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May 6, 2009 at 7:49 pm | In FO, WIP, crafts, green, sewing | 2 Comments

everyday_small

it’s about time for another set of reusable menstrual pads.

some are for me, some more for friends. i have a lot more pieces to cut out.

i wish i had more of the mermaid flannel. it was only a small remnant when i started… maybe i should’ve found some yardage to purchase instead of just a piece.

repurposed art

August 19, 2007 at 2:11 pm | In crafts, green, painting | 3 Comments

i bought these two prints at michael’s several years ago, on super-clearance sale:

they’re 7.75″ X 9.75″ and printed on 5/8″ thick particle board. i figured they’d be good for hanging in the kitchen, in the big blank spot over the sink. and they were, until i got bored of them. plus my husband thinks they’re creepy, and i guess i can see his point. instead of giving them to the SalArmy or Goodwill, i thought i’d repurpose the boards.

first, i covered them with several layers of acrylic paint. first red, then bright pink, then red again, allowing each layer to dry between applications. once the last red layer was dry, i rubbed some black paint all over the boards, wiping off more from the middle than the edges.

i pored through my files trying to find the right images to add to the boards and finally settled on copies of a Dover clip art illustration of a tomato. i colored each copy with acrylic paint, wiping off the excess before it was dry.

i pulled a couple of pages from an old Childcraft encyclopedia (published in 1964) and cut the words into ovals, which i glued to the boards with Yes! paste. i love that stuff. on top of that, i pasted a slightly larger oval of pattern tissue. and on top of that, the tomatoes. on the right-hand bottom corner of each board, i stenciled a letter using a white china marker. two coats of varnish followed.

this one taught me about chopsticks:

and this one taught me about haggis and Robert Burns:

here they are in the kitchen, hanging below the clock on the wall over the sink.

not only was i crafty this weekend, but i got in a fair amount of recycling with this project.

tiny choices

August 16, 2007 at 6:59 am | In green, non-craft | 3 Comments

if you’re interested in doing things that have a positive impact on your (our!) environment, please join me in visiting Tiny Choices. it’s a great resource for the small day-to-day decisions you can make that can help green your life.

this has been a public service announcement. thank you for your support.

more of “being green”

April 21, 2007 at 3:45 pm | In crafts, green, sewing | 1 Comment

keeping in line with my last post, i’m doing some more crafting that involves lessening my impact on the earth.

it’s all about re-usable cloth menstrual pads. i originally found some excellent directions here and tweaked them to fit my own needs along the way. i get flannel on sale or even cheaper in the remnant bins and place my template on the fabric to use every bit available.

here’s a stack of cut-out pieces ready to be sewn:

the liners are four layers thick, and the outer part is just one layer. i usually serge them using four threads, but this time, i’m trying it out with just three.

buying a snap/eyelet tool was one of the best craft-related investments i’ve made. and getting it for half off at Joann didn’t hurt, either.

and the finished result (viewed from the underside):

guess i’d better go back and finish up the rest, so i can package them up and ship them to some friends.

it IS easy being green

April 15, 2007 at 3:12 pm | In crafts, green, sewing | 10 Comments

the older i get, the more i notice how much waste there is in this world. or maybe it’s not that i’m just now noticing the waste, but caring about it a lot more. we bring our own bags along when we go grocery shopping, and i keep thinking i need to make more bags so we can take them when we go to places like target or the hardware store. all those darn plastic bags add up. i made this bag about a year and a half ago:

it’s made of Target bags that i cut into strips and crocheted together. i wish i would’ve kept count of how many bags i used, since that’s the first question people tend to ask when they see the bag.

i’m in the midst of making more grocery bags and just completed this one yesterday:

the cotton fabric is pretty sturdy, but not quite as sturdy as a nice heavy canvas. the webbing has been sitting in my stash a lot longer than the fabric – i recall purchasing the webbing at REI back in 1991. i’m not sure how i can tell people “i’m not a packrat” with straight face. well, at least i finally found a use for the stuff!

with all this grocery-bag making, i started thinking about the plastic produce bags i use when i shop at my local Whole Foods market. i re-use them, but they tend not to hold up very well after a few uses, especially if i’m buying a lot of root vegetables. goodness knows i sure loves me some beets.

a few days ago, i finally got a round to googling directions for making reusable produce bags. i found these instructions, which are really great. i used them as a jumping-off point, since i wanted to use what i already had on hand, and i wanted to keep the weight of the bags down as much as possible. i like my Whole Foods market, but i don’t want to pay extra for my already-pricey produce by using bags that have too many bells and whistles.

i started out with some cheap-o nylon tulle.

you can find this stuff at Joann (or another similar chain store) for about $1.30 a yard (or less if you have a 40% off coupon!). it comes in loads of colors.

i experimented with sizes and decided that cutting out two 12.5″ X 12.5″ pieces for each bag would work best for my needs.

i pulled out my serger and strung some wooly nylon thread onto the upper looper. i set the machine for a narrow rolled-hem stitch. i wasn’t going for neatness with these bags, but for whatever would hold up under heavy usage. i serged each of the tops, then placed one piece atop the other and serged the sides and the bottom. easy-peasy.

i knotted the ends and secured each corner with a drop of Fray Check. i then folded the top over and sewed a drawstring through the two thicknesses of fabric using a rounded needle and single strand of crochet thread. i cut the thread, leaving a couple of inches play on each end, then knotted the ends together.

voila! the finished produce bag.

and the bag in action:

i’m glad i had some tulle in a light shade – that should make it easy for the grocery clerks to ring up my produce.

of course, i had to make a bag using some lace i’d purchased a couple of halloweens ago…

that should be fun to take to the store. i’ll fill it with all the produce a good pirate could eat… like ARRRtichokes, ARRRugula and pARRRsley.

[OK, you can stop rolling your eyes at my bad pirate joke now!]

all told, i have 5 produce bags, and i’m planning on making a few more. then i’ll be on to my next project, which also involves a reduction in landfill waste.