Jumper to slinky Scarf

~ Jumper to Scarf  ~

I have had this black jumper for a few years now,

it's been a favourite, not an expensive buy,

 but I love the slinky feel of the fabric

Sadly it gave up on me and developed a hole on the back.

I haven't worn it now for about a year but couldn't just throw it out,

So I re-fashioned it into something I could use

First I cut off the sleeves

then I cut up one of the side seams

 opened it out flat 

and trimmed of the ribbed waistband.

next I folded up the bottom longways over to reach the arm hole

luckily the hole was right on this line so I didn't lose any fabric width!

Then I divided the long strip into two skinny strips

and folded these over right sides together.....

and on to the sewing machine

 I sewed the two short cut flat ends together to make one very long skinny strip

  (sorry forgot to take a picture of that little step ...oops!) 

I then fitted the foot for over locking stitch  ( 'C' foot for a Janome ) 

and stitched all the way along the edge 

I then used a large safety pin pinned to the inside to help me turn the very long tube right side out

then hand stitched the two ends together to make a closed tube

 

and I now have a very re-usable slinky scarf!

glad I didn't throw that jumper out now!

Hope you found this little tutorial useful,

 perhaps you have a favourite jumper or top that could do with a re-fashion.

Yvonne x

Tag Tuesday ~ Books

This weeks Tag Tuesday theme is Books

So I made a bookmark Tag.

This tag was cut from a lovely birthday card I was given last year.

It's so pretty as is,  double sided,

the front has gold highlights

This is the back

I didn't need to do anything else to it, so I concentrated on the tie .....

 with yarns, threads and ribbons in complimenting colours.

I threaded on some handmade focal beads to give added weight for use as a bookmark,

its now being put to good use :)

On the subject of books

For Christmas my Son David bought me 2 books from my wish list ...

The Wonderful Weekend Book

I'm already halfway through this lovely book by the late Elspeth Thompson and I can tell it will be a favourite here and I'm not the only one picking it up and browsing through the chapters :)

It's about enjoying time, appreciating the simple things and taking time to smell the roses...... it is sad that Elspeth is no longer with us, her blog is a lovely source of inspiration and I still visit and read it.

I do intend to try every one of the recipes which she has put in the book. they all sound so delicious.

He also bought me

 Tommy's War

I haven't started it yet, but looking forward to it.

Went to the boot sale on Sunday.

I  lucked in with a big bag of Music manuscripts & books.

 I have been looking out for some sheet music for a while to use for a couple of projects. However, after closer inspection, some of them seemed to be quite old so I have been researching each one thoroughly before using in my art. I wouldn't want to cut up anything of great value.

There is even a hand written one!

Thanks for stopping by
Yvonne x

LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD

LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD

 

 Lynne Holland nominated my blog for the Liebster Blog Award,

Thank you kindly for that :) ....it was totally unexpected!

Lynn has a lovely way with her blog and her cute art birdies

you can visit her here: http://www.oneimadeearliertoday.blogspot.com/

Lynn is also taking part in the Tag Tuesday Challenge

 and has made some lovely tags.

 

The Liebster Award, Liebster is German and means 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favourite', is given to bloggers who have 200 followers or less.
Its a nice way to get introduced to other crafters and bloggers and find fresh inspiration and ideas.

To accept the award you need to, link back to the person's blog who gave you the award and thank them. Post the Award on your blog. Pay forward the award to up to 5 deserving fellow bloggers who inspire you and leave a comment on their blogs to let them know.

*******

Here are my nominations

1. http://cardsbychristine.blogspot.com/

2. http://konnykards-musingsofaseniorcitizen.blogspot.com/
3. http://wendyscraftjournal.blogspot.com/
4. http://creativityabounds2.blogspot.com/

I hope you take the time to visit them and see their lovely work.

Tag Tuesday ~ Poetry & Prose

Tag Tuesday: Poetry and Prose
This weeks tag has been a real challenge for me.
 I have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks and nothing was falling into place. I couldn't think of one poem that inspired me,

 I just kept drawing a blank

It's been a difficult week, so I put it down to that and decided to try not to think about it for a while.

 I sat down on Sunday evening with my laptop and at the same time a little song that we hear quite a lot of at the moment, courtesy of BBC's bedtime hour, came into my head,

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,

its also one that the children sing often in the music and movement class while tucked under a large parachute with all the mums.

It brought to mind some lovely words that my friend Vicky had posted on her facebook page about our friend Fiona.  I read them again and I knew why it had been so difficult the last couple of weeks to find something as inspiration for my tag .......

......... the words hadn't been written yet.

Vicky's Prose

"You came into our lives like the sun, shining bright and so so beautiful. Now you are a star and you're the brightest most beautiful I've ever seen. You'll never be forgotten xx"

My Tag is dedicated to Fiona

Update Feb 27th : At Fiona's funeral ( 23rd Feb) we were told that someone had named a star after her, we were all given a little white card star,

 to take away as a reminder of her and to see that we are all part of a constellation. A lovely thought, and so fitting to her memory, it made me cry.

