UPCYCLING AND PRETTYING UP

 I cut this curtain panel too short and a good friend who has superb sewing skills suggested adding tabs to lengthen it. Sheer serendipity makes it a perfect match for a pot made by native peoples of the Amazonian region.

 Recycled USPO boxes covered in creamy burlap and green Italian paper make  good containers for magazines and catalogs.

 My new sketchbook got a new cover made with fabric in a Provencal print.

 Two recycled picture frames minus glass reemerge as cork boards.

SEW YOUR OWN

Things have not been too jolly around the old homestead. Spring has has been chilly and mostly grey. There are daffodils and hellebores in the garden and the too often clipped forsythia does  adds a note of cheer, but for all that, there is an absence of gaiety, of enthusiasm, of hope for sunny days. Under the circumstances, might be justifiable to take to bed until July of thereabouts. Except that it would be cowardly. Better to isue a challenge to the greyness,

"Hey, I see you. Do you now see me. I intend to make you retreat. Send me your seconds at dawn."

Bright yellow curtains are just the right banner to wave as one utters defiant words. Mine are cotton, 54 inches wide, printed in America with a delightful suzani pattern. It took me two hours to cut and hem them. It is not too professional a job. Part of me feels that it might have been wiser to outsource. O am not a trained seamstress. The sewing machine and I are not always in the nest of terms. My seems tend to meander and lurch. No matter. Sewing my own curtains, crooked seems and all, gives a sense of accomplishment. That, I suppose, is why women often turn to crafts in bleak times. See, for example, the beautiful quilts made during the Depression. Imagine the women who designed and stitched them while they wondered what to feed their families.
With few exceptions, work traditionally done by women's work has usually been undervalued. Seamstresses, quilters, embroiderers rarely command the respect they deserve. That might be the reason so few women or men of the younger generation bother to learn traditional crafts. It is easier to go to Hellmart and buy a pair of cotton Battenburg lace curtains made by Chinese political prisoners or Third World workers who are paid slave wages. At ten bucks a pop, they are a real bargain. My curtains cost four times as much although I bought the fabric from an outlet. I am OK with with the price I paid.  The curtains are good and sturdy. They will last for years. What's more, they are a little offering to the gods of joy and  my contribution towards making my home a pleasant place. These days, more than ever, we need pleasant places.

ADDITIONAL FRUGAL GIFT IDEAS

This is another variation on Simplicity's M4905 tote bage pattern. I made it for a young woman who loves loves to knit. The project took approximately three hours to complete.

Folkwear www.folkwear.com carries bias tape makers, Asian knot templates and fabulous patterns for ethnic and retro clothing and accessories such as a Huichol wardrobe, Ukrainian shirts, tabi socks, Syrian dress and Gibson girl bloise. Sign up for their e-newsletter and they will send you the occasional free pattern.

ZED'S STATUS

He is working, as you can see. Even so, any day now, a guy in a white van will come to take him away. While he is gone I will claim be a Luddite. I will embroider, sew, knit, crochet and dream of perfect technology.