I am continuing making potholders and these are for my own kitchen. Once again, the fabric is all salvaged from other people’s offcuts and discarded garments.
This is the first of 2 matching double-handed potholders. I still need to add the plain black binding around the outside edge.
I think these will look great in my new kitchen.
Today I set about assembling a piece of patchwork for a small quilt. This one came about after I had saved the embroidered panels from the landfill pile at a thrift shop. They were clearly part of an unfinished project and I simply could not see someone’s handiwork discarded without a second glance.
Initially, I was unsure of how I could use them but I gradually developed a plan. Some of the plain fabric came from offcuts in my own stash and the remainder from a couple of friends.
In due course I will add batting and the backing and outsource the actual quilting as I do not have a long-arm machine.
The other project was much more modest. This is the second of a pair of potholders that I have made for a friend. They were both made from a discarded cushion cover and with 2 layers of flannel fabric for heat resistance.
I am really pleased to have achieved these and the patchwork will be packed away until we are settled in our new home.
The weather has been quite ghastly for the past couple of days so any kind of outdoor tasks were out of the question.
So, I settled myself into my workroom and decided to sew.
I made a top for myself from a remnant of fabric that had been given to me. The very simple pattern was taken from a top I had bought at an op shop a couple of years ago.
This was not the first time I had used the pattern. I made a blouse from a salvaged tablecloth a few weeks ago. It had some stains and was destined for landfill from our local charity shop. A quick soak solved most of the stain problem. I combined the pattern with a sleeve from a commercial pattern.
Back to today. I took the first tentative steps in making another quilt. This one is mostly muted green tonings. Four blocks done – about 45 to go. I will need a lot more fabric before that happens.
Finally, I made another Boomerang bag. As is often the case, I was feeling a bit ho-hum about the fabric colour combination but it turned out really well.
I have numerous other sewing projects underway but it is nice to be able to finish some and share them with you.
I am hopeful that the weather will improve in the next day or so and I will be able to spend some time outdoors.
My last couple of posts have focused on avoiding packaging when grocery shopping. While avoiding packaging and waste is ideal, we still need to consider all potential waste and whether there are other options for it.
Upcycling is one of the strategies for removing items from the waste and recycling stream.
I would not buy Pancake Shaker mix but I ended up with a container of it which had come from my mother’s pantry. I decided to use it rather than waste perfectly good food but was then left with an empty plastic container.
I decided to cut it down to make a scoop.
After marking the proposed cutting line with a felt-tip pen I then carefully cut it with a Stanley knife. These are the 2 pieces I ended up with.
The offcut will go in the recycling and the scoop will be handy for GMan when measuring our flour during his breadmaking adventures.
There are many opportunities to reuse or upcycle all sorts of packaging. Do you have any examples?
In this post from a month ago I mentioned that we had made a start on constructing a frame for an old kitchen sink in order to make an outdoor sink.
This was what we had done then. Simply cut some timber to length and positioned it to gauge how it would fit.
Things progressed well and this is the result.
This is not quite the final resting place and we have yet to arrange some rudimentary plumbing – hose from the nearby tank as well as a drain hose connected to the outlet. The drain hose will probably just run out onto the nearest patch of lawn.
I am pleased with the result of our most recent upcycling project which will be positioned adjacent to our vegetable garden. It will be useful for cleaning up after gardening as well as washing freshly picked produce. I can also visualise the draining boards being used as a potting bench.
Even though I haven’t written a blog post for a couple of weeks it doesn’t mean that I have been slothful. Far from it. It is just that most of the day-to-day happenings have not been worthy of a blog post.
I have also been occupied in creating as many Boomerang Bags as possible for our very first market stall at the Witta Market on Saturday. This market in our district is dedicated to local makers and growers so it seemed to be the perfect fit for our bags.
We kept it very simple and used the bags as the decorations to attract potential customers.
Here is a close-up of some of the bags.
The market was a clear success with bags being sold as well as some potential volunteers identified and raising our public profile.
Next month’s market is barely a week before Christmas so will be a great opportunity for some last-minute gifts.
Last week my younger granddaughter was wearing a dress that was just about too short for her so I offered to alter it by adding a frill to the bottom of the dress.
