely truth in the saying 'tidy house, tidy mind' or in this case 'tidy room, tidy mind'

So this morning I decided that before heading off to work I would avoid the temptation to start another new project and instead I would have a re-organize.  I headed up and started sorting.  I have to confess I really enjoyed myself - it was definitely much overdue and I can't believe that one person can drop so many pins on the floor - but all in all I loved it.

  I found some odds and ends of fabric that had been buried by new purchases - I'm now excited to try to make something with them.

I discovered a half finished skirt that I had begun to make from a pillowcase I rescued from a house clearance a year or so ago.  This is now part of my to do list for this week to complete!

Plus I am fully set up with a clean and clear attic room and hopefully next time I arrive to sit down and sew my mind will be flooded with inspiration.  
This tidy up has also made me realize I need to invest in some low shelves or crates to store my crafty books and ever growing stash of fabric as my few boxes just aren't cutting it anymore.  I shall keep my eyes peeled on free cycle and the charity shops for a bargain.


All in all a productive and happy day so far :) 


Saturday 14 September 2013

Back to it!

In recent weeks I have been busy making all sorts of bits and pieces in preparation for an upcoming craft fair.  It's been fun and I have loved how productive I can be when I am making such small thing.  But with London Fashion Week going on and watching what some people have been up to creating outfits out of donated clothes I realized I miss making clothes!

  Oxfam Fashion and Back of the Wardrobe collaborated today to recreate the styles that were being sent out on the runways.  All their styles were made from pieces in the charity shop!  It is inspiring and shows that it can be done - we don't have to spend huge amounts of money or accept un-ethical shops to wear clothes of a certain style or trend. Here is a link to a picture of one of the styles they re-created but check out the full story on twitter.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUIehf0CAAIuQ1i.jpg:large

I love clothes but I hate so much of what clothes represent in our society - exploitation of others, disposable society and pressure to conform.  That is just one of the reasons I love charity shop shopping so much.  But I'm also creative and I love to change things to fit who I am.  So back to it I went today.

A lovely chat over tea and cake with a friend, a speedy peddle home on my trusty bike just beating the rain and I headed up to my attic - let the fun begin!

This was my starting piece - something I got well over a year ago and intended to re-create it for a friend.  It has sat buried in my sewing pile for ages - finally it was time to get stitching and give it some life again!


A cute vintage fabric with a nice skirt and button down top.  Unfortunately for the person this dress is intended for the large size is too big and I generally wanted it to be given a bit of an edge.

I cut the sleeves and edged them to create a slight shoulder - adding a cute button on each one to finish it off.
I then added the fabric I had removed from the sleeve to the collar to give it a neater look.  I took the sides in and added a fabric belt to be tied round the waist.

Here is the transformation!

A fitted dress which maintains its vintage style while showing off a bit of body shape and complimenting the figure!  I'm happy with it and really enjoyed my afternoon crafting clothes again!  Once I give this dress away I will try to get pictures of it being worn by a real person! :)

Let me know what you think and send me your upcycle projects!  

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Getting my applique on!


So I've been sewing for quite a while now and in a more focused way for a number of months.  It is easy to get stuck in a bit of a rut and just do the same things over and over again with different fabric.  So I'm trying to make myself practice different techniques and maybe make some more interesting projects rather than just rely on finding fabulous fabrics to make things fun! (although I will always love beautiful fabrics)

Today it was all about applique.  I've done it before but never quite gotten the neatness that I want in a finished product.  I sat down and have had a good play around - practice session over and I set to work.

I found that choosing a stitch length just above zero worked best for me and then selecting the narrowest zig zag stitch that my machine offered.  I don't have a special foot for my machine to do applique so just used a standard one.  Once I got going my best advice would be to take it slow and steady.

I had bought some great fabric at a charity shop last week so decided to use some of it to make an apron and to incorporate in one of my favourite shapes - a star!  So here was how it went.


I printed out a template of a star to make sure it was completely the shape I wanted and then cut the fabric to this template. I prepared the pocket out of plain fabric so that it was ready to go onto the apron and then placed my star on and ironed.
  A slow and steady zig zag round all the edges of the star sealed in the raw edges of the star and gives it a really neat look.  

