Upcycled Pillowcase Totebag

After taking some more time off this blog I have finally returned with some new inspiration and a much better sense of what I want this blog to be about. Today I’ll be showing you the pillowcases that found a new life as a trendy totebag.

I found these pillowcases at a local thriftshop ages ago for only one buck. I picked them up because I really loved the print, but up until yesterday I had no idea what to do with them. Then I realized that, since they already look like totebags to begin with, it would be an easy upcycling project to share with you guys.

I ended up making them a little smaller by taking some length of the side and the bottom so the final bag would suit my liking. I then sewed both of them together to create a sturdy bag with a neat lining and added some topstitch to make it look a little more professional.

The straps are made from some pieces of scrap leather sewn together, but could just as easily be made from fabric or rope. I sewed them on with a simple stitch after holding them down with some glue and then my tote was complete.

This proces took about an hour and a half and was incredibly rewarding as I have a new bag to show for it. My mom is already eyeing this one, so I might just make another one later today.

And how about you, have you ever made a bag yourself?

I hope you’ve had a nice day,
Quinn

A New Direction

I’ve been putting off writing this post for over a month now, which I why I’ve been completely silent. But I think I’ve figured it out now and it is very short and sweet.

I haven’t been happy with the content on my blog for a while now, mainly because it all feels too random. I have writting about everything; art and design and photography and sewing, but that was okay. I started this blog to figure out who I was as an artist, only to realize that I don’t want to blog about my art.

I went back to see which articles I loves writing the most and realized that I feel most passionate about thrifting and recycling. Taking things that other people have discarded and turning it into something I can use or even wear is truly amazing to me and I want to start sharing it with the world more.

That is why I have decided that from now on I will dedicate this blog to recycling and other eco ways to turn old into new. I’m really excited that I have finally found a niche and I look forward to continue writing about those subjects and growing my blog.

I will keep up all my old articles but file them under the category “Archives” to start with a blank slate. If you check in again in a couple of days I will have a brand new post up about thrifting a gorgeous Persian rug.

I hope you’ve had a nice day,
Quinny

What I Have Learned in my First Six Months of Blogging

I have been absent from this blog for over two weeks now, which has been my longest hiatus yet. I’ve been thinking a lot about where I want to take this writing adventure so I decided to get everything out as I share with you my lessons from my first six months of blogging.

1. Pick A Niche And Stick To It.  
When I first started this blog I wanted to write about my own creative proces to keep up momentum. During these past months this has slowly expanded to photography and thrifted fashion and even hauls. This has been a little confusing for myself and I can’t even imagine what it’s like for people who stumble across this blog. During this proces I have learned a lot about myself. Especially that I have a true passion for recycling fabric and environmentally friendly and ethical fashion. I intend to focus more on these topics during the next couple of months, but I’m still trying to figure out what works.

2. Photography is Freaking Amazing.
I had my second photography class yesterday and every single time I hold my camera I fall in love with it even more. I really enjoy taking pictures for this blog and I like that I can see some progress. I still have some difficulty taking shots of larger things like pieces of clothing, but I think I’ll get there. I want to continue learning about photography but for the sake of branding I’ll refrain from sharing unrelated pictures on this blog.

3. Advertising is Still Weird
Last time I shared my blogging endeavours, I mentioned wanting to get into promoting my blog through Pinterest. This never happened. Nor has any other type of advertising. I still don’t like it and I don’t think I’ll be persuing anything of the likes. This blog is mostly just for me and I think I want to keep it that way for a little while.

I’m not quite sure where this blog will take me and where I will want to take this blog. I’m just making it up as I go along, but I think that’s okay for now.

I hope you’ve had a nice day,
Quinn

A Thrifted Clothing Haul

A little while ago I watched a documentary called ‘The True Cost’ on Netflix, which has really opened my eyes about the fast fashion industry and the effect it has on people and the environment (I highly recommend it!). In the spirit of that documentary I wanted to promote thrifting because it is always great to recycle. I threw together this ‘haul’ to show you some of the amazing things I got at the thriftstore today.

Left: I got this burgundy grandpa-pullover because I love the colour and I think it would be great for layering over a plain button-up for a preppy look.

Midddle: This sweater was originally sold at The Sting for fifty bucks and I got it for only four euros. It’s really soft and the letters are fuzzy and it is very oversized.

Right: A simple t-shirt dress from H&M that goes with almost everything.

Left: I’m not quite sure about this crushed velvet top, but for some reason I couldn’t stop myself from buying it. I might just go ahead and rock it.

