Saturday 28 July 2012

Rice bag recycling

On a recent trip to Australia I noticed a really cool cotton rice bag in my cousins larder. He was unsurprisingly unimpressed by said bag but I fell in love with it and immediately formed my plans on how to make it more usable. As normally happens on holidays I moved on, and therefore alas I could not get my hands on the bag. When leaving Aus and finishing my packing at my aunts house I told my dad about the rice bag and my regrets and look what he pulled out!!!

Cotton rice bags

He had been just as taken by the bags as me and been saving them! When he returned from Aus 3 months later I had a healthy supply, a few of which are pictured above!

As the bags only have little handles I decided to add a canvas belt that I got from a charity shop for 99p to make a shoulder strap. A few stitches on the sewing machine and there you have it!!! I think it is pretty cool :-)

Rice bag with a belt added as a strap

Thursday 26 July 2012

Button holes made out of buttons

I am a recent convert to blogging and one happy discovery I have made is the abundance of fashion related blogs there are. I am particularly excited about the crafty ones, the ones that are focused on upcycling and recycling and a lot of the time simply customising things for fun. I am following a few and will share my favourites on my blog. It is really good to see what other people are doing and get new ideas and also just feel part of a wider community who like to make, customise and recycle/upcycle things.

I generally  have a number of projects on the go at once, and as a result tend to take a bit of time in completing my larger projetcs so when I spotted a post on a blog called Helen Makes Things about button holes made from buttons which looked quite quick and easy I couldnt resist. See the picture below and you will see why!

Buttonhole made from buttons
Buttonhole - http://www.helenmakesthings.co.uk/2010/10/buttonholes/
The idea is so simple it is genius! My first attempt at the leaves wasn't great as my fabric was a lot darker but I think I did ok...what do you think?

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Hello Sailor - eBay loot!

As I may have mentioned as well as being a great buyer of second hand clothes I do sell the odd item that I either haven't worn or I have grown tired of and would like to release to someone else. There is something very addictive about buying and selling on eBay and I tend get bidding fever when I buy things and check my items about 10 times a day when I sell things.

When I sell items on eBay the money stays in my paypal account ready for my next purchase, the more I have in there the more I have to spend. It is great! I recently sold a few bits and pieces and bought myself a new summer dress for work with some of the money, what do you think?

Blue and white striped shift dress
Adding a bit of the nautical trend to my work wardrobe
People at work are always asking me where I got things from and if I have been shopping again because they haven't seen a particular item before. I do tell some of my colleagues my secret but not all of them, I like to have some fun letting them keep guessing!

Thursday 5 July 2012

Fashion Pick - JAM by Jameela Jamil

I was driving home from work last week and spotted a big poster at the bus stop with Jameela from T4 wearing the cutest white jumper with a black paw print teamed with over the knee black socks with a white paw print just above the each knee. So of course I had to find out where I could "get me one of those" and after a bit of very swift internet research I found that Jameela has designed a range called "JAM" for very.co.uk. The majority of what I saw I liked, but I did have some particular favourites including a lovely vibrant floral shirt with puffed shoulders and long cuffs (the same fabric has been used for a lovely dress too!) which I can already picture myself wearing to work. The colours are just so bright and fun and that teamed with the neck tie in black, I am done. I want one and I want it now!

I have included some of the images below taken from catwalkqueen.tv. To view or purchase items from Jameela's 'Jam' collection follow this link to Very.co.uk.
Centre image - Floral shirt with puffed shoulders.

Paw print jumper dress, no paw print socks though :(