I Heart Wall Art: Make a Noticeboard With Scarves

Now then, if like me, you prefer to make your life difficult via the means of:
a) Trying to not ever buy things new, unless they're full-on proper eco-friendly produced
b) Always wanting very pretentiously to do something a little bit 'different' but not actually having any ideas jump into your head easily
c) getting a bit cross and bothered and wishing you were a really creative 'blank canvas' person who just goes "Ooh, ooh, how about we twist some twigs into a giant pepperpot shape, interthread tin-can shards in it and then invent a whole new peg system made from old cotton reels and make a noticeboard that way!"

Yes, sound like you?  Then what the heck, my love - just steal this idea.  Honestly, do.  It looks awful purrdee and is a proper good scavenging project.  Plus of course, it's got hearts in it, and like it or lump it my good people, hearts are a nice shape, aren't they.

Deely-boppers. Key to our business. Ahem.

Stuff and Things You'll Need

• Scarves from t'charity shop.  Also good - silky tops you've kept to re-use for something.  Best is silky things because they will not be bulky and will insinuate themselves nicely through rings and round nails etc
• Rings - I found a bedillion inch diameter or so metal curtain rings in a charity shop once, and I used those.  Failing that, use whatever rings you can lay your hands on.  Can't find any?  Don't worry - leave 'em out!
• Magnets if your rings are metal - ideally little craft magnets (strong ones), but you could just round up all the magnets yer kids have abandoned
• Paper clips, curtain cafe clips, bulldog clips - anything clippy or hangy or holdy or grabby.  And yes, they are the proper technical terms.
• Hammer and Nails
• Tape measure, Pencil, Rubber

   
Ready?  Hop to it!

We gave our workroom wall a good clean to rid it of dust and, ahem, pencil drawings, and removed bits of blu-tack and sellotape.  A nice clean blank canvas for you to whack your scarf art onto.

Poke through, bring round, poke through again.

1. Tie/sew your scarves and silky bits together, and measure how long it is.  You'll need this figure in your head to give you an idea of how big or small your outline is going to be in the next step
2. Put the curtain rings, if you are using them, at regular intervals.  Simply poke through once, bring round and poke through again, as you can see here, so that the rings are 'caught' on the scarf.
3. Next you need to sketch your heart-shape on the wall (or hey - any shape, it doesn't matter!  Go crazy you creative loons, you) using your pencil.  Start lightly - it took us a while to get the heart shape

   

   The mighty dustpan and brush

   right, let me tell you, and involved lots of standing back and viewing it askance and squinty-eyed before we got it right, which in turn involved a lot of drawing, rubbing out and re-drawing.  
4. When you're happy with the shape, start hammering the nails in to the wall.  Now listen here - you have to angle them slightly, and the angle will differ depending on the shape the scarves will make.  For example, the downward 'dip point' at the top ofthe heart needs a nail which is angled downwards so that the scarves don't just slip off, upwards....think tent pegs and guy ropes and you'll know what I mean!  If in doubt, just hammer them in a little, so that you can manoeuvre them once the scarves are tied on.  You'll soon see what we mean.
5. Next - begin placing your scarves round the nails - if you're on your own, you may need to tie the first bit to a nail, or it'll keep slidin' awff.   Amanda and I were doing this together so one was holding the first bit in place while the other looped and curled the scarves into place.  If you found the whole nail angling thing tricky, you can always 'loop the loop' the scarves round each nail.

   

   Get cafe clips from curtain hardware suppliers

6. Tie the two scarf-length ends together when you've created your shape, or if you prefer, tie them to a nail. Don't worry if you have too much - just let it hang down, or cut it, or wind it round some more.  Don't get hung up with measuring, no, no.
7. Now's where you get busy hanging things off your hearts!  Now, I'll leave this to your imagination - we had all sorts of funny bits and bobs - we've got some things stuck on with two magnets, some things jammed into paperclips just hanging off scarves; we've got cafe clips holding stuff, and of course we used the nails too - see the dustpan and brush there?!  Basically, use whatever you think might work!

A lot more interesting than a boring old noticeboard, eh?  We shove things we love, reminders, our sewing patterns all hole-punched and hanging on a nail, ready to whip down and use when we get orders; we stick receipts on nails, hang works in progress, even coat-hangers sometimes, with other things hanging off them.

Take part in some heart wall art!

What will you do?  Ooh, and what shapes are you thinking of using?  A cat? An owl?  Kisses?  Tell me!

Reinvintage: Revamp your Chairs with Scarves

I'm very happy to be guest blogging over Eco Age's blog this week, with a piece on quirky chic recycling - using, yes, you guessed it - scarves.  I do seem to have a bit of a thing about scarves.  Well, they're just so easy to get yer hands on!

Go and have a little read - it'll tart up your chairs beautifully!

Fabric Reinvintage: Make a Shower Curtain

Showering in reinvintage style!

The Husb threatened to hotfoot it down the nearest gigantesque supermarket and buy a shower curtain at the weekend.  He has been nagging for a new shower curtain for yonks.   I, however, did not want to buy a new one, unless I could find an eco-friendly one, so I ensconced myself in the workroom. 

Over the last 10 years or so, I seem to have amassed quite a collection of shower curtains - there comes a point in every shower curtain's life when the mouldy mildewy bit at the bottom begins tickling yer tootsies in none too pleasant a way, and so down it comes, off gets chopped the bottom (ooh, weird English, hm?) and the rest is washed, and put away.

Till now.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen - the new all-singing, all-soaping, all-frothing patchwork shower curtain is born!

What do I need?

Got old bits of waterproof fabric you could use yourself?  How about: old camping materials such as tents, canvas, cagoules, groundsheets if they're not too thick; and look in the charity shops for old shower curtains; often you'll find them completely unused, still in their packaging.  And tell friends you want their scuzzy old mouldy ones.  They'll look at you with disgust, but hey, you're used to that, right?  You'll also need your sewing machine, invisible thread, heavy duty needle in the machine, and your rotary cutter and mat for the easiest cutting method.

How To Make a Strippy Patchwork Shower Curtain

1) Measure the width and depth of the curtain so you have some dimensions to work to.  Mine was 71 x 71 inches.

2) Divide by 5, so that you are working with strips - I wanted 5 horizontal strips in mine.  71" divided by 5 is 14", ish.

3) Keep the top of the curtain, where the holes are.  Fold it so it's in a manageable chunk, all the holes at the top, and cut to a depth of 14". Voila - there's your first strip!  Also remove the little weights from the curtain bottom hem.

Measure to depth of 14"

4) Now cut 14" depth strips from all your fabrics.  If you're using old shower curtains, all your strips will be roughly the same - 71" x 14".  But if you're working with all sorts of offcuts - cut them into rectangles/squares, ensuring two opposite edges are always 14" - the other measurement doesn't matter (in fact you're going to make them all different lengths on purpose to get the scrappy uneven look) but you will be stitching all your 14" sides to each other so they must match.

Start cutting folded strips at 14" mark

Add a few daft captions 

5) Once you have your strips, cut them into all sorts of different sized 'bricks' - the shortest being about 10", the longest maybe 25", and keep them all stacked up.  I couldn't resist stitching a few silly phrases onto mine, but be warned - doing this means you have to plan where they occur in the next stage, if you want them to look truly 'random'....often looking truly random means planning heavily!  The way mine accidentally came together meant I had all my phrases on the left of the curtain. Which I pretend is fine...but if you were planning it, you'd want them more evenly dispersed.  Ahem.

Cutting different sized bricks from my strips

6) Now start to stitch 'em together!  Use invisible thread, a good fat needle size - at least 90 - and a decent seam allowance - minimum half an inch.  Stay random when you grab bits to sew together, don't try to be too orderly about it - I didn't go dot, flower, fishes, plain; it was more like dot, plain, dot, fishes, plain, flower, fishes, flower, dot, fishes, plain.....and the same goes for the different sizes.  Stitch 14" to 14" sides, making sure you're stitching right sides together (although 10 points if you can see really quite a few wrong side flowers and fishes on mine....you can't? No, didn't bother me either...!)  Keep stitching, so you're creating a long continuous strip. Measure how much you've made every now and then.  In theory you need 71" x 4 so that you end up with 4 shower curtain width strips.  Then stitch another good-sized brick on so you have a bit extra for seam allowances.

You'll end up with mounds of stitched bricks

7) Now, cut the big long strip into 4 strips - making each one about 73" would be sensible, and lay them on the floor to see how best to order them.  You can see what I mean now about the phrases can't you?!  All on the left.  Doh.  Let's name these top to bottom, Strip 1, Strip 2, Strip 3 etc

Swap them about till you like the order

8) You will now stitch the strips together. Start with your original shower curtain top, and stitch it to Strip 1 along the long edge.  Remember right sides together - and you may need to 'neaten up' your long edges using your rotary blade and mat first.  The long strip sides must be straight and neat before you start to sew.  At this point, you are wrestling with mountains of crinkly shower curtain, so like, chillax, yeah?! Take your time...get it right...when you've finished stitching the Top (Holes) Strip to Strip 1, go and get Strip 2 from the floor, and stitch to Strip 1 and so on, till you have your whole complete shower curtain!

