Home made shopping bags are in fashion

Hello and Good Morning. Here's another colourful post for you. Why do shopping bags have to be dull, boring, plain, brown, grey, plastic, or covered in advertising logo's? There are alternatives. Let's brighten things up and make shopping bags a fashion accessory. Let's have them in a multitude of colours and designs. Let's use up all the spare fabric we have and make pretty fabric bags which can be washed and used for years. Here's my latest selection just finished. 

Made from fabric sample books so the two sides are different. I found some extra fabric for the handles so they don't match, but it doesn't matter. The sample books were included in my £5 basket when I last went shopping in the Scrapstore, so these cost virtually nothing.

If you don't have a Scrapstore, you could look in car boot sales and charity shops for cheap fabric. Curtains work well, bed throws, as well. Anyone with a sewing machine can make shopping bags. Let's all brighten up the High Street, the shopping malls, the markets and supermarkets. Are you game for this? Go on, give it a go. Show off your own home made shopping bag with pride.

How to make a shopping bag.

Thank's for popping in, I've got things to do, we'll catch up soon. Enjoy your Sunday.
Toodle pip.
PS. When I say, 'we'll catch up soon', there is no particular time scale on that, it could be anytime.

A day out at the Festival of Thrift.

Hello. Yes, I was in Redcar yesterday for the Festival of Thrift. Apologies to those who live not far from the site, Cherie and Brenda and anyone else up in the north east, but I did not make up my mind to go until 10pm on Saturday night so there wasn't time to make arrangements. I had been mulling it over for a few days, ever since I saw Max tweeting about it. I considered making it into a two or three day jaunt but was undecided. 

Then I had a closer look at the festival web site and thought a lot of the activities and entertainment was geared up for children and families. Also advertised was food, workshops, films, talks, and shopping, none of which I am particularly interested in. The only things that did interest me was the arts and crafts and the upcycling, not really enough to warrant the time, effort, and cost to get there and back. 

However, when the tweets started coming in after the first day, with reports in the local media, I thought I might give it a whirl. My Saturday was a bit boring so I thought perhaps I ought to get up off my backside and just do it.. 

The event practically took over the whole village of Kirkleatham. When I arrived at 11.15am the road was blocked by a massive queue to get in the car park. It crawled along at a snails pace. I was not best pleased after driving almost two hours. The road to the main entrance was closed to all except disabled and trades people, so I followed the signs straight on for the car park. Just as we were coming to a roundabout I could see the queue stretching a long way into the distance, I hate queuing. Just off the roundabout to the left is a Business Park, and being a Sunday no one would be working so I thought why not park there. Good move, others had the same idea. It was a few minutes walk back along the road to the entrance. To be honest, I wouldn't have minded paying £5 to park, but I wasn't going to sit in that queue. 

The event practically took over the whole village of Kirkleatham, it was spread out over several fields, and there were stalls and suchlike inside the Museum buildings as well. It took me a while to Find Max McMurdo next to the big green Gumtree bus. Those of you who saw Shed of the Year will remember him as being one of the judges. His face regularly comes up on the TV as inventor and upcycler on other programmes. Max has a book out, his first upcycling book and it appears to be very popular amongst thrifty people. If you want to have a butchers at it, click on this Amazon link. No I am not getting a cut in sales, I just think he is a thoroughly nice guy who works very hard. 

With a steady stream of visitors waiting to speak to Max, I hovered for a few minutes and watched him dish out his words of wisdom to enthusiastic upcyclers. 

That was tempting, the weather was hot and I could have murdered a pint of cider, but knowing that I had to drive home I supped the watered down apple juice in my bottle brought from home.

There was much to see and do. The solar powered cinema was closed for lunch, and as I didn't fancy being squeezed into a box with other sweaty people I decided to give it a miss. Nice idea though.

Lots of wood about. Two owls for sale, can't remember how much they were though.

There were stalls with all kinds of craftwork. Blocks of wood with letters carved into them, £6 per letter. I did think of getting my name but I am much too tight to part with £30 on an impulse buy.

