DIY

Circular tablecloth skirt

In my travels recently I came across a fabulous circular tablecloth needing a new home. It was a snip at only £2 so I snapped it up knowing it would be perfect for a skirt I had been wanting to make.
The thing that really caught my eye about this cloth was the scalloped blue edging and bold flower power style.
The how-to on this couldn't be easier. All you need is:

• A circular tablecloth
• A length of elastic which will fit around your waist
• Your trusty sewing machine and an iron
• A compass is optional

  
Step 1: Iron your cloth, then fold in half once, and then again so it's a quarter size.

Step 2: Use your compass to mark a line from the top point of the folded material down to the point where the skirt will sit on your hips. It's important to take your time doing this step- if your first cut is not big enough you can always cut again so it will be larger and sit on your hips better. If you cut too much to begin with you'll loose valuable length and your waistline will be bunched up with too much fabric. Once you're happy with the line cut across.

Step 3: Use your iron to press down a half inch casing around the waistband. To do this turn it over once and press and then turn over the same width again. Press and pin the waistband down. The casing needs to be wide enough to hold your elastic.

Step 4: Sew a straight line of stitching all the way around your casing leaving a small gap to thread your elastic through.

Step 5: Thread your elastic through and stitch the two ends together. Close the gap in your casing.
All done - enjoy!

Tarted up standard lamp

When I moved into an old flat a few years back, along with half eaten boxes of cereal and a disgusting old mattress, the previous tenants left behind a standard lamp, Ikea circa the early 2000's. It was not handsome in appearance but could have come in handy so I decided to hold back on dumping it.

Years later I'm glad I kept the old thing as she has faithfully followed me to several new homes before finally settling for the foreseeable future in our wee cottage. When I salvaged her she was wearing a most unattractive torn paper shade which I quickly ripped off her and replaced with a length of Laura Ashley fabric.

 

She has worn said fabric dress for several years now so a change was long overdue. I rifled around in my boxes 'o stuff and come across several of those lacy doily things that traditionally dressed the backs of sofas and armchairs in your grandparents house. I knew they'd come in handy one day!

I set about stitching said doily's to my lamp and think she's looking suitably refreshed and ready for another few years of action. You can do exactly the same with any pieces of fabric or lace you have lying around. Just be sure it can't come into direct contact with the light bulbs and you should be in business safely. I also like to stitch all of this by hand in a light running stitch so the fabric can be reused again when the next makeover is due.

   

 Button Flower Bouquet

 

This is an unbelievably simple way to use up some of those gorgeous buttons you've no doubt been hoarding for some time. This was they get to be on show all the time and all you need do is sit back and wait for all the adoration and fawning comments from everyone who sees this crafty genius on display.
Materials required:

• A good selection of buttons (how many will depend on the number of blooms you intend making).
• A reasonably thick gauge wire. It needs to be strong enough to hold it's weight with buttons on top, but flexible enough to bend through the tiny holes.
• Pliers.
• Ribbon or pipe cleaners to wrap around your bouquet.
• A vase that you intend to sit your bouquet in. This may determine how long you make your stems.
• Optional: some silk blooms to throw into the mix. 

Now, this is so simple I'm not even going to bother numbering the steps.
Get comfy with all your bits and bobs around you.  Cut a length of wire to suit the depth of your vase and add about 7cm on to that length. Don't worry if all your lengths aren't exactly the same size as they'll be covered over at the end.

Thread the end of the wire through one hole on your chosen button(s). I like to layer buttons on top of each other or thread beads on to the top of the occasional button for interest. Bring the wire back down through the spare hole in the button and twist tightly around the stem.

Keep making more stems this way and occasionally bunch them together to get a sense of how many you have. Keep going until you're happy with the amount of button stems.

Once you have all the stems you want, bunch them together tightly, ensuring they're placed as you want them to sit. You can move them about a bit once they're together but it's easier to do it now. Now's the time to add in some silk flowers or foliage if you want.

Use a length of wire approximately 15cm long and start at the top of the bunch and wrap it tightly around the stems to hold them together. Finish with either a length of ribbon over the top or a few pipe cleaners to cover the wire stems.

Pop in a vase and admire at your leisure!

Variations
I'm yet to try it myself, but you could try using a styrofoam ball as a holder for your stems and I imagine that would look pretty cute.