Piecing it together.

I'm a big fan of Piecework Magazine, done by Interweave, and today I was pleasantly surprised by the delivery of a few back issues that I had ordered with some of my holiday gift money. It may see a strange thing to talk about on a simple living blog: magazine subscriptions regarding historical textiles. But to me, Piecework is a good magazine to have around when you want to do some needlework and yet want a reminder of the simplicity of times gone by.

Piecework's historical patterns are a treat to see, and a lot of the articles in the magazine include cultural and historical information that often make it pretty clear that the majority of needlecrafters didn't have a lot of money or resources, no matter which country they lived in. They used what they could, used it frugally and wisely, and made stunning heirloom pieces, some of which survive today. If you're amazed at a pair of jeans lasting you a decade before you consign them to the scrap pile, imagine a lace shawl, knit or crocheted or tatted out of something as fine as sewing thread, lasting a hundred years or more.

This sort of things reminds me that although making something fancy like that is arguably "not simple", it is a good way to remind myself to slow down, to take my time, to do it right the first time so that it's all done properly and will last as long as I need or want it to.

When I knit or sew or embroider, sometimes I'm struck by the amazing complexity and simplicity of it all. One tiny stitch, the same as a dozen, a hundred, a thousand others, insignificant on its own, but perfectly made just the same, and when put together with all those other insiginificant and perfect stitches, comes together to make something beautiful and meaningful and worthwhile. It's like the world, I sometimes reflect. Each person is perfect in their own right, insignificant on their own, and part of something wonderful when put together with others. What one cannot do at all, many can do easily.

A lot of people think of needlework as a sort of spiritual craft, and in some ways, I can't deny it. It's like playing Fibre God. You form all these little things out of next to nothing, and when you're done, you've got so much more than you started out with even though it's all still made of the same stuff. There are challenges and failures and successes, but overall it's all just a part of the process, and you learn and you improve and you've got something to be proud of and to make you proud.

And it's a connection, to all the hundreds of thousands of women and men who did it all before you, who started off and paved the way for you, made mistakes so that you don't have to, learned corrections so that you don't have to muddle your way through in the dark, and who made a beginning so that you can experiment and make the future. It's history, built one stitch at a time and wrapping the whole world together.

I don't often think of it quite like this unless I'm waxing poetic, but I don't feel any lie in my words when I write them. This is how it is to me, and this is how to is to others, how it was, and how it will still be long after I'm dead, so long as handmade textiles live on. Even if they live on as hobbies instead of careers, they still live, and it's another stitch in the fabric, another knot and bind to the past and the inevitable future.

It's humbling to think like this, and even though the sky outside is grey and threatening to bring snow and wind tonight, and I have work to do that I don't want to do, and I'm still unemployed and without much money, I want to thank the world and history and deities of all kinds of giving me this chance to be a simple insignificant stitch, to reach other and hold and support other stitches, and to be a part of the fabric.

Ways to reuse worn out clothing.

In my last entry, I mentioned things that you can do with all sorts of stuff you can get from thrift stores. But before going to thrift stores, you may want to take a look at some of the things you have lying around the house that you don't use any more, especially clothes. There are a lot of uses for clothing too worn out to wear anymore.

Aside from cutting them down to rags, I mean.

Old sweatshirts and sweatpants can be used in place of quilt batting, if you're a quilter.

Sweaters can be unraveled for their yarn, and you can knit, crochet, or weave that yarn into something new and wonderful.

I mentioned that blouses can be cut into squares and embroidered with initials to make personalized handkerchiefs. Men's dress shirts can be put to the same use.

Got a pile of t-shirts sitting around that no longer fit or have too many holes in them? Cut them into strips and use them to weave or crochet a squishy rug for your house. Cotton t-shirts turn into very good absorbant bath mats with a little effort!

Any old material can be cut into strips and then braided and sewn into lovely rag rugs, too.

Want to improve your sewing and embroidery skills? Use an old pair of pants or a shirt and embroider something on it. Maybe a sampler, or a bright design in contrasting colours. Then hang it on the wall for a nice homemade decoration.

Cut old pairs of jeans into squares and sew them together to make a heavy-duty denim blanket. It's good for anything from a cold night to the perfect thing to sit on when you have a picnic.

Old towels? New facecloths or dishcloths!

Done all this stuff and ended up with a whole load of oddly shaped pieces of scrap material? Make a crazy quilt!It's a good way to use up those little scraps that can't be used for anything else, and you get something useful at the end.

Got enough scraps to take up space but not enough to make a quilt? Use those scraps to stuff a handmade rustic-style doll.

Take the threads from scraps and very thin strips of material and spin them into new and unique yarn for your knitting/crocheting/weaving pleasure.

Cut up old pantyhose into rings and weave a potholder on a potholder loom.

Even though something may not be in a condition to be worn again, there are still a great number of things you can do to old clothing before even thinking about consigning them to a trash bag.

