These socks were knitted by my husband's grandmother, who passed away many years ago.
I could never throw them away because they are a labour of love but they got forgotten somewhere in a box in the attic.
When I came across them during a recent cleanup, I decided the time had come to do some serious mending. I used my cute darning tool and some colourful yarn.
I love this job and I love even more that we can use the socks again!
my cute darning tool:
This small piece is my take on the workshop led by Jessica Grady, via Textileartist.org.
The moon is cut from a page out of an old book. I folded written paper into stars and added some yellow beads.
The big blot is blue ink. I love that effect, suggesting a dark but not gloomy night.
I’m not sure yet if I’ll cut the edges and leave it in the hoop as a piece of its own or whether I’ll make it into something else.
This project was part of the speedcrafting sessions with Helen Robertson from Shetland. I joined these crafting sessions during the pandemic and they were an amazing way to tackle feeling empty and isolated.
The patchwork clock is made from an old vinyl record, covered with fabric patches.
It’s all retro vibes here!
These charms are my contribution to the TextileArtist.org workshop hosted by Jodi Colella. They are made from scraps of lace, lots of beads, lots of thread, pieces of old clothes, wool and wire.
They have a really nice feel to them. Perhaps I created some nice Christmas decorations here, or brooches? Although they don't have a funcion (yet) I like them and one day, I'm sure, they will come in very handy!
I wanted to do a real upcycling/recycling project, using the sweaters we don’t wear anymore. Mainly to improve my sewing machine skills. I used the free pattern "Simple felted wool mittens" from Purl Soho.
I learned a lot from this and had fun looking for good colour and fabric combinations. But the most fun was decorating them with beads, embroidery, appliquƩ and all kinds of flowers.
I ended up with 10 pairs of mittens, all rather quirky and fun, definitely unique!
I decided to make a hanging plant pot from the glass shade of a broken lamp. I used a bit of the wonderful Ard-thir yarn from Kate Davies designs (in the Glamaig colourway) to crochet a structure in which the glass shade fits and added a small tassel for fun. Even small recycling projects like this deserve nice yarn in my opinion!
Like many other people, we used the lockdown period to clean out our attic. I came across this doll that a dear, old relative gave to me as a present in the seventies. I was a little girl back than and not very fond of the doll, but I’ve held on to it because of the person who gave it to me. I still think it is rather ugly and even a bit scary... But I’m also still not able to get rid of her, so I decided to give her a make-over, using fabric scraps from old clothes and a beaded necklace. Now she looks nice and happy and keeps me company in my workspace.
Projects like this I find the nicest and most rewarding. You get to be creative, look for creative solutions, use your stash to make something you are attached to beautiful again.
(And I hate throwing stuff in the bin š)
I had a sweater that was still in reasonably good condition but had become too small. I loved its fabric and colour so decided to walk the recycling path here.
I should have taken a photo of the original sweater, but I cut it up before I even thought of that.
From the sleeves I made long fingerless gloves. I cut them from the main body, picked up the stitches with my circular knitting needle and cast off neatly, cutting an opening for the thumb and sewing round it. Really happy with them!
The shawl neckline of the sweater was kind of special so I cut it off in its entirety and made it into a cowl. By sewing round the edge with a nice yarn (Manos del Uruguay Serena alpaca cotton blend) I managed a ruffled edge. With the same yarn, I embroidered some flowers. I added an invisible press stud so it stays well in place. Not completely my style, but I still think it is a successful project and hopefully will make someone else happy.
Then there was the body of the sweater, which I cut into broad strips, sewing them together into one loop cowl that wraps around the neck twice. Again I picked up the stitches, and added a small knitted edge in a colourful yarn (Mayflower Egyptian organic cotton Print). The colourful edge makes this a really pretty cowl, I think!
I love glass and beautiful bottles I tend to keep.
Here is one of these bottles I decorated with a piece cut off a felted wool sock. I embroidered some abstract flowers onto the fabric. The yarn is a Nepalese hennep cotton blend, naturally died with walnut.
The result is quite stylish I think...
I recently participated in a series of online speedcrafting sessions hosted by the Shetland- based artist Helen Robertson. What a great experience it was, especially in these times of social distancing, to make something in a group, in this international setting. And a lovely group it was too!
We got the materials sent to us in advance and on Wednesday evenings we crafted, via Zoom, some very nice original things for two hours or so.
Some of the crafts I never did before and were a very lovely surprise. Because of the time limit, you don't think too much and just get on with it. That in itself is liberating.
We ended up making some jewelry with seaglass and sea pottery, some broches from wool fabric and tweed, a fabric landscape, some little knitted houses (on these I'll write a seperate post soon) and a scallop shell decorated with decoupage.
Helen also hosts knitting workshops and retro and Christmas-themed speedcrafting sessions., which I highly recommend joining : you get to work on original pieces, with great materials and in a friendly atmosphere and you learn some great new skills!
the broches:
seaglass jewelry:
