Whats on my workdesk Wednesday.

Today I am mostly going to be Dumfing!

Wipso has explained it perfectly in her blog "A stitch in time" so pop over and see how she dumfs so beautifully!

If you need more info then check my older posts here

On my desk you will see my embellisher, my sewing machine and my stash of dumfing goodies. All sorts of fabrics, threads, yarns etc can be dumfed so I usually choose a colour scheme and a base fabric first and then just experiment.

In the front of the photo you will see my "here's one I made earlier" samples. Being an ex - infants teacher I always like to have an example to look at before starting. My class use to love the little practice pieces which I made prior to starting a new craft project (as you can imagine - we enjoyed all sorts of art and craft in our school!)

So my samples are just two experiments that I made before Christmas. The pink one was so successful that I made a larger version and framed it for my daughter's new bedroom and Santa put it in her sack.

The other sample was dumfed and then embellished with beads and embroidery. I make most of my little experiments into cards. Lots of friends had a little pack of them from Santa!

Today I am working on a piece of white felt using pinks/lilacs/purples - Wipso's favourite colours. We haven't had our usual "fun day Monday" this week so will have a lot of catching up to do when we get together. Its like my infant school "show and tell". She shows me all her wonderful creations and skillful alterations and repairs and then I show her whatever I have been experimenting with. Much laughter - oohs and aahs later we get round to more crafting. Its great therapy and I would recommend anyone who has a pal with similar interests getting together on a regular basis for "creative therapy ".

Well thats my second WOWW blog so I will pop over and see what Julia's desk holds for today - check it out if you want to join in.

New life for spare scarf

"Here she goes again!" I hear you shout.
Well, I am keeping up my "20 minutes of sewing a day" along with an increasing group on a popular blog - Marmaladerose
I thought it might be tricky to sew creatively every day, but so far I have not found it a problem. Maybe the snow, and keeping cosy in my little sewing room, has something to do with it.



Yesterday I surfed the net looking for ideas. Of course there are lots of fab blogs out there with folk making amazing stuff. I tend to get carried away, following link after link and delving into the most wonderful work by crafty folk all over the world!
So, when I chose my project for the afternoon, my head was full of all the lovely stuff I had been looking at.


I decided that I would upcycle a scarf and see if I could make a quick and easy bag with it.






Obviously I could have made just a plain bag but my embellishing machine was calling to me, so I was tempted to decorate the flap of the bag.
Past experience has taught me to do the tricky bits first, so I set to and embellished one end of my scarf.
The rest was simple.
I folded my scarf in half - right sides together - then
stitched down both sides and turned it right side out.


I folded the purse section up (roughly one third over the middle third leaving the flap as the last third) and pinned it ready to top stitch the seams through all thicknesses.












I had some toning fabric from which I cut a strap.
Just a little more embellishing with matching yarns teamed the strap to the bag flap.

I folded the strap in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitched down the long side and across the one end. Then turned it rightside out and attached it to the sides of the bag.

Here is the result of my afternoon - more than 20 minutes I know - but who cares?

I suppose I could have added inside pockets, fasteners or other embellishments but for a first attempt at a scarf upcycle I was pleased with the result.

Now I shall be on the look out for scarves on my charity shop visits!

Fingerless mits - latest upcycle news!

Remember the mauve angora sweater from previous blog?

Well I chopped off the sleeve ends and embellished them with a colourful yarn - eh voila!

A neat pair of fingerless mits!

They might prove useful in this cold weather.

Upcycling in snowy weather.

I know it sounds like a health and fitness tip - actually, its just the opposite.
I have been cosily tucked up in my little sewing room doing what Wipso told me to do yesterday. She challenged me to make something with my felted sweaters before buying any more!

So, always ready to rise to a challenge, this is what I have been busy with......


I love the colours in this tweedy jumper and Wipso thought it would go well with the mauve lambswool and angora polo neck jumper, that I had felted down to a size 6. I think she was right.
I found a little bag in my cupboard that I used for a pattern for the outside and I revamped it's lining for the inside of my bag.
I used the embellisher to create the design on the front and back and then beaded it.
As it only has one main pattern piece and two side gussets, it was easy to put together. It just needed a little coaxing to attach the lining to the inside. The handles were on the old bag so I just swapped them onto my new one.
I thought a little detachable matching brooch would be fun.



So, what do you think?

I should also thank Marmaladerose for inspiring me to sew a little every day as she suggested in her New Year's resolution.

What's on your workdesk Wednesday!

Well Wipso has been doing it for ages so I thought it was high time that I joined in.

This is my workdesk today.

Over the last few months I have been collecting a stash of woollen clothes and have felted them ready to "upcycle".

Some were from my own wardrobe and some from charity shops. My daughter even wrapped three lovely ones as a pressie from Santa!

I have been checking out lots of websites and blogs to see what other folks do to recycle woollen items and there are some super ideas out there.

So they are stacked on my table along with my embellisher, which will be used to beautify my pieces before I make any items with them.

I made a little bag with the sleeve of one jumper before Christmas and you can see it here

Any ideas or suggestions welcome!