2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Primrose

A nice frugal surprise  today.- was gifted a carrier bag of Bramley windfalls that are being processed for the freezer as they won't keep.  Some being frozen plain. The rest with sultanas and a little cinnamon or ginger, for winter puddings or adding to porridge or cereals for breakfast.  And even the damaged bits go onto the compost heap so nothing is wasted. 

Debsnewbudget

I have a number of throws but they no longer match my new living room.
do you think I could dye them from red to navy blue? 

Would you do them individually? 

chanie

Debsnewbudget said:

I have a number of throws but they no longer match my new living room.
do you think I could dye them from red to navy blue? 

Would you do them individually? 

  It may not be easy to dye them.  Firstly, it depends on the material, as to how well the dye will take.  If it’s a natural fibre, like cotton, it  may take the dye, but if it’s man made, like polyester, it may not take very well.  

Also, the thread may not take, even if the rest of the item does, so you could end up with a nice blue throw, but with red threading. 

Maybe someone much wiser than me can advise you, but just giving you some of my experiences, using the dye you put in the washing machine.

cw18

Debsnewbudget said:

I have a number of throws but they no longer match my new living room.
do you think I could dye them from red to navy blue? 

Would you do them individually? 

If I were only using them to keep warm (as opposed to protecting a new suite) then I wouldn't care.

I have a cream suite and carpet and terracotta curtains - but my throws vary from red, to white with red dots, to Grinch print.   They keep my legs warm whatever the colour

Soontobeoap

@Debsnewbudget. I agree with @chainie look very carefully at due instructions. If they are cotton it should dye well. I have dyed things and the contrasting thread looks quite good. You do have to be prepared for failure just in case though. 

leftatthetrafficlights

Debsnewbudget said:

I have a number of throws but they no longer match my new living room.
do you think I could dye them from red to navy blue? 

Would you do them individually? 

I've dyed loads of stuff - cushions, throws and enormous sofas!! Always gone darker, used washing machine dyes, never had an issue  - always worked perfectly 😁 depends on the size to whether they need doing individually- my 'double bed/king size' throws I've done 2 at a time as they are not heavy material- single I've done 4 at once (my last lot were from teal to black) - if they don't get to the shade you want,  you can always chuck them back in with another dye pack 😉

Frugaldom

I'm with @cw18 on the dyes for throws... I'd leave as is and ho for the frugal eclectic look. 😁 I have 3 different sets of curtains in the hut (little off-grid cabin) and about 6 assorted coloured rugs. The chairs and bed have throws, each a different pattern and colour. (@ginnyknit crocheted the chair throws 😁)

I resorted to a small monthly Asd@ order for home delivery but I'm finding more and more items have been restricted to a maximum of 3. I've now allocated myself more space for veg growing and begun the lengthy process of turning it into the long awaited 'no dig' soup & pudding garden. As soon as I get the area levelled, I've got fabric ground cover to go down before starting making more raised beds. It's been a busy few weeks with visitors to Frugaldom plus a couple of campfire nights watching for shooting stars (fab free socialising) and then there's been apple and blackberry picking, Oleo opportunities and a newcomer to our group who will hopefully join us next year in our quest for self sustainability.

Our donated solar lights are working perfectly, despite having been in someone's storage for several years, and we've been given 2 leisure batteries to link up to our 100w solar panel. So far, so good. Electricity meters were read on 30th Sept and bills paid up to date - no word here yet of the latest increases.

Alpine strawberry runners are still going crazy here so I'm going to try to get as many as possible potted up, plus take as many blackcurrant and raspberry cane cuttings as possible to plant in the no dig garden. I'll only be putting carrots, onions and leeks in this garden as it's aimed at growing soup veg. The two raised planters for the spring onions and rocket still need sorting out but time is, as always, in very short supply.

Keep on Frugaling, people, as it's becoming more and more essential to minimise the overheads and weather the next financial tsunami that seems to be heading our way. 

Bluegreen143

I’m the same as @cw18, I have a range of blankets in my living room for keeping cosy, in all sorts of colours 😆 

I actually think red and navy go well together so would be inclined to keep them red rather than risk ruining them if the dye doesn’t take… if it went streaky, then I don’t think it would look very good.

Floss

Debsnewbudget said:

I have a number of throws but they no longer match my new living room.
do you think I could dye them from red to navy blue? 

Would you do them individually? 

If you really can't stand them not matching and cannot dye them (ifjot natural fabrics) then buy / make 1 throw in the "right" colour, fold all the others up & wrap them in that.

Cheery_Daff

You could always add a little blue trim, or a red applique felt picture or something, to keep with the theme? I realise you might not want to start sewing! I have no experience with washing machine dyes (and my blankets, and rooms, are a glorious array of mismatched nonsense so you might not want to take style advice from me! 😂)