Upcycled Jeans Patchwork Quilt (part 1)

Debenhams are celebrating the launch of a brand new jeans page on their website by challenging crafty bloggers to come up with ideas for upcycling their old jeans.



Well as I have recently lost rather a lot of weight (hurrah, finally starting to shift the mumtum!) I have a pile of old, worn out jeans just ripe for upcycling so this challenge was perfectly timed.

Upcycled Coffee Tin Desk Tidy with Jane Means Ribbons

Did you notice the snazzy new 'I'm a Jane Means Blogger' badge in my side bar? I made the suggestion a few months back that the little tribe of ribbon bloggers might like a badge to show off  on their blogs and now we have one! (if you click on it, it will open up all the blog pots I have done featuring Jane's lovely ribbons)

I have used the ribbons to decorate empty gravy granule tubs before - now here is an idea for upcycling those lovely tins that the new Barista style instant coffees come in. (You could of course use gravy granule tubs for this make too!)

Tuesday Tutorials - Handmade gift ideas

image credits:: clockwise from top left  thehappycreations.co.uk, madmadammel.com, hodgepodgecraft.com

Good morning all - it's Tuesday Tutorials time again!
This week I have picked out three little gift ideas from last week's linky.

Tuesday Tutorials

Hello and Happy Tuesday! I'm a bit late with the Tuesday Tutorials post this week - we have been making the most of the glorious weather! (I think we've had it for now, judging by the grey skies I see out of my window as I type - *sigh* well it was good while it lasted!)

CraftblogClub IReLoveYou Challenge

Emma at Frugally Peachy set us a brilliant CraftBlogClub challenge in February - to thriftyly upcycle an item of homeware and make it beautiful again. She said we could use something we already had or purchase something second hand to reinvent.

It was the perfect excuse to get on with a little project I have had in the pipeline since last summer when I first saw an amazing book in our local library...

Pretty Nostalgic & Clothes Show Live sewing competition

Fabulous magazine devoted to all things vintage, Pretty Nostalgic have teamed up with Clothes Show Live 2013 and are calling all crafters, makers, designers and customisers to show off their creative skills in a great new competition.

The Best Customised Party Outfit Competition is open to everyone and the winners get free tickets to Clothes Show Live 2013 where you will see your work showcased at the Pretty Nostalgic Customisation Station plus a chance to feature in the magazine itself.

What do you need to do?

First you will need to download an entry form from here and send it in, along with before and after photographs of your reworked party outfit by October 1st 2013.

There are three catagories - mens, womens and kids outfits - and the initial stage of judging will be based on this entry so make sure you include lots of detail about how your outfit was constructed, materials used, inspiration and, of course, a picture of the final outfit being modelled.

A selection of entries will be invited to the Pretty Nostalgic Gathering in Bristol in late October for the next round of judging where the final three outfits from each category will be selected to go forward to the grand final at the Clothes Show Live 2013. Pretty Nostalgic will be hosting their own Customisation Station where visitors can bring their own outfits for advice on customising and redesigning. The final designs will be on display in this area.

You can enter all three categories if you wish and the judges will be looking particularly at good use of upcycled and recycled clothing and cast offs - so go to town, raid granny's button tin, scour the charity shops and ask friends for things they don't want anymore and get creative.

DATES and DEADLINES

Entry closing date : 1st October 2013
Semi finals :  26th/27th October 2013 at Pretty Nostalgic Gathering, Kings Weston House, Bristol
Finals : 6-10 December 2013 at Clothes Show Live 2013, NEC Birmingham

GOOD LUCK!

NEW :: Upcycled wool fabric needle books

You may remember a few weeks back I showed you a lovely wool fabric skirt I picked up from a charity shop £1 rail. Although I didn't know exactly what I was going to make with it I knew the lovely fabric would lend itself well to a variety of projects and the colour offers the perfect backdrop for many different colours

The first thing I made was a cute little needle book as a gift for my dad who loves to do cross stitch.

I used some lovely ribbon from my Jane Means stash for the button loop and decoration. If you watched the Great British Sewing Bee you might recognise the narrow grey stitched ribbon - it's the same one Anne used to great effect embellishing her blouse in episode 1 .  I adore the simple red, grey and white stripe ribbon too - a decorative touch without making it girly!  The button came from Nan's button box.

I lined it with a pale blue and white striped cotton and made the 'pages' with black felt.  Then I finished off the gift by filling it with a selection of gold plated needles.

He loved it!

So did I!! In fact I loved it so much I made a couple more...

