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

Keep sewing simple: sew-easy dress

I like to sew, but I have no patience.
When I make something to wear, I want to be able to put it on the same afternoon. Given that principle, most of what I make is very simple.
Take the maxi dress on the right. I bought the (cheap) black and white pinstriped jersey fabric by holding the roll against me in the shop to check it was long enough, then wrapping it around me crossways to gauge how much I'd need widthways.
Once I got it home, I folded it in half lengthways, held it against me, put pins in to mark the bottom of the armholes (cutting one in the folded side), then hemmed the armholes, sewed up the one side seam, and hemmed the bottom of the dress.
Next was a tricky bit: making the paper pattern for the front neckline from another top, by slipping a piece of newspaper inside the top, then tracing around the neckline, cutting it out and drawing around that on the dress fabric. Then I hemmed the neckline. The final touch was a narrow band of the jersey fabric to tie around as a belt. I didn't even hem this as I judged it wouldn't fray (and so far it hasn't).
I'm well aware that my workmanship isn't of a high standard, and that jersey is a forgiving fabric, and my friend Carol, who took the pic, would agree that the dress looks better in real life (just as well, I hear you cry).
If you're a fan of simple sewing, you should try this gorgeous bias-cut drawstring skirt pattern. I bought some pretty paisley fabric to make mine as soon as the book landed on my desk.

More about sewing

How to make chocolate Easter eggs

Even if you love chocolate, you can have a bit too much of it. I know, what am I saying? So this Easter, I wanted to make a small-scale Easter treat.

How to make chocolate Easter eggs in the half-shell
Carefully crack the eggs in half, and set aside the yolks and whites for cooking. (Shakshouka, anyone? Perfect Bank Holiday weekend breakfast).
Rinse the shells and scrape out the membrane inside the shell. Wipe dry with kitchen paper.
Melt your choice of milk or dark chocolate (you'll need about 50g to fill four half-shells) in the microwave, or in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Spoon the melted chocolate into the half-shells – no dribbles! – then sprinkle on whatever decorations you fancy. I used edible rose petals (Waitrose, £1.99) and chopped nuts, but sprinkles or even a chocolate mini egg would look good too. Happy Easter!

Enjoy more ways to cook with flowers

You are... a craftivist

This fine example of my appallingly bad embroidery is part of the 'You Are So Very Beautiful' stitched affirmations craftivist project from craftivism.com.

It is very messy looking but in my defence, I was in a hurry to finish it, and the only yarn I had to hand was some from a WIP longstitch project, which was too thick for the hessian I used. However, the main thing was to be involved with this project. Started by Betsy Greer, who sums it up: 'It’s time to let our acts of stitching go by leaving them in places for someone to find, someone who needs to hear those words just as you do, if not more. As craftivism is about healing ourselves as we make, and then healing the world with our products, let’s get to it.'

I tried a couple of places to perch my square; this painted windowsill was a good colour match.

In the end, I left it here, can't tell you where, just that it's in London.

Find out more about the 'You Are So Very Beautiful' project.

Save money: make your own body scrub

As I took to the bathroom last night for a bit of a pamper, I noticed that one of my all-time favourite beauty products had almost run out. REN Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish (£32, 330ml) is a sublimely scented body scrub, containing no nasties like parabens, and packed with essential oils.
Rosa damascena (damask rose) is the scent you notice, plus others such as geranium oil, all mixed together with cane sugar in a base of sweet almond and olive oils.
Used on dry skin (for a more robust scrub) or on wet (a softer polish), it gets rid of dead skin cells and moisturises, leaving you smelling gorgeous.
Anyway, as I say, mine had almost run out (I suspect my OH has been at it) so I decided to top it up, as I wasn't within reach of a REN stockist.

How to make body scrub
All you need is some oil, sugar,or salt and some essential oils. Oil-wise, sweet almond is the best (that's Prunus dulcis to those of you who read your labels), but you can use olive or sunflower oil. Pour in enough sugar or salt to give a grainy paste, not too sloppy, not too stiff – a suitable consistency for rubbing into your skin. Then add a couple of drops of essential oil/s. (If you don't have any, don't add any; the scrub will still work!) Stir with your fingers then scoop out and exfoliate away!

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

The history of Valentine's Day

Yes, we know, February 14 means hearts, red roses and chocolates. But how did the celebration originate?
If you're lucky enough to hear the plop of a Valentine hitting the doormat, it may surprise you to know that our celebration on February 14 has more to do with a wolf than a saint. Although St Valentine is now known as the patron saint of lovers, this Roman priest was imprisoned and then martyred in 269 AD for helping persecuted Christians. (His ashes are in a church in Glasgow, and at least some of his bones are in a church in Madrid - neither of them called St Valentine's.)

The present-day practice of anonymously asking a member of the opposite sex to be your lover has its roots in a popular pagan ritual, where boys selected girls to be their partners by drawing their names out of an urn.

This Roman festival, called Lupercalia, celebrated the day when the she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, founders of the city of Rome. The festival was borrowed by the early Christian church and moved back one day to coincide with an existing saint's day.

Another theory behind the custom of choosing a lover on this day, also originating from the animal kingdom, is the old belief that this was when birds chose their mates for the following year.

The earliest known Valentine's Day message was sent in the form of a letter from Margery Brews to John Paston, 'my right belovyd Valuntyn', in 1477, following a dispute about the size of her dowry.

Valentine's cards as we know and love them today, weren't introduced until around 1834, when Jonathan King of London perfected a method of manufacturing paper lace on a commercial scale. His wife had the bright idea of scattering feathers and pieces of coloured paper over the cards.

Also popular at this time and throughout the Victorian era were 'vinegar Valentines' or 'penny dreadfuls'. These were sent on Valentine's Day to unpopular people. To add insult to injury, in those days you had to pay to receive one, as postal costs were paid by the recipient, not the sender!

For those who left everything to the last minute, a special Valentine' Day telegram was issued in 1936. Fifty thousand were sent, including one with the message: 'And now I've asked you to be nine/By gosh! It's cost me eight and nine!' Bet that boosted the romance in that relationship.

And why hearts? They're perceived as the seat of our emotions. And red roses? In the language of flowers, these symbolise true love.

I love Valentine's Day, usually celebrating at home with my partner cooking. We don't spend much, just a card and a little something. I love to write about how to make Valentine cards and presents too.

I wrote the instructions for this quilled paper Valentine card above, for Prima.co.uk; the pic is from a photo library.
Spotty heart Valentine card, instructions written for Allaboutyou.com
Sheer rose-petal-filled heart, instructions written for Allaboutyou.com