Scraphappy August 2021

The 15th of the month has whizzed round once again and, unlike last month, I was determined not to let it take me by surprise so had a rummage through my scraps to make something for Scraphappy Day.

Miss Tialys the Younger was visiting again so, continuing her sewing studies, I decided it was time for her to insert a zip.  Mean of me I know but if you’re going to sew the time will come when you will need to put a zip in, like it or not.

The project I chose uses scraps of fabric 8 inches x 6 inches and any length of zip which is good as I have a large zip stash bought as ‘mixed lots’ which means I have lengths I will never need and colours I would never want.

I had a small piece of this vintage style Scottie dog design from which I managed to cut two rectangles of the right size.

My ‘student’ chose a piece of cheaters patchwork fabric left over from a quilt I made a few years ago for my god-daughter’s new baby.

This must be the easiest way to insert a zip.  If you use one longer than you need it’s easy to keep the pull out of the way until it’s all sewn in.

Then sew the bottoms together and then, NOT FORGETTING TO OPEN THE ZIP HALFWAY (ask me how I know why you should do this!), sew up the sides running the stitches over both ends of the zip a couple of times to secure it.  Trim off most of the excess length from each end of the zip.

Turn inside out – through the half open zip! – and fold the corners to achieve the boxy shape you want.  I drew a line one inch up from each point and stitched across, then trimmed off a quarter of an inch from the stitch line.

Turn right side out and you have a cute little box pouch to keep little bits and pieces in.

We didn’t line these but you could do without too much difficulty and it would make it more sturdy and more able to stand up alone.  Full disclosure, I’ve cheated a bit for the photos and stuffed them full of paper.

My ‘student’ did well too.  What next for her?  She’s still scared of the rotary cutter so I think we’ll have to do some work with that as I rarely use scissors to cut anything out.  I’ll keep the Band Aids ready.

 

Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn.  Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.

Contact Kate or Gun (first names on the list) if you want to join in.

Kate , Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn(me), Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin,
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Bear,
Carol, Preeti, Edith and Debbierose

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Scraphappy May 2021

It’s time to make things with scraps again and, this time, I’ve gone back to fabric scraps and it’s a ridiculously simple project so apologies in advance but scraps are scraps.

After moving house, I’ve never really got around to totally reorganising my sewing/craft supplies but, as you can see above, I’m trying.

I noticed a tutorial for make up remover pads (find it here) and I thought immediately of Scraphappy day and the fact that the pads call for 4.5 inch squares which I actually had pre-cut in my Parts Department box.

See!

Nobody is more surprised than me when I occasionally show signs of being organised.

The tutorial suggests using a bamboo velour for the actual cleansing pad part – probably because the shop sells it which is fair enough but I remembered an old cotton flanelette sheet I used for auditioning quilt blocks on and thought that would make a good substitute.

So, 4.5 inch squares of scrap cotton fabric sewn to 4.5 inch squares of soft flanelette right sides together, turned right side out and top stitched.

I told you it was ridiculously simple.

I have tested them out and I prefer them to the little crochet rounds I made before for the same purpose because these have more surface area and are more absorbent.  The flanelette seems to work really well but you could also use some old soft towelling.

Having made these I thought I’d follow the rest of the tutorial which has a zippered pouch with waterproof lining to put the used pads in and a side pocket to separate the clean ones.

I gave away the bulk of my scrap stash before leaving France but, luckily, a few scraps survived the move and I have started a new scrap collection already.

So, it was easy to find enough bits to make the pouch and, long ago, a friend had given me a length of waterproof fabric (PUL??) that I unearthed to use for the inside.

So some scraps used and lots of cotton pads unused which can only be a good thing.

Everything can go in the washing machine ready to re-use next time I get round to bothering to wear any make-up other than mascara which, once masks are no longer needed (fingers crossed) I might actually do.

Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn.  Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.

Contact Kate or Gun (first names on the list) if you want to join in.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn (me), Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin,
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Noreen,
Bear, Carol, Preeti and Edith

Scraphappy March -A Garden Edition

After last month’s exciting dog feeder in a kitchen drawer, I’ve yet again got to hand over to Mr. Tialys for the March edition of Scraphappy where new things are made from scraps.

Now that he has a more manageable garden to  oversee, he’s rarely out of it when he’s not in endless Zoom meetings for work.  He’s always loved a good compost bin and, despite the fact we now have a fraction of the garden waste we had at the French house, he apparently needs a triple one to go alongside the plastic ones left behind by the previous owners.

