Making a basket from a free sack

Sometimes coffee shops and garden centres give away hessian sacs for people to recycle. Often coffee grounds too. A friend brought one back for me recently and I’ve been wondering how best to use it. I decided a lined container might be nice. I wanted to keep the thick sewn edge and make a feature of it, and I found that it is possible to sew them together using a heavy needle and one of the weave ....

I’m making the lining from an old curtain plus it’s interfacing, that was part of another friend’s clear out. I’m just a girl who can’t say no! The lining of the curtain was faded and weak. But the Laura Ashley cotton fabric was still nice. 

Prayers for our time, lockdown life ...

I’ve been working on a series of small textiles using scraps and what I have available. I have thought about them as an exhibition or event for quite sometime, but it wasn’t until now when we all took to our homes that working on them became important. I wanted them to be made from things I already have and to feature single words, perhaps something that could be prayed or spoken over something, a series of things to be thankful for. 

After running my idea past Nick The Vic each of them will be shared during the online Sunday church, and the first appeared last Sunday ... 

With no work available apart from house work and cooking it’s nice to have a little project on slow burn, and perhaps beyond lockdown too. It’s also very satisfying to hit that stash and create something that might reach further than I can. Feel free to comment with any single word prayers or blessings or words for things we should be grateful for during these crazy times. Practising thankfulness is very powerful indeed. Love you xxx 

About time I blogged ...

There’s some useful work being done in my house on this soggy windy Monday. A bed probably destined for the tip is being stripped of staples and ancient brown fabric so that some structural work can be done too. It’s not the only bed like this in my house, Matty has the one I picked up way before she was born and gave to my eldest. Amazing what storage fits inside a gutted divan. 

Don't be board .....

Found a superb chopping board in a charity shop and snapped it up for collaging ....

It already had red sides, so I covered each side in pages of prayer book, and overlapped the edges, sanding them once dry. I covered both sides and then scumbled white paint over the top. 

Now for some fun, cutting lettering from pretty paper using a sketch as a guide. All the letters were drawn on the back of the paper in reverse. 

After gluing them to the heart, I rubbed in some pastel colours and fixed them before varnishing the piece ...

Here is the other side of this truly double sided art! 

And now for something square ...

At the end of the year I slipped into The Prayer House to lay out a really big project ....

It fitted into the floor space at the back of all the chairs laid out for Sunday's meeting ....

It also comes in three parts and will make me very happy. Can you guess what I'm making?

Afterwards, all the lose threads were hoovered up and no body knew we had been having fun with 270 8inch squares!

Happy Christmas!

The fuzzies and I send you our LOVE!

This is a little gift we made together for our dear friend ....

Rag Rug ....

Amazing how much fun you can have with a bag of old t-shirts and leggings!

Of course, it helps that me and my daughters have worn out some very colourful clothes, and that our friends have given us some great items too ...

The backing only cost me £3 but the finished rug will be a real labour of love!

Festive Mittens!

Got to grips with a nice soft, old red jumper...

And made three pairs of cheerful, winter mittens-on-elastic for my girls!

Collage and colours....

Remember my dolls-house-doer-upper? I had great fun Collaging it today, it is going to be quite the pad!

Recovering...

my chairs needed some TLC...

a carver fit for a princess!

I had fun choosing different cheerful fabrics ...

this one is particularly bright!

Torn Kimono!

Help, cried my friend, I have Trodden on my tail! And, as you see here, her Kimono became torn!

I took a piece of red cotton, and placed it behind the tear, and pinned it ...

Then of course i machined over the torn edges, that's better!

Now the Tie can be sewn back in place, and covers up the horizontal part of the repair, too ...

DIY - time for knick-knacks!

It was time to get things up on the wall ... like this lovely printers tray which i bought off ebay, and then cleaned and oiled, and it is now on the dining room wall.



I am really pleased with this make-over, remember is looked like this! I used a little sandpaper to get the gentle ageing effect on the edges! This is in the hall, just below the old door bell ringer.



And from orange pine, to serene aqua, this one will go up in the downstairs cloakroom soon!

revamping old t-shirts ... into nighties! (Another Owl)

Daisy and matty had only one nightie each in my stash of hand-me-downs...

so I grabbed two of my older t-shirts, and one of the nighties to copy ...



and here we have 2 cute nighties, daisy will have the frilly number with the more open neck (larger head), and matty wanted a baby owl on hers!



Is it me, or does that baby owl look a bit familiar? I'm thinking Chickenpants ...

face lift ...

i took the clock face from an old toy that was wearing out, and washed the face carefully. then i used an embroidery hoop to fix the face to some new fabirc, and give life to - douglas!



thats some vintage bias binding that i recived in a freecycling package, along with zips, poppers and even ric-rac... i also gave douglas some new eyes, as the rpinted ones looked a bit flat. he is already helping my girls with their numbers and the idea of 'time'...

i just wish i had more time ...

i dont like 'bags for life' because they have flat bottoms ...

and when i go to the supermarket with ma wee fambly i like the way carrier bags sit up and beg to be filled, their bottoms expanding to contain all manner of good and evil items to tote home again ...

so i butchered a carrier bag from my 'local big shop' and made these ... they held almost £50 worth of shopping this week ... yikes do i spend that much? i should go inorganic again ....

and the girls were highly motivated to get their shoes on and help with the shop

for a pattern just sacrifice a carrier bag near you ... the handles were much more comfortable to hold as they dont compress like thin plastic !

be green ! or pink ....

revamping old clothes - a t shirt i can breastfeed mary in !

just one baggy t-shirt was left in my cupboard, and such a lovely colour, but i dont wear things like this any more. i had worn it for bed a couple of times.

my stripey orange top which is easy for feeding mary in was getting saggy and worn so i cut it up and used it to transform the baggy t-shirt, after first unpicking the band logos from both the front and back!

it fits a treat, and has just enough gather for nursing access. i love it. i think i can say i can make clothes now, its not something i am very good or exoerienced at ...

des res ....

a dolls house from our local freecycle network, which i was lucky enough to 'win' ...
a bit stained, and smelling a bit musty, the girls helped pull off some roof printed paper and some stickers, and i gave it a good wash ready for painting.
it needs some fun furnature, preferable handmade, and a family to live there...
but who?
any ideas?