This week my project was to do something to save my favourite scarf. It’s a lovely soft wool scarf & it had a beautiful white furry trim. However after putting it through the wrong wash cycle, I had to stretch the wool out repeatedly until it was the right size again but there was no saving the cute trim. I really didn’t want to chuck it so here it is, my favourite scarf 2.0.
Ingredients
Old but loved scarf
sharp scissors
Black braided trim
My favourite scarf with the ruined trim š¦
My favourite scarf without the white trim
my favourite scarf with the new trim threaded through
Me with my brand new scarf, now I can’t wait for the winter!
It took a long time to thread through the new trim after I’d cut out all the old trim, but it was very satisfying to see how quickly it progressed. I’ve got some matching gloves somewhere too so when I find those I’ll give those the re-loved trim too!
This week I taught myself how to make felt from some natural insulation I had. Combined with a need for a new pin cushion, I bring you Ā the 100% homemade pin cushion (from totally re-loved materials of course)
First I pummelled my wool in a hot sink of water. Then I compressed it to get all the water out & realised that I would need to repeat this process many times to turn it into felt! I think it was six times in total, but it was a joy! Sadly I did not manage to take pictures of this bit as I was a bit enthralled & forgot (sorry.) But here’s the gallery of how the rest of the project progressed – enjoy!
Ingredients:
Handmade felt from organic wool insulation
scraps of felt from old projects (purple & navy)
needle & thread
Handmade stuffing made from organic wool insulation
The model pig which I used to mould the felt round
Whilst the newly made felt was still wet I gently moulded it round the piggy model and pinned it in place
I left it to dry out overnight to make sure it would hold the cute pig shape
The before & after! This was the wool I used to make the felt & this is the felt after I have taken it off the piggy mould
The same wool used for making the felt I also used to make the stuffing, I gently pulled it apart repeatedly to stretch the fibres & it went all lovely & fluffy & soft.
Once it was stuffed nice & chubby & stitched shut I got out the ol’ felt scraps & fashioned some purple ears and nose & two little eyes.
Now he’s all finished and being utilised as a pin cushion I give him the name Pig Pindola.
Hope you enjoyed this week’s experiment, see you next week for Project 9!
Jessica
xoxo
**** newsflash – I am now selling these on etsy due to popularity, click here to order****
There are 2 parts to this project. The weekly project, which has to be made from materials I already own or traded for. This part is straigtforward and thoroughly enjoyable for me as crafting & creating is second nature for me.
Part 2 is not quite so easy. A personal challenge not to purchase anything that is not essential. So far this has been fine. It’s summer, I have plenty of clothes and shoes already & I’m not a great high street shopper anyway, so I don’t find things tempting when I’m out with friends.
I am, however a sucker for momentos. From trips out & holidays, I like having something to remember special days by. Yesterday I was treated to a day out at the Leavesdon Studios for the making of Harry Potter. Brilliant day. Gift shop torture. The pink fluffy pygmy puff nearly made me lose my nerve.
Somehow, even though I was surrounded by school jumpers, gryffindor hoodies, cushions, mugs, fridge magnets, lego sets & oh so many delightful wands & robes I did not break my rule. I managed it. BUT I did compromise, with my husband purchasing a rather fetching gryffindor t shirt which he is going to give me for christmas. I did buy myself a chocolate frog but as food doesn’t count in this project, it’s all good.
So on the long drive home it occured to me that we hadn’t fulfilled our usual tradition of a fridge magnet purchase. Roll on Project 6. . .
Homemade Quibbler Fridge Magnet
First I picked the image I wanted to use & resized it using an online picture editor.
I tried printing directly onto thick card but sadly my printer did not like this! So I printed it on paper instead.
I had tried printing a different image first, of a hogwarts express ticket, but it wasn’t as visually exciting as my chosen image once it was printed.
Once it was printed onto paper, I stuck it to the nice thick card & glued acetate over the top to make it nice & shiny & pro looking.
Well it wouldn’t stick the to fridge without the magnet! Simply hot glued to the back of the card.
Here it is, my own Harry Potter Quibbler fridge magnet. It cost me nothing as I already had the paper, printer, acetate sheet & it’s my own photo as the image from my day trip to Leavesden studios
I discovered a whole new medium today. Frankly I was enthralled. I was searching for a way to transfer photos to fabric, when I stumbled across a method for printing directly onto fabric. I read thisĀ postĀ & was completely inspired to try it myself. See the gallery below for how I Re-Loved an old shopping jute bag.
Hessian fabric from my fabric box. Quite thick & chunky “coffee bean carrier” style.
A4 Printer labels – I found these randomly in a file of old stationery stuff.
I stuck the A4 label on the hessian fabric & carefully cut it out. Then with some trepidation stuck it in my printer
The graphic comes out beautifully on the hessian. It was a complete gamble as the one I saw originally was printed on a very tidy quilt quality cotton. But I think it paid off beautifully.
You can see how effective the label was as I peel if off here. It made sure the hessian didn’t string apart and wreck my printer and it caught the ink which went through the holey sections of the fabric.
This is the printed graphic – see end of the post for the blog I got the image from – you can get lots of free and lovely images from the link (just make sure you link it back if you post it elsewhere in the interest of fairness)
Once it was printed, I checked the size on the bag and decided to cut it down to a rectangle & stitch it on from there. I like the fact the hessian fabric is darker than the original bag, it gives it a much nicer depth of texture.
I stitched it with a dark green wool and a large needle, it’s fairly neat for my hand stitching & I think it looks quite sweet with the old fashioned hessian and the jute bag
Here it is! All stitched and ready to rock the market. An old plain jute bag with a re-loved edge
I hope you enjoyed this weeks project & will come back next week for Project 7! There will also be a bonus post midweek about my progress & the “non buying” element of Re-Loved 52.
