Car boot Bargains 11/5/13 and Dolly Nappies the Recycled Way

Well this weekend has been a bit wet, so not so many people doing car boot sales this weekend, but managed to pick up a few bargains. There were some jeans for the kids for 50p each, books for the kids for 10p, I am all for them buying books. I managed to find two big bags of wool for £2.00 , which is perfect as I want to learn how to crochet, so that will get me started. I also found a "how to make clothes" book for me for 20p always handy for hints and tips, no matter how much sewing you have done.
But the star of the show for a grand total of One Shiny Pound is shown below
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It is a dolls baby changing station and bath, you can even fill the bath with water and empty it like a paddling pool, you put the lid down and it is a baby changing station.
This inspired some more upcycling, as we discovered much to my daughter's abject horror, her babies have no nappies , and what good is that when you have a baby changing station.
So I made nappies for her babies, I used an old Terry towelling nappy I had, and got two nappies out of it, but you could use an old towel, or tea towel or even buy cheap flannels if you have nothing available, and you will also need a small amount of Velcro(hook and loop fastening) Here is how I did it.

1) First get your doll that requires the nappies and draw the shape of a nappy on paper to fit, add a 3/8" seam allowance all around , and cut it to check fit. Below is a picture of the finished flat nappy to give you an idea of shape.


2) Next use your paper cut out to cut a double layer of your fabric , you will need two pieces of fabric(one double layer per nappy) I placed the short end of the
pattern on a fold to be a bit lazy and cut out some sewing.

3) Place your fabric right sides together and sew all around with a 3/8" seam allowance leaving a 2-3" gap along the middle of the long side of your nappy for turning the right way around.

4) Turn right side out and with the raw edges turned inside sew along the long side of the nappy close the gap.

5) Now with the nappy flat , sew a longish strip of hook and loop along the top edge of the short edge of the nappy about 1/2 inch down from the edge , measurement is not critical.

6) Turn the nappy over and use the opposite piece of hook and loop and sew a small tab on each end of the long side of the nappy, hopefully this will make sense from the picture below if you imagine it opened out, and you have a dolly nappy






Until next time happy upcycling

Car Boot Sale Bargains 5th May 2013

I thought I would share a few of the car boot sale bargains that I have found this weekend, we have two large car boot sales close to us, since my husband was off Saturday and Sunday, we treated ourselves to two :
These are just a few of the bargains we found this weekend, first and most importantly my sewing bargains shown below.
A pair of monster curtains, as soon as I saw these I thought little tote bags , so that is what they are destined to be, you can see the finished article here
The trims were from a lovely lady who used to do a lot of upholstery work at one point and no longer had the room for them.


The trims have already been used here really pleased with how they turned out, makes me think "Moroccan" for some reason

Also really pleased with this little table, we have been after a little drinks table for the garden and this was perfect for £1.00



As the old saying goes "one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Another item I haven't photographed but that I was really pleased with was a Power Rangers duvet and curtain set for my middle son for three pounds , he currently loves them. We don't need the curtains as his room has velux blinds but they are cotton and perfect for pyjama making. I will share these at a later stage as I will need to draw the pattern for these so may take a few weeks to fit them in.
Other bargains included brand new branded make up for 50p , threading beads, plasticine and how could I forget the Power Rangers book for 20p, so all in all a good haul.
I hope this has inspired you to do a spot of bargain hunting yourself.

Lawn Mowing Interupted

I thought I would share with you a little project that Mr. Martisanne undertook in the garden in the sunshine this week, he disappeared into the garden to mow the lawn, the lawnmower wouldn't start so this is what happened instead, he unleashed a little of his creative spirit




We were gifted maybe a year ago some small mosaic tiles and have been waiting for a project for which to use them and here it is.



Very easy to do , just use "hard as nails" or similar strong adhesive, spread it on a concrete post with a tile spreader and stick the tiles on, it was only done last week so can't vouch for the longevity of project , but for the time being it looks very pretty.



Next to be mosaiced is the fishpond walls.

You could pick tiles up for this project fairly easily, people usually have spare tiles from tiling, so keep an eye out at your local recycling centre or freecycle or car boot sales. Sometimes diy shops may have discontinued lines cheap ,or part boxes heavily reduced if a couple have broken in the box.

You could use this idea for endless projects, walls , plant pots , a table top or indoor projects like mirror frames, picture frames, upcycle a wooden box to pretty jewellery box,I would love to here of any ideas you have or projects you have undertaken with recycled tiles

Joggers to Shorts Upcycling tutorial

Well with a sniff of Summer last week I thought I had better get my skates on with the kids summer wardrobes. My middle son had outgrown a couple of pairs of jogging bottoms that were fine on the waist but were rapidly becoming "Harry half masts", I had to take them out of circulation to stop him wearing them so on the upcycling pile they went. Last week they were changed from the unwearable to wearable again with a little help from a pair of scissors and my sewing machine.
Here is how I did it.

1) First lay out your joggers or jeans or other trousers you want to cut down to shorts folded flat down the centre seam , with the crotch pulled out and make sure each leg and the crotch and waist band is lined up with each other so your legs end up the same length, as shown below




2) Use chalk or tailors chalk or a tailors pencil to mark the length you want your shorts to be, use an existing pair that fits if this helps and draw across the legs of the trousers, if you are not sure go longer they can always be cut shorter, but you can't stick it back on once you have cut it.

3) Mark another line 1 inch below this , this is the line you will cut along (this allows for a hem allowance), and cut as shown below, making sure everything is still lined up before you cut.


4) Open up your shorts and look to see if they look even and if possible try them on the intended victim, remember they will be an inch longer approx than you want at the moment you need that for the hem allowance.

5) Now turn the cut off trousers inside out and iron the bottom edge up 1/2 inch and then 1/2 inch again and iron so that the raw edge is enclosed , you should have the first chalk mark now running along the bottom edge of the shorts.

6) Pin the ironed hem down and use a straight stitch and sew all around the bottom hem of the shorts using a 3/8 inch seam allowance, don't forget to use a jersey/ball point needle if using a stretchy fabric like jersey joggers.

7) Et voila new shorts


You could skip the sewing part if you like, as denim frays and looks good this way, and jersey doesn't really fray ,if you do this cut along your first line,you won't need the extra inch for the hemline, but I prefer the neatness of hemming.

Although it's very tempting don't go cutting all your trousers down to shorts, or you will have very cold legs come Autumn and probably through the Summer too if you live in the UK.