Category Archives: repurposing

Cottage productivity

Posted on August 26, 2011 by SewTara| 8 Comments

I had a project in mind for ages and ages but kept searching for just the right frame. I finally settled on this one, despite it’s hideousness.

I cut off all the icky wire bits and filled all the holes that were left behind. There were still some rough parts, thanks to all the holes and the ugly curly design that I tried to fill. I took it to the cottage with me hoping for some quiet time to finish it. And lo and behold!

I hammered some nails into the front, I wanted a rustic sort of look. I used my pinking shears to cut out some triangles from fabric scraps and put some batting on the back for stability. I stitched letters to spell out ‘hello’. I was going to go with ‘welcome’ but ‘hello’ is more me. I folded the top of the triangles over a string of baker’s twine and stitched closed. Then I wrapped the twine around the nails and trimmed the ends. Voila!

I added picture hanger loopy things on the back and used some more twine to hang it on my front door. Like a wreath, but square and waaaay more cute. The weather has been sort of silly here so I’ve given up on a good action shot of that and went ahead and shared.

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Posted in DIY, embroidery, repurposing, tutorial-ish

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Using scraps, adding products and making a display.

Posted on July 22, 2011 by SewTara| 4 Comments

I made a pile of fabric scrap magnets. Some of the fun ones are gone already, but I thought I’d share the fun little display ideas we came up with. At the craft show on Friday all my little magnets were in a dish together and sticking to each other whenever anyone took a look at them. Luckily I was with a creative friend and she came up with a great idea. Then we both went home and made one! Hers is way better though . . . her kid is quietly contained in her belly so she has more time than I do.

Joanna’s idea was to take a cookie tin lid and Modge Podge some fabric on the inside for a nice backing. I’ll probably add some piping or something around the inside.

I whipped mine up really quickly and wasn’t sure how permanent it was, or if she got to making one, so it’s really easy to take this one apart. Which is good if you need something like this but only have 1 cookie tin and need it later . . . or something.

Using a smaller cookie tin lid I cut a circle of fabric and wrapped it around it and secured it in place with a circle of cardboard and an elastic for good measure.

It would stand up nicely on a little plate stand or one of those book display easels. They were a great addition to my cup cozies and bags and totes. Small, cute and inexpensive a lot of people picked one up as they paid and added it to their purchase.

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Posted in DIY, repurposing, scraps, tutorial-ish

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New product . . . finally.

Posted on July 10, 2011 by SewTara| 4 Comments

I meant to have these done months ago, but turns out juggling motherhood, a job and a crafty business is a bit tricky! But better late than never. After getting the hang of sewing coin pouches with a pattern I purchased and ironing out the details on a pattern I tweaked to fit a larger frame I’m ready with some coin pouches made with vintage linens.

They’re relatively easy to sew. Attaching the frame is the tricky part. I did 2 and a half the other night while watching a movie and then had to stop because of sore fingers and a few broken needles. I think I’m super picky about the stitching being hidden on the inside so I’m taking my time and working really hard to keep it tidy looking on the inside.

I have a table at a craft show this Friday and Saturday and I’ll see how they do there. Hopefully I can get some more frames finished while I sit there and then they’ll be ready to star in my shop.

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Posted in repurposing, sewing, vintage

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Summer hanky headband DIY

Posted on June 27, 2011 by SewTara| 2 Comments

I guest posted over the weekend at amy is the party where she featured a bunch of fun summery projects, like cupcake fondue!! Plus other post by some superfunawesomecool people including Thursday and Crafty Minx. So head over there and have a peek!

Ok I’m going to show you how to turn a hanky into a fun hair accessory for the summer. It’s a super quick project that you can make with thrifted materials and probably things you have on hand, scraps material and a bit of elastic. I’ve burned my scalp already this summer and I’m hoping this is a cuter alternative to hats.
You will need
– a hanky you like
– a piece of elastic (mine was 7″)
– a strip of fabric (3″ x 15″)
Other handy items – safety pin, turning tool,

I picked this one because it has a great pattern on one corner which is perfect because you’re going to fold the hanky diagonally.

First fold the strip of fabric in half and sew down one side with a 1/4 inch seam.

Turn it right side out. This part was a bit tricky, I used my handy little turning tool, this long metal stick thing with a hook on it. Once you have it turned right side out take the elastic piece and feed it through the casing. Sew it in place at one end. Then pull the elastic through so it’s sticking out the other side. It’s easy to guide through if you put a safety pin on the end first.

The casing fabric should be all gathered up like a hair scrunchie.

Fold the hanky in half diagonally and sew the stitched up end of the elastic to one corner of the hanky.

Chceck to see how it fits on your head. I had to trim about an inch from the scrunchie piece. Once it’s a comfortable tightness at the back of your head stitch the other end of the scrunchie piece to the other hanky corner.

And voila, a great cool summer alternative to hat head!

Here’s my ‘I’m not ready for a photo’ frontal shot. Sorry for the sunny bit.

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Posted in DIY, repurposing, scraps, sewing

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Scrappy coasters, a work in progress.

Posted on June 2, 2011 by SewTara| 9 Comments

I needed a quick new something to whip up the other night for a break from my usual projects. DIY is coming!

I turned to some of my scraps that are already cut into little squares and got inventive and made some coasters. It’s always annoying, especially in the warmer weather, when your nice cold drink sweats all over the table and leaves a big wet ring. With a 4 year old and 2 year old we’re not ready for furniture big leagues yet, most of our stuff is from IKEA but still, won’t hurt to keep it pretty.

