Use what you have
Beas barnslikheter (in Swedish) has a challenge for us this month called “Use what you have - the May challange”, it’s about using what you already have and making something of it. One object a week throughout May is the goal of the challange. I think it’s a great idea, and even though I don’t know if I’ll have the time to make one thing each week the blog is filled with links to very interesting projects, so there’s a lot of inspiration to be found there.
Here’s a great example: a pillow that Lotten made:
(images Beas barnslikheter, Lotten)
Hanging storage
I made this hanging storage thing for the bathroom in our old apartment, where we needed somewhere to put Ester’s nappies and clothes. It’s made of a mix of vintage and new fabrics (Ikea and Stoff&Stil). Now it hangs in Ester’s room, and it works really well for books and comics (although the comics are currently more for her big sister).
Finally done!
As much as I love Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which we usually celebrate with our extended family, I also just love the lazy days afterwards. When you can just stay at home with your closest family and read books, play with all your new toys (like Super Mario on Nintendo Wii…), take it easy, or, like me, finish some of your hobby projects.
Yes, I’m finally done with the patchwork quilt I’ve been working on for some time now!
Turned out quite all right, I think. And the best part is that now that I have finished it I can start up with some new projects… :-)
ToDos
My new sewing machine is really great. Got some work done this weekend so now I’m actually starting to see the light at the end of the patchwork-tunnel.
Here is a little list of some of my other work-in-progress and pending projects. At least some of them seem easy and quick, which is a good thing, because I’m kind of tired of big projects. :) (Not to mention that we have a move coming up, I’m going back to work soon and we bought ourselves a Nintendo Wii with Super Mario for christmas….)
1. Finish the cardigan
I knitted the white cardigan below when my oldest daughter was a baby. Then I started on a new one, in a bigger size, and it’s been laying around, unfinished, ever since. Time to finish it before my youngest daughter gets so big it won’t fit her either…!
Ester in the knitted cardigan
2. Pimp the shelves
Like a lot of my fellow bloggers I really love re-made old shelves, Retro Villa-style:
(image Retro Villa)
I already have two shelves that I bought on flea markets so I just have to find some time to sit down and pimp them with some paint and retro paper.
3. Re-make jeans
I really love the pants that BRUNoRANGE (re-)makes:
(image BRUNoRANGE)
I’d love to try to make something similar for my girls.
4. Sew a hat
And while I’m at it, kokalal has published a great guide (in swedish) on how to sew a hat that got me really inspired since it looks so easy.
5. Noticeboard
I once had a big noticeboard covered in a nice red fabric, but I must have lost it in one of my many moves. Anyways, it’s a great way to make an ordinary notice board a little bit more fancy. Like this one that Ylva, with the blog darling things made for her son:
(image Darling Things)
Birthday
Yesterday was my birthday. I celebrated it with my wonderful family by making homemade pizza, watching a Pixar-movie and building lego-houses and cars (my 2,5-year-old daughter can focus on the TV for about 20 minutes before she wants to do something else - which probably is a good thing).
And I got some really nice presents:
A new sewing machine - yay! Even though I sort of fixed the old one by myself (the sewing machine repair shops seemed to think it wasn’t really worth fixing), it’s probably only a matter of time before it breaks down completely. I’m really excited about this new one, it seems to have a lot of nice features that the old one didn’t have. Hopefully it will come to much use!
I also got this book with loads of tips and inspiration on how to reuse and re-make things for your home. I often think these kind of books has tips that are either too far-fetched (like things made out of paperclips and such) or too complex to make yourself. At a first glance this book seems to have a little bit of everything though, some over-the-top things made by designers that serves more as inspiration and some easy tips you can do yourself.
The christmas candlesticks I got for myself at a fleamarket the day before. Very nice and retro, huh?
Sewing machine melt down…
Finally decided upon a layout for my patchwork blanket; I’m going for one which mixes triangles and squares, something along the lines of this:
And then, just when I was getting up to speed, our old sewing machine broke down! Probably a sign that now’s the time to once and for all learn how that expensive overlock machine we bought a couple of years ago really works…
Christmas calendar
Just when I had decided against us having this kind of christmas calendar (I just wasn’t ready to sign up for finding and wrapping 24 smalI presents, well since we have two kids better make that 48, every year for the coming 18 years or so…), I found this neat little DIY-project, from the same source as the lamp cover. And I really love this christmas calendar:
I’m gonna have to down prioritize all other things on my current todo-list, in order to finish this before the first of December. Hm, maybe next year?
(image pickles)
Alternative patchwork layouts
Ok, so no I really can’t decide how to put the pieces of my new patchwork together. the first layout was this one. But perhaps I should go for a more random layout?:
Or another kind of symmetry?:
Or this classical patch-work pattern (but if I should go for this I probably need to exchange either the red mushroms or the purple flowers to make it all the way):
Another idea I have is to devide the pieces further, perhaps in triangles?… Please advice :-)
Attempt number two…
I’ve started on another quilted patchwork blanket for Ester. I think I have finally decided how to arrange the pieces. Since they are quite big I want to have a pattern and not just random placement. What do you think?
