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

sammy_kaye18

plumduff55 said:

Hi, I was decluttering today and came across the crochet blanket I made more than 50 years ago. I'd forgotten I still had it. My great aunt taught me - she was an expert and made lace doilies. I only ever remember making this blanket and thought it was all trebles but I see that it has a mixture of stitches. I repaired it about 30 years ago as it was badly frayed. A couple of years ago I made a doll's pram blanket. I'm amazed that after all these years I'm doing another crochet blanket and enjoying it so much. Feeling very nostalgic.
Happy crafting xx ps needless to say I am keeping it

I love the blanket. 
Isnt it nice to look back at things and the nostalgic memories that come with them. 

Being a RAF brat I spent a lot of time at my grandparents house and I can clearly remember going to her house just before I was due to take sewing at school and in the holidays my grandmother taught me how to use her sewing machine and I made a wall hanging with pockets on that could hold my favourite CDs from a big piece of scrap denim that we found in her local haberdashery shop. I loved that wall hanging and my grandad cut me some dowel wood from his shed to put in the top and bottom. I can still see it clearly in my mind but I think its in someones attic now. Id love to find it out. 
 

sammy_kaye18

Gromit38 said:

I'd like to join too. I've tidied my stash(es)  and am horrified at the amount of stuff I've hoarded!! 😂 Not really. I'm determined to do something useful and beautiful with my stuff. Do I start with the almost finished charm quilt I started before my kids came along. The oldest is 21 so probably a good place to start!!??? 

Welcome Gromit - the more the merrier. 
I can imagine there is a few of us on this thread who have some similar projects lurking in the back of our craft boxes and cupboards. I look forward to seeing what you craft

As for me.....
I havent done any more of my robin just yet. Husband was off yesterday so we took the dogs for a 5k walk which was nice although we did leave the house in -1 which was a bit of a shock to the system and I now suspect one of our pooches is a bit under the weather despite him being jacketed up and running around the place. 
Also found an old duvet earlier so I am going to put it to one side to turn into a dog duvet (I cant remember who it was who makes them) but it will eventually live outside as their garden bed so they can chill out on it on the deck in the sunshine whilst I work or enjoy the garden, 
Other than that - my DD 12 wanted to craft something the other day and found the pom pom kit in my HC delivery so she has been making various sized pompoms with a small wool kit I got free with some crochet needles =. Again not sure what shes doing with them but its keeping her entertained at least.

I have realised I do need to make a peg bag still though so I may look through my material stash for a n old tshirt or something I can stitch up and adapt rather than ruining them by leaving on the line or the dogs getting them from the tub I have and destroying them 

Katiehound

I'd like to join again, I don't know how many 'pretty things' were made but I certainly got to 337 items which might actually have been a tad higher if I had kept a fool proof tally!

Anyhow today I delivered 7 doggy duvets to my new outlet and collected money too. She had sold the duvets (4 or 6?) as well as all the plaited & woven dog bones so I was well pleased.

Not so pleased that last week I collected one of those big check woven bags full of material stuff and most of it turned  out to be unsuitable! Brushed cotton in white for a dog bed? so trying to find homes for the unwanted items. None will be binned....

I sinned earlier this month and bought 2 bags of yarn from Aldi- worked out at 25 pence per 50 g ball. Total spent £3.98 for 16 balls .

emsi_b

Katiehound, you can always use it as stuffing if you can't find a home- I stuffed some draught excluders with lots of rag and remnants I wasn't going to use. Cheaper than poly stuffing!! Appreciate you'd need a huge amount t of rag to stuff a dog bed though!

I made a notebook from scratch- really straightforward and looks professional too. Not sure about the stamping I did on this one, I'll use some pretty patterned paper on the next ones instead. It will use up a LOT of my paper stash if I can get people to buy them at my next stall.

In addition to that, I sewed up the last draught excluder- it doesn't seem to have made much difference to how cold the conservatory is, but there's a but less of a gale blowing in.

Now at 8/200

ziggy2407

sammy_kaye18 said:

Gromit38 said:

I'd like to join too. I've tidied my stash(es)  and am horrified at the amount of stuff I've hoarded!! 😂 Not really. I'm determined to do something useful and beautiful with my stuff. Do I start with the almost finished charm quilt I started before my kids came along. The oldest is 21 so probably a good place to start!!??? 

