Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Repair & Repurpose (ing)

I have a thing about sewing drawers, you know the ones that once belonged to sewing machine cabinets from days long past?  They are a great decorative way to store small items in my sewing space. I found this poor lonely thing in need of attention.  Not only was it missing it's top, but one of  drawer pulls as well.


It was a fairly simple fix. To create a new top, a piece of MDF board was wrapped with batting and fabric


stitched neatly in place


a few screws holds the top on firmly


New hardware and its ready to be filled. This set of drawers will live beside my computer to hold flash drives, chargers, cords and all that sort of thing......an attractive way to keep clutter at a minimum.

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On the subject of re purposing, a friend showed me mittens she made from old sweaters which we thought would make an excellent contribution for an upcoming church bazaar ( each year we donate hand crafted items as this church allows the use of their facilities for our sewing group)
When I came across this sweater....it was game on. So many possibilities!


my first mitten.


led to many more....I used 3 different sweaters, mixing and matching bits, no two are the same. They are lined with  thick, double sided polar fleece.....super soft and warm.


Wanna make some too? A quick You Tube search will lead you to several excellent tutorials.




10 comments:

The Cozy Quilter said...

Great projects! I love the mittens--we will need to get the mittens out soon around here!

Robbie said...

Clever lady!

LynnJ in Wis said...

Great little post and so inspirational; need to get going on doing the same. Thanks for the push. Also, absolutely love your artwork!

Glenda said...

Be still my heart!!! LOVE the mittens. Oh my goodness! I have a Nordic looking sweater squirreled away with mittens in mind. How you have inspired me! Never thought of mixing it up with a second or third sweater. That sounds wonderful.
Your sewing machine drawers turned out brilliantly too. Great idea.....and now....what is that pattern on the wall behind the drawers. Looks like your artwork, and reminds me of your quilt entry done all in wool from a few years ago.
So, so inspiring as always Jill.

ferne said...

What a brilliant idea!

Diane J. Evans said...

You are the Queen of Repurposing! That cabinet is just beautiful, and I LOVE the mittens. You should make some to sell in your Etsy shop.

Diane

quiltedfabricart said...

oh! I've been saving this really cool sweater for some project and the mittens are perfect! thank you for the idea! I'm off to search you tube

The HouseCat said...

Ooo, with the right patterned jumper I think I could make mittens that suit even my aesthetic! (Purple foliate/swirls on black and I'm set!)

Royce said...

Love the sewing machine drawer transformation. Just watched your snowflake video on tube that was very nice and the reveal with the bee was way cool

Createology said...

I love your set of old sewing cabinet drawers. Wow, mittens from old sweaters! They look gorgeous and warm. How thoughtful and generous of your sewing group to donate to the church bazaar. Blessings Dear...

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