more upcycling - pjs to lunch bag!

my boy's glow in the dark skeleton pajamas are sadly outgrown!
i've been "trying" to take them to the charity shop
but i just couldn't do it
so inspired by MeridianAriel
i did this instead!

no it's not a ribcage vest
although that would be cool!

after sewing along the bottom edge
{please ignore the awful stitching
me and my machine have a love/hate relationship
mostly based on pure spitting hatred}
i slightly shaped the bottom
and i also hemmed the other edges.

and now my son has a new school lunch bag!
cool!
i was inspired by this tutorial
by MeridianAriel

http://meridianariel.blogspot.com/2010/04/upcycled-tshirt-projectbook-bag.html

she just got a fancy new sewing machine for her birthday
so watch out for other new sewing projects on her blog :o)

"button" cotton reel stamp

i am a real hoarder
and hate to throw anything away,
these plastic cotton reels have been sitting on my desk
waiting for me to find a use for them

i like to decorate the envelopes i send my orders out in
and made some button stamps from funky foam and stuck them on top of my mini versa-colour ink pads
but it was bugging my that the edges of the lid got inked up too

hmm what i needed was a round base for my stamp

so here's how i made the stamp
i cut out some circles of self adhesive funky foam
with my sizzix machine
i tried doing it by hand but i couldn't cut the foam neatly
then i made the button holes with my leather punch

then i cut a disc of card a little smaller than the button
and stuck it to the back
{this is because of the hole in the spool
the first stamp i tried wouldn't print evenly}

stick the button stamp to the spool

ink it up and stamp away to your hearts content!

i've made a few so i can have different colours
without having to clean the stamp in between printing sessions

so there you go
easy peasy crafting and recycling too!

Suffolk puff scarf/collar

i started on this scarf before christmas
whilst in the height of my Suffolk Puff addiction!

i found a scarf in the charity shop
and really liked the colour
i made a whole bunch of puffs in various sizes
from 6" down to 1.5"
then i arranged them into a scarf and pinned them together

then i tried it on and decided i needed more puffs
but had run out of fabric
so the scarf went on the back burner

until i picked it up again the other day whilst

i was having a tidy up in my craftroom
i slightly rearranged the puffs and
suddenly i loved it!!!

the two largest puffs at the back

smaller ones filling the gaps

here it is all sewn up with a hook and eye fastening

trying to get a decent shot of myself
wearing the scarf was not easy!

getting distracted by my wall hanging storage!

i got the idea for the hanging storage from Craftzine, it is an old cot base - waste not want not!

this is the true colour{above}

best thing about it is it is SUPER warm!
and cost me about a pound to make!