Middle: A light blue, mens button-up that was fifty percent off. I found another one in grey and got both for only three bucks.

Right: This is definitely my favourite piece. It is made from a strong, almost denim-like material, but it reminds me a lot of flanel. It has a zipper up top and despite being way too big for me I’m determined to make it work. I am also a hundred percent sure it is vintage because I couldn’t find the brand anywhere online.

That was it for this post and I hope you love it as much as I do,
Quinn

At the Start of a New Year

I spent the past week or so blissfully absent from my blog because me and my family took two short trips to celebrate the last week of summer. I figured I’d share some pictures with you while talking about my plans for the upcomming year.

My number one goal for the upcomming year is to apply for artschool. I wish to start my studies not this fall, but next fall and I hope to attend ZUYD Hogeschool in Maastricht in the Netherlands.  Because I took their preliminary course already I can skip the portfolio round of their admissions process and will move straight through to the interview during which a board will decide if I have what it takes to go to their school. I want to spend the upcomming year working on a few larger projects to create a good portfolio anyway so I’ll still have a good representation of my skills to show during this interview.

I want to continue working on my English paper piecing experiments and focus on the threedimensional aspect in particular. I also want to expand my knowledge on eco-dying and fill up an entire notebook with samples of naturally dyed fabrics. And lastly I want to work on my quilting skills and create a few more quilts for my portfolio.  I think these projects would be valuable because I am considering majoring in textiles once I go to college. I’m not quite sure yet, as product design seems very interesting as well, but a little practice never hurt anyone.

I also want to work on several designs for handbags that have been floating around my head. I’ve never really showed any bags on my blog, but I have a real passion for coming up with new designs and executing them in recycled materials. I will definitely keep you updated on these projects.

I have a ton of exciting things coming up this year as I am taking not one but two courses! Next tuesday I start a photography class that will help me with the basics during eight day-long classes. In October I start another course at the local arts center that focuses on creating your own fashion collection. Sewing clothes has always been an interest of mine but I have yet to make something actually wearable. Therefore, this course is a little outside my comfort zone but I think I’ll learn lots of valuable sewing skills.

I also starting volunteering at a local charityshop where I help sort through donated clothing. I go there every wednesday (as this is my ‘day off’) and hope to share some of my experiences.

I totally understand if this post is a little boring, but I really enjoy puting the contents of my brain down in writing sometimes. It makes my feel a lot more organised and I like that I can use this blog for stuff like that. I intend to update here regularly, but I don’t think that a fixed schedule suits me so I’ll just see what happens.

I hope you have a good year,
Quinny

Tiny – But Not So Tiny – Experiments

As mentioned before on this blog, I spend a lot of my create time experimenting with whatever material I can get my hands on. This started back in the day, when I was about twelve, and taught myself how to crochet. But I’m always trying to come up with new techniques I could incorporate in projects.

I made these knitting samples on a whim when I suddenly started wondering about the effect of slipping stitches. They’re all pretty small, because I’m a slow knitter and have very little patience. The first one was created by casting on an EVEN number of stitched, knitting a stitch, then slipping one and repeating this for every row. For the second one I did the same, but I added a row of regular knit stiches every other row. I noticed it created a denser and thicker piece of fabric.

I tested out several different combinations of knits and purls and slips until my hands started to hurt (not exaggerating, I have pretty weak wrists). I think I’ll be using the stitch pattern from the third sample, which doesn’t quite come across in the picture, for a nice cowl for winter.

I also had a little fun with some scraps of batting and jersey fabric. I attempted to create pleats that were pleasing to the eye (unlike some other pleats. Grrrrr…). I think I would be interested in creating a quilt in the future that has only one colour, but various pleats to create visual interest. 

(I tried a new set-up for taking these pictures, but I think it needs some finetuning)

My only problem with these tiny scraps is that I can’t stick ’em in my notebook because they’re too thick. I want to keep them as I feel they would be valuable for future projects, but I have yet to find a proper way to store them. Any ideas?

I hope you’ve had a nice day,
Quinn

Rural Adventures

Nothing calms me down like a long walk and with my newfound love of photography I figured I’d share some of this beauty with you.

All of these pictures where taken less than twenty minutes away from my house, yet I had never been to any of these places until recently. It always pays off to hop on your bike and see where you might end up.

Do you like these post where I just show photos? Because I love taking them and I’d be happy to keep it up.

I hope you’ve had a nice day,
Quinn

I’m Starting to Really Hate Quilting.