I foolishly thought that it would a relatively simple matter to buy a small piece of plain green poly cotton fabric to match. I went to Spotlight and none of the dozens of plain green fabrics were even close to the colour I needed. So, I ended up choosing a piece of Christmas fabric to do something a bit different.
I set to work with this piece which cost me $5. I added a deep contrasting frill and then used the remainder to make some bias binding to trim the existing frill at the top. I also changed the shoulder straps.
Here is the result.
The Christmas fabric means that the dress will have limited opportunities to be worn, however, it is still better than the original which really too short.
Izzy is excited at the prospect of a ‘new’ dress to wear for her Christmas concert on Friday. It will probably also be worn a few more times in the next couple of weeks.
A couple of weeks ago GMan bought a new harness for his whipper snipper. The old one had broken some months ago and he had repaired it temporarily but it was obviously not going to be a long-term solution.He was ready to discard the old harness but I decided to salvage some of the components for possible future projects.
I cut the webbing straps off as well as some of the plastic buckles and slides. The straps had years of ingrained dirt on them but soaking them overnight followed by a good scrub was all that was needed to restore them to ‘as new’ condition.
When we were away last year I came up with the bright idea of creating a strap so that I could attach my camera bag to the handle of my suitcase. This would minimise the amount of things I needed to carry when moving through airports and railway stations.
The camera bag already had 2 flat loops on the back of it which I suspect are designed to allow it to be slipped onto a belt. I am never likely to do this as it would be too bulky and heavy for my liking. I used one of the shorter lengths of strap, threaded it through the two loops and stitched the ends together securely. This is the result.
It can now be slipped over the handle of any of our suitcases so that I do not have to sling it over my shoulder or carry it. I still have the detachable shoulder strap which I can use if I wish.
The remaining straps and buckles have been put away in case I need them for another project.
Many of the projects I have shared in the past are the culmination of an extended planning and design phase that begins with a germ of an idea.
A good example is this post from 2013. As I mentioned in the post, it was several years from my initial and somewhat vague idea until the shelving became a reality.
I have a new plan, which, as the title of this post suggests, is currently being designed. I am optimistic that the germination of this idea will not be quite so drawn out.
We have a frame from an old day bed to which GMan attached some small mesh. It was going to be a large sieve for soil but it is really not necessary where we live. Instead, we have used it to store pumpkins under the house. It is perfect because the mesh is an inch or two above the floor and allows the air to circulate.
However, the downside is the amount of floor space which it takes up. So, the other day I suggested to GMan that we could suspend it from the ceiling using a pulley system. Now we just need to work out the details. Thanks to Google and Pinterest we have got some ideas. Something like this, perhaps?
Once we have worked out what hardware and rope/cord we need, I think it should be relatively simple to assemble.
This is the area that we have identified from which we could suspend the rack. It would provide even more air circulation and not take up valuable floor space so seems like a winner.
Watch this space for the results and hopefully it will be a matter of months, not years before it becomes a reality.
Over the past few months I have become involved in a couple of zero-waste groups on Facebook.It is not a concept which is particularly new to me as I have been using resusable shopping bags for well over 20 years. I do not use plastic film or alfoil and generally take my own containers to buy most of my unpackaged groceries. Single use plastic is my main focus but zero-waste means different things to different people and there is always something new and exciting to learn.
Many in the group have bought or created their own ‘eating out’ kit. This has not been a priority for me as I take a packed lunch to work and have access to a kitchen. I do keep my own set of cutlery in the drawer of my desk.
However, I rethought how I could incorporate this idea when an Air BnB guest asked for a serviette (napkin) when she was making her breakfast in the kitchen. It occurred to me that I could do something similar to provide all of the utensils and napkin ready to use in one simple bundle.
I set to work with an existing placemat and some heavy cotton fabric which was once a bedspread but has been re-purposed for several uses.
I added a divided pocket to hold the cutlery, a fabric loop for the linen napkin and a tie to the back to secure the kit when it is rolled up.
Ready for dinner.
The linen napkin is one of several I made a few years ago from some spare fabric but had not used.
Here it is rolled up and ready for use. I will make a second one of these and add them to the facilities provided for our Air BnB guests. This way they will have everything at their fingertips and can easily use it at the dining table, outdoor table or breakfast bar.
If I was making one for taking out and about, I would probably consider making a small, cylindrical drawstring bag for it.
organised castle 