Sustainable Sewing and Home Textile Waste

September is sewing month and we're collaborating with partner blog Green in Real Life to look at home sewing and textile waste. My personal sewing is definitely not zero-waste (and will probably never be), but it is considered. I use a wide variety of materials, not all eco-conscious and I have a long way to go towards reducing and/or making full use of scraps, but every little bit helps! The process of trying to make good use of what I already have available has actually been a great creativity booster. I also have to confess that I feel a lot less indulgent about making "just for fun" items when the material is reused from what would otherwise be rags or straight rubbish, makes good use of off cuts, or uses material that has been kicking around in my stash for ages. If you're trying to be a more considered sewist or crafter, here are some ideas and interesting links:

Recycled Matelasse Blanket/Coverlet DIY Fitted Dog Bed Covers

Quick and Simple Sewing Machine Sampler / Stitch Reference

When I bought my sewing machine, one of the first things I did was sew a few stitches of each option as a bit of a test drive and to see how the different stitches looked when sewn. Many times since, I've wished I'd had that sample for a quick reference check, and so I decided to make a little stitch sampler. Here's how it was made and some tips for creating and storing sewing machine samplers.

Understanding, Making, and Using Binding Tapes (Part 2)

Our partner blog Dalmatian DIY has been using binding in a number of recent dog-friendly DIY projects, so we thought we'd share some tips and resources here to help! Part 1 covered the types of bindings, material choices, and ways to make your own custom bindings. Part 2 looks at application methods, common problems, and tips/tricks.  Pet projects are great for practising and/or trying new techniques as they won't care if you make a few mistakes or things look a less than perfect! On the subject of less than perfect work, please excuse my quick cutting and sewing on these example pieces I created from my scrap fabric stash for this post. Experiments using leftover fabric are a great way to get comfortable with your machine settings, visualise stitches, and test drive new sewing techniques to see how things work (or don't). It's great learning but also so much better than figuring issues out after the fact on valuable materials or a project you've put your heart into preparing.

Understanding, Making, and Using Binding Tapes (Part 1)

Baffled by binding? Biased towards bias? You're not alone!  Upcoming collaborations on our partner blog Dalmatian DIY will be featuring some fab winter warmer dog DIYs with cuddly blankets (easily adapted for people) as well as bed/furniture protectors made for our special senior spotty who need a little extra TLC these days.  Several of these projects will be using binding, so we thought we'd share some tips and resources here to help! Pet projects are great for practising and/or trying new techniques as they won't care if you make a few mistakes or things look a less than perfect!

Folding Plastic (and Fabric) Bags for Easy Storage, Use, and Reuse

We try to minimise our household waste and rarely use plastic bags; however, we still find ourselves with occasional bags for reuse as well as (sadly) bags for curbside collection. Storing bags for use/reuse was once a messy jumble, but a few years back when we moved to a council area that not only mandated the use of plastic rubbish bags for collection but issued each household with an annual supply in a loose bundle (!) I decided to get thing in order and have been using this simple method to fold and store bags for use and reuse ever since.  It also works for soft fabric bags (although I prefer to pouch or roll these) for neatly tucking into your pocket, purse, glovebox, etc. to have ready if/when needed.

DIY Window Seat Bench Cushion with Fitted Box-Corner Cover

Now that the crafts stash has (finally) been semi-unpacked at the new house and the sewing machine liberated from its moving box prison, the long awaited home decor DIYs, makeovers, and upcycles have begun.  Our master bedroom has a window seat, plainly finished in the same paint as the walls. Blah! Not comfy at all! Time to make pampered pooch Humphrey his long overdue custom window seat cushion for basking in comfort!

Dyeing Old Matelasse Fabric with a Front Loading Washer

Resizing and Rehanging Stretched Canvas Artworks

Garden Month - Growing and Sharing the Creative Fun!

Farewell, Sweet Tiger - Final Crafty Cat Creative Inspiration

Hello Autumn! Creative Ideas and Inspiration for a Fabulous Fall

March is here and that means it's officially autumn in our part of the world (or will be soon, for equinox hold-outs, myself included). Summer has flown by and already shorter cooler days are hinting at the changing seasons. To make the most of autumn colours, the occasional rainy day for guilt-free crafting, and nesting prep for winter days to follow, here's a collection of fun fall creative ideas and inspiration. March is also Craft Month - all the more reason to get creative!

Crafting Happiness Through Creativity

💕 Happy (almost) Valentine's Day! We're making an exception to our biweekly posting cycle to pop in with a little extra early dose of creative love and to wish you a Valentine's Day filled with everyone and everything that makes your heart happy.  The love of partners, family, friends, and pets is (of course) a huge part of what makes our hearts happy and Valentine's Day is a great time for celebrating that love, but there are plenty of other things that add to a heart full of happiness. The fuller the better!  What brings you joy?

Celebrating the Year of the Pig and Chasing Creative Goals

Fun with Photography: Milk and Food Colouring Experiments

Playing with milk, dye, and soap is a a fun science experiment for kids, but can also be used to create interesting abstracts for photography. Photographing milky surface abstracts is easy and inexpensive, with no special equipment required. 

DIY Polymer Clay Christmas Hair Pins - Crafting with Leftover Clay

These holiday cuties were inspired by our polymer clay spiral candy cufflink craft project. When you craft with polymer clay, you often work and soften extra clay (which is easily returned to storage) but may also end up with mixed clays, such as the spiral offcuts at the end of our cufflink candy rounds or (it happens!) when you aren't happy with how your project came out and decide to ditch or do-over before you bake. So...what to do with that leftover clay? 

DIY Polymer Clay Spiral Christmas Candy Cufflinks

 

Christmas is almost here! This is the season for stepping out in holiday style, and whether you prefer just a subtle pop of Christmas spirit or dressing up to the nines, homemade polymer clay accessories are a fun way to add a little festive flair to your outfit. Hubby is a french-cuff fan, so I made these candies as cufflinks, but the same techniques shown can be easily applied to any bezel base (e.g. earrings, pendants, keychains etc), adapted for non-bezels with direct attachment (like our bobby pins in next week's post) or adhesive, or simply to dangle free-form as a pendant or drop-style earring. 

Durable Custom Painted Garden Markers with Cricut Stencil Masks

Fun with Photography: Abstract Art Using Oil and Water

Macro abstracts of oil drops on water are a great way to have a little photography fun.  All you need are a few basic household items, and unlike the quick work of dye droplet photography, you can work as quickly or as slowly as you please.  Here's the scoop and some tips/tricks for creating your own, as well as getting creative with soap, dye, and more!

Celebrating Cat Day with Crafty Cat Ideas for Cool Kitties

Happy Cat Day to all the crafty cats and cool kitties out there, from my mane man, Tiger. Our once skinny and flea bitten little rescue kitty Tiger is now a very spoiled senior cat. From rough start to jetsetting international cat of mystery! Meowvelous! In honour of Cat Day (aka every day in a cat's opinion) here are some fun creative ideas for cat crafts.