Sewing Season

Something had to be done about my thread spools. They kept twisting and knotting and unwinding in the box I stored them in. They made me not want to do any sewing. Pinterest helped again! I saw a very inspiring picture of a thread holder which strangly enough turmed out to be by my africa traveling friend Lori. How small this creative blogging world can be at times... Anyway, Loris picture made me remember one of the driftwoods board I found at the shore back in March. And it was finally brought to use by piercing it with very, very many nails. Aaron wanted to sit on my lap the whole time, so nailing was a little challenging...

But we made it!

And I am very happy with the result.

May I introduce you to me precious little sewing space? We live in a rather small rented apartment of 64 qm ( 689 sf ) and I am so happy to have this little space to myself, always set up and ready to sew (except when it is very unorganized). You can see Nathans working out zone being right next to it...

The yellow drawing of a person is me, drawn by one of my clients, so well captured I must say!

It was about time I prepared my sewing space as some presents needed to be whipped up soon. The first thing that got done was a tool belt for a newly four year old busy worker (a friends son). Aaron didn't want to try it in so some drift wood had to do the job.

And my mum finally got her belated Mother's Day present, a Burlap Garden Trug, designed by Maya and shown in the first issue of Taproot. Oh how I love that magazine!

Now, after the first fast projects, I feel ready to get started on my much thought about and never actually begun quilt made from my grandmums old aprons (btw the belt on the tool bag is a belt from one of her aprons). And Barbara sent me a wonderful push up so, it has to be done, no more excuses! If you don't see any results in the next week or so, please keep pushing me!

Yarn Along - Cover up your needles!

Knittin and reading. My favourite things to complete a perfect day. So I am joining Ginny on Wednesdays for Yarn Along to share my passions with you. Come and join in if you like!

Last week there has not been too much knitting but I finished the first sock that I showed you last time. The one here is the second one but I forgot to take a picture of the finished sock although the colorway is very interesting and worth showing... Sorry about that. I will show you the finished pair soon, hopefully... 

Today I want to show you something else though, I prepared a little tutorial for you, because yesterday I got tired. Tired of loosing the stitches off my needles all the time. That happens because I carry my knitting with me all day in a small bag that is getting draged in and out of my backpack constantly. And at home there is this very vital toddler... 

I needed something to cover my needles. And I needed it soon. It was night and there was no way I way going to do any shopping to solve the problem. So some upcycling it was:

I needed some material that would be strong enough to stop the needles from poking through it yet flexible enough to cover them and keep them together. That's when I remembered the broken tire from my last bike repare. Lucky me... But you can basically use any strong flexible material such as leather, tarpaulin etc.

I cut two 5" (12 cm) from the tire and opend them on one side.

Then I used a round item to draw a circle of 3" (7,5 cm) onto the tire and cut it. Repeat with the second piece.

I marked twelve spots (like a clock) and pinched holes through the tire pieces.

For the next step I used two strong elastic strapes (the blue one in the first picture turned out to not be strong enough but I found some brown left overs) and pulled each of them halfway through the holes as shown in the picture. Repeat the same with the second circle.

I fixed the elastic with a knot at both ends pulling the circles together as good as I could.

Last I tied the two pieces together. The length of the elastic should depend on the size of your needles. The elastic should be under tension when on the needles. Done! Such a fun way to upcycle!

I hope my tutorial was helpful for you.

 Oh, and I almost forgot, of course there has been some reading, even a lately rather rare visit to library in fact with some good outcome. A book about dying with natural colors, a knitting book for women of weight which I was very, very happy to find in the library as it has been on my waiting list at Amazon for month now and an easy reading murder mystery (only available in German) located in Brittany/ France which I read on my train ride to work these days. All of them make me happy on different levels, just like knitting different projects at the same time for different ocassions. You know what I mean, right?

But for now, I will hop over to Ginny and see what you have been up to last week. I see you around!

Happy Knitting!

Bean Bag Tutorial

It all started this very rainy sunday afternoon with a very messy box full of elastic tapes, ribbons and bindings that was waiting to be sorted one day. The box and most of its contents were  thrifted goods I had collected over the years. Next to the box was this driftwood branch, it all came together when I read Mayas post from a few weeks ago. How simple and helpful! Even the plain idea of fixing the open ends with a pin had never ever crossed my mind before... oh my... Thank you Maya!

And may I use the opportunity and introduce you to my favorite pin cushion? It was part of a thrifted basket full of sewing stuff and knitting needles which I bought for 1,50 Euro last year, I was the luckiest girl of the day! I keep imagining the story of an old lady who made it when she was still a little girl, oh if only pin cushions could talk...

Anyway, sorting and organizing my ribbons I remembered the felt bean bag tutorial I saw via Pinterest the other day and within a few minutes I found myself making my, or rather Aarons own bean bags from fabric scraps and some of the never used ribbons. It is as simple as it could be:

Design yourself a pattern that looks simular to this one. Choose two pieces of fabric and track the pattern with a magic marker. Cut, fold (should probably be done even as the very first step but I am very lazy when it comes to ironing), lay right sides together and pin.

Sew along the round edge leaving the straight side open. Secure beginning and end.

Turn inside out and fold the straight edges to the inside.

Choose some ribbons or long pieces of fabric or yarn. Tie a knot in one end. Fill the bag with beans, or popcorn mais ( if you find your shelfs without beans on a sunday afternoon, like me)

Stick the tied ribbons into the beans and secure the bag with pins.

Sew up and down the opening a couple of times in small stitches to make sure the ribbons get really fixed strongly to the bag.

Enjoy your bean bag. If you make three or four with the same weight they can also be great for juggling.