Tag Archives: Crafts

Make Do and Mend

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I’ve noticed that a lot of people are looking for make do and mend articles at the moment. I haven’t got around to doing any sewing recently, but when I do, I’ve always found the Burdastyle website to be really helpful.

It has lots of tips and ‘how to’ videos which make everything seem really simple and you’ll find that it is useful whether you are a beginner or an expert at sewing.

This recession seems to have awakened a new enthusiasm in people to fix and re-make things rather than just chuck them out.
At least it keeps fabric out of landfill sites, which had apparently been causing problems before.

Floral bag

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floral bag

floral bag

I don’t know if this would come under the category of ‘make do and mend’ or ‘remake.’ Anyway – I made this bag from a curtain pelmet. The fabric was actually new as I bought it from a local curtain shop. Someone had ordered the pelmet and then hadn’t bothered to collect it, so I got yards of this lovely floral fabric, all beautifully lined, for just £2.00 – bargain.

Obviously the fabric is very long but not so wide, however, it was just wide enough to make this summer bag and all I had to do was remove the curtain tape and sew a straight line down one end, shape the corners a little bit, trim off the excess fabric, turn the bag right side out and then add some fabric handles which were made from binding material which I already had in my stash.

Some more binding material and a big button finished the whole thing off. I must say that I’m quite pleased with the outcome as I’ve seen similar bags in the shops and they cost about £30 to people who are mad enough to pay it.

Glasgow roses quilt

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cropped-throw

I appliqued the middle of the blue fleece material with circles of red fleece. The middle circle is a bit bigger than the others. I attached the circles by hand using black embroidery thread and a stem stitch. The design on the circles is inspired by the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Glasgow rose design. For some reason this photograph makes the roses look quite small. In reality the roses are a lot bigger and bolder. I added a second, larger backing of red fleece material and simply folded the edges over the blue then machined around the edge. I should probably have taken the trouble to mitre the corners – but you know how it is and that will be for the next one. As the corners ended up a bit fat and bulky I added nice shiny blue buttons to them to flatten them down. Well I’m quite pleased with it. The fleece material makes a nice lightweight quilt and it is lovely and soft so it is perfect for using as a play quilt for wee ones, easily washed and warm for little bottoms and knees.

I’ve managed to get a close up on the roses here now.

cropped-roses