Upcycling...

So I recently took part in a swap at NC with the theme of "Upcycle/Recycle". Was lots of fun thinking up something to do/make and how to go about it. I decided on a bag - even though I'm a bit of a newbie sewer. I crossed my fingers that it would be good enough to send to my swapper lol! Otherwise I had a fallback plan in mind hehe!Here is the bag I made. The material was from an dress I found at the Op Shop. I really liked the colours and patten :) The black handle was actually from the waist strap of the dress and for some stiffening I chopped up a reusable green bag.
The pattern I found on a blog. It was called "The 1 hour bag tutorial" but it took me way longer than that lol! Especially with Laila wanting to 'help' every step of the way hehe. I surprised myself by how it turned out actually! It is even lined and has a pocket. Ok there might be a couple of minor stitching flaws but shhhh ;)
The buttons I pinched from Mum who has a big box of them for just about any occasion. They are Paua Shell and I thought they tied in nicely with the colours of the bag.

I really hope my Swapper likes it. She hasn't guessed yet I don't think and we'll see if anyone reads my blog hehe. I have hung back from posting it until now but thought I would put it up.

I'd like to make one for myself some time too :)

Projects

This is the first thing I have knitted from an actual pattern! I've only ever knitted scarves before. It was also my first ever time at dyeing wool. I'm really happy with the results actually. Not bad for a newbie hehe! I did it with food dyes and it was really easy and fun although I did slightly dye my hands in the process ;)


I've got more wool lined up for dyeing - just need to find the time for it now. Not easy with Laila being the world's clingiest baby!


I'd love to try doing a rainbow one but thats probably a bit tricky for the likes of me!