Lay the Strips right sides together

9) Hem all round the three edges to finish off, and if you have kept the weights from your old curtain, try stitching them into the bottom hem.  It's not dastardly important, folks, but it does make it hang better.

And there you have it!  A singularly individual shower curtain, which you can pretty much guarantee no-one else has, we think...yes?  We would LOVE to see any images if you make one of these - so send 'em to enquiries@originalstitch.co.uk and we will definitely show them off the universe for you.

Off you go then - go rummaging for waterproof things....

Top Tips on Shopping Eco 3: Don't Lose Them, or You Might Lose Out

Eco-friendly lunchbag!

You know I like to share with you easy ways to shop in an ethical way, because it's a good thing to do.  It's nice to the planet, and it's nice to people.

If you are a dedicated ethical buyer, as I am, though, there is a downside.   Each purchase has to be researched, considered, compared and then usually purchased online.  I admit there are times it would be easier just to slip out to my local builder's merchant, or mega-supermarket, or large famous online retailer.  You are lucky if you are able to nip down to your local high street to grab eco-friendly clothes pegs, some environmentally friendly furniture polish, or an eco solution for your child's lunchbag.  Every time I have a purchasing need, I have to research the ethical options online for solutions.

I admit it, I've had to change the way I shop a little, so I thought I'd share with you some of the ways I do this - I already spoke of online ethical 'magazines' in the post about Green e-Zines, and how to decrease your environmental footprint by buying British in this post, and this will add yet another dimension to your ethical purchasing.

Like, follow?

One of my vices. Shoooooz. Click for more.

I always follow great companies whose eco credentials I think will come in handy.  I may be fiercely resisting buying shoes, but want to know I have ethical shoe boutiques at my fingertips when that party invitation arrives.  When you find a company you like, go and find them on Facebook and click on the Like button, or follow them on Twitter if you're a tweeter.  They may also have a Blog - click on the Follow or RSS feed buttons on their blog so that you can keep in touch.

Cheeky minx.  Worked though!

Green businesses, like us, tend to use the social networking sites heavily to engage with their customers, because often they're not enormous corporates with massive advertising budgets.  We try to get up close and personal (in a very loving sort of way, not in a smarmy space invading way. Well, maybe sometimes if you're very handsome or pretty....) so we're right there when you need us.  Quite often this is where businesses are at their silliest, like when we asked for your help to name our visiting Grass Snake the other day.  (Olwyn, she's called, by the way.) The laziest customers, like me, even use Facebook or Twitter pages to ask customer service questions or even better, ask for discounts...I did the other day, in a blatant and cheeky post on Swings and Pretty Things' wall.  She responded, I bought, she was happy, I'm happy.  Everyone's happy!

And the answer was, yes, she did! Click here for more

After tweeting generally for eczema products, this company responded to me; we got into a conversation and they came back to me with links to a product, and even told me about a discount code I could use.  She wanted the sale, I wanted the product and I wanted it there and then!  Job done.


 Sign Up

Pass the Pimms darling

 
I'm an instant signer-upper.  I don't feel I'm powerlessly bamboozled by newsletters - companies are governed by very strict laws and guidelines when it comes to sending you email newsletters, and most, like us, just want to alert you to new launches, new products, sales, freebies, competitions and other things we're up to.  Sure, I get quite a few every day but I have them going to an email account which is not my work one. I scan them vaguely every day, and that way, if I'm sitting thinking about a garden party I'm planning for the summer (yes, summer - that sunny shiny thing we sometimes get in June, remember?)  and I happen to open a newsletter from the Natural Collection which says this in the title "Let's go Al Fresco! Outdoor Dining at its Finest", then I'm going to give it a look.  Honestly, I don't look at every email, but they're already self-selected - I signed up for them, chances are one day they may have the thing I happen to be after. And if my need was very fleeting - new pond lining specialists for example, and I'm not really interested any more, I can always unsubscribe.  Unless the newts eat the old lining, in which case I'd be really peeved I deleted it, darn it and fig.

See it, wish it. 

Sitting on my toolbar. Little temptress.

