Creating With Scraps

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One of my longer term projects is to use up the many and varied fabric pieces I have acquired from multiple sources.

When I was tidying up a few weeks ago I found various pieces of denim offcuts. Once I collected them all together I realised that there was a significant pile. Many were pieces that had been cut off when shortening new jeans. Others were salvaged from garments that were no longer wearable.

Using an existing apron for a template I made a pattern then a patchwork denim apron for myself. The neck strap, binding and ties were all salvaged or remnants.

After posting this photo on my Facebook page I was approached by a friend who asked if I was selling them. Well, not exactly, but I did agree to make her one. This time I even included pockets. These were salvaged from a pair of GMan’s old gardening jeans that had been patched so many times that he had recently declared that they were only fit for the rubbish. That was the case for most of them but the back pockets were still in good condition.

I used flat felled seams to replicate the seams normally seen on jeans. This also meant that there are no raw edges on the reverse of the apron.

My pile of denim offcuts is now much reduced, although I do still have enough for the occasional mending task.

Changing Needs

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A chance conversation about 10 days ago led me to realise that it was probably time to reassess the single bed and trundle bed in my sewing room. We bought these on Gumtree in 2011 when our granddaughters were aged 4 and 2. You can read about how I used them in this post.

I decided that a sofa bed would be a better option as the girls are not here as often as when they were smaller. Also, the bed is too low to sit on comfortably when I am working in this room.

Ready to go to a new home.

So, I advertised the beds and they have now gone to a new home. We also sourced a ‘good as new’ sofa bed from Marketplace which now has pride of place in the sewing room.

I have chosen to place it closer to the corner in order to maximise the space near the doorway. It will be a simple matter to pull the sofa along when it needs to be used as a bed.

This is a good solution as I will use it as a sofa far more often than it is ever likely to be used as a bed. We have a queen size air mattress if the girls decide they do not want to share the sofa bed.

It pays to regularly consider your needs and the best choice of furniture for the purpose. There is ample opportunity to source good secondhand pieces as well as a market for anything you no longer need.

This Week

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Today is 28th December and we are in that strange final week of the year – the week between Christmas and New Year. It can seem like no-man’s land and even has some rather creative names, including Twixtmas, Witching Week and Chrimbo Limbo.

Depending on your personal preferences and circumstances, the lead-up to Christmas may have been lived at a frenetic pace. Even those of us who have made a conscious decision to aim for a more low-key Christmas may find that most of our activity in the past month has been geared towards those few days centred on Christmas Day.

Therefore, it is hardly surprising that post-Christmas can be a bit of an anti-climax. When you combine this with the fact that many people have some sort of holiday break and another celebration a few days away it is no wonder that we are are feeling a bit topsy-turvy.

Additionally, the New Year is the moment when we tend to choose to rule a line under the past year and really look forward to the year ahead with gusto.

So, this Chrimbo Limbo (my personal favourite) what are you doing?

I am choosing to use the time to reflect, re-arrange, plan and prepare for the year ahead. I do not know what 2022 will bring but I do know that I want to use my time wisely and live my best life without dwelling on the past or wishing my life away.

Countdown to Christmas

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I have noticed that it is 8 days since my last blog post and of course, it is only 4 more sleeps until Christmas.

The focus of the occasion certainly changes as families grow and change. This year will be somewhat poignant for me as it will be the first since my mother died earlier this year. We are all holding our breath and hoping that everything will go according to plan and our Melbourne-based daughter will be able to join us. She is due to arrive on Thursday. Meanwhile, our grandchildren are growing up (12 and 14) and will be spending the day with their father.

Our celebrations will be fairly modest and spread over 3 days to include various members of our family.

I put up the Christmas tree on Sunday and our small dog was mildly interested. So far she has not been tempted to attack the tree.

Of course, the regular shopping, cooking and housework continues unabated.

2021 has been a trying year in many respects. Whatever your circumstances, I wish you and your family a safe and peaceful festive season.

A Bouquet of Basil

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GMan was weeding the vegie garden today and discovered that the basil had grown too large and had collapsed under its own weight.

So, I was the lucky recipient of a large bunch of basil.

