Handmade Halloween

Sick of Halloween decorations and costumes, fake cobwebs and plastic pumpkins festooning every shop you enter? For me, Halloween decorations and costumes should be based on stuff you have around the house, not on a load of mass-produced tat you buy and use/display for one day only. Waste of money, waste of the world's resources.

(The award for the most inappropriate Halloween display goes to my local B&Q, which had a 'trick or treat' bunting banner suspended over…the paint aisle. How about a beautiful display of your black grasses, nearly-black Cosmo atrosanguineus, dark purple-leaved heuchera and orange-flowered plants to salute the season instead?)

So here's a truly last-minute way to decorate your home or garden, made from stuff you're likely to have around the house: tiny dangling ghosts.

You will need
• Paper hankies
• Scrap paper
• Black felt tip
• Needle and black thread

Fold the hankies in four, corner to corner, to find the middle. Draw on two black circles for the eyes, slightly below that point. You can add a mouth if you want.

Crumple up the paper into a ball shape.

Thread the needle, keeping the thread doubled. Tie a knot in the end. Push the needle through the paper ball. Now position the hanky so that the needle comes out through the top of the ghost's head.
Squeeze the hanky around the paper ball to give a more drapy shape.

Tie your ghosts to a twig, window catch, mantelpiece… wherever you want.

More…
Last year I made a mini pumpkin lantern from a Cape gooseberry

Trying out the T-shirt yarn

There are several balls of homemade T-shirt yarn in the wicker picnic basket that most of my stash is stored in. I made some a couple of months ago, cutting up an old T-shirt of my partner's and one of mine. One is heavier weight, the other silkier, both are black.

I have knitted with the T-shirt yarn I made with the intention of turning it into a bag, but pulled it all out because there wasn't quite enough of it.

I wrote about how to make T-shirt yarn in my '5 ways to knit without wool' for Prima, which also included carrier-bag yarn, or 'plarn', and string.

You can follow the slightly complex cutting pattern explained in that feature, or you can simply cut your way up the body of a T-shirt in a spiral.

Once you've cut your T-shirt into a thin strip, pull and stretch it in lengths, to encourage the sides of the strip to curl inwards. Wind into a ball.

We're having some building work done on the house soon (yes, more room, more room for crafting) so I've been having a bit of a clear-out. Two pairs of jersey pyjama trousers were destined to be dumped. One pair I turned into T-shirt yarn, by cutting in a spiral up one leg and down the other.

For the other pair I was inspired by a necklace by Etté Studios, so I cut the leg into loops. I stretched and pulled these, then bundled 10 or so together, and bound them round and round at the back with another length of T-shirt yarn.

While fiddling with the loops I realised they have uses in their own right: doubled up, a sports headband to keep hair in place and stop it from flopping into your face when you're running or moving around. Worth doing for this alone! Doubled up, wear a couple as a choker. Use one doubled, trebled or even quadrupled up on itself as a lovely soft hairband for a ponytail or bun. Or double or treble up for a bracelet/sweatband. They do lose elasticity, but you'll have plenty more.

If you can't be bothered to make your own T-shirt yarn (or you don't have any T-shirts you're prepared to cut up), there's lots available to buy, including Jersey be Good, from Wool and the Gang, Zpagetti, from Hoooked or lots of options from the T-shirt Yarn Shop.

One thing I didn't include in my alternative yarns feature was knitting with strawberry lace sweets, not something I've tried personally, but lots of others have. The earliest mention I could find is on the Craftster forums in 2008 by Bexsus of Lewes, and this is her pic of the result!

Changing colour: customising clothes

Dyeing brings a new look, and new life, to clothes. I loved the shape of the linen top in the middle – A-line, three-pleat neckline, patch pockets – but I loathed the colour. Pale pink is possibly my least favourite colour.

Having bought my Dylon Machine Dye
in Jeans Blue and read the super-easy instructions, I realised there was enough dye to do 500g of fabric.