I am fully prepared for the onslaught of gasps and controversy I might now meet for consorting with big corporates; but I'm telling you, when the things you seek are not immediately to hand in your local supermarket, this - the Amazon Universal Wish List button is a very useful thing! You drag a little button up onto your toolbar, where it lives, waiting for you to press it whenever you see anything, anywhere, on any website that you like.  I'm guessing most of you have an account at Amazon, and you might even already have your wishlist set up there.  But did you know that you can add to your wishlist from ANY website?  For eco buyers this is great - if I stumble upon a product I like, I wish it.  It's a good tool for specialist buying.  And if you have persons in your life who are a little bit net savvy, you can of course leave it lying open, accidentally, or share it with them.
I wish!
(Let's put it this way - I actually ended up buying all my Christmas Wishlisted stuff, with all the Folksy gorgeousness I'd drooled over, myself.  With my eyes closed - he was trying to hide the pictures with his hand whilst I typed in usernames and passwords and navigated round sites.
No, he's not 80.
Anyhoo....)

Pin it

Of course, if you want a place that's a bit more public to list the things you love, then there is Pinterest.  If you haven't come across this yet, it's like a mood board, or inspiration board - again, with a handy little button you install on your toolbar - see? Every time you see something you like, you click on the little Pin It button, and it asks you which of the images you can see on that page you want to pin on your board.  It's another sharing site too - other people can come and drool on your board, you can re-pin other people's pins, and you can have lots of boards, covering all your desires, fetishes, needs and wants.  So, next time you see a product you love, pin it!  Not only can you drop big hints with friends, but it's a handy reminder too.  And again - for specialist, niche or non-high street stuff, what a great way to keep a record.  If a little tempting...!

So next time you're browsing at OriginalStitch, but not quite ready to buy, don't just sit stand there twiddling yer thumbs! Pin us!  Wishlist us!  Like us!  Follow us!
Oops, I seem to have become a little self-serving there [grins evilly], but in all seriosityness, if you find a good green company, you may not easily find them next week.  Having massive, enormous standout and instant brand-name recognition in a crowded internet market is not easy for small green businesses, so grab their details while you can, then they'll be there when you need them, you follow me?!

Life's Just Better With Jam

Of course, it's taken me so long, their feet no longer fit.  Ahem.

We discover, Dormouse Moneybags and me, that all of a sudden a half-term or an Easter or a Christmas holidays is slap bang sitting right on top of us.  Wham!  Just like that.  We're all, what the, how the, where the heck did the time go?  Are our children ever in school?

I like how it looks as if they've signed their feet...

And in those weeks of course there's little point trying to do anything involving the following high falutin' thinky activities - planning, strategy, website editing, product design, image editing.
You know, just the stuff in our jobs.  No way.  Forget it.  And certainly not making products for our lovely (we're curtsying right now, curtsying) customers, who deserve only the highest quality products we can muster.

Add one gorgeous bright red giant bathmat!

But we're addicted to sewing, so we do both attack little projects for our own home, since it doesn't remotely matter if we cock those up.  Yes, I like to make a right old scruffbag of a thing for my gaff.  I don't care about loose threads, scruffy edges, double-stitching, linings, neat hems, market trends, on-trend colourways or nuffink.  No, I just grab some scraps, cut 'em up, hoop up, throw a sausage at the kids, stitch something to something else, lob some squash at the kids, stitch some more bits to some other bits, cut, snip, stitch, say "Yeeees!" to whatever thing they've just asked for (crisps was it? Tequila? Tree-climbing? Fire-starting? No idea, just can't stop in the middle of machine-embroidery), stitch a bit more, pinking shear some edges, bob's your uncle and here's a bowl of ice-cream with chocolate sauce and yes, of course, help yourself to too much telly.

Enter me for Mother of the Year Award, you say?  Oh yes please, do, do.

Machine-embroidered scraps for a picnic blanket

Anyway, so here are the things I'd been meaning to make for donkeys' years, and scruffy though they are, I'm glad I've done them.  They are the very things I love - they inject creativity into the fabric of this house.  They are there to please no-one but me (and if they please other people, hooorah!); they are spontaneous; vintage; sustainable; re-used; and best of all, being used, so I get to have a little cock-eyed smile at them each time I see them.  Slightly smug.  You know that smile.
I must tell you that the bathmat idea is not mine, no - I saw it in passing at a nice blog once, and always meant to do it.  You can find a smashing tute for it here if you're not confident about tackling it freestyleeee....

The picnic blanket idea has been germinating for a while in my bonce.