Welcome Gromit - the more the merrier. 
I can imagine there is a few of us on this thread who have some similar projects lurking in the back of our craft boxes and cupboards. I look forward to seeing what you craft

As for me.....
I havent done any more of my robin just yet. Husband was off yesterday so we took the dogs for a 5k walk which was nice although we did leave the house in -1 which was a bit of a shock to the system and I now suspect one of our pooches is a bit under the weather despite him being jacketed up and running around the place. 
Also found an old duvet earlier so I am going to put it to one side to turn into a dog duvet (I cant remember who it was who makes them) but it will eventually live outside as their garden bed so they can chill out on it on the deck in the sunshine whilst I work or enjoy the garden, 
Other than that - my DD 12 wanted to craft something the other day and found the pom pom kit in my HC delivery so she has been making various sized pompoms with a small wool kit I got free with some crochet needles =. Again not sure what shes doing with them but its keeping her entertained at least.

I have realised I do need to make a peg bag still though so I may look through my material stash for a n old tshirt or something I can stitch up and adapt rather than ruining them by leaving on the line or the dogs getting them from the tub I have and destroying them 

Your DD could make a lovely wreath for her room made from pom poms - lots of great ones on Pinterest (its one of my to-do's - haha who am I kidding its been on the list a while and I'd need to buy a pom pom maker - added to the list for "one day"!)

Stashbuster

Bought cutting plates for my old sizzix big shot (I knew no spend wouldn’t happen haha) however I’ll be using it to cut lots of fabric scraps up so I can make reusable facewipes for stalls.

Currently sitting watching The Witcher rolling fabric scraps through it - although I have a cricut I like the sizzix for this as it can do multiple layers at once. 

daisy_1571

I made some draught excluders but I find any filled with wadding or cloth don't do much good as they can sit proud of where the draughts come through.  I didn't fancy rice as the main culprit is our front door which has a gap big enough for a mouse to pop in for a nibble.   After a lot of thought trying to find something with a bit weight, fairly inert, not tempting for meeses and something I could find locally i came up with cat litter.   I've made several excluders: oblong shape, sewn along one long edge and the ends and lots of middle seams to make pockets.  Couple of scoops litter into a wee sandwich bag, pop it into a pocket then sew along the top of each one.  The pockets mean all the inside filling doesn't slide to one end and the malleableness means the excluders sit against the doors making a better seal.  

Daisy xx

emsi_b

Oooh Daisy I like the sound of that, and the pockets too. Our daft dog likes to lay on them which rules out using gravel as I did before we had him! 

sammy_kaye18

ziggy2407 said

 Your DD could make a lovely wreath for her roo made from pom poms - lots of great ones on Pinterest (its one of my to-do's - haha who am I kidding its been on the list a while and I'd need to buy a pom pom maker - added to the list for "one day"!)

Thats a good idea. I think I might suggest that to her when she comes home! 

Stashbuster said:

Currently sitting watching The Witcher rolling fabric scraps through it - although I have a cricut I like the sizzix for this as it can do multiple layers at once. 

Might I commend you on your viewing choice whilst you craft - cant beat a bit of Geralt to get you motivated! Works for me anyway! 

daisy_1571 said:

something I could find locally i came up with cat litter.   

Thats a good idea. Gives a bit of weight to it then as well. I was going to suggest pea gravel like you get for the garden like the little decorative stones and doing small pockets. Guess either works and as long as it keeps you warm! 

sammy_kaye18

Well I feel like I had a bit of a productive evening last night. 

My dogs keep going into the garden and any pegs they find get destroyed (Im not even going to mention what two sighthounds have done to my grass but I am not amused - mud pit anyone?) so when my son brought me home new pegs yesterday I decided to pull my finger out and bodge together some sort of peg bag. 

An old coat hanger, some spare material, an old zip and some very questionable hand sewing later and it does the job. Probably not everyones choice of material but it was left over from my daughters onesie and at least Ill be able to find it!

I also sat and did a bit more on my cross stitch last night whilst I caught up on SAS Who Dares Wins and managed to fill in a little bit of the first robin and make a start on the second so it is coming along nicely now and I keep aiming to get a few colours done each evening so its getting there.

Rest of today is going to be me sorting through some garden seeds and maybe making a tub to store them in with a nice SEED sticker to decorate it with the cricut and then more cross stitch later but Im seriously considering a nap now my meds are kicking in so Im trying my best to stay awake!