2023 - No Craft Spending - I WILL bust my stash and make pretty things!!!!!

Cupcakecraftscuddlycanine

We haven't been given accommodation @Soontobeoap as we are in (not plumbed in so no water-no waste) our static caravan in the garden. But it counts as "safe". 3 adults and 3 dogs in a one bed caravan is a bit of squeeze in a stressful situation! 

Cleared the stash out a bit so far. Have more damaged Craft boxes to sort still. Nothing too precious on the Craft front yet. Definitely don't want to have as  much going forward!! 

old_fogey

@plumduff55 great bags, you must have the patience of a saint to continue with annoying fabric.

@Pink12345 the table runner and cushions are gorgeous.

@Soontobeoap those applique blocks are so jolly. I am looking forward to seeing it finished.

@Cupcakecraftscuddlycanine it will be a squash in your static caravan, but it is much better being there, on the premises than in a hotel room. We lived in a static when we were building the house many years ago. Do you have family local, so you can go and have a bath/shower etc. We had to go to the gym a lot so we could shower lol!  

I really need to get a move on and finish more items to meet my modest target for the year. The nights are drawing in, so I need to get stuck in.

emsi_b

148/200 now- I made 10 cards at my craft fair, and sold loads! I need to to make more tag sets as I almost sold out. I've only completed one set so far, but i've part made a couple more sets to complete.

daisy_1571

I was up in the attic the other day and got down several bags and boxes with clothes.  After sorting i still had a pile of clothes that I love and keep only for sentimental reasons.  They mainly date back to the 80s.  They have travelled possibly 6 houses with me, they go into the various attics, they come out from time to time and get shaken or washed and then stored away again.  The thought of having to manhandle them upstairs again, store them here, move them again to future houses and continue trying to keep them fresh after all these years suddenly seems like I can 'almost' let them go.

I had a think and decided I was going to make them into a wallhanging.   When I see them again, I see all the things I enjoy and the memories but in their box I don't think of them from one year to the next.  So I'd rather have them where I can see them but clearly, unless I get a whole lot of mannequins, I'm not going to be able to do that with the whole outfit.   After all these years, I could finally see myself not actually needing to keep the whole outfit.   

I took a quick snap of some of the pile then the next pic is the little wallhanging. 






I kept the labels where I could as they bring back the memories of those shops (I was amazed to see that each of them were 'made in the UK'.  How many clothes are in our wardrobes now that can say that) and I have a back pocket of the brown canvas trousers attached at the back and I'm going to pop any photos I have of me wearing the stuff in it.  

If you are of a certain age you might recognise: Madonna style lacy top, brown canvas trousers with big patch pockets and elasticated ankles,  next one is a tshirt dress with flippy out skirt (probably be called skater style now?) Next one was a 'grown up' dress with shawl collar, my Doris Day dress, then a crop top with Chinese characters (I had a dress similar- were chinese characters a fad then?) and a tie waistline, crepe de chine lovely skirt, the first Old Navy tshirt I bought on a florida hol (early 90s) which started a 30 year love of that shop, my 'pulling' dress (I never did 'pull' but I always felt v slim and grown up in it) I once got a pint of pink panther knocked down the back of it and it survived beautifully, velvet coat a la Adam aAt, lilac double breasted coat dress with large lacy shawl collar over wide shoulder pads and lastly the grey pencil skirt and fitted shirt with a sort of mandarin neckline I wore on the first day at my new job and met my future husband.  Its all joined together with pink cotton from a boiler suit and the back of each block is either the snakebite dress or the crop top.  So the only 'new' is the wadding from my stash.  I love all of these and don't mind that Ive cut them up.  I'll see them every day now and enjoy them more.  Plus I have a box out the attic. 

You might be able to see on the snakebite dress, the Chinese top, Doris day dress and the colourful skirt ive quilted an outline of the original garment.   I enjoyed trying to get a simple outline with the difficultyof usinga machine and the walking foot.   The blue dress has lines indicating the flippiness of that dress but not the dress outline as such.

An enjoyable project for me   

Daisy xx

old_fogey

@daisy_1571 what a great idea!  Love it. And showing the labels was brilliant. Brought back memories for me too!  So much better to be on display than in the attic. In a similar vein, I plan to turn my wedding blouse from 40 years ago into padded coat hangers, as it is silly having it hanging in the wardrobe all these years.

daisy_1571

Thats a great idea old fogey,  

Daisy xx

Pink12345

@Soontobeoap My Christmas trees are raw edge and I just sewed a triangle on each one to keep it in place.  I don’t have the patience for hand applique, or anything with a roundy edge and tucking everything neat and tidy, I find them extremely taxing and frustrating to do.   Your floral applique is so well done.

@ Daisy_1571 What a fabulous idea, what lovely memories, and to be able to appreciate them every day from now on.  I love that you quilted the outline of the original garment too. I have four things stored away on the top of my wardrobe from the 80’s too that I absolutely love, my going away outfit which is black, a royal blue dress and a pink dress. Mind you they don’t fit me now.

Yesterday I completed another baby quilt and as simple as it was, I just kept making errors, it was very hard work, may hours of ripping.  I used up the pink and mauve squares that I had cut out a few years ago, and the large squares on the back were previously cut by my mum 15 years or more ago.

I have costume jewellery my mum left me; I don’t wear jewellery of any sort not even my wedding ring.  My DD does not want the jewellery.  Well Mum’s stuff was in a drawer doing nothing, so today I decided to put them into a box frame, I just pinned everything in for the moment and when I am sure nobody else wants anything, I will use the glue gun to keep them in place.

daisy_1571

Pink, love the quilt and thats a lovely idea for the jewellery,  it looks great in that frame.   And like my wallhanging you can appreciate the jewellery without feeling you must wear it.  (I'm not a size 10 any more so my sentimental clothes were unlikely to ever fit again)

Daisy xx

Soontobeoap

@Cupcakecraftscuddlycanine I hope you save everything of sentimental value from your home and that you can get back into a dry cosy home soon. It just wont stop raining!!!

@daisy_1571 your wall panel is a lovely idea. It must make you smile every time you look at it. Putting photos of you wearing items is lovely too. So easy to access them,

@oldfogy love the idea of repurposing wedding outfits. I had my dress made into a christening gown for my two.

@Pink12345 your quilt does not look that simple to me. It is beautiful and made with love. Sometimes I just have to put a project down and come back to it because nothing seems to go right. Love the jewlry idea.

I am back to Christmas boots for Grand kids teachers today. 25 more to make! Can someone remind me why I thought this was a good idea? 😂

old_fogey

@Pink12345 what a great idea to display jewellery like that, where it can be seen. The quilt looks fab, well done for persevering