UNISEX OUTFIT FOR KIDS

  Most of the clothes I have made for my girl lately have been quite girly. So now for a change I wanted to dress her in unisex, all around cool and classically stylish, clothes. But as always, comfort and coziness first.

A pair of soft & stretchy corduroy pants coupled with off-white and light grey jersey shirts. A true staple in anyone´s wardrobe.

This fabric was found in my old stash.

The sleeves bear a small detail so it´s not all that boring. =) But in a unisex outfit you have to be careful with details anyway, so that it still suits boys too.

Pants are made of a leftover piece from these leggings.

A wide zig zag works lots better than a twin-needle in my sewing machine, giving a more stretchy result.

This fabric is another leftover piece, but from my mom. Now I realize that this whole outfit is made of recycled material, so I can proudly call it a piece of "ragshion" (a term I discovered in all my cleverness =) some time ago). The sleeves are slightly cropped.

I turned the sleeve pieces inside out, so the reverse side of fabric is shown on the outside. The color is the same, but texture is super-soft and somewhat fuzzy. It creates a subtle change in the otherwise plain look.

  Lately I have sewn so much for my kids, that I´m running late on my own Mabon Collection. Better hurry up before the wheel turns again...!

SAVING MONEY ON TOWELS

  There are some things in life that I just take for granted. Things like the fact that my car runs, that there is always toilet paper in the closet, that the smoke alarm batteries have power, and that there are always enough clean towels at hand. You know, things that usually work without further effort, but when they don´t, it feels extremely annoying.

  When we bought our summer home three years ago, one of the first things I did was got us a nice matching set of towels there. Our daughter was already on her way then, so I knew to buy four matching towels.
  It all went fine at first, and the sauna looked cute with the tone-to-tone towels hanging there. But then after only a few months my husband someone lost two of the precious (and expensive and high-quality!) towels! Lost, forever! At first I was mad, but as a nice wife and an understanding person =) I kept it all in, and then only regretted to have spent all that money on something as silly as towels. Life is for living, not worshiping material...

  This summer I finally did something I have planned on doing for years already. I asked around my family and friends if they had any mismatch/unused bath towels to spare. I wound up with eight. Eight hideous, brightly colored, wildly printed bath towels, that nearly hurt my eyes to look at.
  I bought a pack of machine washable black dye, and loaded the washing machine with at least double the recommended weight of towels, and pressed "run".
 The end result? Beautiful evenly colored dark grey bath towels totally suitable for our summer cabin use!

Dark grey suits the surrounding nature so well here!

Towels are made of pure cotton, which absorbs the dye perfectly. The only parts left in their original color were sewing and embroidering threads in some of the towels.

The color is beautifully even and alike in all of the towels (only four are pictured, four are already in use =).

Some of the bath towels are relatively thin, but that just makes them dry faster in the sun!

  My total budget for the project ended up barely reaching 10 bucks, which was the cost of the dye. The towels were free of charge, and minimum money went on running the washing machine.
  Had I bought six more of the original towels, the cost would have been over 200 bucks! So I ended up saving 190,- in money, plus a lot more in saving the nature with not buying new things.

  I´m totally happy with this project, and can recommend it to everyone!

FREEDOM COLLECTION: HANDY HANDBAG

  Last spring I made a handbag that I loved and used a lot. But it missed one thing: the ability to close it securely. I found myself constantly checking it when in a crowd. A bit stressful.
  Now I designed a completely new handbag all by myself, according to my own needs. Here is the result:

I made it of my husband´s old jeans again. I included a zipper on top, so I don´t need to worry. This is all ragshion = from rags to fashion. I love the idea of repurposing materials.

On the other side I added a back pocket from the pants. It is handy for storing little things like the keys, lip balm, or grocery list.

 

My "signature" and a strip of black lace I had in my drawers make the bag look nicely finished.

The size is right for my usual needs, it measures approx. 10 x 6 x 4 inches (25 x 15 x 9 cm). The model is not too deep, so digging things out of it is easier.

