Jumble Bunny

I went to my first ever full on, crazy Jumble Sale at the weekend. I've been meaning to go for ages, but the closest one is always at lunchtime on a saturday, when I'm ferrying kids from matches or to parties. It never worked out before.

I arrived just as the end of a queue was disappearing into the church hall, and parked beside a bored looking man, listening to the radio is his car. Paid my 20p and entered the fray. The hall was heaving: swarms of bargain hunters around every table. It took me 5 minutes to get anywhere near the stuff. Soon realised being really polite was a complete waste of time, so elbowed my way into a slither of space. There were people literally disappearing under piles of jumble in a buying frenzy. Some were throwing clothes/toys/shoes at helpers standing behind, who looked like they'd rather be anywhere else. Started to understand why the guy was in the car.

Easy though to get swept up by it all: I began grabbing anything that looked like it had potential, and worked my way around the room. When the tables ran out, I asked how much for my bundle, '£2 to you', the smiley lady said. Boy, I had no clear idea what I'd got, but £2 sounded brilliant!
And then suddenly I was out in the car park again. Just like that. It was all over so quickly. But what had I bought? Well luckily it wasn't half bad..

A very nice petrol blue Warehouse tunic top - too crinkly at the moment for a decent picture; and a sweet pair of Mini Boden cotton pjs with little embroidered buds. My daughter's size too.

More material to add to a growing fabric mountain - soon to rival my huge hoard of wool.

This one's actually a skirt but I bought it for the patterned cord. Love a bit of cord. I'm gathering up pieces for a little idea I've got in mind.

Didn't spot any jumpers suitable for chopping, but did find this woolly scarf,

and guess what?

Yep. I made another owl. I'm a woman obsessed. Quite sure people are fed up seeing owls on my blog, so thought I'd also have a go at.....a jumble bunny!

...basically an upside down owl with ears...

Linking up with Liz's Magpie Monday and
Ta-dah! Tuesday over at Lakota's

Jumper Challenge - Part 2

Ok, so there wasn't a huge amount of jumper left after Part 1, but enough for a few small things. I still had both cuffs - these make great fingerless gloves, but for some reason I was set on having a go at a dress for my old Sasha doll, now loved to bits by my daughter.
Looking at the cuffs, I could just picture one of those polo neck jumper dresses from my childhood, do you know the ones I mean? Tight, pure acrylic ribbed top with a roll neck and a little pleated skirt - oh I remember them so well!
Perfect for Sasha from the Seventies.

The ribbed bit of one cuff makes the top part of the dress, with the start of the sleeve becoming the skirt. I cut the other cuff in half for the sleeves.  The beauty of this is there's very little sewing to do - just the seam up the sleeves and a hem around the bottom of the skirt - I used some flowery braid to cover the stitches. Then cut holes for the arms and sew them in. The end of the cuff is the roll neck bit,  and I think it rather suits her..

Seventies Sasha

I'd made hearts in Part 1 and wanted to try a few more small things that were a simple shape, like mice and birds.

Lavender bags, hanging decorations, pin cushions, a cat toy? PLENTY of possibilities!

And there was even enough left for the pygmy owl keyring.
Flowers from the embroidered braid made good owl eyes I think, and saved me having to cut tiny circles out of felt which is such a miserable, fiddly job..

Not too shabby for an old jumper

Linking up with Lakota's Ta-dah! Tuesday

Rolling out the trolley

Jumper chopping has been put on hold for a few days so I can finish doing up my trolley. It's been sitting about in the kitchen for ages and was starting to attract piles of clobber - a spare space doesn't stay spare very long around here.
I knew exactly what I wanted to put on it though, I wanted to cover the trolley in my small collection of vintage knitting patterns. Well it seems such a shame to tuck them away in a drawer.

I've been buying them for the classic and totally fabulous pictures rather than the patterns. Some really are in a league of their own.. in a League of Gentlemen kind of way..

I bought an extra bundle from a charity shop for a pound, and at the counter the lady said, 'You're going to be busy!' I just nodded enthusiastically - didn't feel right to tell her I was sticking them on a piece of furniture.

The trolley came from our local auction and only cost me £2. It did need a thorough clean and a few repairs before I primed and painted it with a chalky emulsion - lovely shade called moonstone grey. Luckily there was enough in the tester pot for two decent coats on the legs and around the edges.

I spent quite a while cutting and arranging the patterns before getting the glue out. One great decoupage tip I was given recently, is to use a piece of kitchen roll to smooth down the picture, gently rubbing over the paper continuously, to push out bubbles and wrinkles. Time-consuming but definitely worth it - plus it reduced anxiety levels.. There are still a few bumps, but shouldn't be noticeable when the sewing machine goes on top and my sewing box has a new home below.

I kept the pieces on the drawer black and white for some of contrast, and picked out plenty of fairisle patterns because I love a bit of fairisle.

Now it just needs a few coats of clear varnish and a good spray of WD-40 on those squeaky old wheels..

