I had a list of colours in mind for Marie, but strangely this bag seemed to have a mind of its own and turned out quite a bit darker and with more tactile fabrics than I'd initially envisioned. Or perhaps I just didn't have enough of the other colours and textiles.
In any case, we left this, a book about being environmentally friendly which had amused me - they are both very interested in environmental issues, some coasters and a Yorkshire/Tour de France hat for Ben and Marie. We didn't get to see Ben and Marie this time, EasyJet's flights made us leave the day before their return.
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| These coaster are great fun to make! I thought of these as 'southwest' (as in US) colours. |
I'm told Ben thought his book a bit silly (the British humour no doubt) but had already learned some things from it and Marie loved her bag. Mission accomplished!
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| The blue bit is from some fabric I took for an applique project that didn't happen. A paper bread bag cut into a long strip and made into a 'pom pom bow' as above. |
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| Three strips of plastic bag braided for the 'ribbon'; a longer strip made into a 'pom pom bow'. Reminds me of lettuce, but green seemed an appropriate colour for a book called Shades of Green, eh? |
They also liked the wrapping. I'd used my usual brown paper to wrap all but the hat (which Bill had already packed). I'd intended to take either some ribbon or some tissue pom poms (great because you can make them up and leave flat in the suitcase until ready to fluff up and put on the package), but I'd run out of time. I could have bought something but you know that's not how I roll, so instead I raided their stash of plastic and paper bags. I thought they wouldn't mind, it being an environmentally friendly thing to do and all.
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And BTW, Happy Birthday to my friend Ruby, my cousin Clay and my lovely sister-in-law Jane! 21 Sep must be a most auspicious date!
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And BTW, Happy Birthday to my friend Ruby, my cousin Clay and my lovely sister-in-law Jane! 21 Sep must be a most auspicious date!
5 comments:
Love the tote and your creative wrapping! Have you looked into using furoshiki? I have all kinds of scraps of fabrics that I use to wrap gifts in lieu of purchasing gift wrap.
Gam Kau - I have seen posts (on your blog perhaps?) on furoshiki and thought it was ingenious but I've not attempted it yet. I tend to want the traditional 'box'look for Christmas gifts, but would definitely try furoshiki for other gifts. Most of my scraps are pretty small or odd shaped so I'd need to make a cloth large enough to attempt this. Will have to have a play around with a scarf some time! Great idea (anything that lets me use what I have instead of buying something rates with me!)
Very thoughtful presents and such ingenious wrappings - how did you find so many different fabrics that went together to make the bag?
Beryl - Didn't you know about my fabric 'problem'? I can't resist the stuff! Actually, I have belonged to several craft groups over the past few years and made it known that I take scraps. The Tuesday group in particular gave me a lot. They were a bunch of ladies retired from a clothing factory and friends and relatives were always asking them to alter clothing. Chopped off legs, sleeves and hems came my way. Also discarded curtains, unfinished sewing projects and any other scraps they didn't want. I keep the bits sorted by colour in labelled shoe boxes. My own - and Bill's - clothing, when too worn or stained to wear any more may also end up in those boxes. Textile production is hard on the environment - and I think it's bad form to just throw the stuff away - besides so much of it is beautiful to see and touch and it is a joy to work with - more like play with!
Oh my gosh Shelley, what a great problem to have! I am lucky enough to have sisters and nieces and a daughter to pass all those un-needed fabrics around with, because I know just what you mean about fabric production. Even "environmentally friendly natural" fabrics use up a lot of the resources of our planet to produce.
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