Friday, July 30, 2010

Upcycling is the new black!!

Having my own curtain shop gives me access to loads and loads of fabric. I don't actually stock any curtain fabrics in the shop. I have hundreds (I kid you not) of sample books where we basically choose a fabric,work out the quantities and then order in what we need It usually takes about a week for the fabric to arrive into our workrooms and then Hey Presto the little elves work away on it and out comes a beautifully finished pair of curtains-I wish!!


See I was not kidding about the huge number of sample books. Eventually these books are replaced by new designs and I have to throw out the books. I have to buy all these books so it kills me to dump any of them.
This week I got a note about newly discontinued books. Usually I groan but in this instance I was happy because they are the most beautiful children's applique (ridiculously expensive!!) fabrics. And I had a plan.

Unfortunately I did not photograph the book before I got my scissors to it...



I made these cushions. Each one different to the next. I knew they would be gorgeous but they turned out even better than I had imagined.

Also this week I have been studying the manual I got with my embroidery sewing machine and figured out a few things. I found out how to repeat a design on one fabric so I tried it out like this.
And then used the designs to cover buttons-Sweet. Thinking of putting them on a white cardi, Maybe...
I have a bag of clothes ready for the charity shop (ready since my xmas clearout). I rummaged through it and found this t shirt.
I turned it into a pair of shorts for Cerys. There's not enough sun here though to warrant shorts so she had been wearing them to bed!!
And I made my first tutorial.Jeepers it takes ages to make one. I think I may have too many photographs in it but it was a great experience to do it. Definitely more to come. Check it out and let me know what you think.
As usual I am linking up to a few blogs:
lush friday (my very own show and tell), amy lou's sew and tell, simply designing ,

20 comments:

  1. Love those little cusions. Funnily enough I got two carrier bags worth of old stock and samples from a local curtain shop yesterday at bargain prices!! There is some gorgeous fabrics in there which I could never noramlly afford so I'm in heaven!!

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  2. You have been busy, those cushions are gorgeous.

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  3. Those cushions are awesome! They are raw edge machine appliques, right?

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  4. Your cushions are just too cute!!
    Sincerely ~ Tricia

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  5. Those are awesome cushions!! So cute!

    And that is so greatyoumade shorts from a short so impressive!

    Thanks for linking up!

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  6. Ooh, to have all those delicious fabrics within arm's length! Your cushions are too cute. Thanks for sharing. Happy Sewing! :o)

    http://www.seamsinspired.com

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  7. those pillows are gorgeous...what a great use of a sample book!

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  8. You busy woman! Love the cushions and love love love the buttons. Such a great idea.

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  9. The cushions are adorable! Clever use of the sample book. Love the nautical themed buttons too!

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  10. Those buttons are too cute! Bet you could make cute little bags from those samples.

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  11. Cute little cushions! Several years ago, a local store gave me their retired sample books to use in creating various gift items that could also be sold in their store. It is amazing what you can do with some of them! I loved dreaming up things -- and still have some of those sample squares in my stash!

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  12. Great use of those books. I am going to have to remember your pillows the next time I have a chance to get those sample books. Great work!

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  13. Great post ... thanks for sharing!

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  14. Those cushions are mega cute!!

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  15. I love the wooden blinds Andrea, we are toying with the idea of getting them for our kitchen and front bedroom. Jeepers you were a busy bee this week!

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  16. What a clever idea from t shirt to shorts!

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  17. I tried to respond to your comment Andrea but don't see an email connection!Thanks for the compliments on my work. SInce there are no classes nearby, have you joined an online quilt group? They can be so encouraging & helpful, someone always has an answer for your quilty questions. Quiltville.com has thousands of quilters of every level..
    I have had minimal formal classes, a bare handful over the years, so I think it’s mostly PPP[practice,practice practice!] There are tutorials for almost every quilting technique if you Google the topic.
    Personally if there’s anything I can help with, ask away!
    Blessings
    Roslyn

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  18. LOVE the cushions!!!

    glad you joined us for sew & tell!

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  19. You have such cute stuff on your blog! Love it! I'll be back for Lush Fridays!

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