Saint Salvage

This striped wool scarf used to be so long that I could wrap it around my neck four times with plenty of extra hanging down.  This was one of the items "saved" from our house fire in May. It came back to me from the dry cleaners measuring a paltry 10" wide X 36" long.  Waaahhh! What to  do? So, after some thought and brainstorming, I decided to still use it. I folded it over into thirds lengthwise, so that the seam would face my neck. Then, I pinned the entire seam, so I could hand sew it as straight as possible. I used a blanket stitch with red thread on the outside of the scarf seam (what would become the "right" side of the scarf). This is the side that will touch my neck and clothes.  Then, I turned it inside out, and blanket stitched it again, to make sure that the project would be nice and strong and maintain its shape. Then, I turned it right side out and pressed it on the "wool" setting. ...

This is another cashmere sweater I love.  Of course, when I wanted to wear it... Holes!!!!! I hate sweater holes!!!! Instead of throwing out the sweater, I bought some iron on butterfly patches. I just placed them over the holes... and ironed them on. Here's the front, with the holes covered. Here's the back. The moth holes are now covered with butterfly patches. My nice cozy sweater is done.

 I have had some "salesman samples" of Mexican blankets that I received in a bulk estate sale for a while.  I kept looking for a way to use them, and I found a perfect way to upcycle them when I bought a $10 pair of white and pink High top Converse at  a Salvation Army for $4.99. After washing and drying the sneakers completely, I put household cleaner bottles inside the sneakers. This is to help support the bonding process. Shoe Goo came in handy again. Then, I cut the ends of the rugs and started the piecing process. I wanted those diamond shapes to be on the outside of the sneakers. The tongue got decorated with glued-on striped parts of the mini blankets. Of course, I had to make sure that the Converse "Chuck Taylor" logo wasn't covered. Here's the inner parts, with stripes all lining up to make sure that the logo is not covered. Here's the heel end, after having the gray and off-white striped pieces b...

I received three pots of concealer from NARS, as part of a freebie giveaway. I was surprised to see that I was sample #13 out of 100.