 

These are all machine-embroidered squares with daft phrases on them, like our Piece & Jam Collection.  Ok, it's going to take me a while, but once I've done 12 or so, I'll throw them together with some other squares to make a picnic blanket - whack an old shower curtain on the back and hey presto, all ready for an English picnic, for which waterproofing is always advisable. A load of foody phrases, coz life is just better with Jam.

Whose voice can you hear now?  Yep.  That's right.  Homer Simpson.

Yes, that is Eddie Izzard, most beloved of this Isle.  There'll be a few more of his by the time this picnic has finished.  Cake or death?

So, now then - I'd like to know any of the following in your comments please...either here or on our Facebook page....

a) What did you make in the holidays, and on a scale of 1-10, how scruffy was it?
b) What were your most shameful hands-off childcare tactics?  Share.  Seriously - I need some tips!
c) More Eddie Izzard phrases for the picnic blanket please.  And by the way, these are for everyone - please make a picnic blanket using them!  Could you pass me the idioms please.  Thank you.

10 No-Messin’ Rules for an Efficient Laundry Day

The Mama of All Bung-It-In-Bags

You think I'm kidding don't you?  I'm so NOT kidding.  I've only gone and written a perrrrrroper, nice and domesticated blog post!  This will knock your socks off. Just make sure you pick 'em up and clean 'em after.

My Hardcore, No-Messin’ 10 Rules for an Efficient Laundry Day

Our new Piece & Jam Collection takes iconic shapes and phrases and turns them into mini-artworks on every day stuff. Sound a bit arty farty? It's not really - this approach to our products comes from trying to make the paraphernalia of housewifery fun, not just functional.

I am not known for my enjoyment of washing chores (I'm a very shoddy Domestic Operating Officer), but that’s exactly why I need it to be an efficient and time-saving operation.  I would rather be sewing, you see?!  So here it is:

1)   Count your pegs. Have I gone mad? Seriously – count your pegs, and check out how much hanging space you’ve got. We’ll come back to the pegs and line in a minute...

2)   Sort your laundry bins. Don’t have huge ones. But do have a few, because you’re going to sort clothes the moment you get naked, my friends. Establish the following laundry baskets:

a.   one for white undergarments

b.   one for dark undergarments

c.   one for workshirts

d.   one for dark clothes

e.   one for light clothes

f.   I tend to shove all the kids’ clothes in one or two bins divided into lights/brights

g.  I have one for woollens and silks etc (which, ahem, never really get washed.) Anyway – you get the drift, yes?

Try to plan your Laundry Baskets so they relate to where you put things away – so if you have all the kids' tops and t-shirts in one chest of drawers, have a laundry basket for that category.  All the husbands’ pants and socks in one chest of drawers?  A laundry basket for that category. 
Pyjama drawer? Pyjama laundry basket.

3)   DON’T move your laundry baskets from their allotted positions, on pain of death! They live there to catch yer smelly smalls – let your Laundry Bags do the moving jobs.

Disobey the Receptacle Rule at Your Peril

4)   Start thinking in ‘loads’ and ‘receptacles’. Have SMALL receptacles such as laundry bags to take your stuff from laundry basket to washing machine. We designed our Laundry Bags in two sizes – half and full load!  Don’t overload!  Too much and you’ll end up with ditched knickers on the floor. Moreover you’ll have too many clothes to hang on the line and not enough pegs to hang them with!  Ah, do you see? Told you it would make sense.

5)   Obey the Receptacle Rule: Always have Only One Load Per Receptacle, and Always One Receptacle Per Load! The laundry bag is like a faithful bodyguard – it stays with its load at all times.  Leave the bag by the machine (a line of rustic hooks on the wall by the machine is perfect for hanging bags on), and there it is – ready to decant your shiny smalls into when done.  

6)   The Load fits the Line! Now your perfectly size-defined load of washing will magically fit the number of pegs in your lovely Peg Bag, and the amount of space on your line.

Peg Bags like art. Bring it, they say.

7)   When dry – fold as you take down. And this is where that tip about matching your laundry baskets to where things live helps – on a good day, I fold all the items from the line onto a chair, then carry up and put them all away in just ONE place, not 18! No stray teatowels, no odd socks, no belligerent towels creeping in. And the trusty Laundry Bag gets put back upstairs, ready for its next lovely filthy occupants.

8)   One in the Machine, One on the Line, One to Put Away. Have a Maximum of 3 rule! A cheeky queue of Laundry Bags next to the washing machine isn’t so bad, if you have a utility room that can accommodate such guests, but get upstairs and put the clean and dry ones away first, you slattern you.