So to make up the weight I picked the linen jumper on the left, a paler pink, but really insipid, like a bra that's been washed a few too many times. And on the right, a long-sleeved mauve T-shirt.

Dyeing with machine dye couldn't be easier. You just tip the contents of the pouch into the drum, add the clothes, wash at 40°, remove clothes and do a wash with the machine empty.

Points to watch
• Check the fabric. Natural fabrics, eg linen and cotton, take dye well. Synthetics don't. Be aware that stitching may be nylon, hence the contrast stitching on my newly blue T-shirt.
• Check the colour. Pale shades will dye deeper, but not the other way round.
• Don't spill the dye! It's very easy to accidentally sprinkle a little of the powder as you're putting it in the washing machine.
• You need to dry the newly dyed clothes away from the sun.

Read more on Dylon's machine dyes

For Love Your Clothes

I've always been a keen customiser: sewing fringing on to the hems of trousers, feather trim around the neck and cuffs of a velvet dress, sewing braiding around the neck of a moth-chewed jumper. Why am I so keen? I'm a creative person - I love to make things. I'm also a bit of a hoarder, so I don't like to get rid of things, AND I hold on to ribbons, haberdashery and all kinds of bits and bobs. And, of course, I like the idea that what I make is unique... And now Love Your Clothes wants ideas on how to avoid waste by keeping your clothes for longer. As a journalist writing about crafting, among other things, I have lots of ideas but they're spread over various places online, including this blog. So I've brought everything I want to share together in this post, so that I can submit it to Love Your Clothes. Click on the links for words and pix. (And there's plenty more where these have come from...)

How to take in trousers You don't need to get rid of clothing when you lose weight; just refit it!

Colourful contrast: moth-repellent lavender bag with colourful language. (Incidentally, when I used these offcuts, they were from a skirt I made. The skirt was a terrible fit, but I loved the fabric, so a couple of months ago I turned the skirt into a top.)

Roll out the ribbon
Add matching collar and cuffs to a T-shirt
















Upcycling out of necessity
How I had to rework my first handknitted (by me) jumper, turning it into a bag. If only I'd read the advice on Love Your Clothes about hand washing...

Creating a top to dye for
How I transformed a wishy-washy pastel peach top into a wearable denim-esque shade

Sitting prettier: how to upcycle an office chair

Yesterday I sourced a free chair for my desk, from Streetlife. That's a social network for local communities. You sign up with your postcode and you're connected with others nearby. On the site you can post news, listings, ask questions, and give away unwanted items, including the office chair I got. A couple of messages were exchanged with its owner, he gave me directions, I drove down and picked it up. He was completely up-front about the damaged bits. Gorgeous, eh?(Getting it up the stairs to my desk nearly did me in - it's so heavy; I ended up sprawled at the top of the stairs with the chair on top of me!)








Today I finished re-covering the chair. I had some leftover fabric from a dress I'd made, and that was just big enough. (Sometimes being a hoarder pays off; I made the dress years ago.) So I simply sewed the leftover fabric directly to the existing seat, trimming it as I went.












Using this fabric has the advantage that, should I ever feel the need (which I doubt), I can coordinate my seat, dress and shoes!
See how I customised my shoes with fabric heels

I finally found a sewing box!

It's a classic wooden concertina-drawer type, exactly the type I didn't want to pay John Lewis's prices to acquire. But I found this one in a local vintage shop (Trash or Treasure in Maidstone) for just a tenner.
Everything that was in the black and pink spotted cardboard box that previously held my sewing stuff fits in, plus the buttons that were in a plastic box. And my fabric scissors.
For that price I could overlook the coffee cup and fading on one side, because I had plans...

Some weeks earlier I 'came across' (ie, rummaged through the rubbish to find) some old sewing patterns outside a shop in Canterbury (The Sewing Shop). None of them had all its components so I couldn't actually use them to make the garments illustrated. However, I knew they would come in handy so I parked them on a shelf...

