Janette's Crafty Goodies

Not so sunny holidays

Spent a week in a caravan recently with my other half and our 2 youngest, (eldest was on hols with his grandparents).  I needed to take something with me to do that I could pick up and put down easily and didn’t need too much space or too many tools.  Decided that I would have a go at yoyo’s (or Suffolk puffs to the more educated craftsters out there).  Manage to make enough for a bag, a blanket for my daughters doll and had quite a few left over.  These things are so addictive to make,  I’ll have to find more things I can turn them into.

Wedding Bag

Having to travel 5 hours to attend a friend wedding was the ideal opportunity to rustle something up.  I managed to get shoes to match my dress (the day before we went) but not a bag, so I used the trip down the M6 to create this one.  A perfect match to my outfit.

More from the Happy Hooker

Having mastered the basic patterns in Debbie Stollers fantastic book I decided the time had come to be a little more adventurous.  Completed this bag over a couple of evenings, then gave it away to a visiting friend as it matched her outfit perfectly.  (sorry Di, you weren’t quick enough to claim this one)

 Honestly, it doesn't look that wonky in real life.

Say no to plastic bags

Or if you must get them then make sure you reuse them.  I do try to take fabric bags to the shops with me but sometimes I forget and my OH never remembers them!  I do try and reuse them as much as possible, but at the moment I seem to have a mountain of them.  I decided to put some of them to good use and created this reusable bag.

A Girl can have a dream can’t she?

Thanks to freecycle I have aquired a large amount of fabric.   I’ve also now got a dream of the sewing room I want.   The home where I collected the fabric from had the most amazing attic room just for sewing.  Large work benches for cutting and pinning,  shelves crammed full with every type of fabric you could imagine.  It was every sewers dream.  Then I brought the fabric home, crammed it in my airing cupboard (the only available space at the mo) and set up my sewing machine on the kitchen table.  Talk about back to earth with a bump.     Oh well, while I wait for my winning lottery numbers to come up  I really should use some of that fabric.

This is the first item I have made using this fabric.  So a big thanks to Steph on the Solway coast for inspiring me with her stash. 

Bag Book, Book Bag?

Nothing new to report yet this week, so I thought I would share this one with you.

 This has to be one of my all time favourite recycling projects.  The book bag.  Not a bag to carry books, but a bag made out of a book.   The book was one that had already been read by many and my purchase of this helped out one of our local animal charities Knoxwood Wildlife Rescue Trust ( www.wildliferescue.org.uk ).  The pages of the book were sent for recycling at the local paper bank.

I loved making this and using it, although I only got to use it once before it was re homed with my Bag addict sister.   I do intend to make another for myself soon.

Recycled Video Tape Bag

Recycling doesn't always have to be a chore,  we all want to do our bit for the planet but the treck to the bottle bank every weekend can often become a job we dread.  We all know where and how we can recycle the basic waste, paper, glass, cans, plastic  and even unwanted household goods are able to be recycled at the local charity shop.  What about the many things that we have no choice but to throw in the bin?  I always feel a little bit guilty about wasting things (There's starving children in africa was a favorite phrase of my parents at meal times). 

Now before I put anything in my bin I always ask myself what can I make with this.  Video tapes make great yarn,  and all the little screws and clips can be used on other projects.  This clutch bag was crocheted using a chewed childrens video tape (one less thing in the landfill) the silver tubes either side of the handle were also salvaged from the video.

It looks so much better in the flesh than on the photo,  because it is shiny its difficult to get an accurate pic.  from a distance it looks like its made from a mass of black beads.