9)   Have a Washing Calendar.  If you’re really efficient, you can even do a calendar, for all your categories, including towels and sheets (for which bulky monsters our beefy Bung-It-In Bag is designed). Not forgetting of course, Sunday Evening at 9.30pm – School Uniforms.  Ahem...

10) Be green in your washing choices - if you prefer a stiffer alternative to Laundry Bags, you could try sourcing a fairtrade jute basket, or look for a recycled plastic basket like the ones in Folksy store Merja’s Crochet Recycle.  For other washday products, try Nigel’s Eco Store; for some cool British-made and green pegs, you could give these recycled clothes pegs from GreenTree a try and if you really want to have some fun – make your own cleaning products – that’s what I do.  For all the ingredients to make them, try Summer Naturals, and give this smashing little book a try – Natural Stain Removers, by Angela Martin.

Ooh, you'll be mean, green cleaning machines in no time!

Where Can I Buy Recycled Fabric Gifts?

Well what the devil on seven horses do we call this lot then?!

Don't know about you lot - but I turn to the internet for almost all of my purchases with a question like this title, because ain't many a high street that reliably houses the sort of ethical/eco-friendly/fairly-traded goods I've got my beady eyes out for.  I earmark certain local shops because I know they'll have what I want (you know who you are Freerange and Planet Health and Organics Thame), but for other stuff, it's no good me wondering the streets of Britain randomly hoping to stumble across a shop that might sell ethically traded tweezers, or organic cotton thread, or some nice environmentally friendly kids' school vests, or custom-made wooden turnip peeler. (Ok, so I never have actually searched for one of those).

We businesses who specialise in something effical or eco bust our guts trying to get our 'search engine optimisation' search terms right, because we know there is some soul out there looking for what we're selling, and they're not going to trip up in a dark alley and accidentally stumble into our shop.  T'intermesh is a big place.
(Wait.  Now get me, aren't I just the fancy one? Aren't you impressed with my impressive tinkleweb terminology?!)

A mat. No, a coaster. No, um, a holder. Thingy. Thing.

When I was first doing this website shenanigan, I was totally bamboozled by the search terms I had to think about putting in my (know-it-all voice again please) global metadata, oh yeah....
Hang on, to be honest, I still am, so I have to frequently sit down and have a good trawl through the site, asking myself if I have peppered it with enough of the words my customers might be typing in to Ye Olde Google, so that we find each other in the dark alleys of the internet. Ooerr, Mrs.

The most bonkers was our Pencil Rolls, and Double Pen Totes.  Now, I know they're called Double Pen Totes, and YOU know they're called that, but supposing you've never heard of them? Or OriginalStitch? What might you type in then?  Well, you should see some of the daft things I've got in me globals, love - here's a selection of what I imagine you lot might search for.

pencil roll, double pen tote, pencil bag, crayon holder, crayon bag, pen pockets, pen storage, pencil storage, pencil roll-up, pencil pocket storage, fabric pen pockets, recycled fabric pen bag, recycled material pen pocket bag, vintage fabric pen bag, vintage fabric kids pen storage...

Because not only do I have to think about what we should call the darned products in the first place, but then I've jolly well got to predict what you nutters are going to call them, and now it's all just gettin' a little bit philosphical, man, right?! 
Never mind metadata, it's gettin' metaphysical innit?
I've got to make sense of what's in my own head, then try and see inside yours.  Hell's Bells on a stick.

Can you imagine how much fun we had with the search terms for the Dolly Sling? Can you?!

So tell, me, empty the dustbins of your brains for search terms.  Answers on a postcard please!  What would you type in, if you were looking for one of these?!
Ah go on. Tell me in a comment what you would call this, and I'll enter it into the bowels and nooks and crannies of the website!

Face it, you Twits, you Follow?

This was the original Facebook logo - they nearly went for it, honest, but decided on a felt-tip pen one in the end.

Well now, me and Dormouse Moneybags, aka Amanda, only went and had an OriginalStitch Works Outing yesterday didn't we! Yes, we were on day release from OriginalStitch Towers, leaving The Husbs in charge of their respective progeny, and off we went t'Big London to the UKAware Show at Olympia.

It's full of like-minded ethical, eco-friendly, environmentally driven sort of types like us, so we came back bulging with business cards.  And we thought we'd do a little celebration of some of the stuff there.  Follow us, follow them, follow us all!  Hoooorah for following!