This is such a simple sewing technique and if you take time to do it well it can look really effective.  This is my finished product and you can see how just adding the star adds something more to the apron.  
It is also such a good technique that uses up small scraps of fabric and turns them into something beautiful.


I'll keep working on improving my applique and let you know about how it goes.  I'm trying to decide what stitching technique to try out next - have you got any suggestions?  I'm willing to give anything to go and blog about it - even if my attempts don't go as planned :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week and as always if you give this a go then please do share photos!

Sunday 8 September 2013

I love a bit of upcycling

I love a challenge and I especially love an up-cycling challenge.  I went to visit a friend this week who was given a cute t-shirt with a picture of a guinea pig on it.  Given her love for her own little pigs this was a great gift but the shirt was too big for her.  So rather than let the shirt sit in the wardrobe for years or end up being used as a night shift we agreed a bit of intervention was required.

Here is what I started with

What a cute face! :)

The issue I had with this project was just how big the face actually was.  Removing any part of the face distorted the photo so I knew the bag was going to have to be pretty big.  I decided to add some t-shirt fabric in a neutral colour that I already had and curved the edges to reduce the size a little bit.
 This is the finished product

I embraced the size and went with it in the end with some chunky handles and side panels to make it have a bit of depth.  This bag will be a perfect companion on days out to the beach or heading to the shops.  As I was creating for http://www.pinkhot.co.uk/ I reckon this could be a perfect bag to carry her beads and projects around in!  Check out her site there are some wonderful pieces on it!

I'm pretty happy with it and think it totally proves you can always make something usable from the things in your wardrobe!



Wednesday 28 August 2013

Productivity!

Today has turned into a pretty good day.  I had some time off just for me - yay - and last night was thinking I wouldn't be able to fit everything in as well as spend some decent time up in the attic sewing.  I woke up this morning and decided to just try and do everything.

  Out the house by 8am for a quick run (quick as in short not really very fast at all I'm afraid) and home again to clean the house and shower.  I sorted what felt like a mountain of laundry and jumped on my bike to pop round the charity shops.  Surprisingly this mission was due to a lack of clothes that fit me these days rather than my usual fabric hunt so the hunt for jeans began.  4 shops later and I had 2 new to me pairs of jeans and 2  tops - quite enough for one day.  Looking at what I have bought reminds me that there is really no reason not to get stuff 2nd hand.  It's ethical, cheap and you find some fabulous things.  This is one outfit I bought today which in total cost me £7 - I mean really! I have to admit I'm so happy I have a really fabulous pair of flares again!  I love them so much more than skinny jeans!



After that I picked up some food shopping and popped into Akrams Oriental Supermarket to stock up on spices and Tabasco and I wobbled home on my bicycle - just a tad over loaded!

Lunch at home with fresh rocket snipped from my garden today left me feeling super duper happy that I am actually able to eat something that I have grown!  Which led me perfectly to heading upstairs to nestle myself away in the attic and sew.

The sunshine has been shining so brightly today and as I was sewing it poured in through the slanted windows - combine that with a gentle breeze and how could anyone not be inspired to create lovely things.

I finished off a few projects that required completion and then turned my attention to some fabric I picked up a few weeks ago courtesy of my local Sue Ryder shop.  And this is what I made - a fun skirt with a simple smocked waist band.



 If you fancy making it just follow the directions for the kids summer dress.  Just replace the chest measurement with your waist/hips and make the skirt as long or short as you want it!  Follow this link to bring you to that tutorial!
http://daydreamsandsunshine.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/summer-dress.html

So my conclusion is that sometimes the more you get done the more productive you become!  More busy definitely did make more time today!

Well happy sewing and as always post me some pics of your work and I'll share them on the Facebook page!

Sunday 25 August 2013

Pillow Case to Tote Bag


I’ve been trying to use up the fabric that I have had in my boxes for a long time and came across a gorgeous pillow case that I discovered months ago hidden deep in mounds of bedding in a charity shop.  I loved the colours and the flowers but wasn’t really sure what I was going to make out of it.