Linking up with Magpie Monday at Liz's
 and Lakota's Ta-dah! Tuesday 

Jumper challenge - Part 1

I've made quite a few things out of old jumpers since the Christmas calendar cushion. And I've been trying to get my hands on a tatty blue cashmere one my 8 year old has adopted, but he's taken to wearing it in bed and isn't at all willing to give it up. So instead I bought this bright pink cowl neck jumper in a charity shop for £2.50 and cut it up before I remembered to take a photo...
Not cashmere, but a nice soft wool mix.

There are loads of brilliant upcycling ideas out there - some friends run craft workshops in Hereford, and one they offer is making a cushion and fingerless gloves out of an old sweater. But I wanted to see how many different things I could get out of this particular top.
And I can absolutely guarantee all of them are easy to make, because I'm still getting to grips with my sewing machine. I've already come clean about how mine has spent most of its life in a cupboard.
I'm more enthusiastic now, but find that's not quite enough sometimes...far too familiar with my stitch unpicker. So tend to look for ways round things I'm not sure about. Like zips.
This small cushion cover is zip-free. And using the rib at the bottom of the jumper for the edges of the opening means less hemming.

I cut a square out of the front - 12" plus a little extra for a seam allowance.
The other piece from the back of the jumper is the same width, but about a third longer to make the envelope pocket on the back of the cover for the pillow.

The only thing to watch out for is that this extra bit is folded over and pinned on the right side of the jumper (the side you want to see) making it the same size as the other piece. Then pin the two squares together, inside out along three sides, with the ribbed edge and folded edge matched up and left open. The folded bit will be inbetween these square pieces, so it won't be visible while sewing the sides.

When finished, turn it back the right way, put the cushion pad in and pull the pocket part over the top of the opening, so it's all tucked away.

The heart was cut from a small piece of vintage material, and edged with some purple bias binding.
I used the shape to cut a few more out of the jumper sleeves. The first one looked a bit big so I made the next ones smaller and filled them all with lavender.

The cowl neck is now a snood with bias binding sewn over the raw edge. I've been wearing it out gardening and like it because it doesn't flap about and get in the way.

Part 2 is still at the ideas stage, but I'm thinking pin cushions, mice, a doll's outfit and possibly a pigmy owl keyring?

Linking with Lakota's Ta-dah! Tuesday

Bargain button bracelets

I have a huge collection of buttons. A collection verging on Pearly Queen proportions - and I am especially keen on the shiny, pearly little shell ones that catch the light. I really don't need any more, but a big bag of them for £1.50? Hard to pass up a charity shop button bargain. You could easily pay that for a small card of 6, and they don't take up much room..

So another few hundred to add to the tins (note plural) - a button for every occasion. And quite fun checking through the bag for any beauties.

I'll have to think of something special for the etched ones, and maybe the interesting cross shaped button might work on a choker?

My 5 year old picked out the ones she liked, and rather than put them away, I pinched a wristband idea from a friend that's perfect for showing off your best buttons. It's also good for using up small pieces of braid or lace.

We made some with a felt base and added colourful embroidered trim and our buttons. Lace on felt looks great too, and maybe a few beads or sequins for a little sparkle. I used gold thread to sew the bits onto the bracelets, and to finish off around the button holes.

OK, so I haven't made much of a dent in the pile - but I have been checking out some other use-up-your-massive-hoard-of-buttons ideas online, and there are loads. Do you have any favourites or top button tips? I'd love to hear them.

Found any secondhand lovelies lately?
Plenty of thrifty inspiration over at Liz's Magpie Monday 
and Lakota's Ta-dah! Tuesday 

Something to sew on

My sewing machine has spent most of its life boxed up and tucked away in a dark cupboard corner. I liked knowing it was there, but wasn't falling over myself about actually getting it out.
I've always been more at home with a pair of knitting needles - sewing machines make me a little anxious. Well they did, and then a few months back I thought it was about time I had a proper go - so out it came, and out it stayed until I'd made a sofa colony of owls from secondhand vintage sheets and bedspreads. They winged their way down to a Christmas craft fair in London last week, and sold pretty well.

The thing is, having the sewing machine out all the time is a bit of a pain, because there's nowhere obvious for it to go, and I daren't put it back in the cupboard. Might not come out again.
It's been majorly getting in the way, so I thought a wooden trolley could be the answer - a home on wheels, and there'd be space underneath for material and other bits and bobs.

Amazingly there were FOUR old trolleys at the local auction last week. Unbelievable. This never usually happens when I'm looking for something. And it gets better, because it seems there's not much demand for trolleys - I got mine for just two pounds. So chuffed about that! It has a drawer at the front, which we eventually managed to prise open - sadly no treasure though, just some mouldy old placemats.

So giving it a revamp is one of my after christmas projects...and there's more...because this came in the same lot.

I'd no idea, until I went to collect the trolley! Not the most beautiful bedside table, but it's got potential - and two bits of furniture for two quid can't be bad. Hopefully they'll both look quite different the next time you see them.
And I've just finished my tiny £2 table makeover - a quick sand and then covered the top with some vintage domino cards I picked up at a french street sale in the summer. Far too lovely to be hidden away in a box don't you think?

Linking up with marvellous Magpie Monday 
and Lakota's Ta-dah! Tuesday