Gingham tweeting, it's all the rage

Now, we love this Blog, and it is where you'll find the chaotic undercurrent of OriginalStitch, (are you Following us in your Google reader thingy? Oh, do, my loves, why don't you, hm? Look, you can join all those lovely looking peeps to the left there - aren't they handsome and pretty?) but Facebook and Twitter is where we also daily update you on products, special offers, or just share nonsense from our day in headline style, plus links to the latest blog post too.
And look - I've even made you special linky badges from fabric to get you to them - just click and follow us!

But with no further ado, lookee here at these fab things:
www.reestore.com, home of Dragon's Den winner Max, who designed this smashing plastic bag bin - you just pop the bag handles over the tops and the bag pulls the plastic tight. Brilliant. Made from 100% recycled plastic. We went home with 4 between us. Saw us comin' eh? 

Next, we liked Fairtrade Innipooh, with these fab bicycle baskets made in India - go to her website and read the fab story of how Trudi, from Suffolk, came to find herself in business with Parvathi in India. We toddled off with 3 of these in bright jolly colours for some daughters. I repeat, saw us comin' eh?

And how about this for the latest in at-home parties - the Swap-a-Rama Clothes Swap parties? You take along 5 of items of clothing or accessories you no longer wear, but which are of course nice and clean and non-shoddy, swap them for vouchers, and spend those on something pre-loved your friends have brought along, for a small fee on the door!  Amanda, who is Class Rep on the PTA is all over this for the next Ladies Indulgence Event at our girls' school up the road, so I will be manhandling fivefoot women in the street to come along so there's stuff to fit me. Um, that's women who are 5ft, not women with five feet. You knew that, right?

Bung-It-In Bag, from soon to arrive Piece&Jam Collection

And last but not least, here is a lovely sneak preview of an up and coming product we found being showcased by two very attractive, glamorous and successful looking ladies wondering round the show, one of whom was five foot.
Ahem.
Ok, so you know that's us right?
I'm that transparent aren't I?
Well, anyhoo, what the heck - we'll be revealing the whole new collection soon so come and find us on Facebook and Twitter, and you'll be able to see all the next sneak previews, as we launch the whole Piece&Jam Collection.  It features applique and quirky embroidery of fab, daft or iconic images like bunting and radios and sewing machines, on stuff like aprons and laundry bags and tea cosies and Bung-It-In Bags.
Oh yum.

We look forward to meeting you, you handsome pretties, you.

3 Top Second-hand Scavenges

Now I know we here at OriginalStitch make lovely things out of pre-loved fabrics, so let's say that's a given.  Rummage for those scraps! Grab those remnants! Dig out yer sewing machine! Download our lovely PDF patterns! Make something using them!  Excuse that blatant plug! What a lot of exclamation marks!

Erm, yes, well, anyhoo - in this lovely sunshine we're all getting I bet you've been out and about, browsing and scavenging in second-hand shops, so how about a quick reminder of 3 Fab Finds you can make into lovely pressies for your nearest and dearest, with links to some tutes and how-to's to get the job done.  In my experience, these are the most plentiful things in charity shops - you just can't walk out without them, so they're a sure-fire way to rustle up a pressie without too much of a search. Just click on the Top Tip title to go to the tutorial.  Smashing.
Then just pop your makes into the post, addressed to Herself, OriginalStitch, Up In The Chilterns, Engyland. Thank you. I promise I will pass them on to your friends on your behalf.
[evil smile]
I promise. No really. I will.
[Eyes glint evilly].

Anyway, shall we?

Top Tip 1: Teapot Salad Pots:
This is one of my favourites - and right now is the time to do it! A pretty teapot, some inexpensive salad crop seeds (either salad leaves or a happy indoor herb like basil or coriander), soil and hey presto, a lovely present.  Give either before they've germinated, with a lolly-stick nicely labelled, so they can watch 'em sprout; or fully grown.

And the best bit? Water 'em through the spouts!

Top Tip 2: Fab Photo Frames
There are besquillions of these in every charity shop - all shapes and sizes, and if you're lucky you'll find some pretty cool ones.  And some fabulously cheesy 80s ones that make you go eeuuuw. Look at those, but politely whisper to them that not on their nellies will you be liberating them. Step away from the eeeuuuw. 
I never, ever buy frames new. You just don't need to. Get arty!

Vintage cottons, vintage postcards, pre-loved frames. Bargain!

Top Tip 3: Scarves for a Fortune-Teller Bag
Again, you will love the array of um, shall we say eclectic, tastes that are catered for at the scarves rail. But squint a bit, absorb the colours and grab willy-nilly and you'll end up with something absolutely unique - this is a truly fab gift for a lovely laydeeee.  For the ridiculously easy Fortune-Teller Bag, I guest-blogged at the magnificent Mrs Thrifty's (if you don't follow her, go, do, you must, simply must) so hop over there and check out the tutorial for that.

