Wednesday 2 October 2013

Waste Not Want Not ...Habit of a Lifetime...?


Hello there ... 
hope you are all well ...
 I'm just trying to catch up with your blog posts .. 
all your doings ...

So what have I been doing ?
 ... trying to make the most of what I have stashed away.

Waste Not Want Not
 ... drummed into be as a child 
... I was thinking about it today as I sat at my sewing machine.
It has become a part of my life
 ... a habit 
... I strive to find a use for everything
... such time, energy, and resources to produce things ... we need to make the most of them.



I was given this lovely fabric a while ago ... yards and yards of it was destined for the rag bag ... it was still on its original roll ... never been used.
I made some simple little tea towels ... the fabric is so fresh.. bright ... and cheerful ... with a bit of an autumnal feel ... 
 


 I've sold lots of them at the car boot ... just the cheery colour makes a girl smile!
And today I have put one on ebay ... you never know .. be nice to think they might travel around the country spreading a little cheeriness!

 I found these amongst the fabric stash too..



 A pair of nice old towelling curtains 
... I just love this brazen retro design. 
The fabric had seen better days ... too rough and ready for me to sell on ... although I must say I do like a fabric that has seen a bit of life ... they have a softness .. a gentle faded look

... so I made something just for me to enjoy.



 A couple of tea towels .... a Girl can't have too many!


 Even a little dishcloth from the scraps .. (do you like my new splash back tiles.... I've been saving these for years... in a box in the shed .. we found them at the tip ... at last I have them fitted!).


 And a nice new ... super absorbent ... roller towel... a must for the grimy hands of Hubby P.

I think it look rather jolly!



A couple of little cushions ... this fabric was once a lovely Welsh wool blanket ... it came to me in pieces .. someone had cut it up to make chair covers (rather badly ) ... too lovely to just throw away ... so it made two cushions and a lap blanket...



... and a couple of little purses from the scraps.

It lets the beauty of the fabric live on ... and all that time effort and craftsmanship can be enjoyed and appreciated a while longer.

Its just knowing what to do with all this hand made stuff ... whats it like selling on etsy and the like these days? 

Where is a good place to sell ?

 I have them for sale on the stall but I wonder if Christmas Fairs etc may be a better option ... what do you think?

 Its all very well sat at the sewing machine all day .. but these things are still falling from the tree...



They are from the very uppermost branches ... no one could reach to pick them ...
so now they are falling ...
great chunky flavoursome apples ...

So that's tomorrows job ... something with apples.

Waste Not Want Not ... 
as Gran would say ... 
'you will be glad of them apples come a cold hard winter' ...

Bye for now 

xx take care xx
 



12 comments:

  1. you live so very very far from where I live and yet we live our lives so much the same, my gramma said the very same thing as well and I suppose its because my relatives came from your country, I love what you have made and I would have done the very same, lol, your back splash tiles are beautiful, they look hand made!

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  2. Hello from Norway, you know, my South African father used to say the same; waste not want not. The phraze has stuck in my mind. I love what you have done with the fabric and the tiles look so cheerful. All the best, Pam

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  3. My mantra too!
    Love your Art Nouveau tiles, possibly a William Morris design?
    I have one blue tile in a pine frame, it's just so lovely, I couldn't bear to use it as a teapot stand so, it now adorns the tiny wall in my hallway and I see it every time I come through the front door.
    Love the welsh blanket fabric too.
    As for Etsy or eBay I can't tell you, don't use them even though I have an Etsy shop, never stocked it!

    Pity I don't live nearer to you, I'd love to swap some fabric or other bits for some of those apples!

    Hugs,
    Sandie xxx

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  4. Gorgeous old fabrics, I remember the patterns from my childhood, how brilliant to see them brought up to date and used all over again. The orange leaf design is wonderful.

    We too have giant apples bouncing down off the trees at the moment, it's so good to be there when they first fall and be able to bring them in and actually use them before the birds and last lingering wasps turn them into a meal, not that I begrudge the birds an Autumn meal ... I just want a few for myself :-)

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  5. Lovely to hear you blogging again, envious of those beautiful tiles.

    Christmas is a good time for craft fairs, are there any Handmade and Vintage fairs near you? Between Hubby P and yourself you would have plenty to stock a stall. Your autumnal coloured barkcloth is very attractive and I know barkcloth is popular just now. Have you tried offering it on ebay, by the metre? Good Luck!

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  6. Such beautiful fabric - all of it, and you're right, you can never have enough tea towels. What fabulous dish cloths too - so much nicer than boring j cloths. Your tiles are stunning. Funnily enough I'm having to look at kitchen tiles at the moment and they are so BORING. Dull, dull, dull. xx

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  7. Waste not want not ... make do and mend ... my mantras too!

    Love your barkcloth teatowels ... barkcloth very collectable on ebay nowadays, perhaps you could just sell it as fat quarters?

    Have a lovely day

    Claire xx

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  8. Waste not, want not - the mantra I grew up with as well. I just love those tiles.

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  9. yes I was brought up the same. I love your tiles, I adore art nouveau.

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  10. The lovely tea towel that you made for me is draped artistically in the spare bedroom, far too nice to dry the pots!!
    we've been picking and harvesting and baking, I now have no freezer space but plenty of stewed apples, blackberries and lottie veg!!
    Keep cosy
    Twiggy xx

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  11. PS School Christmas fairs are cheap and a good place to sell,we are only charging £5 per stall.

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  12. Just catching up in blog land as I have now returned from Marrakech.
    I like your splash back tiling a lot! And this waste not want not attitude has also been my motto all my life. You made good use of all your fabric scraps. The tea towels are fabulous!

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