Tag : recycled greeting card base, velvet, cotton and silk fabrics overlay.
Embellishments: Manipulated organza and crystal organza offcuts, Silver metal star (found object)recycled diamante stones from and old bracelet. Silver lined hex bugle beads, Crystal AB beads  metal star beads and seed beads.
Tag Tie: Stands of silver Madeira Metallic.

Yvonne x

Fragile

When I had Charlotte my daily life changed quite dramatically, each day taken up with the new little life that has joined our family, helpless, and needy, instincts kick in to nurture care and protect. To be there for her. It can be a challenge, especially when you are a little bit older and I found achievement in the smallest of things, I have also found it helpful to to meet up with other mums and babies at group, for the first two years and moved on with some of those mums and babies to dance and movement class, meeting other new mums toddlers along the way, sharing good times and bad, discussing the agonies of sleepless nights and life in general.

On Sat 4th, one of the Mums was on route to a children's party with her little one when she was involved in an accident. Every day I have thought about her hoping to hear the words, stable, progress, recovering, on the mend, but they never came and she passed away.

On the very day when tokens of love are exchanged and we show our appreciation

for the ones we love,  her life was ending.

It could have been any one of us, going about our usual Saturday morning,

 a quick trip here or there ....

I feel sad that her little ones will not have their lovely mum in their lives, to be there, to show them love and care for, cuddle and play with them. My heart goes out to her husband and family, who will have to deal with so many emotions and find ways to explain why she can't be there any more. 

My memory of her will always be of her playing with her little girl enjoying a giggle and a cuddle.

It's a happy memory, which will live on past the sadness I feel right now,

a sadness for how fragile life really is and how things can change so abruptly,

without warning

without explanation,

 there are no guarantee's

Tag Tuesday ~ Valentine's Day

Tag Tuesday ~ Valentine

"My Love is like a red red rose"

 O, my luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
O, my luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I,
And I will luve thee still, my Dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun!
O I will luve thee still, my Dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve,
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

Robert Burns 1794

Tag ~ Recycled greeting card  edged & highlighted with silver ink pen

Embellishments ~ Akoya Shell heart button, 'Tea Rose' variegated dyed ribbon, hand stitched in place with french knots in grey, crystal organza, red paper rose.

What would you do with these?

So I have tidied up and re-shuffled

cleared out my little studio and

I am most pleased with the results

 but now

 I have these empty tubes

They are ex-display button storage tubes with the little holes on the lid for a sample button

What can I do with them?

What would you do with them?

Any ideas?

I don't want to throw them out,

I'm sure they must have another use that I'm just not seeing at the moment

and any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated

Thanks for stopping by

Yvonne x



Studio Update

Since finding Pinterest I have admired so many craft rooms, studio spaces, creative corners and been amazed at some of the clever ideas that some people have come up with for storing stash and making it all look so beautiful.

I prettied boxes
with some lovely paper from Ikea and these free printable labels,
Charlotte's first shoe boxes, and other boxes collected along the way. They look so much better wrapped in pretty paper dont you think ?

spiced up some jars

with the free round labels

removed shelves
BEFORE

and replace it with two old pine shelves

which I painted white

AFTER

( the little cabinet to the right was added a while back to display some of my miniatures)

When I initially set this area up I imagined I would sit there and work so would need leg room and under the worktop but I find I'm usually standing, or can sit sideways. I decided to replace the tall wheeled basket drawer unit (shown here in an older picture)

with another small one with 2 large plastic bins, fitting this and the one that used to site alongside my sewing table into the space.



added labels

I just laminated some wrapping paper with the printed labels on top.

I wrote on them after laminating, with a thick permanant marker,

 punched holes and tied them with some shiny cord to the basket drawer fronts

It all looks so neat and I haven't lost any storage but I have gained floor space which is nice.

I use one chair between both here and my sewing table and have acquired one with wheels :) from Harry after a bit of musical chairs .... he did end up with a nice one too and we are both happy

 along to the right is my jewellers bench, I used to have the tool board on the back wall and the mirror on the side wall, this works now better having swapped them over.

This is where the mobile drawer unit used to sit after I got the jewellers bench

but now its a bit more roomy, it also means I can set up my easel which my Dad made for me when I was at college

 this old pine shelf  used to hang in the kitchen of my first flat..... a few years ago now

I thought I had given it to a friend sometime ago and regretted it, then was delighted when I found it in the loft at Christmas time while looking out decorations

 more painting.....

two of coats of eggshell later

and the perfect place for it, now holding freezer paper ribbons and more jars.

I claimed my table space back again which was building up with projects
and tidied up underneath it
My little table top got a coat of paint too, I'm thinking decoupage......at some point :)

Hope you enjoyed my little tour

thanks for stopping by

Yvonne x

Sketchbook Challenge ~ Close Up

Have managed to pick up my sketchbook a few times for February's challenge

'Close Up'

sticking to quick 5 min sketches

Candle jar ~ gel pen and watercolour

string on a wooden heart hanging ~ pencil, watercolour and Pitt pen

fabric applique ~ coloured pencil

cosy slippers ~ Pitt pen

thanks for stopping by

Yvonne x