Is it possible to have a compost bin stash?

Anyway, you might remember that the previous gardener had spread black plastic mulch pretty much all over the place and covered it with gravel to ward off  the dreaded ground elder and, along with some strange garden ‘ornaments’, scattered quite a lot of random pieces of wood about the place too.

All this was grist to the compost bin building mill.  Apart from the garden ornaments that is.

Remember this one?

Well, shortly afterwards I stumbled across his evil twin and, a few weeks after that, as if they were breeding during the night in some sort of B movie horror, a third one.

*shudder*

Hopefully that will be the last of them.

So, as well as the odd wooden pallet….

and other planks in various stages of dilapidation, all used for cross pieces,……..

there was what looked like the makings of a wooden pergola stacked behind the garage.

With unseemly haste, and without consultation, these were mercilessly sawn into the requisite sizes to make the main supports for the new bins.

We don’t need a wooden pergola – apparently 🙄

Then the leftover netting from making the garden dog proof (hopefully!) formed the back and sides with some of the ubiquitous black plastic stapled over that to create a large bin in three sections.

The fronts have been left open for ease of ‘turning over’ – a technical gardening term that I believe means forking all the gunk over once in a while to mix it all in.  Apparently, some sort of Heath Robinson adjustable frontage will be constructed that will be moved up as the amount of composting material grows.

Speaking of which, we have much less grass now which is ,apparently, a very important addition to compost heaps.  This is mostly due to having less land than before but also to having a rather large garden pond in the middle of what would be the lawn.  So, Mr. Tialys has gone begging for grass clippings from anybody nearby willing to empty theirs into a bag for him.

But, that’s not the worst of it.  The other day I spotted a large sack on our driveway and went to investigate.  In a gesture that might be considered abuse in some neighbourhoods, it contained a significant amount of fresh horse poo.  Mr. T. was almost as excited as the dogs were when he saw it but did complain it ‘wasn’t well rotted enough really’ although he used it anyway.

Ew! Is it any wonder I leave the gardening to him?

So here, in the furthest corner of our garden (thankfully), is the compost bin stash in all its glory made from scrap wood, scrap plastic, leftover netting and scrap poo or, as I prefer to call it, horse scrap 🤣.

 

 

Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn.  Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.

Contact Kate (first name on the list) if you want to join in.

 

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn(me), Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin,
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Nancy, Dawn 2, Noreen,
Bear and Carol

 

ScrapHappy February 2021

After a hard day working from home, Flo looks forward to her dinner.

When we had lots of space, we had this double bowl holder in the kitchen which is raised so she and Stan didn’t have to strain their necks when enjoying their food.

Very good it was too but now we live in the dolls’ house, we don’t have the floor space for such a large feeding station.

We do, however, have a lovely big larder and I ordered some storage bins to go in at floor level in order to empty the 15kg and 10kg dog and cat food sacks into.  This is a necessary step as leaving the food in the sacks is apt to result in teeny teeth (cats) or larger teeth (dogs) tearing the paper, or plastic they’re not fussy, before digging into the contents in an attempt to bring forward the usual feeding times.

So, the bottom shelf in the larder had to come out to make room for the storage bins and we were left with a wide laminated shelf with nowhere to go.

Until I had a lightbulb moment 💡 and Mr. Tialys had a toolbox rummage.  He cut the shelf to fit one of the bottom kitchen drawers, cut two holes in it and a new dog feeder was born which can be closed when dinner is finished and forgotten about until the next meal.

Then at the end of a busy day and a hearty meal Flo can resume her evening duties as a cat cushion.

oOo

Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn.  Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.

Contact Kate (first name on the list) if you want to join in.

Kate (me!), Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin,
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2 and Noreen

ScrapHappy January 2021

I was determined to join in with Scraphappy this month, having missed some due to the move.

Even though we’ve downsized massively and I affectionately refer to our new home as ‘the dolls’ house’ I’ve always found dolls creepy – I’m more of a teddy bear girl myself.  However, a request for dolls’ clothes was made and scraps were dug out.

A scrappy bit of fleecy stuff found lurking amongst Mr. Tialys’s rolls of leather got turned into mini Ugg style boots.

Some thin, stretchy fabric left over from a dress and a bit of French terry from who knows where got made into a t-shirt and trousers.  This fiddliness prompted a successful search for my rotary cutter and unpicker in the depths of my still disorganised sewing room so that was good at least.