This week I decided to make it into a tote bag – some stitching and lining later and I ended up with a finished product that was so much better than the pillow case I’d started out with.


Tote bags are great for days out in the sun, trips with the family and carrying as a shopping bag.  If you make them out of recycled fabric then not only are they preventing the use of plastic bags but ethically and sustainable produced too.  Combine that with a relaxing afternoon spent sewing and you have a sustainable, ethical and fun filled bag!

Get those machines out and get sewing!

1.        Decide how big you want your bag to be and cut two rectangles 1.5cm bigger than that all around.  Cut out two rectangles of the same size from a plain lining fabric.   Then cut two long strips that will make up the handles.  I did mine either side of the pillow case and to a 6cm width

IMAG0607.jpg


2.       Now place the large rectangles right sides together for both the patterned and the lining fabric.  Sew both sides and the bottom of the fabric.  Now turn these out so that you can see the pouch that will make up your bag.


3.       Take the thin strips and fold them in half lengthways.  Sew a line from top to bottom about 1cm away from the raw edges.  Take a safety pin and pin it to one side of the fabric.  Point the pin into the tube of fabric and begin to ease it through pulling the fabric gently as you go.  This should thread through leaving you a tube of fabric with the right side facing you.

IMAG0608.jpg

4.       Press your handles, bag and lining to leave neat, crisp lines.


5.       Place the lining so the raw edges are facing you and put it inside of the patterned fabric.  All your raw edges should now be hidden.  Fold the tops over to create a neat seam between the patterned and the lining fabric.  Pace the handles flat about 4cm away from each edge and tuck them in between the lining and patterned fabric.

IMAG0609.jpg

6.       Pin and ensure everything matches up and sits as you want it to.  Make any adjustments and  then stitch a line around the top of the bag ensuring you stay the same distance from the top as this is a visible stitch.


IMG_20130822_091714.jpg And there you  have it - just trim your loose threads - your finished product!

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Waste not Want not!

That old saying 'waste not want not' is probably unintentionally the moto for my sewing activity.  I love crafting and creating things but there is something extremely satisfying for me about making something out of 'nothing'.  By nothing I mean - scraps or rubbish - something that someone else was about to throw away or something that seems useless.

I love someone complimenting a skirt I have made and being able to say 'this? thanks - I made it from a pillow case, duvet, shirt, scrap etc etc'
 This week I did some alterations for a friend and took up the hem of her dress.  This left me with a strip of fabric too thin for much to be honest so I decided to turn the leftovers into a hair band.  Simple but something I wear often on those days when an outfit needs that extra touch or when my hair just decides to be disastrous and covering up is the safer option!
 So how did I do it?  Simple, quick and easy as can be.

You will need;
- a long scrap of fabric - mine was about 5cm wide but you can make yours much wider to create a thicker band.
-needle
-thread
-safety pin
-pins

1.  Cut your fabric to the length and width you require.  The final band width will be half of the fabric minus about 1.5cm seam allowance on both sides of the fabric.  It is important that you try to keep this as straight as possible so if you can use a ruler or measure to get straight lines.

2. Fold your fabric half way down the length of it so that the right side of the fabric is facing inwards touching.


You can see that mine still had the hem of the dress on it which I made sure didn't show in the final product by sewing to the left of the stitching.

3. Pin together and sew a straight line from one side to the other ensuring your seam allowance remains the same from start to finish

4. Now take your safety pin and attach it to one side of the tube you have created.  Push the saftey pin into the tube and gently ease it through teasing the fabric out as you go.  Once the safety pin is through the other end of the tube the fabric should pull through easily so you can now see the right side of the fabric in a tube.

5. Fold the raw edges into the tube at each end of the hair band.  This can be done to create a straight edge or you can create a slant so that the band naturally slants towards a point at each edge.

6. Now stitch each end and trim all loose threads.  Press the band and pair it with an outfit of your choice!


And there you have it the finished product!  Nothing needs to be wasted especially not fabric!  The whole project should take no longer than half an hour if you are stitching with a machine and it creates a great accessory out of something that otherwise might have gone in the bin!  It makes a cute gift too!

Happy sewing!