 

  This bag holds everything I normally carry with me: cell phone, wallet, snapshot camera, three cloth shopping bags, a little makeup, a couple of diapers for my girl, and a pen & some paper. There is still room for a bottle of water or a banana, if needed. What else does a gal need?

HIBERNATING KITCHEN GARDEN

  Snow has taken over the lands here. It is nearly winter solstice, and I can feel it in my bones too. It is so dark in the mornings that it is difficult to get up no matter what the time is! And so dark again at 4pm, that it is hard to resist the soft comfiness of the living room couch...

Sometimes I wish I could just sleep off the entire dark and cold winter. Like nature does.

My small and humble kitchen garden is covered with snow. It has earned it´s rest after surviving last summer of neglected care... =)

The other day, one of these short and dark ones, my daughter (who loves food) found the last stems of kale still standing up from the ground in my kitchen garden in our back yard. She must have remembered eating them in the fall, because she went straight up to them and took a big fat bite of the frozen and snow covered curly leaf! It was so hilarious. She was perfectly happy for the next ten minutes chewing on the fibrous mouthful. What a cutie. =)

Raspberries are only a faint memory by now.

Think I went overboard with the rabbit fence? Yes, there is a small cherry tree inside, somewhere... We got it from my sister two summers ago, and I´m so terrified something might happen to this tree. It would be soooo embarrasing to kill it!

The only thing alive still in the garden is my compost.

Never before have I been able to keep it going this well at this temperature. Usually it freezes as the snow falls, but not now baby! Outside it is 10 Fahrenheit (-12 Celsius) and on the inside 86 F (+30 C). Yipee! I know it will not last through the entire winter, but the further I can go tossing our bio waste in here, instead of the trash, the happier I am.

Yum yum, food for my kitchen garden in 2015. I´ll take the mass out in the spring and dump it into another bin, where it can further decompose over the winter of 2014-2015 . Then it will be ready to be used as fertilizer in my garden. Honestly, I´m sure my daughter and I produce 90% of this material. The other 10% comes from my husband´s coffee brewing. What is it with the male sex, why won´t they eat their vegetables?!

  Rest in peace, I wish I could too! (On second thought, it is X-mas soon, and I would miss out on all the chocolate, and the excitement in my kids´ eyes before opening the presents, and seeing Santa, and watching "It´s a Wonderful Life" on tv. I take it back. I´d like to hibernate through the dark and cold, but set the alarm clock for X-mas, New Year´s, and sunny days. =)
 

JUST BECAUSE I LOVE YOU- GIFTS

  Isn´t it enough occasion, loving somebody, to give them a present? I sure think so. Love is the most valuable gift of all, and it can´t be bought, but in second comes time and effort put on making others happy.

  Yesterday I spent every bit of my "spare" time to make these little gifts to the three most important people in my life:

To keep my family warm; gloves and a beanie. Earlier I drew the outline of my kids´ hands on a piece of  paper to make the pattern for these gloves. My husband, on the other hand, has such "warm blood" in his vains, that he rarely wears gloves, so I opted for a beanie for him.

I had a scrap piece of thick, black fleece stashed away to make these (I hope it does not make it all sound flat now! In my opinion it only adds to the value of things if they are made of recycled material!). The designs are simple and plain (just like my love =) and thus easy to wear. This button is the only detail. Especially with men, simplicity goes a long way (and I´m not referring to their emotional capacity now... =).

  For no special reason, just because I love you!

FREEDOM FASHION: MINI-DRESS (THE RAGSHION WAY)

  My Freedom-collection needed a summer dress for hot weather.
  Here is what I made, turning rags to fashion (ragshion) by using my husband´s old jeans:

Top and lower half are from two different pairs of jeans. I cut the inner leg seams of the jeans open, folded the fabric in half and placed my patterns over it. Easy. The original seams are not aligned and not centered here, to highlight the repurposed look.

