I recently received a request for an upcycled tie phone case, with a sketched design. The idea to make the most of the tie shape and highlight the shape in the finished phone case. This seems an ideal tutorial to share as part of zero waste week – perfect for the reuse theme this year. …
Upcycling
Have you been following Makery’s series The Refashioners 2015 . There’s been some fabulous designs created from former shirts by a wide variety of sewing bloggers. There’s an opportunity to join in, entering your own refashioning of a shirt for the chance to win a prize worth over £700. I have so many ideas re shirts, I’m not …
It has crossed my mind that my wardrobe has NO long skirts…. not sure how, or why?! A long skirt is perfect when you are not quite sure how warm it is going to be. This week I was talked into buying this dress by my daughter, she fell in love with the fun print. As …
Learn how to make your own large denim tote bag with this free tote bag pattern. The large tote bag is made with a variety of upcycled materials, with hand stitching for embellishment, your own padded fabric handles plus a magnetic closure. This large denim tote measures 20 by 18 by 3″ once complete, with …
Recently I received a request to make a replica beach bag. Having not constructed anything similar I loved receiving the challenge. I decided to start with a few photographs of the original bag, before gradually unpicking it and photographing each step of the way. The beach bag turned out to be made with a rectangle …
I have been mentioning the word upcycling a few times in recent posts.. so what does it mean? Good question – I think it is the process of transforming something old and/or reaching the end of it’s lifespan into something new, adding value to the original item through the transformation. An amazing day took place on …
Do you collect old jeans? Do you wonder what to make with them? Then this denim rag quilt is the perfect solution!! Old jeans are a great source of hard wearing versatile fabric. I always have a stash, gratefully receiving any donations! A jean quilt is perfect for anyone wishing to tackle a large denim …
Revealing my entry for gumtree’s #upcyclerevolution – upcycled garden bench seat made from former dining room chairs:) The DIY bench seat could equally be at home in a hallway for putting on shoes, at a dining room table – lots of places!! Whats not to love about upcycled furniture? In case you are tempted to make …
I have just been to the most fabulous event hosted by my local council ” Give & Take Re-use Event” – Wow. The premise is simple bring along a variety of items you no longer require, and take items for free which you do need. This covers electrical items (which are PACT tested on the …
Introducing you to a great selection of recycled denim projects featured on Hometalk. Not heard of Hometalk before? Hometalk is an inspiring website where users upload projects, many of which are DIY focussed. There’s lots of uplifting ideas, and even better you can ask for advice when planning your next project. The lovely people at Hometalk enjoyed my post …
My imagination has been sparked by #OneMetreChallenge being run by Off the Wall. The company is running a competition to see what people can make/create/do with one metre of wallpaper. Regular readers will know that I love to upcycle and recycle – what better than to transform old cake tins into shelving? Fancy your own round …
This months try something new is chalk paint. I recently joined a group on Facebook called Re-Loved and been inspired by some great upcycled of furniture. This of course completely fits in with me:) Its somewhat surprising I have not tried chalk paint before, after a little deliberation about making my own versus buying I …