So easy to make, it's bonkers. And right fancy, too.

 There. Honestly - write a list of all your friends, hotfoot it to the charity shops and get a load of these things in.  And there you have it - this year's presents for all!

(Apart from the OriginalStitch products you'll be making or buying of course, my good lady, Sir, Madam, gentlefolk...do step this way....!)

Top Tips on Shopping Eco 2: Buy British Handmade

Buy from someone else, please.

Now, in the spirit of truthfulness and for the benefit of all peoplekind, I'm going to recommend to you our competitors.

Er, what?

Not our competitors', ours ours ours!

You know the bit where The Husb claps his hands on his head and pulls handfuls of hair precisely in the opposite direction of the follicles?  Yes; this, one such.  Ok, so maybe it's not the best business idea, but if I am to promote British, hand-made, locally crafted works of beauty, like our products, then I must champion us all, I tell you. Up the hand-made! So to speak.

Britain is full of such astonishing artistic talent, selling products for, I promise you, much lower prices than you might imagine.  So you can buy good-value, beautiful stuff, and do your bit for your carbon footprint by buying British-made.

Latest haul, netted in Charity shops.  Look at the chandeliers!

Now we here are all about eco-friendly, so our products use only vintage, pre-loved or recycled materials, but you don't have to go so earth-gentle to do your bit - simply buying from an individual who has made their product on these 'ere shores will be helping to reduce your environmental impact, because you can be sure your product was made in a loving home, not a vast soul-less factory with unhappy workers paid pitiful wages for soul-destroying hours, shipped vast distances to reach you.

Gimme! Gimme names!

Christmas pressie from Quirky Thistle, aka Mum. Keeping me warm one lap at a time

Where to find these things, and be sure they're made here, you might wonder?  Many small-scale makers are championed by a great website called Folksy, an amazing treasure trove of artist-makers, working from home, selling their wares.  Everything you can buy there will be hand-made, and in most cases unique - that's the bonus of individually made pieces.  I'm not talking just fabric, I'm talking ceramics, wood, prints, jewellery, clothing, and a whole bunch more, including the Old Apple Tree whence I fell, though she won't be too pleased about being called Old. Yes, me old Mum will soon have a shop up there to sell her lovely quilts to people for money, instead of making them free, for me.
Darn you.
Darn you all, you greedy, good-for-nothing workshy customers, you!
Sorry. Now I owe her a blog post once her shop's up.  And she'll clip my ear when she sees me.  Darn it.

And I promise you, these things are often not expensive.  I bought many Christmas presents from makers at Folksy, except, I admit, for the toxic unmentionables Father Christmas informed me were on the Daughts' Christmas List.  Fair do, Santa, I said. Ones own children are not always the best proponents of ones work.  Said Hetty, and I quote, after I foolishly asked her if she liked something I'd made "Not much, Mummy, I don't really like fabric".  Or Isla "Yeah, no, I don't like those colours, Mummy, and you know, it's, like, not made from plastic teenage upward inflection and sneer?"
Down we go, aaaaaand Bump. Hi Earth, only me.

Yanyhoo....Notonthehighstreet is another great online retailer pointing you towards fab makers based in Britain. And there are many organisations out there which showcase and promote British designers and makers - you can see my badge here on this blog for UK Handmade, another community which supports the work of UK based makers.

And to top it all, we are delighted to have been approved as a seller on FromBritainWithLove, a beautiful website dedicated to showcasing and routing you to Britain's most talented designers, crafstpeople, producers and retailers.  We're thrilled to be on there, because there are some big names and fabulous products on there, and that's very exciting for us.  Hoorah!  Up the OriginalStitch!  You know, I mean, not literally.

So, listen here then - if you're a maker - please leave a comment below with your website, folksy, or facebook details, and if you're a reader-buyer, then do have a look at all these lovely places, and come back to see who's left their details here.  I don't mind sharing, because that's another thing - this is a friendly community that helps its fellow crafters out, and for buyers that translates to great customer service.  Home makers bust an absolute gut to get customers' orders right for you, ain't that right, you makers?  Yeah!  Up the workers!  So to speak.

And here's some fun: We're going to select a maker at random from the comments, buy one of their products, and offer it as a giveaway in a blog post coming soon.

So, come say hi, leave a little comment and your shop's details.  Looking forward to hearing from you!  And you reader-buyers, take a little time to check out these places; you'll be happy with what you see.