#CreativeBudget - DIY cosy rug

I have had a little break from the Abakhan Creative Budget challenge for a few months but this month it's back and I have a lovely little how-to for your home.



As ever I had a budget of £15 to spend - here is what I got*





1m Organic Cotton Hopsack drill in 'natural'
1m 'Lambskin' fur fabric in ecru
5m Beresfords double face satin ribbon 50mm in khaki

*now admittedly I ordered these items during the sale and they came in at £14.74 - at current website prices this little bundle will cost you £18.20 - still a bit of a bargain, I think you'll agree!

and this is what I did with it...



DIY Mitred Corner rug with ribbon trim.

Take your metre of cotton drill, fold it half width ways and cut into two pieces measuring approx 1m x 75cm. Put one piece aside - this will be the backing for your rug.



Cut the other piece into 4 strips -  two measuring 100cm x 15cm and two measuring 75cm x 15cm. These will form the 'frame' of your rug.




Cut 4 lengths of ribbon - two 100cm long and two 75cm long. Position these centrally along the 'frame' pieces.
I did this by folding a 5cm 'hem' along the long edge of my drill fabric and ironing the crease in. You can then align one edge of the ribbon to this crease and it will be perfectly central all the way along!








Pin the ribbon in place before machine stitching using a small zig zag stitch. Satin ribbon can be quite slippy so don't rush it and take care that it doesn't slide out of position.








To create the mitred corners take one longer and one shorter piece and pin them together at one end, right sides facing, ensuring that the ribbon trim on both pieces is aligned.  Measure in 15cm from bottom corner and draw a diagonal line from this point up to the top corner. Machine stitch along this line.






Trim off the excess fabric and press the seam open (make sure you place a tea towel or an off cut of fabric over the ribbon ends when you iron as the hot iron will melt the ribbon!)

Repeat with the other long and short piece and join the two pieces together to finish off your frame












Now you need to measure the long and short inside edge of your frame. Add 5cm  to these measurements (to allow for the frame not being totally 'square' ) and cut out your centre panel in the lambswool fleece fabric.  Place the frame and the fleece face down on your table and, starting from the centre of one short side begin pinning the two pieces, right sides together.

Once you have pinned all the way around, hold the mat up and check the centre panel is 'square' and the mat is not distorted. Then, using long stitches, tack the pieces together, removing the pins as you go. Now you can turn the mat over and place it on the floor to double check it will lie correctly before you machine stitch (tacking stitches are much easier to undo than machine ones. Trust me!)





When you are happy that your central panel is positioned correctly trim away the excess fleece fabric and machine stitch it in place - I found it easier to treat each side as a separate seam rather than try and go all the way round in one go as the corners were quite bulky.




 Finally take the other piece of the hopsack drill fabric. Pin it to your mat, right sides together and, leaving a gap for turning, stitch all the way around. Trim the seams, press them open and turn. Slip stitch the opening together. Give your mat an iron (on the back - your ribbon and fleece will both melt if they come into contact with a hot iron!!!) , lay it on the floor and stand back to admire your handiwork!

I am really pleased with the result! Yes it's a little wonky but that gives it character. Now I have mastered the 'mitred corner' I will definitely be making more of these floor mats for other rooms as it lends itself to being altered in a number of ways. I used the thick hopsack twill fabric because I wanted a sturdy rug that would stand up to a bit of use (and abuse) but you could use any pretty fabric if your mat is going into a low traffic area like your bedside (imagine sinking your feet into that cosy fleece every morning!). You could use fabric strips instead of ribbon for the trim or use towel for the centre panel and you have a bathmat.

You'll have noticed that our new kitten (more about him in another post) has taken rather a shine to the fleece centre and as I used only a tiny bit of the metre of fabric I ordered I have an idea of how to make use of the rest.  Stay tuned - I will blog that project at a later date...




ps -  apologies for the bad photographs. This project was done during the Snow Week and the natural light I usually take advantage of via our conservatory was all blocked out by about 10" of snow on the roof!

pps - if you would like to see more fab Creative Budget projects, Abakhan have just set up a board on Pinterest showcasing them all! You can follow it here

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 . . .

#MagpieMonday - My FREE Kitchen

Haven't done a Magpie Monday post for a few weeks but this week I became the ultimate magpie and managed to pick up a whole new look for my kitchen - FOR FREE!!!!
I came home from shopping the other day to see a couple of cupboard doors lying on my neighbours lawn.
I knew she had the same original fitted kitchen in her house as I had in mine except hers was a nice pale beech effect whilst mine was a dingy silver grey. I have hated it ever since we first moved in.
The cupboards themselves are sound and sturdy so there was no justification to replace the whole lot (even if we could have afforded to). The hinge on the corner cupboard broke off about 2 years ago and that door has been propped up against the gap ever since (I know, I know - I don't know how I put up with that for so long either!)  I even began painting over them but as ever it was a spur of the moment thing that I started but never finished...
So I wasted no time knocking on her door - well sometimes you have got to take the bull by the horns and I am not proud...
'So are you getting a new kitchen then?'
'Yes' says neighbour, with a grin.
'What are you going to do with the old one? If you're just going to get rid of it would you mind if I nabbed the doors?'  Not a problem, says my (lovely) neighbour. She even tells me to add the old ones to her pile of rubbish and she'll get rid of them for me!

Now there were a couple of snags - the main one being that her kitchen is the mirror image of mine - this means that I had to swap all the hinges around and now all my cupboards open on the opposite side to previously which is going to take a little getting used to. The only one I couldn't do this with was the the narrow wall cupboard in the corner so I had to put the door on upside down with the handle at the top. As this is used as the medicine cupboard it's not the end of the world  - there's no way the Little Man will be able to reach it to open it - even I have to stand on tiptoes!

The little panel that goes under the sink needs the brackets refitted - the holes are just a few millimeters out and  the panel that sits under the cooker is missing coz next door had a free standing cooker not a fitted one - but that's nothing a bit of cream gloss can't sort out.

I think you'll agree the finished result is a massive improvement!

And yes, I did it all myself!!

Now all I need to do is paint over the 'sunny' yellow (what was I thinking?) with a nice country cream and source some new flooring from somewhere. Then maybe, as I have saved so much on the kitchen I might add a few new accessories - from the charity shops of course.