And patterns and sewing box came together. I've never tried decoupage before - does it show? I just cut random shapes and stuck them in an overlappingly random fashion all over the top of the box with PVA glue from Cowling & Wilcox, the handy art supplies shop across the road from work. I just need to trim the edges. Oh, and run a scalpel along the edge of the lids - because I've stuck them down!

Turn a tin can into a tealight lantern

Save a can from the recycling bin! Making a tealight lantern is so easy. (And as you can see, getting it to look good in a night-time photo is not.)

How to make an upcycled tin-can lantern
Peel the label off the can, give it a good rinse (unless the aroma of barbecued tomatoes is your idea of al fresco ambience).
Fill the can with water and stand upright in the freezer until the water is frozen.
Take a bradawl (classic approach; I used a big screw) and, with a hammer, bang a pattern of holes through the side of the tin. The ice is there to absorb the impact so that the can doesn't squash when you try to knock a hole in it. Top tip if you use a big screw: wear gloves or wrap the non-pointy end in a cloth because it gets quite sore on the fingers.
Add two holes opposite each other near the top so that you can thread through a length of wire to hang the lantern. Drop in the tealight and light it.
Job done. Light up the night.

Five-minute fashion DIY: turn a scarf into a snood

Snoods are having a stint in the fashion spotlight; they’re e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. And with good reason. They’re very cosy, they can double up as headgear (just pull a loop of the snood up over the back of your head), and versatile: wear one in a long loop like a giant necklace, or twist round and round your neck for maximum heat retention. And once your snood is on, it stays put, no constantly flipping the ends back over your shoulder. And you can join in with this trend in five minutes flat.

How to turn a scarf into a snood
All you need is an old scarf, hand-knitted, machine-knitted, crocheted or fabric. To transform your scarf into a snood, all you need to do is to join the ends together to form a loop. If your scarf is knitted or crocheted, you’ll ned some yarn in the same colour (or contrasting colour if you prefer). Remove any tassels or fringing first. With a large-eyed needle, stitch the two ends of the scarf together.
If you don’t have an old scarf you want to use, knit your own super-simple snood: cast on enough stitches for your desired scarf width. Knit until scarf is long enough. Knit entirely in garter stitch, or try knitting and purling alternative rows, for stocking stitch. You can also try ‘knit one, purl one’ for a ribbed effect, or ‘knit two, purl two’ for a more defined rib. Stitch the ends together with the same yarn to form a loop.

Did you know? The word ‘snood’ used to refer to a type of hairnet, worn on the back of the head to hold the hair.

This blog first appeared on Allaboutyou.com, where I used to work. It was a great website, with lots of top-quality craft content, managed by me. Unfortunately, it was closed in January 2015.

SaveSaveSaveSave

How to customise a denim jacket - no sewing needed

A denim jacket is such a classic, but even an old favourite can do with an update. And with a bit of customising, you get one-of-a-kind fashion. And it's also a great way to use up fabric offcuts left over from something else.

Lisa Brown, creative stylist, shows you how to add pzazz to a plain denim jacket, ensuring you'll stand out from the crowd.

Lisa says: 'Adding stylish trim to pockets, cuffs and the base of a denim jacket, can make a plain denim jacket instantly unique. This pretty Tana lawn fabric from Liberty is perfect with its modern take on a traditional floral pattern.'

You will need

● denim jacket
● Bostik Sew Simple (£3.99, from most major retailers. For stockist details, call 01785 272727)
● 30cm patterned fabric, we used Kinnear Tana Lawn £5.99, (£19.95 a metre) from Liberty
● dressmaker's tissue paper
● pencil
● scissors
● iron

Step 1
For the cuffs; using tissue paper and a pencil, trace off the shape of the pocket top and the button position. Roughly cut out this shape and pin to fabric, choosing the best part of the pattern on the fabric.

Step 2
Cut the fabric and tissue around the traced shape, leaving 5mm all round for the hem. Cut out a hole for the button.

Step 3 
Iron the 5mm hem down all around the shape. Apply a fine line of Sew Simple, smear and glue hem in place. Apply Sew Simple around button hole in the same way to stop the fabric fraying.

Project and photos from Bostik