Quick and Easy Quilted Potholder

I recently took a trip to Pennsylvania for a friend's wedding. She lives smack-dab in Amish country, so every gift shop and market I visited was chock full of quilted crafts. Pot holders, pillows, reusable shopping bags, wall hangings and of course, some beautiful and amazing quilted blankets.

I decided I wanted to try a little bit of quilt-crafting myself, and since winter is upon us, I grabbed some holiday fabric from the Reuse Centre and got to work.

I started out trying to make a fancy star like I'd seen in so many Pennsylvania gift shops, but quickly realized I was in over my head! I started over with a simpler design of diagonal strips of patterned fabric, surrounded by a border of plain red.

This quick, easy project took so little fabric that I probably could have made at least five pot holders from the small rolls I picked up! I used my machine for most of the sewing, but this could easily be done by hand with a little patience.

Instead of purchasing quilt batting for the inside, I used two layers of leftover fleecy fabric that I already had in my fabric stash. The hanging loop is a scrap of ribbon cut out of the shoulder of a shirt, making this project 100% reused.

It doesn't quite rival the meticulously stitched works of art I saw stateside, but I'm pretty pleased with how my little potholder turned out. Maybe I'll even work my way up to fancy stars one of these days, too!

-Sarah (Volunteer)

All photographs provided by Sarah

Recycled Doll house Renovation!

This project rocked my world, it was so much fun that for a while I'm ashamed to admit, I teetered on the murky edges of crazy Victorian doll house lady. To date I still have 4 others in varying states of repair awaiting loveliness.

Ok so 5 sounds a bit much? But they kept finding me and they were in need of TLC I just couldn't resist, like this gorgeous 1960's style open sided house. Can you believe this was just $1.50? Craziness!

So here is the starting point, a very blah looking unloved but sturdy wooden doll house, rubber cemented down carpet sample? Check, 80's paint job? Check? Time to get to work.

Top one is the poor unloved shell pre-makeover.

I played around with the design of the rooms and the style, first opting for something bright and modern. Check out the knitted Ottoman and cushion, knitted using toothpicks (yes I am ridiculous but it was fun) and embroidery floss.

In the end I decided on a mix of old and new, some gorgeous vintage fabric and a small remnant of contact paper (all Reuse Centre finds of course) gave me some inspiration for colour schemes. Now to start the demolition!

I ripped out the carpet, the single kitchen tile floor and cut new floors to make it easier to change them away from the doll house itself.

Would you believe that all the flooring was not only FREE but RECYCLED too? Double points!

Bedroom hardwood looking flooring is actually an old bamboo blind.

White flooring is made from popsicle sticks, which took me hours, lesson learnt, bamboo blinds all the way baby! So quick and easy and the indentations from the blind cords made it looks like planks of wood.

Kitchen flooring is real composite tiles sourced from Freecycle, a sample pack of 2x2 tiles cut down, glued then grouted. So pleased with the finished look of this and the fact that it's not only rainbow but real kitchen tiles made me smile.

The curtain rods were small wooden dowels I had in my stash and worked perfectly with cup hooks to keep them in place. It took my little lady at least an hour to pull the rods out but they were popped back in easily, crisis averted.

After searching in vain for some scalloped wooden trim to add to the sides of the under roof area I ended up using some cereal box card and a dollar and tracing my own, a couple of licks of pink paint and we were on to a winner.

The vintage looking roof was created using a dollar store drawer liner, I loved how this turned out, and it smelt like roses the whole time I was papering it. It was pretty lumpy on first application so I sanded it once it had dried and the lumps disappeared and a gorgeous aged, worn in look came about, and all for $3? Score!

Ok ready for the royal tour?

First the living room, wall colour not yet decided so some colourful accessories brightened up the room.

The sofa I made from scratch, stitched from real leather scraps, a block of wood, card and some stuffing, my first try at mini furniture and it's pretty realistic non?

Faux acrylic coffee table is from the base of a Palmolive washing up liquid bottle, patchwork rug is chopped up from small carpet samples. Ottoman is a mini Play-doh tub covered in recycled shoe leather. Table lamp is a dollar store bubble solution bottle, and lamp shade is scrap fabric covered piece of plastic canvas folded and stitched together.

Downstairs bathroom or kitchen as it will be when we add more furniture to the house.

Furniture is by Hape, the blue back splash is a scrap of contact paper stuck to a piece of cereal box and the bin is a $1 toy found around the house.

I added a menu board for when the kitchen furniture is in place, just some corrugated card covered with painted popsicle sticks and sanded for a rustic look, and the best bit? It is actually a chalk board painted with chalkboard paint, all I need now is some teeny tiny chalk!

Moving up the imaginary staircase to the bedrooms, here we arrive in the master bedroom.

Bamboo blind flooring, vintage fabric glued to the walls and a faux chair rail and baseboards/skirting boards were bamboo blind pieces again, such a great source of wood that didn't need staining.

