Make Do and Mend

Lalaladybird

slm6002 wrote: »

Love all of the ideas on here. Can i join in too please for next year. Just one thing though, i was also hoping to declutter in 2009. Is it possible to do both or will i be too tempted to keep things 'just in case'?

I am decluttering too but I think that if we are using things we already have we are not buying more stuff to clutter up the house

2cats1kid

OK, my contribution so far.

I have boxes full of bits of yarn from when funky fibres were all the rage in scrapbooking/cardmaking. With the addition of a few balls of base yarn, I am knitting them up into blankets. The funky fibres are thin stripes and make the blanket squares look really groovy!

I've also stashed away some of the cardboard bits from this years crackers to make backgrounds for next years cards as they were nice patterns (Happy Christmas text and holly leaves and berries).

I've also darned a pair of DD's tights that I would normally just have binned!

Butterfly_Brain

If I have old clothes that are past their best, I cut off the buttons and put them in my button box ( An old QS tin from last Christmas), then I see if the material can be saved and cut into fabric squares for quilting.
Any old cushions or pillow have the stuffing removed and used to make draught excluders
Old curtains have been used for making cushions, covering dining room chairs, peg bags,and a cover to hid the fold up bed, blinds and pomanders.
I have lots of odd balls of wool which I use to make blankets ( I am lucky that friends and neighbours save theirs and pass them on to me)
My 12 year old washing machine is kept going by a dear friend who is a washing machine engineer, I have lost count how many times he has fixed it for me, he has also fixed my fridge and cooker.
I never throw bits of wood away you can always find a use for it.
My husband cleans all the carpets and rugs and windows, he has just finished cleaning and reconditioning the leather sofa ( He does this for a living)
A golden rule that I use use is that if someone offers you old curtains or bedding grab it thankfully and put it to good use.

SunnyGirl

Today I am planning on repairing two pairs of jeans, sewing missing buttons on some shirts & re-hemming a skirt. The jeans belong to my dd & ds2. They both need the knees patching & dd pair need the belt loops sewing back on & the turn up catching back up. She's also got a pair of old jeans that she wants turning into hotpants. I'm going to cut them mid way up the thigh then hem them before turning over to make the little turn up they have on iykwim? We did contamplate turning them into a denim mini skirt but apparently hotpants are more 'in' this year! I obviously know nothing at my old age of 42!!

mama67

In the past I have cut down trousers into shorts etc.

DS1 when in his last year at primary school ( 4 years ago) still wanted shorts for the summer but the school range didn't go big enough so I bought a cheap pair of trousers and cut them down into shorts, then had the legs to use as patches for other school trousers for DS2.

I also used pillow cases on the pram mattress when both were babies.

My boys were in terry nappies until they outgrew the rubbers, I then dyed some of them in the colours to match my kitchen, added a hanging loop and they have now been going strong as kitchen towels for the last 10 years; and I still have more stored away that are still white so can be dyed again when I need "new" ones.

I knitted all the woollens that my boys needed as babies, and still knit them gloves each year; (also knit gloves to go abroad).

I got the "Make Do and Mend" book for Christmas and have ordered the "Eat for Victory" one to go with it.

The character flannels which the boys had when they were little have now gone to be cleaning cloths in the bathroom.

DH likes to wear leggings under his work trousers in the winter so instead of buying new he has any of mine that have gone around the crotch area, they are stitched back up and are great for him for keeping him warm.

Hardup_Hester

Count me in too, yesterday I repaired a washing basket, hubby replaced a wooden strut that had broken & I resewed the side seams that had torn, it's as good as new now.
The Christmas tree will come down soon & then I shall have a sort out of all my wool, I need to spend an hour or 2 everyday knitting or crochet so I have enough scarves & blankets for next year.

bellaquidsin

I smashed the top of the base of my bed-side lamp which meant the lightfitting would not stay in.I mended it with blue take - well the white version actually so that it does not show.

During the year I have made two baby blankets with odd scraps of wool. One has gone for a present for a baby girl, the other is waiting for a little boy to come into my life.

I'm out of caster sugar so will 'make do' with granulated whizzed in the liquidizer.

I've always loved make do and mend, it makes me feel virtuous and over the years have done nappies into hand towels, towels into flannels, sheets into ironing board covers and the corners of ironing board covers into dusters and many such like things. Have to sharpen up my act now that we're heading for retirement. What retirement? Seems like I'm going to work harder than ever just to stay afloat.

Bella.

midge61

Hi all

I have just spent an hour reading this thread and want to join in:D
I have bags of fabric and wool that I regularly raid to make bits for pressies.
OH has just got into making cheese and butter and made hi own cheese press. This got put to a new use today to make paper briquettes for the fire.
My mums old kenwood mixer now gets used for he butter (at least 30yrs old)
We have just got 2 2 seater sofas from freecycle and am thinking of dying the covers as they are a bit faded (not sure about doing this though)
I am a great believer in fixing clothes where possible.
I really need to keep my spending to a minimum this year so have every intention on making do and mending and with the inspiration of this thread I think we could all become very productive.
Last summer our washing machine broke, the bowl in the door is now a fruit bowl and the drum is an outdoor fire up on some bricks some other bits have been passed on to others for spares.
We are also in the process of a new kitchen but have used the existing cupboards with new worksurfaces and recycling where possible.

mama67

midge61 wrote: »

Hi all

I have just spent an hour reading this thread and want to join in:D
I have bags of fabric and wool that I regularly raid to make bits for pressies.
OH has just got into making cheese and butter and made hi own cheese press. This got put to a new use today to make paper briquettes for the fire.
My mums old kenwood mixer now gets used for he butter (at least 30yrs old)
We have just got 2 2 seater sofas from freecycle and am thinking of dying the covers as they are a bit faded (not sure about doing this though)
I am a great believer in fixing clothes where possible.
I really need to keep my spending to a minimum this year so have every intention on making do and mending and with the inspiration of this thread I think we could all become very productive.
Last summer our washing machine broke, the bowl in the door is now a fruit bowl and the drum is an outdoor fire up on some bricks some other bits have been passed on to others for spares.
We are also in the process of a new kitchen but have used the existing cupboards with new worksurfaces and recycling where possible.

I have my mums old Kenwood major bought in 1972 for the princely sum of £39 I have the receipt.
makes enough cake mix for 6 doz fairy cakes, and 3lb of pastry in one go.

I also have mums old Tower Slow Cooker bought at a similar time and her Morphy Richards, 1960's iron and hairdryer.

I have found that the things i have inherited from my mum have lasted way better than anything i've bought new myself.

D&DD

Well I have just given my eldest boy a quilt I finally finished for him made from about 4 pairs of old jeans in various shades and backed with a pale blue flannelette sheet noone liked on their bed.He loved it and is now lugging it around the house with him :rotfl:
I'll use the offcuts for gardening gloves

Re old quilts which have seen better days..pull out the filling then wash and fluff up then make into pillow pads.I also use them as stuffing for floor pillows.