Friday, July 31, 2020

Upcycled Clutch Purse using Bread Tags


upcycled purse using bread bag ties


Like any recycle minded crafter I like to look for the possibilities in the random packaging and pieces of plastic that often make their way to the trash.  I'm not keen on the idea of waste and landfill and over time I have collected those little plastic tabs off of bread products.  

Surely there is a craft for them?!?  Here is a decorative use for them that I incorporated in to a little clutch bag project.

This project was featured in the relaunch issue of 'GreenCraft' magazine by Stampington Magazines.  I was so excited to hear that they were reviving this magazine and extra excited to have my clutch purse project featured in the Gallery pages :)

GreenCraft relaunch edition July 2020
GreenCraft magazine July 2020


Materials you will need

    A stack of the little plastic bread tabs you've collected

    Yarn or embroidery thread.  I used some needlepoint thread from a thrift store but use what you have.
    (etsy have some great stores selling interesting yarns and threads)

    Grosgrain ribbon (10mm /  3/8" wide works best)

    Strong glue.  I like Aleene's tacky glue but any strong craft glue works 

    A plain rectangular clutch purse (a small toiletry bag or pencil case works well too)

    Needle and thread/ scissors
 
Supplies for the up cycled clutch purse

Sort your tags in to color and shape.  I used the most common shape.

Glue pairs of tags together ensuring that any printing is on the back of the finished tab.


Bread tag upcycle

Use your choice of yarn or thread to wrap around the joint and knot at the back of the tab.  Create several of these mixing up the colors if you choose.  I used two colors for this project.

Once you have a bunch of these you can begin to weave them on to the grosgrain ribbon.  Grosgrain ribbon works really well because the weaved texture snags neatly on to the hooks of the bread tags.







Overlap the tabs as you continue weaving in and out with your ribbon


Once you have created several lengths of woven tabs in the correct length to match your purse




Attach your lengths of tabs to the front face of your clutch purse using glue.  
You can reinforce the fixing at each end of the lengths using a small stitch or two to secure the ribbon to the purse.

upcycled clutch purse using bread tags for maycontainpaper

My original project used hot pink grosgrain ribbon but I've used a higher contrast blue for this tutorial

Thursday, July 16, 2020

T-shirt Cushion

These kids t-shirts were well loved ones that were hard to say goodbye to so we got creative and made a small pillow.  Quick and easy to sew for all levels of crafters.
 
handmade upcycled pillow, book and teddy bear


What you'll need....

    1 or 2 old but well loved tshirts
    Scissors
    Sewing machine, needle & thread
    Filling from an old pillow and/or soft fabric scraps for filling


First flatten out your t-shirt and cut a square panel incorporating as much of your image (if t-shirt has one!) as possible.


Tshirt upcylcled in to pillow

If you are using two tshirts for contrasting back and front be sure to try and keep your cut square panels similar size.

Pin the two square panels together with outsides of the t-shirt squares facing each other.  Sew along three edges and along fourth edge leaving a gap of 3-4 inches open.


Cutting square panels from t-shirts


Turn inside out, stuff with upcycled filling (I used an out of shape pillow we already had at home) and sew up the gap.

Ta-da!  

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Upcycled Artwork Using Trash Mail





I like nothing better than to use disposable materials as a substrate for paper collage projects

Sometimes those flyers lurking in your mailbox are of really good paper quality and weight.  These two little projects are artworks I created using the flyers as a starting point.

I was very fortunate to have this project featured in the pages of Somerset Studio (February 2020)


Artwork collage on flyer destined for the trash
Upcycled flyer + paint + ephemera = instant artwork! 



Materials you will need include  (I've listed the products I use but any product you like is the right one ;)

Flyer from the trash !!
White gesso (liquitex is a good one)
Acrylic paints in 2 or 3 neutral shades.  (I like the ceramcoat brand)
Black stamp pad
Vintage book text, images & handwritten letters
Paper doilies
Artist papers pulled from copies of Somerset Studio
Ribbon scraps & embroidery thread


Instructions

- Gesso the whole surface of the flyer on both sides and allow to dry.

- Build up random background color with acrylic paint using your fingers to blend.  Super messy - super fun!

- Take 4-5 collage pieces - torn scraps, printed elements, small pieces of your own artwork, Tim Holtz ephemera, scraps of ribbon - and build up an overlapped collage in the center of each page.

Overlapping and layering is key to an interesting composition.

- Punch small holes in a piece of the ephemera and loosely weave some embroidery thread through separating the threads randomly or incorporate a couple of simple cross stitches.



Collage using Tim Holtz products

Add a personal artwork to your collage like this watercolor egg


Collage using Tim Holtz products

A little gold ribbon adds a little sparkle!


Collage using Tim Holtz products

Tim Holtz stamps and paper ephemera are perfect for collage


Explore Somerset Studio and the other creative magazines available at Stampington Magazines

Check out one of their latest offers here ! - Free Possibility Tote with Subscription Offer

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