A pocket is always useful. This is the original from the jeans. It is handy to throw in the car keys and shopping list.

The back is plain, with only a center seam running down it. This dress is so short, that my modern pantaloons are a definite must! Also, to add comfort, I placed a sewn-in petticoat. It shows from underneath to add length too. This was as long a hemline as I could make using just 1 1/2 pairs of jeans (which was all I had). And that´s actually pretty cool. Otherwise I would not have made a dress this short (shame on me and my conservativeness  =)!

  Now, when looking at the dress, it seems unbelievable that it was actually men´s jeans only a couple of days ago. I´m so glad I tried this project out!

RAGSHION: TODDLER BONNET AND MITTENS

  There were still little pieces of the old fleece jacket and pajama pants left! A little does seem to go a long way...
  But now I managed to use it all up by making my girl these little accessories:

A basic bonnet made of fleece. I left the seams on the outside for her comfort.

To tie it under the chin, I used a short strip of elastic band. I sew it on on one side, and on the other I placed a snap button. To cover up the ugly snap on, I sew a large button over it. Now the dressing on is easy, yet looking at it is still easy. =)

Since this bonnet is for a girl, it needed a girly touch. What would be better than a good old bow? This time made of leftover cotton lace, and topped off with a button.

Another angle of the bonnet, to get a better idea.

My favorite mittens! These are something I have not managed to find at stores. Fleece beats knit mittens big time! Sand and other dirt can´t get through, plus these babies keep the wind out too. To make them, I simply drew the outline of my little girl´s hand on a piece of paper, added 1cm seam allowance, and cut them out. I stitched the mittens as close to the edge as I could (not 1cm from the edge), to leave more space for hands. Voilá! Done.

There is no need to decorate the mittens in any way. They will be dirty from the first minute when in use. =) When paired with the bonnet, it makes a pretty little set. I managed to make three pairs of mittens from the leftover fleece.

  The summer is on the way (or actually started already, since it´s Beltane), but there are always those chilly days when it either rains or blows, and that´s what I had in mind when making these mittens and bonnet. Plus we will start our summer cabin season shortly, and it is always cool at sea. I expect her to need these accessories up until June.

RAGSHION: TODDLER PANTS

  After making the fleece jacket for my son, there were still some pieces of the old rags left. Especially from my old pants.
  I scratched my head a while, and then made my little girl these pants:

Like a miniatyre of my old ones, but these are cute! The fabric is of good quality, and I expect these pants to stay in good condition in her use.

I added the knee patches before they are actually needed. =)  And needed they will be, sooner or later... The fabric is a leftover piece of Tilda´s basic cotton I have had for several years. Glad I stashed it!

The back of the pants reveal that they are made of recycled rags. The extra seams give them away, but when looking at it, I think they are more stylish with the seams. They add character and detail, and make the pants more unique.

Top stitching in contrast color makes them more fun and relaxed.

  I am satisfied now. Once again a piece of clothing I didn´t have to buy from the stores, thus helping reduce consumption!
 

RAGSHION = FROM RAGS TO FASHION

  There I was, on a walk this spring, with my thoughts flying freely, when I came up with a new word: ragshion. That´s what I would call my creations using old clothes, rags, to make new ones. An old invention but a new word for it. Or so I thought, for I had never come across it before. I was really happy and satisfied with my invention.
  When I got home, I even Googled the word to make sure it hadn´t yet been discovered. No, nothing in the means I would use it for.

  But last week I saw someone on tv being titled as "trashionista". Darn, there went my original, unique (or so I thought) new word. Nah, not quite the same, but very similar. This trashionista made new stuff from old everything, I only use old rags to make new clothes. That is the difference between those two words.
  I should have known, nothing in this world is something someone else would not have at least thought of before. There are so many of us. Oh well, despite all that I will proudly start using "my" new word.

