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| An old fashioned necklace made out of vintage fabric and beads sewn on in flower shapes |
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| Playing with the beads! |
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| The beads sewn into fowers in different colour combinations |
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| Measuring, cutting and sewing the vintage fabric, laying out and glueing the bead flowers |
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A pink variant - work in progress |
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| Detail of flowers |
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| Cluster of beaded flowers |
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The finished necklace |
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| OT tempted by the ribbon fastening! |
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| I had old sofa covers that once belonged to my granny. I thought it would be a nice idea to recycle the fabric and make a cushion for each of her grandchildren. Cutting up and ironing... |
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| I loved the wild rose print and the deep colours (although some parts were very faded with age and years of sunlight) The linen fabric was easy to sew and perfect for cushion covers.I inserted a hidden zip. |
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| The first finished cushion..just 5 more to go! |
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| 3 more to go... |
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| Finished and being closely guarded by OT! |
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| I added a home-made gift tag to each cushion, upcycling those wee ribbon hanging hoops you find in clothes that always seem to poke out. I always cut them off and pop in my ribbon jar! |
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| Each cushion was wrapped in 2 shades of tissue paper, then brown paper, then posted! |
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| "Granny" cushions! |
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| I've just discovered Suffolk puffs! So easy to make and a great way to use up fabric scraps! |
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| First cut out out circles of fabric - mine measured about 10cm |
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| Next do a running stitch around the perimeter of the circle and gather together to form wee puffs |
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| They're so quick to make and quite addictive. It doesn't take long to have a pile of puffs |
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| Next sew the puffs together in any combination to make a quilt or a whole host of other things, such as embellishments, brooches, clothes etc. |
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| The more imaginative the fabric and material used, different effects will be achieved. These could even be made using old plastic bags! |
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| OT helped to rummage through the fabric box!! |
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| Problem: What to do with ripped plastic bags? Solution: Upcycle them to make a pretty, waterproof corsage...! |
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| Draw circles on plastic bags and cut them out.... |
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| Fold the circles in half, then quarters.... |
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| ...and then open out the layers to form a rose shape |
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| Repeat until you have a bunch of small flowers..(and OT has checked!) |
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| Gather all the flowers into a bunch and sellotape the stems together |
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| Cut a circular back with a middle hole, cover with plastic and insert bunch of flowers |
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| Pin to coat and brave the rain with a pretty upcycled waterproof corsage! |
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| There's always a bargain to be had at Portobello Rd and Golborne road flea market... |
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| ...from old printing blocks to vintage handbags and nursing chairs... |
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| ...if you have a good rummage through the house clearance boxes, you never know what you might find... |
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| ...this trader was a dog! All haggling/paying for these cushions was done through the van window... |
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| ....once the goodies were taken home and washed (& inspected by OT!), I had a pair of fairly old, cross-stitched by hand cushions for £1 and some china.... |
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| ...I'm always on the look out for old shamrock pottery so was delighted to find an irish saucer! I've recently taken a fancy to old, twee souvenir china, like the mug pictured. Was happy to pay 50p for the floral "present from Scarboro"!! |
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| I received a copy of Cross Stitch Magazine for Xmas (Issue 248) and saw this pattern for a vintage bouquet with shades based on narrow-boat paint florals |
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| An excuse to go to Peter Jones to choose threads from the carousel, admire them and store them in my jammy dodger tin! |
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| As usual, OT tried to get in on the act.... |
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| Slowly the embroidery came to life and became addictive as the the flowers became visible |
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| Almost there... |
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| Finished! Just need to decide now whether to frame it or use it to make something else..... |
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| Remember this pile of Deptford flea market jumble? I bought a curtain for 50p..... |
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| ...then sifted through my collection of antique lace scraps and beautiful buttons... |
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| ...then once the curtain was washed and ironed, I measured and cut it to size under the watchful eye of OT....before transforming it...! |
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| AFTER - Retro curtain cushion with antique lace embellishment |
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| Antique lace and button detail |
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| Total cost of cushion - 50p! |
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| Quality control check OT style! |