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Posted in repurposing, scraps

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DIY little notebook

Posted on May 27, 2011 by SewTara| 6 Comments

I made this little notebook using papers and things from around the house. You should have everything you need to whip one up in a few minutes. They’d be great for keeping in your bag for lists, or for the kids. My kids are always wanting their own handy, dandy notebook! Plus you can recycle the whole thing once you’re done with it. Re-use the twine if you’re that hardcore.

You need 2 pieces of cardboard cut to the same size. These will make the front and back of the notebook. Gather some scrap papers. I used a lot of bill envelopes, pages from thirfted writing papers and some atlas pages. A whole punch, scissors, twine/string/yarn/floss or something stringy.

Punch holes in the cardboard pieces that are going to be the front and back of the notebook.

Then with your scissors score a line across the front cover piece of cardboard. Just press gently so you only cut through the top layer of paper.

Decide how you want your pages to be placed. If there’s writing on some of them, like atlas pages, you’ll need to decide what side you want to have available for notes.

Trim the pages to the same size as your cardboard cover. You could get fancy and get out a paper trimmer and actually measure this but I just held them to my cover and cut around it. Remember, it’s not ‘lazy’ it’s ‘creative’.

Then in the spirit of ‘creative’ I held the pages up to the cover and punched the holes in the same place, lined up with the ones on the front and back cardboard pieces. Punch all the pages you want in your notebook. Thread some stringy like substance through the 2 holes and tie it up in some pretty way.

You can decorate the cover or leave it blank. I stuck a bit of washi tape on mine just for fun, gotta use that stuff up somehow I just keep collecting it. I had tried to stamp doily designs on it but the cardboard is too bumpy and it doesn’t print well. You’d have better luck using a stencil I think rather than trying to stamp.

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Posted in DIY, gifts, kid fun, papercrafts, repurposing

Happy Tuesday

Posted on April 19, 2011 by SewTara| 5 Comments

Hello if you’re popping over from My Girl Thursday! If you aren’t, head on over there’s a big giveaway right now.

I’m ridiculously excited about something I made on the weekend. Which is kinda funny since it’s made from garbage. I’ve had this idea for months and finally got around to making myself one.

Back at the beginning of my blog I took apart my hubby’s beloved travelling backback. He was throwing it out and I figured those buckles and straps would come in handy some day. Turns out I was right. I used the clasp, a D ring and the other little thingie that makes the strap adjustable. I was on a role Sunday making this and realised I didn’t have any new straping so I decided to use what I had from that backpack. Note: Don’t use 10 year old backpack straps on new creations.

It holds a ton, and can handle weight, that I knew already from my beach bag. There’s my ipad, purse organizer, coin purse (all made by me), wallet and a few other things.

I hung the bag on the hook overnight full of all my things for work, including my camera to take pics. Then as I walked out the door wearing it the strap broke. So I quickly resewed it. It broke again. It was so brittle it was just snapping. I tried to tie it in a knot just to make due and get to work and it just snapped each time. So last night I replaced the strap with new materials after a stop at the sewing store on the way home.

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Posted in repurposing, sewing

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120 juice pouches = 4 totes

Posted on April 18, 2011 by SewTara| Leave a comment

I had the great chance to be home alone for a while during the day last week. So I brought my ‘juice pouch sewing machine’ up to the bright sunny kitchen, listened to some music and got some gifts and orders all done.

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Posted in repurposing, sewing

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DIY vintage pillow case restyle.

Posted on April 12, 2011 by SewTara| 5 Comments

On the weekend I turned my kitchen table into a bit of a nightmare so I could squeeze in some crafting while Nate was avoiding his nap. I was working on a project with vintage pillow cases and inspiration hit and took me on a bit of a detour.

Start with a vintage pillow case and trim off the nice finished edge at the opening where you put your pillow in. You can either trim really close to the stitching and have a closed loop piece, or cut into it and have an open edge. I’m going to show you how to work with both options.

Now you have 2 big loops, cut off the seam so you have one long piece of fabric.

I was cutting the orangey one for another project and in the process I trimmed a bit into the seam and created an opening on one edge. So here’s how to finish that off and make a nice clean edge, and a thinish headband.

Open the fabric up and use the fold inside, the part that was the very end of the pillow, as a guide to fold the unfinished edges inward. I didn’t go all the way because I wanted my band a bit thicker.

Then fold it again so the raw edges disappear inside. You can iron and pin at this point before you sew. Of forge ahead like I did.

Top stitch along the sides to make nice clean edges. Fold the bottom raw edges up inside the ‘tube’ to create a clean edge and topstitch to seal it all in. Then you have one nice ruler shaped piece of fabric that you can wrap around your head and tie at the back.

For my blue headband I just carefully trimmed around the pre-existing stitching. Why make more work?

Then I cut the ends on an angle just to had some interest to the ends. Fold the raw edges inside and top stitch around the whole thing.

There you have it, a lovely new headband that was half made already!

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Posted in DIY, repurposing, scraps, tutorial-ish, vintage

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DIY clipboard snazziness

Posted on April 8, 2011 by SewTara| 10 Comments

You will need some scissors, an exacto knife or some sort of precise cutting instrument, some shelving/contact paper, a cutting mat helps annnd a clipboard!  My clipboards are little mini ones I picked up for 99 cents each at Value Village.

Remove any stickers or labels from your clipboards before you start.  I left the price tag on my first attempt and there’s a faint outline of the price tag.  Measure your clipboard or just do what I did and lay it on the contact paper and cut out a piece big enough to cover it.

Cut the piece out and starting at one of the bottom corners stick the contact paper on and work across the clipboard making sure there are no bubbles or bumps.

 

 

It has been a ridiculously busy week in my house. It’s literally taken me about 5 days to write this post. Which is sad since there’s hardly any writing!

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Posted in DIY, other crafts, repurposing, tutorial-ish, vintage

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