  Under the new title, here is my first project of ragshion:

The material. Now, this is tryly an embarrasing moment to confess, that I have actually worn those ugly brown sweatpants for about seven years! Please forgive me, I only used them as pajama pants. I bought them from a market at a time when I didn´t have time to make myself sleepwear. At first they were okay, but after a few washes, they started to expand like a mushroom in rain. But now it is bye-bye ugly pants! The top is my husband´s. He got it for Christmas, and it is way too large for him. I waited until now to see if he´d wear it, but it didn´t happen. It´s time for these two pieces to make themselves useful again.

This is the main project, a fleece jacket for my son. He is so big already that his clothes take up quite a bit of fabric too, and it is not as easy to find material anymore. I cut out the pieces needed for this, and of what is left still, I will make something else later.

I wanted to take advantage of the print in the original piece. This is something I can´t do on fleece myself, and it gives the jacket a more professional look.

The back is simple, with only a few additional seams showing it is made from recycled rags.

Stitching in contrast color gives the impression of a more detailed work, and binds the two different fabrics together better. All in all, I think these two colors work well together, one cheering up, and the other toning down the whole.

FREEDOM COLLECTION: HANDY LITTLE HANDBAG

  Finally I took the time to make this:

A small handbag that fits the most important stuff in it: keys, wallet, phone, lipbalm, and a couple of cloth shopping bags (which I always take to the grocery store with me). Until now I´ve dragged along my big backpack everywhere. But now I can leave it in the car while I hop into the shop. And life is so much lighter!

This is the first one I have made, ever. Because it belongs to the Freedom Collection, I kept it very simple. I want the bag to remain an accessory, not become the center piece of the outfit.

The lining is actually the only decorative part. I used my last piece of Tilda´s crafty cotton I bought about four years ago. Even the smallest bits are useful, and worth saving for the future. Originally I thought about making the whole lining from the same fabric, but I didn´t have enough! So I figured using the same denim on the inside, as on the outside, would be the second best choise. And now, when finished, I can say that it looks more interesting this way!

This denim fabric came from my husband´s old jeans. He donates his old clothes to me, and I try to turn them into something else useful.

Simple and practical - like the Freedom wear overall - two snap buttons keep the bag closed. Minimalistic and a tad modern even, to my standards anyway...

  I was fooled by the supposedly small size of this bag at first. But when on a day-long trip with my son´s class last week, I noticed just how much stuff can actually fit in it! I had the usual: keys, phone, lipbalm, and wallet, plus extras: a banana, packet of tissues, makeup, camera, a brochure of a science park, and more keys. It was quite hard to find what I needed among all the clutter in the end!
  A handy little thing!

RECYCLED BABY DRESS

  A leftover piece of fabric had laid in in my dresser for, hmm, let me count... five years. I found it some weeks ago, placed it next to my sewing machine, and decided I would make use of it. Like this:

Everything in this dress I found in my dresser drawers. I love not having to buy anything, and in the end being perfectly happy with the result!

Pink goes so well with dark brown! Pink stitching on brown gives the dress some detail and binds the colors together.

I did not have dark brown buttons, but black is so close, I bet nobody will notice... The buttons were the only other detail I wanted to add. The dress will be worn with a shirt and tights underneath it, so too many details in the dress would make the whole too busy.

  Buy Nothing Day. What a great idea! But why only once a year? I try to buy nothing for at least 2-3 days a week. I find it liberating. Saves time for other stuff. Like digging through my dresser drawers in hopes of finding a treasure, like this pink fabric.
  Other free stuff I like to do: playing with my kids, hugging my husband (sometimes he tries to dodge my attempts, and when I chase him around the house we both get a little exercise!), going for a walk/bike riding with my son, gathering food from the wild, swimming... I even enjoy gardening in the summer.

  It is easy to rely on external means of entertainment, like going to the movies, shopping, eating out, golfing, etc. You get the point. There is a place for them, but in excess is dulling.  I find it important to use my own brain too. Whipping up entertainment out of nothing, and for free. That way I stay appreciative of the small joys in life. The ones that make up most of my life anyway.  =)