A vintage eyelet doily for a rug, two hexagonal brass drawer knobs as bedside tables and some more miniature sewing.

I hated the way that bedding never sat flat when I was little, so I just sewed a tiny pin-tuck down each side of the bedspread (formerly a place mat), it did the trick and looks a bit more realistic. The pink cushion is knitted again with embroidery floss and toothpicks.

The dresser was given to me and the 'fabric' inside is bias tape or lace seam binding glued and folded around a small piece of cardboard.

Saving the best to last, here is the children's room. The furniture again is Hape, so cute and fun, every detail is thought of.

The rug is some bakers twine looking cotton yarn I had, I just twisted it around a piece of cereal box card and glued as I went, love the rag rug look it has.

Faux cow hide rug is some minky fabric scrap simply cut in a erm, dead cow shape. Check out the amazing vintage contact paper, another amazing Reuse Centre find. I love this design and the fact it has England, Canada, France, Germany and Greece on it and the illustrations are so cute.

The flooring is popsicle sticks sanded cut and painted once stuck down, long time in the making but I do love how it turned out.

The curtains I made and added ribbon tie backs then draped a small piece of pompom trim found at the Reuse Centre over the top.

The whole she-bang.

Soooo still with me? Still awake? Understand why this project was a year in the making?... and just remember I have FOUR more of the suckers to finish lol.

- Emma (Volunteer)

Blogger Team's New Year's Craft Resolutions

The Reuse Centre blog team got together recently, to touch base and brainstorm for the next year of Reuse-It Edmonton. As we traded ideas and proposed topics, discussion turned to our own personal New Years Craft resolutions. It seemed like each one of us had something we wanted to learn, or a neglected project that's been languishing in the back of a closet somewhere.

We made a pact - each one of us is going to try and tackle one of those things, and we thought it would be fun to share our crafting goals with you!

Sarah

Meet my refashion pile. It's huge, it's embarrassing, and my boyfriend probably thinks it's gained sentience because I keep moving it while he's not looking, in the hopes that he'll forget it exists.

My 2014 craft resolution is to get through this pile and refashion everything so it can be reintroduced to my regular wardrobe. And, of course, to stop adding to it!

Michelle

My craft goal for 2014 is to build a dog bed or house. I don't have a dog but my best friend has a puppy named Bella and stays with me quite often. She is a one year old long haired Chihuahua, so a very tiny dog. Here is an idea that inspired me to do this. I want to reuse old items to create the structure, maybe a stool or old furniture. I am not really sure what the exact plans are yet but wish me luck!

Hayley

2014 is the year that I will learn how to sew! I have been inspired by all of the incredible crafty people I blog with and also our customers at the Reuse Centre. I have signed up for a Learn to Sew class in the spring and I am really looking forward to learning these essential skills.  My ultimate goal is not to make clothes for my cats (as my sister suspects) but to be able to mend my own pant legs to the proper length, and after that use my new found skills to make a duvet for my bed and try other home decorating projects (so many great ideas on Pinterest)!          
Nichole

My craft goal for 2014 is to furnish my new apartment with as many antique and repurposed items as possible. I found a craft book with ideas on how to make candle holders out of plumbing parts, and bulletin boards out of pegboard and rubber bands.

Lana

I loved the book Generation T by Megan Nicolay since I first looked through it (almost 10 years ago!). It fully convinced me of the versatility and wonders of cotton jersey knit. Since then I’ve saved up every promotional T-shirt that came my way, but I didn’t get much further than that. My 2014 craft resolution: Use those T-shirts (two garbage bags full) to make some of the projects in this book and its sequel.

Kelly:

This year I've resolved to upcycle thrift finds into more current pieces rather than supporting disposable fashion. For the same price, you can thrift unique, quality clothing that really only needs some creative tweeking to be perfect. Bloggers like A Pair & A Spare's Geneva Vanderzeil and Love Aesthetic's Ivania Carpio are great inspiration for fashion reworking!

Emma

I have sooooo many projects in the works at any one time so I resolve to finish a WIP (work in progress) a week. Since I like to have too much on my hands. I also resolve to hone my knitting skills. There's nothing better than a crafty new years resolution, can't wait to see how far my knitting takes me in 2014!!

We would love to hear your reuse crafting New Years resolution! Share them below!

- Reuse-it Edmonton Blog team (Staff and Volunteers)

Tutorial Framed Button Monogram

Mother's Day is fast approaching and it's an occasion for which, I'm sorry to say, I've always had a little trouble in coming up with a good gift.  The day calls for something small, and understated which is a difficult concept for me.  Fortunately, my addiction to Pinterest provided me with a few great (and easy!) ideas for something nice for my mom.  She's been doing some redecorating lately, and trying to find some new and interesting things for the walls, which is why I finally settled on making her a framed Button Monogram.

