sewing · Uncategorized · Upcycling · vanlife

Finding New Adventures

In between lockdowns my family decided that we would like more on the road adventures and we purchased a semi-converted Sprinter Van. We upgraded most of the cosmetic items ourselves such repainting the interior walls, putting cupboard doors on open storage and adding some extra furniture.

One of the biggest things I researched was blinds for the windows, I wanted to reuse an old windscreen cover that was in the van but never fitted properly and this is what I decided to do with it.

I had tried making magnet blinds with some left over Reflectix but I didn’t like how after little use they started to wear out a bit as the foil is quite thin. Luckily the size of the windscreen cover is huge and I managed to get the blind for the kitchen window and the one for the sliding door window out of the whole thing. Both are held in place with magnet hooks – I love the one on the sliding door as I can slide the door back without it catching or falling off. Also, I can turn the blinds around to reflect heat out or keep heat in.

After I cut the cover in half and took off the side bits I made the shape more rectangular and bound the edges using my lovely old hand wheel sewing machine. I use my hand turner much more than my electric because she pretty much has no complaints about anything you put under the needle.

Upcycling

Serging Ahead on Youtube

Throughout the pandemic I have really been kicking my own backside to get into having a better online presence and have been using my time to learn how to use online tools better. I decided to start a mini series on IGTV called craftbreak, the idea is that you can watch the crafts being made with a music background and no talking – sometimes unless I want to learn something specific I don’t feel that I need to hear people talking all of the time.

Get yourself a cup of tea, relax for a few minutes and watch how I upcycled this old glass jar (that someone was throwing away at my local allotment!) into a small feature lamp with battery powered fairy lights. If you enjoy it you could always go to my youtube channel and subscribe as I will be gradually posting more features up.

Hand Sewing · Upcycling

Japanese Twist

This was an easy upcycle that I decided to apply to my denim jacket. I acquired this jacket from a friend via a clothes swap and the fabric print of Mount Fuji came from a table runner found in my in-laws flat when it was cleared out after my mother-in-law passed away and we sold the flat on.

The print was part of a multiple set all with a white border surround, which made the picture really easy to cut out.

I applied the the cut out fabric to a piece of double sided iron on fusible web, which I then positioned and applied to the jacket back.

I stitched the appliqued fabric to the jacket by hand using a large zig zag stitch.

I like that the edges are fraying slightly as it reminds me of when punks used to DIY their denim with cut out bits and safety pins in the 1970’s and 80’s.

Close up of the hand stitched edge. I used the thread double for extra strength and you may be able to see that I used a varigated colour thread for a softer appearance.