Tag Archives: upcycling

Apr1

March blog/vlog wrap-up

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My favourite corner!

Hi everyone

Spring has sprung! We just went for a walk around our neighbourhood, it’s 21 Celsius out there (although it will be cooling again after tomorrow) and the local deer are enjoying the delicacies provided by our backyard flowers, such as they are.

Mr Stitches, aka my husband, is recovering well from his cancer treatment. After the anticipated dip when treatment ended, he’s been getting better and better. He’s eating well though has to take care with his throat still. Nothing too scratchy or spicy or dry. He’s started to wean himself off the painkillers.

We’ve been taking daily walks and his energy is returning.

I’ve been vlogging frequently all month at Stitches and Slapdashery on YouTube and also published a few tutorials. I have one for drawstring project bags for knitters/crocheters, zippered project bags, a denim cup/water bottle carrier, and a couple of crochet ones too.

The granny square pants were finished and have been worn (INSIDE the house)!

I am in the process of knitting a baby blanket with Ice Yarns Sweet Baby – the pattern is Ten Stitch Twist by Frankie Brown (free on Ravelry).

I made quite a few upcycled denim bags. The one I was most proud of was the backpack which I designed myself.

And I also made an Amplector by Spencer Ogg, and a simplified version of the Linds Handmade H2O2go, which turned out awesome.

My crochet WIP is probably going to be a cardigan or sweater, for which I’ve started making daisy squares like this one.

They’re all going to look different as I’m using stash and the background yarn has long colour changes.

I’ve been recording over the Easter weekend so there’ll be another vlog uploaded tonight. If you haven’t checked out the channel yet, I’d love for you to visit! Leave me a comment 😀

Hope you’re enjoying the seasonal changes wherever you are. Have a wonderful April. 😊

Nov28

November wrap-up

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We’re nearly at the end of November. I’ll be doing Vlogmas on my YouTube channel, Stitches and Slapdashery, so I hope you’ll be able to visit me every day in December over there.

It’s been a quiet month. I was feeling under the weather for a large chunk of it, culminating in a few days of heavy cold, but I’m better now.

I’ve been gradually adding to the pile of small Christmas gifts, including coasters, earrings, upcycled denim bags and pen pouches.

House coasters

The above were made using a YT tutorial called Chicken Love by Minki Kim.

Ugly Christmas sweaters

Crocheted ornaments from a pattern by Fay Lyth on Ravelry.

Handmade journal

Random paper and printed card made for a pretty journal for my December plans.

Lots of grannies

I crocheted 36 fugly granny squares with two strands of DK and a 6.5mm hook, which I’m currently sewing together to make pants!!

Folded square coasters

More coasters from a simple tutorial by SewCanShe.

Three upcycled jeans projects
Some earrings
Pen pouches

These are from Christine’s Home Affairs on YouTube.

I am still between jobs but feeling the urge to get a resumé together so that I can line something up for January. To that end, I’m studying for Food Safe Level 1 so that I can add that qualification to my resumé.

I’d love to see you over on YouTube during December. Happy crafting!

Aug7

38 rounds in…

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My tension isn’t brilliant but I’m enjoying myself and hoping that a good wash at the end will even things out somewhat. (All That Jazz cowl as linked in my last post.)

My new sashiko needles and thread have shipped but in the meantime I’m playing with embroidery floss. These two panels will probably become a zippered pouch. I intend to add more embroidery first.

Jul20

Staycation!

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Before inventory at work, I booked a week off. I knew it’d be something to look forward to, after the extra shifts and overtime, and now I’m appreciating my good planning.

Day 1: I looked at the week ahead and booked myself into some gym classes. Monday, I just did a regular self-directed workout, with some treadmill time and some weights machines.

I did laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and mopped the floor, and then treated myself to a few blissful hours in my sewing room.

This is another boro/sashiko project, probably a bag, but this time I’m covering the whole surface with stitching. I’m not rushing it, just stitching away while playing YouTube videos or Netflix, and it’s very relaxing.

The weather has been in the 30s every day, and even in the basement it’s been uncomfortably warm. Add to that the hot flashes that I’m getting every day now and sometimes I’m mopping my face as my glasses slide down my nose.

I’ve been reading a series of novels by Robert Galbraith (aka J K Rowling) which are detective novels. I read the fourth one in the series first, because I picked it up at the library not realising it was part of a series. And I only realised that J K Rowling was the author once I’d finished it. So I requested the rest of the books from the library and quickly devoured the first three.

The book above is the fifth one. Admittedly it’s a large print version, but still, it’s huge compared to the others. If you’re interested, the first book is called The Cuckoo’s Calling.

What do you think of this adorable pincushion? One of my co-workers left this week, and I gave her one of the bags I’ve made as a leaving gift. She gave me this with a lovely note.

I’ve been eating quite a few apricots this week. Our tree produced a fair few this year, and even though some fell on the ground before I could get to then and others were occupied by earwigs, I still got to enjoy those little packages of edible sunshine.

Our valley has been hit by smoke again this summer from the numerous wildfires around the province but I am grateful that we are only breathing smoke and not having to deal directly with fires in my neighbourhood.

Take care, everyone.

Aug24

New goodies

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Before I show you what came in the mail today, I need to show you this:

I made this from some old black jeans of mine, and a black T shirt that my son grew out of. It was one of the first things he bought for himself online years ago. I used the part with the words for the bag front and the lower body for the lining.

Another sewing project was this free pattern from Sew Sweetness called the Persimmon Dumpling Pouch. I used quilting cottons and some upcycled denim.

(Yes, that’s my birthday cake behind.)

I felt I did a really good job on the zipper, but unfortunately when you look at the ends of the bag it is painfully obvious that I didn’t match up my denim seams (where it meets the colourful cotton, either side of the zipper) very well and it looks wonky. Apart from that, it’s a really nice bag!!

And now, to my Wool Warehouse order. As soon as they opened up to international orders again, I was there, filling up my cart. I bought two kinds of white cotton yarn, Drops Safran and Drops Paris. I will do some dye experiments with those. And I was tempted by some lovely India-inspired fabric – I think the range was called New Delhi – of which I bought six fat quarters. And then there are the hooks – 17 of them altogether – all the sizes that Wool Warehouse carries in the Knit Pro Waves. Very exciting! In fact, I may have to sew a brand new hook roll to keep them in. I have wanted a set of hooks for a long time, rather than a mismatched bunch of miscellany!

How apropos that they arrived on my birthday!

I am now sitting here, absolutely stuffed after a takeout meal from one of our favourite places and a huge slice of vanilla/chocolate marble cake. It’s been an awesome weekend!