I sit before a spill of a thousand pieces trying to make order– edges, colors, shapes: an airplane, little man, Shrek, Swiss cheese punched with holes…
It hardly matters. The pieces are finite, and even if a few are lost the picture will declare itself in time.
But in life– I will never know the count. The shapes keep changing, colors fade as I reach for them. I turn my mind this way and that, seeking a fit, some clear design.
Still, the table remains scattered. I learn to live beside it. The clarity I seek remains elusive.
Upcycle definition: reuse discarded objects or material in such as way as to create a product of a higher quality or value than the original.
Last summer, I made a last minute purchase of a blouse to wear at a family celebration. Although I liked the fabric, it never really fit me properly despite my best tailoring efforts to salvage it. Yesterday, when I needed a black bag to go with an outfit, I thought it was time to put the blouse to a better use. I am happy with the result and thought I would share some upcycling and sewing tips:
Source the fabric for your project from your clothes or family and friends’ donation boxes, garage sales, and thrift stores. Look for the largest sizes to yield the most fabric yardage.
Be resourceful and don’t limit yourself to just clothing: wraps, and even sheets. drapes, and tablecloths can work well.
Find a simple sewing pattern that will be easy to modify. I had found Simplicity pattern #2685 on Etsy. It required more fabric than what I could harvest from the blouse, so I decided to use a different, but complementary, fabric from my quilt stash for the lining. The lining fabric I selected wasn’t quite wide enough, but by decreasing the size of the lining pleats by a little, I got it to fit.
Be creative by adding embellishments such as buttons and piping on the outside placard to make the bag truly your own. In this case, the fabric was so busy, I decided to eliminate the decorative placard all together.
Don’t be afraid to mix and match pattern pieces from the various styles within the pattern package to meet your needs. I usually lengthen the straps, add an interior pocket for my phone, and attach a carabiner for my car and house keys.
Fill power is a measure of the loft or “fluffiness” of a down product that is loosely related to the insulating value of the down. The higher the fill power, the more air a certain weight of the down can trap, and thus the more insulating ability the down will have. Fill power ranges from about 300 (in³/oz) for feathers to around 900 (in³/oz) for the highest quality goose down. from Wikipedia
I received a wonderful, dare I say sensual, down comforter for Christmas this year. It has a 950 fill power and weighs less than two pounds. It is meant for fall and spring camping but since my house is quite cold at night, I couldn’t resist using it for sleeping in my bed as well.
Unlike my old comforter that was heavy, rough and prickly from duck feather barbs protruding through the cotton covering, this quilt is light, soft and smooth. I love being enveloped by the luxury of its airiness and warmth.
I began to compare this feeling of the new comforter to being around certain types of people: Some individuals are light, optimistic and well, happy – I might want to hug them, to envelop myself in their positivity, to be in their orb, while others are dark, pessimistic and irritable – like the prickly duck feathers, I want to give them distance. In the New Year, I seek to spend my time with the lighter and more positive fowls.
There’s just no accounting for happiness or the way it turns up like a prodigal who comes back to the dust at your feet having squandered a fortune far away. from Happiness by Jane Kenyon
I wonder what would happen if you Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out Honestly I wanna see you be brave…
lyrics from the song Brave by Sara Bareilles
Sometimes it is hard to be the person you need me to be…
What matter if I stand alone? I wait with joy the coming years; My heart shall reap where it hath sown, And garner up its fruit of tears. from the poem Waiting by John Burroughs
Still hopeful that you will stand by my side one day…
Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle. – Eric Zorn
For once, I am hoping to keep the promises I made to myself…
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something. Neil Gaiman
Taking some time to figure out my new year’s action list…
But in this season it is well to reassert that the hope of mankind rests in Faith. As man thinketh, so he is. Nothing much happens unless you believe in it, and believing there is hope for the world is a way to move toward it. Gladys Taber
Taking some time to appreciate all the happy moments from today…
Satin & Sand 