I am a huge fan of living green, and reducing, re-using, recycling, reclaiming, repairing and upcycling.
BUT! There is one leetle bit of living green that I am going to ask people to re-consider.
Let me back up for a moment.
A few weeks ago,
when I was in the
local library,
I saw a table of
discontinued books
for sale.
There was also a
‘free’ box.
There was a bunch of stuff
that didn’t speak to me at all,
but, this magazine was in the box
and fairly flew into my arms!
It’s a British needlework magazine from April of 1963.  I love studying the history of needlework, and one way to do that …read more

We have a new entry on our ’search list’ for when we are noodling through thrift shops and garage sales: Old wooden rulers.
I have fallen madly in love with netting style shuttles and am having a wonderful time upcycling old rulers into shuttles.
Today, I needed to take a little break.
So, I grabbed a couple of the
old wooden rulers that we have
found in our recent travels.
As I was working on carving
the old rulers into shuttles,
I noticed something…
The 2 lower shuttles in the
photo at the left
came from a ruler that
just has inches.
The 2 shuttles at the top of the pic came from …read more

A couple of days ago, I found two pillowcases at a yard sale. I posted about them and how challenging I thought it might be to upcycle them.
They were quite extraordinarily ugly, because of their odd combination of elements. The centers are  wonderful embroidered flowers, and they are actually the reason why I rescued the pillow cases from the ‘free- please take away’ box.  I am thinking about how I will upcycle them, and have  blogged about using photoshop to sketch out possibilities.
Separating the neon orange polyester fabric
from the embroidery made them both look better.
I began to see the potential …read more

Yesterday, I posted about how I have been upcycling fabric teabags by making them into ribbon yarn and crocheting and weaving with them. Before that, I posted about how I made them into yo yo circles.
Today, I’ll show how I upcycled a baker’s dozen (13) of the little fabric teabags into a tutu for my Fanciful Fiber Friend Flat Doll.
In the pic above, a slew of the fabric teabags are hanging in the studio window, drying. Alright, so it looks weird… but c’mon!
It’s a studio… you expect to see unusual things in the windows!
After emptying the dryed
used up tea into …read more

Yesterday, I posted about turning silk teabags into yo yo circle embellishments.
I am a total tea afficianado-
I drink it from morning to night.
White, black, red, green…
I love it.
My husband is a jazz musician,
and when his trio plays at
our favorite bistro,
they always immediately make me
a cup of green tea.
I was just dazzled by the gorgeousness of the flavor of  a new  tea, and was delighted when the server told me that it was because the tea was in a silk bag.   There was no way I was going to throw that bag away, so it came home with me, and inspired …read more

I am a dyed in the wool tea fanatic- I am never without a cuppa tea beside me or in hand.
Recently, I found some delicious tea that comes in silk teabags.
Well… if that isn’t an invitation to upcycle, I don’t know what is!
After all, if I am going to pay for the silk
in those tea bags, I am certainly not
going to waste it!
It’s silk, for goodness sake!
and silk’s precious!
So, now, after I savour my cuppa tea,
I save the bag and turn it into all kinds of  upcycled embellishments.
I used to snip one edge of the teabag open,
but I realized that …read more

As well as weaving with yarn on the potholder loom, you can weave with fabric strips, too.
This is a great way of upcycling old clothing and turning it into something new.
I cut up a sweatshirt  for this project….. the outside was lovely and soft, but the inside was like steel wool.
It just wasn’t wearable, so it was time to upcycle it.
First, clamp the garment to a desk or table, and use a sharp knife to release the lower band from the sweatshirt.
Then cut it into a continuous strip by cutting a narrow section, around and around the band….
And, then, use …read more

When I was a little girl, I had a tiny suitcase that I used to carry my favorite dollclothes in when I went to my friend’s house to play dolls.
This has left me with a life long fondness for little suitcases.
So, when my husband popped into a garage sale last week,
and saw this tiny toolbox/suitcase,
he knew I’d love it.
As soon as I saw it,
I knew that it would
be perfect for
organizing patterns
and templates
and small bits of
this and that
for the Flat dolls.
But…
When I opened it up…. ugh…. the inside was really ugly….
So, with a lot of tugging, the suitcase was eviscerated.
I used …read more

Yesterday, I posted a  pattern that I made from a vintage handmade inkle weaving shuttle.
Today, I thought… I should use that pattern to make a shuttle!
Then I remembered that I had a piece of an old ruler from my husband’s Dad in the studio.
I don’t know what he used the other half for, but I am pleased as can be to have this half!
I traced the pattern onto the ruler.
Because I promised my friend, William, that I wouldn’t use power tools until my eye is completely healed, I used simple hand tools.
My eye is really not there yet, so power …read more

Here’s a fun contest for the green days of summer:
Jill Ammon Vanderwood has kindly donated a copy of her new book:

What’s It Like, Living Green?
to Hankering for Yarn,
because of my passion for green and eco friendly living.

What’s It Like, Living Green?
Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live
features families who live green,
kids who are
making a difference for the environment
and tips as simple
as putting on a sweater,
rather than turning up the heat.

Link: What’s It Like, Living Green? By Jill Ammon Vanderwood
How do you win a copy of the book?
Simple!
Leave a comment in the box below, with a …read more