Upcycle Living

The virus is showing no sign of retiring, which means, we need more reusable face masks to go around. They are especially useful for when we just need to go out to sort something out in the garden or just to receive something from the delivery guy. Can you imagine wearing a disposable face mask just for that few minutes or so then dispose of it? By the time this pandemic is over (if that's ever going to happen), we will have another pandemic of trash mountains made out of disposable face masks! This has been put aside for quite a while now as I have been rather busy for the past few months and had not much of a DIY motivation, plus, I couldn't find any suitable material such as a good, used fabric. However, while going through the chest drawers, a used pillow case caught my eye. It's tough enough, it's cotton, and it's grey - just great for the design I had in mind - an embroidered Batman logo 😁 The good news is, the old embroidery frame that has been in the family...

During these movement-controlled days, besides worrying about the shortage of surgical masks, the accumulating disposal of the one-time use masks is also a concern - not to mention the money we would have to keep spending on buying them. As I have more than usual free time on my hands, there is really no excuse why I shouldn't look into learning to make some washable reusable face masks for ourselves. After studying the structures of the existing surgical masks and what other people have shared online, I have made a few for the people around me. What I have done is to add a pocket to some, in order to slot in a filter pad if needs be. Another add-on feature is the adjustable clip-on straps so that there is no need for elastics bands over the ears. The main reason for this is that the elastic bands would dig in to the back of the ears and could be painful over time. Secondly, I am making all these with existing materials I can find in the house, and I just do not have them at hand. ...

A new addition has just been added to our home for old and forgotten possessions, after having a few tweaks here and there. Meet our new shopping bag: But If I don't tell, I don't believe that anyone would've guessed its previous life, would you? Here's a little hint: the material is rain/water proof, and heat resistant to some extent; and is very light. That's right, it used to be my favourite umbrella which was crippled by the crazy wind in Nottingham during my last visit in June (2017). I always have this strange sentiment towards umbrellas, and I get really attached when I find one with prints that I really love (which is often not easy). Most of the time, when one breaks, it's the metal frame that's gone and the fabric is often still intact. And me being me, I absolutely hate to throw it away knowing that it could become something useful, somehow. Of course, there had been numerous deceased brollies in my life but never knew what to do ...

Fabric scraps. What can you do with them when they are neither big enough for another top nor small enough to ignore? I got one piece just like that, with really lovely print. Thankfully, I've also got a bit of the old Ikea blanket left from making the stuffed toy snake . When Ikea blanket scrap meets another fabric scrap, we get a new wine bag! Great for shopping for anything that come in a glass bottle. The old Ikea fleece blanket serves as an internal lining that will stop the glass bottles from knocking each other, while giving the bag a soft spongy feel. 1. Iron out both the fabric scraps 2. Trim the fabrics into equal size, leaving excess on the sides for the printed one. 3. Double-fold in the side of the printed material all around, securing by ironing. 4. Wrap over the trimmed old Ikea blanket, fold the excess sides around it. 5. This is how it should look now. 6. Fold the layered fabrics in half (printed one face out) and stitch the bag up,...