*shudder*

Be grateful I forgot to take a photo of the heart patterned boxer shorts.

With that I shall remark only on how I marvel at people who can make detailed teeny, tiny things for all sorts of dollies and softies without harbouring any wish to join them.  If I’m going to make a pair of jeans with a fly front, belt loops, contrast top stitching and decorated back pockets I want to be able to wear them myself.

oOo

Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn.  Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.

Contact Kate (first name on the list) if you want to join in.

Kate (me!), Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire,
Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki,
Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Nanette and Ann

Scrapping Scraps

This is the second time Scraphappy Day has come around and I have nothing to show for it.

Regular readers will probably be aware that I’m in a period of transition (housing wise) at the moment and am finding it difficult to concentrate on anything unrelated.

I am slowly but surely starting to sift through some of the outrageous stash of various craft supplies I have. (A nice sibilant sentence for you there. – Ooh, and another one 😄)

These are on their way to a new home

My cupboard, once full of balls of yarn now fallen out of favour and part balls of yarn not suitable for any of the sort of scrap blankets I’ve made for previous Scraphappy Days, is now (almost) empty.  The contents have been split between two local ladies – one who will use her share to make dog coats for the Twilight Retirement Home for Old and Disabled Dogs here in France and one who will use hers in a workshop she runs for children.

Of course there were other baskets, bags, etc. containing yarn scraps but too numerous (embarrassing) to show.

As the bedroom I will be commandeering in the new house for my workroom is probably a third the size of my current one – and will have to have a guest bed in it to boot – I don’t think I can justify taking my bins of cotton scraps, jersey scraps and selvedges (!!!) across the channel with me.

Again, more can be found in various bags and bin sacks but this will suffice to make my point.

Sad, but sacrifices have to be made and I daresay I will quickly build up more scraps once the dust has settled.

Meanwhile, my creative mojo is still missing, only emerging intermittently, which will explain why I still have only half a basset hound face on my worktable after a couple of months.

Those eyes look at me reproachfully every time I go in the workshop but I keep managing to resist.

If you want to see what could be made with all those scraps – and other types of scraps too – by people more focused than I am at the moment, see below.

 

Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn.  Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.

Contact Kate (first name on the list) if you want to join in.

Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Lynn (me), Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline,
Sue L, Sunny and Kjerstin

Scraphappy April

It’s the 15th of the month and time for another scrappy post where we show what we’ve made with scraps of  – well, anything really – although my scraps are usually fabric or wool.

I think it was Anne over on her blog who introduced me to Ann Wood Handmade‘s lovely website .  I nipped over there the other day after Anne once again mentioned her in a post and, as Scraphappy day was on the horizon and I managed to miss the last one, I thought I’d take up her offer of a free pattern to make a little pincushion.

As every sewing person knows, you can’t possibly have too many pincushions although, if I’m honest, I might have.

So I printed out the pattern and made little cardboard templates in case I want to make another of these little ladies (or pears – see further down) in future.

I used scraps from a quilt I’d made in the past which was a braided design and so these scraps were in the shape of a short rhomboid so have been hanging around in my scrap bin for a while now but proved to be the perfect size for this project.

Remember I mentioned pears earlier on?  Well, I know this is a little doll but I think, in an appropriate colour and with some felt leaves on top, this pattern would make an excellent pear too.

A bit lumpy – it’s filled with lentils and some wool.  The lentils might have been an error of judgement but I didn’t want to waste precious rice in this time of difficult shopping and lentils do unpleasant things to my digestive tract so this is one way to get rid of them rather than eat them.

I upended the whole thing to attach some of this mini pompom trim I’ve had hanging around for a while and never found a use for.

Just before Christmas, my friend gave me some wooden beads for use as heads on little gnomes she was making.  I didn’t make the gnomes and can’t remember for the life of me where I put those beads.  I probably spent more time looking for them than making this project.  However, I am now a needle felting person and have the tools of the trade and, unlike several years ago when I first tried needle felting, I appear to have mastered the art of making a felt bead.

So, I did, and harpooned it on a stick.

She just needed a little scarf around her scrawny neck and a flower in her hair and she was ready to hold my heart pin.

 

 

Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn.  Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.

Contact Kate (first name on the list) if you want to join in.

Kate  Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn,(me) Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline, Sue L
and Sunny

Scraphappy Day November – Sort Of

Ages ago I bought a ball of horrible cheap acrylic yarn from a street market because it was bright orange and I wanted to make a beanie hat from it.