A couple weeks ago I shared this post, where I talked about my newfound love of quilting. I showed a picture of the charm pack I had purchased and ever since I’ve been working on creating a patchwork quilt top and tried my hand at some actual quilting. I naively expected the project to be a breeze. I could set up my sewing machine, watch some Netflix as I happily sewed away. Ha ha ha…

Happily sewed away… Yeah right. As it turns out this quilting thing is ridiculously difficult.

Getting the squares to line up was my first problem, but after several deep breaths and a peptalk from my mother I decided to just learn to live with it. It was a handmade quilt so it was supposed to look handmade, right? I got back behind my sewing machine and added a white border to create a nice large quilt. I bought some batting and blue backingfabric and proudly told the lady at the fabric store that I was making my own quilt.

I pinned all layers together with relative ease. Now I just had to quilt it and I’d be done, right? Right…?

I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but quilting is hard work. Pushing the fabric around by hand is a work out and I’m pretty sure I’ll have some serious guns by the time I finish. But I could deal with a little hard work. What I didn’t expect was all the puckering.

 (My goodness, why is it so hard for the fabric to stay in place?)

 

I was just about to tell myself I wasn’t that big of a deal when I flipped my quilt over to look at the back. I cursed a lot. And yelled a lot. And then decided to take a little break to calm myself down. I guess quilting is a learning curve and I’m all the way at the bottom.

I hope you’ve had a nice day,
Quinn

Exploring English Paper Piecing

I’ve recently become very intrigued with quilting and did quite a bit of research on the topic over the past couple of weeks. I quickly came across English Paper Piecing, a technique using tiny pieces of paper to create crisp geometrical shapes from scraps of fabric.

I started with the classic hexagon shape and fiddled around with it for a while before I got the hang of it. Stitching them together took a little more research, but it in the I found a way to do it without the stitches showing on the right side. I found the proces of making a hexagon ‘flower’ quite relaxing as I like to have something in my hands while watching TV with my family in the evenings. I also appreciated being able to use up some of my smaller scraps that I just couldn’t bear parting with. Learning about EPP has definitely changed my standard for scrap pieces of fabric and I now have less to throw away at the end of each project.

 (I’m in love with this silly lemon print)

After thinking in geometrical shapes for a few days I started to wonder if I could create three dimensional pieces using the same technique. I opted for pentagons and triangles and played around with them for a while. I would love to use this on a large surface in the futute to create a ‘wave’ of pentagons or a spikey surface using piramid shapes.

I have a ton of scraps to try this with as I’m currently unable to close the box that I store them in. Good thing I have tons of free time ’cause those hexies aren’t going to sew themselves.

I hope you’ve had a nice day,
Quinn

A Thrifted Fabric Haul

I just came back from the most awesome-est fabric haul! As I mentioned before, me and my grandmother set up shop at the local flea market ever other week or so and today was one of those days. While selling I bunch of my old clothes I also made sure to check out what was available and I found not one, but two seperate people selling large fabric scraps. I dove in and spend half of my earned money on some of their lovely selection and I’d love to show you what I got.

First up I spotted a yard of this striped cotton with the occasional paisley interuption. I though it was so unique that I had to take it with me.

This is some simple muted green lining fabric that would actually be perfect for a bag that I’m working on right now. I got about three yards of it.

I’m not sure of the exact consistency of this baby blue fabric, but it was so soft to the touch that I got it anyway. It is very light and flowy and would make a great top for summer as it has a little stretch to it as well.

I don’t think I quite captured the beauty of this print, but it was so lovely that I got it despite it being a synthetic blend.

This is one of my favourite picks as I absolutely adore the colour combination. I am lucky to have found two yards of this lovely cotton.

This green jersey had a mysterious shine that just made me want to turn it into a top and wear it for the rest of the summer.

I can never resist a simple black and white pattern, so this one came home with me as well.

I figured that this simple unbleached cotton would be great for using in future dye projects.

Wool! Sadly there was only about half a yard of this stuff, but I got it anyway because it was so cheap.

I got about three yards of this pink jersey. I’m not that much into pink myself, but I’m sure I can put it to good use in the future.

This jersey is covered in a strange print of tiny dreamcatchers and feathers and… fish… I’m not sure what those have to do with eachother, but I loved the vibrant colour and the fact that there were three yards of this fabric available.

The added price for all of this? Thirty bucks? No. Twenty? Even lower. I got all this fabric for only ten bucks! Hurray for secondhand shopping! Hurray for my wallet!

I enjoyed making this little haul and I think I’ll share some more in the future if I’m lucky enough to find such awesome fabrics again.

I hope you’ve had a nice day,
Quinn