In the stable block there were artworks from local artists. I must say though that there was only one which looked interesting. One stable had nothing in and was lit up with a coloured light. Another had a moving film of horse racing projected onto the wall with a makeshift steeple chasing jump built of branches in front of it. And two others were empty. It was a bit gloomy in there, with not much to look at. 

There was a little courtyard with vintage camper vans, which was nice.

This one was for sale, 7,000 quid if you are interested. Looks fully restored on the outside but you will have to put your own innards into it. Mind you, thinking about it, it has an 02 number plate so it could be a kit car built from scratch.

Lots of vintage stalls to browse. One thing I can't understand is that once something is given the 'vintage', label how come the price rises, and rises, and rises. Baffles me that people will pay silly money for old tat, when probably family members will have cupboards full of the stuff stashed away somewhere. 'Spose it's a bit like antiques, the older something is the more valuable it becomes.

There were various cooking smells wafting around, and long queues at the stalls. If this was a thrift festival, why didn't more people get organized and take their own pack up from home and have a picnic. It was the ideal weather for it. 

Jam making demonstrations here, and if you took your own fruit you could turn it into jam yourself and take it home in a jar.

The church was used for sewing sessions. Make a patchwork block and it will be added to a quilt.

Choose your pieces of fabric and sit at a machine, someone will tell you what to do. The little girls seemed to like this activity.

I had a peek in the museum while I was there. 

This old dear looks happy enough perched on her stool, with the cooking pot on the fire. Fish for tea tonight.

How about a swing in a hammock. Looks very relaxing, the young lady is gently rotating the line of swinging hammocks on a turntable.

Hairdressing was popular, get your hair done in a vintage style by ladies wearing forties dresses, outside their vintage caravan.  £5 a go.

My overall view of the festival was that's it's a great day out, and if you live close enough you could easily find enough to do for two days. There is no entrance charge, free to get in. The entertainment is free, and a lot of the childrens activities are free. There are drop in sessions if you want to attend some workshops. If you have money to spare there are plenty of crafty type stalls which will gladly relieve you of it. I picked up some cards and have checked out web sites which you might like to take a look at.

Sarah Turner makes hand made lighting, sculptures, and artworks upcycled from waste materials. Mainly plastic bottles and cans. www.sarahturner.co.uk 

Sarah Oatley is a textile artist using a wide range of fabrics, mainly recycled and vintage. www.drawnthreads.co.uk

Abigail Lagden creates fabric sculptures and mixed media canvases, using Powertex.
www.curiously-contrary.co.uk

Scrapstore was there, only they call it Percy Creative Reuse Centre. It's at Commerce Way Middlesborough. Here is their link if you want to check it out.

I left about 3.30pm and decided to take a look at Redcar seafront while I was there, but I'll leave that for another post. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Tarting up a couple of chairs

Hello. The summer house is very useful for working under cover when it is showery. Plenty of light coming in through the plastic roof. I am painting the second chair. 

This is the before photo, I have had these chairs for nigh on 30 odd years, possibly longer, they are older than that. My friends grandparents died and she had to clear their house out, so they could be about 40 or 50 years old. I painted one of them a few weeks ago. 

And here is the second one. Isn't it lovely. The paint is Crown flat matt emulsion in 125ml pots which I got from Hull Scrapstore. It has had two coats.

Here are some photo's of the two of them together. I can't decide which one I like best. The fabric also came from Hull Scrapstore.

That seat looks like it has a smear of red paint on it, it hasn't. It's in the fabric.

Don't they look fab together, I am well chuffed. I did think I might sell them, too nice to give away, but I like them so much I will keep them. If you have any old chairs like this it is ever so easy to cover the seats. They just lift out. I had to cut away the corners of the brown leather because to leave them intact would make the seat too big to go back in. I took some of the tacks out as well and reused them to fasten down the new fabric covers.

I am quite enjoying this painting old furniture lark. I hate the upcycling label people put on it, I would rather use the term tarting it up. What is the opposite of upcycling anyway? Downcycling? Does that mean trash something? Confused. Next is a small coffee table which my neighbour threw out.

