About a Sewing Box

My Dad's next-door neighbour sadly died on Friday morning.  I didn't know her well, but she was a very good friend of my Dad's.  She had no immediate family, so when she went into a nursing home last year, she asked my Dad to empty her house for her.

He mentioned to me that there was an old sewing box, in need of repair, and would I be interested in it.  Obviously, I said yes.  So a while ago I picked up the sewing box and brought it home.

It's got some staining on the lids and the old hinges on one of the lids were completely broken.

I bought some new hinges, slightly bigger than the originals, but the smallest I could find and then put them away and did no more.

So, on Friday afternoon, after hearing the sad news about my Dad's neighbour, I thought it would be an appropriate time to try and repair the sewing box.

I intended to replace all the hinges but it took me so long to replace the broken ones - dodgy screws, a broken drill bit and several attempts to line up the lid with the box.  Not the prettiest of D-I-Y jobs but I was happy just to get the lid securely attached.  I'll replace the other hinges another time and maybe sand and re-varnish the lid.

There's plenty of room in the sewing box for storage.  I kept hold of some of the original contents of the box - cotton reels, bandages and some Christmas decorations!

Then I remembered a selection of craft papers I had.

The sewing theme of the papers would make them perfect to use to line the trays of the sewing box.

And here it is with it's colourful make-over.

I added a little piece of paper with Friday's date on it - just to remember my Dad's neighbour.  The paper is pale lilac with a white polka dot pattern - totally appropriate for a lady called Dot White!

It feels good to be able to give a new lease of life to the sewing box.  Now I can't wait to fill and organise the trays with my crafting bits and bobs.

Frogging

I love buying new yarn, but I also love re-using old yarn.  I have a pile of cardigans I've knitted over the years but never fell totally in love with.  They're all waiting to be ripped out and re-knitted.  There is almost as much recycled yarn waiting to be re-knitted as there is new yarn.

The latest candidate for frogging was this very red scarf.

The pattern is lovely, an intricate lace panel.

I knitted it back in April 2004, but I've hardly worn it.  The problem is I wear a lot of pink and that red, is just a bit too red to co-ordinate with anything I've got.  Don't ask me why I chose to buy that colour.

So this is what the scarf has become.

The yarn is still very, very red but I might be able to work it into a Fair Isle pattern and tone down the redness.  Whatever it becomes, it's a good feeling giving new life to something that was unloved and unused.

Collage

So what have I made today?  A collage.

I thought I would create something colourful and interesting to look at.  I started with the butterfly cross-stitch I completed the other day.  I added a border of running stitch and a lovely shell button.

I collect together a variety of pretty craft papers...

And a postcard and other bits and pieces of embellishments.

I had an old photo frame - cheap and not very exciting, definitely in need of some recycling.

So I painted it a lovely light green colour and gave it a light sanding down to give it a distressed look.

The green shows up better in the following photos
of the completed project

Put it all together with the help of some bright washi tape, and there you have it.

The postcard is from the V&A and reads
"Time and tide wait for no man"

A lovely display to brighten up the room.

It's Grace's Birthday... Almost

Grace has come home this weekend, to celebrate her birthday with us.  It's not her birthday until later this month but she's a busy girl and has a christening and a holiday booked this month so we decided that we would all get together this weekend instead.

I'm so excited about one of the presents in particular we've got her...

These cute little hamsters are actually a salt and pepper set.

I couldn't resist buying them for her as they reminded me of her own pet hamsters.  I'm sure she'll love them.

They are from Utility (the salt and pepper set, that is, not the real hamsters!).  We are lucky to have three Utility shops in Liverpool, there is only one other and that's in London, but of course there is their website.

They sell lots of lovely gift and home ideas, including a huge range of other salt and pepper sets.

Many years ago, we decided to stop buying wrapping paper for the gifts we gave each other, as it seemed such a waste of paper.  Instead we put our gifts in reusable white fabric gift bags and crocheted Goody Bags.  The white bags are made from old bed sheets so we are being very environmentally friendly.

And I think they look very jolly tied up with recycled ribbons.  No waste there.

I hope you have a good day, we're off to have a special day with Grace, see you soon.

Recycled Strawberries!

Way back when, before I discovered blogging, I knitted some strawberries.

There are numerous free patterns out there for Strawberries - both knitted and crocheted.

Every summer the strawberries are brought out and used as a seasonal decoration.

But this year I had an idea.  They were starting to look a little tired and boring - so I decided to jazz them up.

I crocheted some white strawberry flowers.

Added some green embroidery.

And then crocheted a lovely long chain, attaching a strawberry and a flower alternately along the way.

I now have a jolly garland - and a new lease of life for the strawberries.  Bring on the summer sun (oh, I think I missed it - it's raining today!)

The Recycled Basket

My Mum gave me an old basket - she knows I can't resist baskets (and boxes and tins!).  This basket had originally held a plant arrangement.  It had a thick waterproof liner and still held the traces of some of the soil.   It also had plenty of potential.

So I removed the waterproof liner, stripped of the ribbon, unpicked the handle and gave it a scrub.

Then I took out my crochet hook a pile of yarn and set to work - and here is the new, recycled, re-loved basket.

It has a little scalloped edging that is worked around the basket itself and so it is held snugly in place.

Just perfect for storing one of my many projects!