Thursday 7 February 2013

Using up and making do...

...this one is about finishing up projects.

 I have finally finished my "floor pouf".  I started it so long ago that I can't find it in my archives.  It was inspired by a picture at maya made when she released her book.  It is made with some random piece of thick fabric from my stash, a zipper salvaged from a pair of old coveralls at work, and it is stuffed with...
... all kinds of bits and pieces.  Fabric bits too small to use, failed projects that can't be salvaged, strange pieces of material passed on to me by others (that aren't nice enough to be used in other projects), and the trimmings from the crocheted T-shirt rug project.  It took me months and months to stuff this pouf bit by bit (hence, the zipper).  I brought it out to show the family when the last bit of stuffing went in and they quite literally dove on it.
S wants one made out of old jeans, and N wants one too - he's not too particular what it will look like, so I will be saving every single piece of scrap for the next long while to stuff some more.

 I have also finally used up the herbs I had dried this past summer (the non-food herbs that is) to make a quite large sachet for the linen closet.
This one is stuffed with lavender, penny royal, mint and tansy because that's what grew well enough to harvest enough to stuff a bag.
 Remember the dyeing with walnuts post from the fall?  I just kept throwing fabric into the pot to see what else I could dye...this is the last piece that went in.  It didn't come out as I had hoped so it was in the reclaim pile.  I folded it in half, serged two sides, stuffed it, and then used some "lavender" embroidery floss to sew it shut.
I think it is so pretty!  It kind of looks on purpose, even though it was made with scraps.  I love when that happens.  Also, a note - the blanket stitch was added because when it is time to replace the herbs inside, it will be super easy to rip that out and refill it.

And because it is three things on Thursday:
#3) patience pays off.
I have been looking for a stainless steel tea kettle for camping for the last several months.  I didn't want to buy a new one (but I almost did when they went on sale 1/2 price).  I picked this one up yesterday from our local on-line perpetual garage sale for a great price.  Now I'm so glad I waited.

                         The HomeAcre Hop over at the self-sufficient homeacre
                         Backyard Farming Connection Hop # 19  
                         Keep Calm Craft on over at Frontier Dreams
                         Eat Make Grow Blog hop at Foy Update  
                         Wildcrafting Wednesday at the self sufficient homeacre


5 comments:

  1. Great projects!!! Thanks for linking up!!

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  2. I love that you re-use something old to make something new!
    Thanks for sharing this on The HomeAcre Hop!
    http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/02/the-homeacre-hop.html

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  3. The Pouf looks great and a perfect way to use up scraps.

    I have the exact teapot on my stove.

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  4. What a fantastic idea for the pouf! Love that lavender pouch too, I think the colour is very quaint and demure, just perfect for the purpose.

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  5. Good for you. Good feeling to get everything accomplished.
    Thanks for posting at Wildcrafting Wednesday.
    Jennifer

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