For this craft, you will need:

A picture frame

Something onto which to mount the buttons: some wallpaper/a square of fabric

A lot of buttons

Glue (hot, crazy, craft) OR Needle and thread

A pencil

My mom has pretty classy taste, and she's really into black and white graphics.  I decided to design her monogram with black/dark buttons on a white background, then mount it in a black frame.  I found a nice, unused 8" x 10" shadow box lying around the house, but you can also find the perfect frame at the Reuse Centre!  

I removed the insert with the cheesy photo from the frame and used it as a template to cut out the anaglypta wallpaper I found to use.  I like the textured quality of the anaglypta, but an interesting piece of fabric would be equally lovely.

I didn't want to waste buttons or wreck the monogram by free-styling their placement, so I first laid out a few loose buttons in an "S" shape to help choose the right sizes and colours.  You could also trace the letter you want with a pencil, but the pattern on the anaglypta made this a bit difficult.  This way, you can make any necessary changes before you make anything permanent with glue.  (In this case, I switched out the big buttons for smaller ones and used some coloured ones instead of all black.)

If you're using fabric, you'll probably want to secure the buttons with needle and thread.  After attaching the first layer of buttons, you can plump up the monogram by filling in any empty spaces with more buttons.  Allow the monogram plenty of time to dry, then just pop it in the frame!  I finished it off with some pearly pins in the corners for some added interest.  

This was unbelievably easy (and needless to say, economical) to assemble, and now my mom will have something new for her walls.

Happy Mother's Day!

-Nichole (Volunteer)

Tutorial Easter Bunny Egg Cosies

Rummaging through the fabric bins for some Easter inspiration I came upon some small remnants of psychedelic fabric I can only imagine hailed from the 70''s.  Floral? Check. Random colours? Check. They caught my eye and needed showcasing, but how?

Sometimes all it takes is a small piece of a bold fabric to make the project pop, this is that project.

What you'll need:

Small piece of mid weight fabric, denim or cord are perfect. The fabric will need to stand up on its own when sewn together so nothing light or drapey.
Scraps of a bold patterned fabric
Scissors
Sewing machine

Optional: bias tape maker, pre-made bias tape

Using the shapes in the photo cut out two arc shapes, this will be the main piece and should be no bigger than the palm of your hand. 

Cut two ear pieces, round off the ends of two rectangles, repeat with patterned fabric.

Lastly cut out one circle 2 inches across.

Right sides together sew your patterned and main fabric ear shapes together reinforcing stitches at start and finish of each piece.

Flip right sides out, at the open edge fold the sides of the ears in, pinch and sew across to make a rolled ear shape. Repeat for the other ear.


With the raw edges of the ears lined up to the top edge of the main arc shape piece, stitch both ears down ensuring they are evenly spaced across the top edge and leaving a gap in the middle.

Layer the other main arc shape on top of the piece you have sewn the ears to and stitch three quarters of the way round, starting at the bottom edge and finishing halfway down the opposite side.

Add bias tape (or double fold) the raw bottom edge. I made a faux bias tape by using a 1 1/2 inch strip of the patterned fabric on the straight grain, double folded it then stitched it down, opening up the bunny to make the bottom edge lay flat as I sewed.

Turn bunny inside out again and stitch up the remaining open edge, reinforcing stitching at the end.

For an extra bit of psychedelic flare I made a yo-yo and hand-stitched this to the back in place of a tail.

To make your own yo-yo's (hand sewing required):
-Cut a circle two inches across, stitch a running stitch all the way around the outside of the circle starting from the inside with a knotted thread, stitch 1/8 in or thereabouts from the edge.
-Pull up the threads when you get to the end and knot. You should be left with a circular puff of fabric.
Turn it over and hand-stitch it to the back of the Egg cosy, in place of a tail.

Add a cute face or just leave it plain, make them your own with your fave Reuse Centre fabric finds.

Happy Easter

- Emma (Volunteer)

Make good fortune (cookies) for Chinese new year

2013 Chinese New Years Day is February 10th and it beckons in the year of the Snake.

Nothing says Chinese New Year to me more than fortune cookies, so exciting to open but who actually eats the cookie itself?  How about making your own? look complicated? Would you believe each of these tutorials start off with just a basic circle?

This tutorial uses paper and printed fortunes but I love the idea of writing your own and making them person specific for a special touch especially if you're having people over to eat. Or popping them into your children's lunch box.

Think beyond purchased scrapbooking paper, try old road maps, comics, wall paper samples, we always have plenty of paper here so pop in and see what's in stock.

Handy with a sewing machine? pick up a bag of fabric and get cracking on these beautiful machine stitched Fortune cookies. Wouldn't they look cute stuffed and put on a key chain? or as favours for a wedding or baby shower?

We All Sew

Wishing you good fortune throughout the year in all your crafty, creative and of course recycling endeavours.

- Emma (Volunteer)