The sewing projects are coming along slowly, I do a bit of stitching every day, it's nice to see them take shape. Nothing to show yet, you'll have to be patient.

Back to it, there are a couple of hours of good light left so I'll say bye for now. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Fabric junkie

Hello. I think I might be a fabric junkie. It was time for another Hull Scrapstore visit on Tuesday, I had three crafty ladies wanting to go and stock up. Oh how I love rooting through those bins, you never know what you might find. All the best pieces are at the bottom so dig deep. I filled my basket for £5, and bought another three pieces for £1 each. They just seemed to jump into my basket, ha ha. The red stripey one is going to make some smashing shopping bags. 

A big thank you to Elaine from Philadelphia who sent me a Birthday Card, and tucked inside was this quirky piece of cotton fabric. It's very unusual, I haven't seen this design before. Each figure has a puss cat.

I was on the radio this morning talking about my Summer House. James Piekos was standing in for Burnsy, and I got the call just before the end of the programme. You can listen to it here, on Radio Humberside. Move the slider across to 2 hours 47 minutes. It's only available for 29 days. A reporter from the local paper is after me, will probably speak to her tomorrow.

Thank you all for voting for me, I never expected to get this far. I didn't realize how many entries they received, it's amazing that they picked my shed to go through to the finals. Just as a recap, this is the page you want to vote.  You can vote for one shed in each of the eight categories.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Better than a bag of sweeties

Aye up me ducks. It was raining this morning but I wasn't going to let it spoil my day. The plan was a Scrapstore visit, Sandra hasn't been before so it was a good excuse to go. Three of us went over the Humber Bridge to Hull. I had only intended to fill a basket for a £5 spend, but oh dear, I got carried away. I was like a kid in a sweet shop. The place was bursting with loads of different fabrics. 

Tracey was busy unpacking a new delivery of  wool for felting and asked me if I had done any before. I haven't but fancied giving it a go. She made me up a couple of bags of mixed colours, and then of course I had to buy the gadget to go it with. Linda has already got a gadget so she just bought the wool. Now I've got to look at some yoootooob videos to learn how to do it.   

I've taken a few pictures of some of the fabric I chose. A lot of it was included in the £5 basket, they are different sizes, some small, some large.

These three embroidered flowers are from sample books, they will make nice embellishments.

These five pieces are all one metre lengths off a roll, they are not included in the basket price, but are very cheap at £1 per metre. It's the thick fabric with a rubbery backing, ideal for bags. 

The following pieces are from sample books, I picked up two books, they are included in the basket price.

This book has paper inserts showing the design of the following fabrics. The colourful pages could be used in paper crafts. 

I now need to sort out my own mini Scrapstore in the spare room, the fabric is spilling out over the front of the shelves because I keep diving into it as I search for specific colours. A massive tidy is on the cards.

Thank you all very much for your complimentary comments about my bags. I know that several off you have expressed an interest in owning one, and I am chuffed. I am sorry to disappoint you, but I won't be taking orders. I make them for fun because I enjoy playing with fabric, mixing and matching colours, and creating something from recycled materials. If I make mistakes and they are not perfect then it's not a problem, because I give them away, and someone who gets something for nothing shouldn't be picky. If I were to start  taking orders and charging for them it would take me a lot longer to make them, because they would have to be perfect before I let them go. I don't want to be stressing about if my work was good enough. Also I don't want to be tied to bag making, churning them out would be so so boring. I hope you understand.

What I really would like you to do is make a bag yourself. Have a go, even if you don't have any sewing skills. Look at yoootooob videos for patterns and techniques. Bags can be hand stitched if you don't have a machine. A shopping bag is so simple, a front and back, and two handles. Don't worry if your stitching is not straight, or it looks a bit wonky. The pleasure of using something which you yourself has made is far more satisfying than handing over a few quid and buying one. Every time I use my home made bags I proudly tell everyone. The checkout ladies are well impressed.

Got to go now. Thanks for popping in. Catch up with you soon. Toodle pip.

