Repurposing

I have 5 cross stitch designs made into small decorative Christmas cushions,  these are tiny, I have not been using them much as they get thrown around or sat on. I don't want to get rid of them, so I have a plan, firstly I dismantle the cushions ensuring the canvas is not damaged.

I cut out a piece of calico the size of an existing cushion, I placed 4 pieces, it was too crowded with 5 designs, I have stitched them on, this has been the easy bit. This will give the cover strength and help stop the canvas from stretching. I have a good stash of Christmas fabrics, and thought I would do some sort of patchwork, but it was too busy. I tried cutting panels in just one simple design, but I'm not sure I like it. 

And here it is, a few weeks later, I found the fabric in our local shop, it's just perfect, not plain, not too fancy with gold bling, I cut holes in the fabric and then stitched along the edge where I had folded back the fabric, I have done this way before, it works for me. I did unpick from the backing as I wanted each hole to be level and along the pattern edges to look neat, it probably would have been OK not unpicking each panel, but I am a neat freak and I won't take a risk they were not perfect. 

The final small design, I popped on the back, it looks good here, won't be seen much, but I know it's there, I had a cushion inner I purchased a while ago, I did have to cut it down a bit, originally I was just going to make this into a cover to go over another cushion, but I sent the cushion to the charity shop.

We all love a robin, this is my first attempt at needle felting one, I have mixed feelings about him, he does look like a robin, I do like his wings and tail, I don't like his red breast, it's too much just one colour, and the edges need to be broken up, his eyes were a total mistake, I used fibre, I was being lazy, I do have tiny shiny black beads, which would have looked much better, I will have a play and see if I can improve him. 

I do love these project which start with a simple idea and grow as I work on them, some how I always manage to get them looking right, I have some soft red fabric which would have been great to use but it was not wide enough, I used it for the children's stockings, made here, I can't remember where I purchased the fabric, and I don't think they would still have any in stock, that's the down side of keeping and using your stash. It did take a couple of weeks to find the right fabric, but well worth the wait. 

I've finished knitting my sisters socks, I have my sewing machine out, I have more badges to sew on my friends sons blanket, he had a trip to Canada in the summer, we have ordered him a bigger badge as he could not find one on his trip, his mum agreed he will love it.

Not been outside much, hubby did manage to make the final veg bed, we are looking to dig in the flower bed, once it is in place we can order the huge bag of topsoil, then I will move a few plants from the bed infront of the greenhouse to the new bed. Any purchases for the garden is coming out of our garden budget, at this point I only need topsoil and 1 more of our black railings.