‘Wanted’ might not be the right word but, around these parts, you need to be on the look out for hunters.  They are forever shooting each other by accident and I don’t want them to shoot me when I’m out walking my dogs so an orange hat is what’s needed.

I kept putting it off as a bright orange beanie hat is definitely nowhere on my list of desirable fashion accessories but the other day I pulled that yukky yarn out and crocheted a quick and not very attractive hat which will not serve to make me look very chic but will,  hopefully, keep me from getting my head blown off.

I blocked it in an effort to improve upon it

*shudder*

I was going leave it looking like a hideous orange flower pot but Scraphappy Day was fast approaching and I hadn’t had time to do anything for it this month and I do like to join in if I can.

So, I had some of the yukky yarn left and in a leap of faith which some of you might think was a leap too far I considered I could call it scrap.

I decided to make a pompom.

So, I still hate it and hope I don’t see anybody when I’m up in the woods with the dogs but at least – as tenuous as it might be – I got something in for Scraphappy Day and, more importantly, shouldn’t get mistaken for a wild boar .

Should I?

 

Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn.  Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.

Contact Kate (first name on the list) if you want to join in.

Kate , Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn(me), Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline and Sue L.

 

Scraphappy September

Still lots of cotton yarn left over from various blankets so I decided to make something useful for my friend’s birthday recently.

These ‘scrubbies’ are to use instead of cotton pads to take off make-up with your usual products or use to apply foaming cleanser and wipe off with the pad soaked in warm water.

You can just throw them in the washing machine and re-use.

I experimented with a few ‘styles’ first.

This doubled up heavily textured one is my personal favourite

You can find the free pattern on Ravelry here

However, the ones most like a cotton wool pad in size are probably these so I decided to whip up five for a gift, using leftover cotton yarn.

Plus they fit most nicely into the printable packaging labels I found on line.  I was going to give you the link but it says ‘not secure’ in the URL so didn’t want anybody loading any problems on to their devices. (Link to YouTube tute here though)

I think I’ll need to have quite a few in reserve before I can give up the disposable cotton pads completely but I’m working on it.

Of course I still have lots of scrap cotton yarn to use up.

 

Scraphappy Day is organised by Kate & Gun for anybody who wants to make new things from scraps of any kind – doesn’t have to be fabric or yarn.  Here’s a list of participants – both regular and occasional – if you want to have a look at the sort of things you can do with scraps.

Contact Kate (first name on the list) if you want to join in.

Kate , Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Nanette, Lynn(me), Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Debbierose, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline and Sue L.

Scrappy Doo January

This post has nothing to do with that annoying little nephew of Scooby Doo but I couldn’t resist the title as there are both scraps and a dog.

A friend of a friend bought an old textile factory in our local town which used to be a centre for the textile industry in days gone by.  In fact, the one remaining working factory still produces upholstery for the automotive industry near and far.

The friend of a friend is converting the old factory into offices and is clearing out all the remaining bits and pieces. The friend didn’t want to see the stuff going to the dump so asked people she knows who sew and craft generally if they wanted to take some of it.  I have a few rolls of quite fine, plain coloured, slightly stretchy stuff I’m not sure what I’m going to do with but I also got some of these sample cards.

I have a sort of ‘woollen quilt’ in mind which I could achieve by cutting the rectangles into squares – there’s even some teeny squares showing the different colours that were available in each pattern – any ideas what I could do with those?

I wondered if I could extend my range of dog collars and make a sort of ‘Country Walks’ selection by covering the webbing totally in the wool mix fabric.  I had to join two lengths together and, instead of sewing the resulting band to the top of the webbing only – as I do with the ribbons and tapes I generally use – I made a tube of the fabric and threaded the webbing through so it was completely enclosed.  All the fabric has a slight stretch to it – possibly as it was produced for car seats – so worked well for this but not sure what implications that would have for a quilt.  Although it would probably be more a blanket than a quilt.

Here’s what I came up with

and here’s Stan doing a grand job of modelling it.

He is my own personal product tester and not nearly as annoying as Scrappy Doo.

Joining in again this month with Kate & Gun’s monthly Scraphappy Day where you too can use your scraps of fabric, yarn, paper, wood, anything to make something useful or lovely or both and show it off to the world.  You don’t have to join in every month, only when you have something to show.  Details and a list of other participants’ scrappy endeavours over on Kate’s blog.