Frugal crafting alternatives.

One thing I am is a die-hard crafter. Honestly, I have yet to meet a craft that I don't like. Plenty I'm not good at, I'll grant you, but I can see use, art, and entertainment in them all.

But how, on a limited budget and an attempt at a frugal lifestyle, can I get my hands on the materials to satisfy my crafty urges? It's not like most of them come cheap, after all! I ball of wool to make a single scarf can cost $8, depending on the brand and the quality of the wool. (And I do mean wool as in the fibre type, not as another way of saying "yarn.")

Thrift stores.

Some thrift stores are good enough to have a small section for actual craft supplies, and this can come in handy, but the downside is that there's no guarantee of finding something for a specific project that you have in mind. It's worth taking a look, if the thrift store you patronize has such a section, but really, there are better and cheaper ways to get your hands on good materials, so long as you know how to look.

The trick is to look in the rest of the store. With a bit of creativity, old clothing can be remade and repurposed into things that most people wouldn't even imagine!

I get most of my yarn for knitting by buying sweaters from thrift stores, unraveling them, and then reknitting the yarn into whatever I so desire. Sometimes I'll overdye the yarn with drink crystals like Kool-Aid, if the yarn is made from animal fibres like wool or angora. In this way I can get a sweater's worth of cashmere, for example, for the same price it may cost me to get a scarf's worth of acrylic, if I were to buy brand-new.

Look in the larger sizes of clothing for the best buys. Some stores price the oversized things at the same cost as the smaller items, so by buying large, you're saving yourself that extra bit of money. That size 22 skirt could be turned into that new pillowcase you've been needed, after all. (And before anyone thinks I'm ragging on large people, I'd like to say that I'm one of them. I could probably wear that size 22 skirt!)

Old second-hand books, if you don't feel like reading them, can be turned into hollow books to conceal little trickets and treasures.

Beaded necklaces can be snipped and just "harvested" for the beads they once held.

Old blouses? New handkerchiefs, and if you personalize it by embroidering an initial in the corner, it makes a wonderful gift option!

My local thrift store often has fabric remnants for really low prices. I once bought enough plain black cloth to make myself two pairs of dress pants, and it only cost me $3.

I once read a story about a woman who bought old fur coats from thrift stores, cut them up, and resewed them into teddy bears. She apparently made quite a tidy living by doing so, and it allowed the fur to not go to waste. Very few people are brave enough to wear furs anymore, and if my thrift store is any indication, half the time the fur coats they have already are ripped or cut up to start with, so nobody could wear them again anyway. Giving the fur new life lessens the blow, a little bit, of the fact that an animal was made to give its life for the sake of fashion. At least it's not going to waste.

A friend of mine once told me he used to buy cheap velvet dresses and gowns at thrift stores, cut them up, and turn them into embroidered pouches to sell to tourists.

Some people buy old wooden furniture from thrift stores, sand them down, give them a new coat of paint, and end up with something that looks as good as if it had just come from a speciality store. Chairs, dressers, you name it. Some thrift stores even sell cans of paint, though those are a little harder to come across than the furniture.

With a creative eye and a mind for frugality, second-hand stores can become so much more than just a place to get cheaper clothing.

In a few days I'll probably also make a follow-up post about crafty things you can do once old clothing wears out, too, to stretch the dollar that much further.

Planning for next year already?

I know I am. Except for the people who give gifts for New Year, the gifting season has pretty much ended, and one of the first thoughts on my mind is what I'm going to do for next year.

A bit early to be planning so far ahead? Piffle! I, like many other people, have this unfortunate habit of leaving my handmade stuff to the last minute. Evidenced this year by the fact that I didn't get to make everything I wanted for people, and have had to informed a couple that their present will be a little bit late. So starting to plan early may not be such a bad idea.

Especially because I'm been branching out more in terms of what I make. I got a beading loom for Yule, so beaded bookmarks or bracelets are certainly on the table. I've been experimenting with small amounts of weaving lately, and have recently found instructions on how to fingerweave belts.

There are my usual Celtic knotwork embroidered bookmarks to pass around or to trade for other crafts that I can't come by so easily, also, the way I did this year to get Rachel some personalized stationery.

I'm all for making cookies and fudge and other little edible treats, too. This year I want to try making jam, so it could well be that small containers of homemade jam or jelly will find their way into gift bags for friends and family.

Handmade gift bags, of course. I wrap my presents in fabric these days, and let recipients know that if they can't think of a use for it then I'll gladly take it back and use it again myself, but they're welcome to keep it if they're the crafty types. Most, I've found, keep it anyway, even if they likely won't use it. So I think homemade giftbags will be the way of things next year, since a bag can be reused in all sorts of ways, and adds another layer to the gifts.

Does anybody else start planning and making ideas for next year's holidays right after the current holiday ends? For those who do, do you still fall into my trap and forget until it's too late to do and to give everything you wanted?