Bestest shopping bags ever ;o)

Hello. We've had better weather today, no rain  :o) The kids are playing a game of musical beds, all change places. Bugsy has gone from the office chair, to Rocky's cushion, and now he is in Rocky's bed. Rocky Boyo is dead miffed now he can't sleep in his favourite place. I've put another cushion down for him. Mayze can be found on the landing upstairs, she comes down when I get my camp bed out and wants to sleep on my legs but there isn't enough room, so she buries herself in the duvet hanging over the side. Heidi decided she likes to lie on the pile of shopping bags I've made which are on the dining table chair. I've had to remove them and give her a basket with a towel to lie in. Poor Heidi has to go back to see Marian, the nice vet lady, tomorrow, she is tired, not eating much and it looks like her anaemia is back :o(

I've been sewing today, made four shopping bags with some lovely fabric I got at the Scrapstore. This makes a total of 18 to sell at the Christmas fair on Saturday. Aren't they pretty. 

I had a pack of fine green beans which needed eating, yellow sticker 20p, so I added an onion and made some soup. 

Some veg gravy granules and garlic powder, zapped with the stick blender, with a smattering of grated mature cheddar cheese stirred in. It was bloomin lovely. Two portions, one for lunch and one mid afternoon.

Our new Post Office opened today which is good news. It is a pop up one, where the counter clerk comes with a box and sets up shop in the vestry at the church. It's three mornings a week, which I suppose is better than no Post Office at all.

I had a phone call today from them at the BBC, have I got any ideas for another short film they could make about food. I've had a good think about it and nothing springs to mind. I thought I would ask you clever people if you can think of a topic. It could be to do with eating out, buying food, preparing food, growing food, any grumbles about what you buy, where you shop, poor customer service, getting value for money, fast food outlets, inedible food, awful junk food, why you won't go back to a food or eating place again, food on the go. Anything about food. I don't think they would run to filming in America, so the UK only. I think most of it has been covered in the programmes already out there, but you never know there might be a topic that no one has thought of.

Right, I'm off out for a fast walk around the village. Rocky has already had his walk, he did well, went a bit further than usual, now he has crashed out. I'll sneak out for half an hour while he isn't looking.

Catch up with you soon. Toodle pip.
PS, someone asked what Toodle pip means. Cheerio, goodbye, see ya, tatty byes = Toodle pip.

A mixed bag

Hello. Back for a second post today, you can't say I short change you, ha ha. A bit of  this and that, a mixed bag if you like. In my porch are some books, given to me to sell on our fundraising stall. I am going to sort through them and any we can't sell, or those that are a bit specialist, will go to the charity shops. An elderly lady donated them, it helps her if I do the job, rather than her having to lug them to town. 

Who's this guy then? Why, it's Mickey from two doors down who has spotted me returning home and decided to sit looking at me through the glass as I sit in the porch and take my shoes off. He says, 'ya got any nosh then', or, 'please give me some of your lovely food'. Mostly I don't feed him, he gets enough at home, but occasionally I give in and give him half a pouch of whatever food my fussy cats don't like. He will eat anything.

I thought it was about time I had a mooch around the Scrapstore again, so me and Linda, another crafty lady friend from up the road went off to Hull. I filled my basket with fabric for £5. Including some felt, not shown here.

And bought a few extras. Colourful shoe laces, silver and red sparkly trimmings, pink lace, and small coloured buttons. I spent £10, and Linda kindly paid for the bridge toll for taking her.

Janet sent me some photo's of the kittens in our rescue. They are getting quite playful now. Grey cats are quite unusual, aren't they just adorable. 

I've been on the phone this afternoon, got a call from a chappie doing some research for a possible TV programme. We spent an hour chatting, more like me doing all the talking and him throwing a few questions in and listening, ha ha. It's early days, something may happen, or something may not. It might not even get off the ground. It usually depends on whether they can get the funding or not, and if it does go ahead I may not get picked, it's happened before.

That's it, a mixed bag tonight. Thanks for popping in. Catch ya soon. Toodle pip