A Good Read

So, I did wear that lime-green dress for Easter. And in keeping with it, the trees budding, the grass popping up, and my general trend of thriftyness, let's stay on a Green theme all week! First up, a book review.

This week I picked up Sewing Green by Betz White from the New rack at my local library. I love my library. They always have good stuff, it's always free, and there's even a little coffee shop in there. But I digress.

I loved Sewing Green! It has a short section explaining how she got her Ideas, and why she feels it's important to re-purpose material. Then the rest of the book Is plans for projects to make! There is even a pocket in the back with pull-out patterns for many of the projects. It's an easy read, and the instructions were very clear. Even I, a resourceful and crafty thrifter, was impressed.

I was so inspired by a her ideas for making stuff out of other stuff. My eyes were opened and I realized that I can use thrift store stuff for so many other things! She suggests buying items just for the fabric and cutting them up. I already do this with wool sweaters, but I never thought how many other things I could do that with. Linens! Dresses! Leather skirts!

I think I am unlikely ever to make a skirt out of a pillowcase, since I have so many awesome skirts. But I have already cut out the pieces for one of the other projects: A groovy shopping bag made from a denim skirt. I didn't have a skirt, but I have a lot of old jeans, so I made a pair into a skirt, first. I'm also adding a lining cut from a Fabulous retro dress that I got from my Cousin Rachel way-back-when. It hasn't fit me in at least a decade, but I kept it because the floral pattern fabric was so cool. I already snatched the zipper to use in something else, so It was totally not heart braking to chop up the skirt. When I finish it, I'll get pics up, even though it's not clothes, It will be stylish!

Even if you're not much for sewing, I recommend the read to open your eyes for re-using all kinds of textiles! Even a non-sewer could make some cloth napkins with glued-on edges. Or fashion a scarf from old sweaters. The possibilities are endless!