I removed all of the leaves, washed and spun them dry. Then it was time to make basil pesto.

I did not use pine nuts but instead I used a combination of almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds and pepitas. There is no recipe as such but I used garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. In addition to the standard ingredients I also added some nutritional yeast and a tablespoon of lemon juice.

This was the yield. It is not the most exciting photo so I added the jar of home-grown flowers which I was gifted yesterday.

There is no photo but we had pesto with our homemade gnocchi, tomato sauce and olives. YUM!

Buy Nothing November – Final Analysis

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There has been a bit of a hiatus as we were on holidays for part of the time and occupied with various happenings at home.

Since my last post the only additional stuff I bought in November was 4 items of clothing from an op shop while we were on holidays. I spent the princely sum of $13 for 2 pairs of white shorts, a black top with white spots and this lightweight pair of loose trousers.

I am not sure whether they are meant to be pyjamas but I will be wearing them for comfy loungewear at home.

Buy Nothing November – An Update

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It is nearly 2 weeks since I first posted about Buy Nothing November. You can read the first instalment here.

Since then we have bought 2 more physical items which have come into our home. The first is a rat trap which fairly self-explanatory and does not need a photo.

The second item is a timber storage box. I had been perusing secondhand sites for a few weeks as I was looking for a seat for my mini-mudroom. That is probably too grand a description as it is actually a corner of the workshop near the entrance to the house via the internal staircase. Anyway, I turned my attention from benches to storage boxes and found this timber box in a neighbouring town for $50. The storage space which a box affords is an added bonus to the original purpose of providing seating.

I will provide a final update at the end of the month.

Monday Mending

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I have a pair of jeans that were bought in 2012 and are becoming rather thin. This is particularly evident at the inner thighs and the tiny hole is becoming larger.

Although they are no longer my good jeans I still wear them regularly so decided to try my hand at patching them. I have patched jeans previously but usually with no consideration to the aesthetic as they were only for wearing in the garden. This time I was aiming for a better looking result.

This is what I had to work with.

2 patches cut from some denim offcuts.

Double-sided interfacing ironed onto the wrong side of the fabric patches.

Patches ironed onto the inside of the jeans.

Two rows of stitching around each patch to secure them.

I then turned the jeans to the outside and using a tight, wide zigzag stitch I stitched over the hole and the worst of the thin areas to reinforce them.

The view on the inside.

All finished.

Once they are washed these will be ready to wear again. After 9 years of consistent wear the jeans are getting a bit thin all over but I think I have extended the life for a bit. One or two years, perhaps? I don’t know but I do know that it was worth 20 minutes of my time and a small quantity of materials I had on hand to make these jeans wearable again.

The Great Reshuffle – Part 1

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As a result of the new storage cupboard being completed we have begun re-arranging some things.

We emptied the contents of an old two-door pantry which was at the end of the garage. It was predominantly camping gear, however, all of it did not fit so some had been on top of the cupboard. We made a critical assessment of everything and removed a few items that were no longer required then transferred everything to the new storage cupboard.

There is much more space so we can easily locate things. Additionally, there is space for the camp fridge which had previously been elsewhere and a pet carry crate which are both on the floor of the cupboard.

There is a plastic laundry basket which holds the towels for use in the adjacent bathroom as it is quite remote from the linen cupboard upstairs.

The old pantry has a new home in the open space under the house where it will be put to good use. More about that another day.

At Last

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I think it is about 3 years since we first contacted our builder with a view to having our downstairs bathroom renovated as well as some additional cabinets and cupboards in the garage and adjacent workshop.

He was busy (as usual) and we were not in a mad rush but somewhere in between Covid19 threw an additional spanner in the works. The work was finally begun about 3 months ago and the finishing touches completed the job today.

Here is the result.

A very small bathroom off the garage with shower, hand basin and toilet.

A large floor-to-ceiling storage cupboard in an unused alcove next to the bathroom.

A utility bench with sink and cupboards in the workshop. This will primarily be for GMan to use when setting up his home brew but will also be useful when entertaining downstairs.

We are delighted to have this work finished. I have been hanging out to move various items to the new cupboards which will allow better organisation in several other existing cupboards.

There will be several future posts as we do some re-organising.