This one uses Jane Means stitched gross grain ribbon in sage and the same narrow ribbon as before but this time in green. The lining fabric from my stash matches beautifully - right down to the stitched lines as part of the pattern!

I have used pale green felt for the pages and another vintage button holds it all together.

On this needle book I have used Jane's beautiful red ribbon with grey polka dots - it looks like it was made to go with this fabric!  The narrow stitched ribbon comes in red too and once again has been used for the button loop. A lovely etched button and matching red top stitching finish this one off nicely.

Inside I have lined it with gorgeous Lama Love by Monaluna Organics sold by one of my favourite fabric suppliers Seamstar (stay tuned - I have an upcoming blog post all about their great new monthly craft club!) It's cute and quirky and goes with the grey and red theme perfectly! Bright red felt pages hold your needles safely.

Both these needle books are available now from my Folksy shop priced £8.00 each. I am still offering free post and packing on ALL UK orders through Folksy so why not go take a look?

I feel there are few more needle books to be born from this fabric/ribbon/vintage button combo yet - perhaps you have a colour combo you'd like to see? I may have to create some matching pin cushions too...

Wonder Wool Wales 2013

This weekend we went off to Builth Wells for Wonder Wool Wales - a great show celebrating all that is woolly.  I wrote about it last year here so I won't waffle on this time but here are some pictures to inform and inspire!




As ever I came home all fired up and eager to try new things. There was a lot of recycling/upcycling going on which always inspires me. I have already been practising needlefelting but I really want to work creating my own fabric by wet felting (did you spot some of the amazing felt clothing in the slideshow?). I am even going to dig out the drop spindle I bought last year and have another go at spinning my own yarn! I'll let you now how that goes... ;-)

We are already planning our trip next year.

Maybe you could come too...?

Folksy Friday - Stow it away

Definition of stow

verb

[with object and adverbial] pack or store (an object) carefully and neatly in a particular place

Now all the Christmas decs are back in the loft I have an overwhelming urge to get some order back into my home. Luckily I found some lovely items on Folksy to help me stow my clutter!

I am always losing my keys so this key holder made from an old oak cupboard door by skiprat creations would be an ideal addition to my kitchen! (I love the vintage key embellishment - I wonder if it fits the keyhole in the door?)

This beautiful and functional shelf is designed by Gafyn Owen of MijMoj Contemporary Furniture Design I love the dip in the shelf for loose change or keys and the inclusion of the single stem flower vase into the design is inspired!

This one off from Revival Furniture would make a great storage box for toys - quirky enough for kids to love and stylish enough to stay in the living room! Plus it doubles up as a handy stool.

I just love this idea! Vintage vinyl becomes useful book end in the hands of When the Music's Over who also produce clocks, letter racks and even jewellery from old records and tapes. This is repurposing at it's best!

Keep all your bills and lists in order so they are there when you need them with this fab wooden star peg organiser from Emma Lane Designs 

 

I love these cute owl print storage baskets from Alexia Claire . They are quite dinky but the larger of the two would be perfect for storing my latest knitted socks WIP!

There are more storage and organisation ideas on my pinterest board here

Enjoy!

Ribbon scraps and gravy tubs...

Here's a quick and easy way to use up those ribbon scraps, recycle empty gravy granule tubs and organise your desk/craft space all in one go.






Measure around your chosen pot/canister/tub and cut lengths of ribbon just slightly longer (to allow for an overlap). Attach the ribbons to the container using narrow double sided sticky tape for an almost instant  makeover! You can use fabric glue if you prefer but you need to allow a little extra time for the glue to dry.

And that is it! I told you it was easy!

Keep hold of the lids and use your pretty decorated tubs to store craft supplies - buttons, ribbons, beads - or they make a lovely addition to your desk for paperclips or rubber bands. Without the lids they make great pen pots!

I used a gorgeous selection of ribbons in autumnal colours from my Jane Means ribbon stash for this stripy  pencil pot.

Alternatively wrap the canister in a lovely piece of fabric and glue in place. Add coordinating ribbon to the top and bottom to cover the fabric edges.

Chocolate brown and burnt orange Jane Means ribbon coordinates beautifully with this lush Saffron Craig owl print fabric. The taller canister lends itself beautifully to showing off this collection of wooden knitting needles! (my mums . . . although I may just *forget* to give them back!)

I think they look great and they are really are so easy peasy to do I may end up with ribbon covered storage pots all over the house.
I wonder if the Other Half would like one for his spanners . . .