Green(er)
Three crafty posts in a row (with more on the way). What's going on here? Must be Christmas! But it's not just that. There is definitely a creative groove in our home right now and I'm just running with it.
Inspiration
Sewing with re-purposed fabrics is nothing new to many of you but I just wanted to share a few projects we've made in the last month or so with worn out clothing and leftover project materials. Firstly, I've been inspired by a couple blogging friends, most notably Nicola at which name? and Lisa at 5 Orange Potatoes to experiment and play with "old things" to make "new things".
Other sources of inspiration have been these excellent books:
- Handmade Home. A very popular book for families with kiddos since many projects are kid friendly or kid inspired.
- Sewing Green: Projects and Ideas for Stitching with Organic, Repurposed, and Recycled Fabrics. I was able to get this book through inter-library loan. Have I mentioned yet how much I love inter-library loan?
- Sweater Surgery: How to Make New Things with Old Sweaters. Ditto on inter-library loan.
Projects
~ Knee-socks sewn from the arms of a sweater. This was a collaborative project for Celine and I. We found the idea in Sweater Surgery and located the perfect sweater at goodwill, having nothing suitable in our own "worn-out clothing" bin.
~ Denim purse made from Celine's favorite pair of jeans. Celine tackled this project all on her own and from her own inspiration.
~ Bernie, the Hippy Chick, handstitched by Brienne and I using the pattern found in Sweater Surgery. The original instructions call for felted sweaters, we just used new crafting felt. But we found the fabric at our local reusable resources center which collects excess materials, both used and new, from business and industry to re-distribute to schools, educators and non-profit organizations. I have a yearly membership and this is where I get most of the kid's crafting supplies; fabrics, papers, etc...
~ Yarn & button stuffed vinyl tree decoration made by me with leftover vinyl from a kitchen chair upholstery project. A bit of funky fun for our Christmas tree.
What re-purposed crafting have you been doing? Can you recommend other books or resources?
I suppose that title is misleading on a couple counts. Firstly, I don't practice yoga. Nothing against it, I just don't exercise in general outside of my normal life routine. Except for that time during my mom's March visit when we watched a yoga instructional video and I laughed through my clumsy downward dogs, warrior, tree and cat poses.
I hike 4-6 miles a week, go on walks year round with the kids, and garden during the summer. That's my exercise.
I also don't technically "wear the pants" in the family. I threw that part in for fun. Although from time to time I've tried them on for size you couldn't pay me enough to wear the pants in this family. Way too much responsibility.
So what exactly is this all about? Well, Damien sewed these yoga pants for me, to my exact specifications: slim fitting (just because I'm home all day I don't want to look frumpy), stretchy & warm. That last note being of utmost importance as we head into "cold house" season here.
What I would give for a wood stove. No, not everyone living in Maine has one of those. Instead of a woodpile we have a heating bill and we try to keep it as low as possible. For 6 months of the year I wear long underwear pants, pants, wool socks, sheepskin slippers, long underwear top, fleece/wool/acrylic sweaters, a down vest and on really chilly days a neck warmer and hat. Inside. I know, I deserve a prize.
So my husband made me these pants and with a long pair of wool socks (the kind the come to just below the knee) I don't even need long underwear. Just to clarify, for these photos I wore a tank top, it looked more "yoga-ish" than the aforementioned indoor winter wear. But let me tell you, there ain't no tank top wearing around here in winter!
Damien used this Jalie yoga pant pattern. Jalie makes awesome active wear patterns that can be used for both children and adults. One pattern for sizes toddler through large adults. Cool. So when the girls want a new pair of pants Damien can use this same pattern to sew them. This is one way to make sewing your own clothes more economical, when you can re-use the pattern and save on that cost for next time around. Isn't it ironic that with cheap foreign labor making your own is often more expensive than buying ready made?
These pants are made out of Polartec Wind Pro which is (as the geese in Charlotte's Web would say) "toasty-oasty-oasty". This fabric is warm, wind resistant, fleecy soft on one side and sheds rain and snow. I'm loving it!
I have to say my husband knows just the way to my heart - warm clothes. A man who wears the pants and sews. I've got it good.
I just love how the sun lights up the green in my earrings
About a month ago I wrote a post called simple living myths. At the time there was a lot of blogger discussion (in my internet world) about the complexities of simple living, natural living, sustainable living. Yada yada... whatever you want to call it. Looking back I think the collision of summer and fall precipitates a lot of extra work and stress in people's lives, even those of us trying to live simply. After all, late summer is the peak of harvest, not to mention the start of shifting rhythms and routines even for us homeschooling slackers!
My internet world has been quiet lately on the subject of living the good life struggles. Maybe everybody has it all figured out now! More likely however is that we're all in our fall groove, having passed through the turmoil of late summer. Regardless I've been saving posts about the challenges (or lack thereof for some people) of simple living in my google reader to put together this "simple living isn't so simple" sweet stuff post. And yes you read that photo right. This was supposed to be posted in September but I got behind and I'm ok with that. So I left the photo as is.
- Rachel at Small Notebook talks about trying to keep up appearances and reminds us that "most of us are on a journey to simpler living, and the process is gradual change."
- I love Melinda Epler's (a writer for The Simple Green Frugal Co-op) take on living the lifestyle you want and living it sustainably. And because I'm a city dwelling folk I also liked this post (by the same author) on sustainability in the city.
- My friend Nicola at whichname? writes about seeking simplicity and then the "natural" norm; the journey many of us are on to more natural living. Like Nicola reminds us, "this life, no matter how i/we choose to live it, is a work in progress".
- Sarah at Handmade Homeschool asks a simple question and shares a simple quote.
- SimpleMom shares 12 Green & Frugal Lessons that are actually doable and make living simply seem so... simple.
- For a dose of refreshing honesty I loved Denise's Peaches and Pears post at this is my life where she confesses, "I'm actually bored with the whole idea of sustainable living." Finally someone is speaking the truth!
- At Promise of a Rainbow Jenn writes about simplicity being doing what you can and being happy with that (though I have to say she does a lot in terms of simple living).
- And finally, maybe there is no such thing as balance at Nourishing Days. Wow, good stuff. Shannon talks about shifting our focus to priorities instead of trying to "balance it all". Something to think about as we mamas try to craft, blog, sew, write, cook and simplify our lives.
Sorry if I missed someone who wrote some wicked awesome (speaking like a Mainer now) synopsis (ha!) on the simple life.
If I can take away one phrase from all these posts that I read and enjoyed it's this:
Simple is different for everyone (and often not so simple), focus on your priorities (forget the rest), enjoy this journey and be kind to others and yourself along the way.
