Upcycling seems to be everywhere in the arts and crafts world these days. And that’s a good thing.
The word, coined a few years ago, refers to taking something destined for the trash and turning it into an entirely different useful product. It goes beyond simple recycling to create something new. Think of jewelry made from bottle caps, sculptures made from electronics parts, rugs made of woven strips of plastic bags. Upcycling removes items from the waste stream and provides free materials for artists and crafters.
I love the word and the idea. I’ve often used dumpster-destined materials in my quilting: pieces of tattered shirts, pockets taken off of worn-through
jeans, ribbons from a no-longer-loved doll and remnants from other people’s sewing projects. I dig through thrift shops and yard sales for cast-off curtains or drapes, tablecloths, pillow covers or the contents of grandma’s sewing room – anything made of fabric that can be cleaned up and re-used.
Recently, I’ve been turning this collection of what many may call junk into cute little gift bags. The wine-bottle-size bags are perfect for, well, a bottle of wine. Many of them are embellished with fabric copies of vintage wine-related posters or postcards, old labels and amusing wine-themed quotations:
“Wine is the most civilized thing in the world” – Ernest Hemingway
“Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Lewis Stevenson
“I like best the wine drunk at the cost of others” – Diogenese the Cynic
The bags are lined with a corresponding fabric that’s turned over for a cuff-like top, decorated with buttons or beads and tied up in a complementary ribbon. These photos show a series of golf-themed wine bottle bags (golfers love to buy anything that’s golf-related) and a couple of the wine-themed bags.
At just $8 per bag, there’s no reason for naked wine bottles to be given as gifts. There’s a selection for sale at www.ArtFire.com. Just do an artist search for Day Dream Crafts and find my studio.
I’m also making larger gift bags, lunch bags and the cutest little dog treat bags made from dog-related prints (paws, bones, breeds) left over from my mother’s last quilt project. Each bag holds a zip-lock bag of homemade natural dog treats. Look for them soon at ArtFire.com and my web site, www.daydreamcrafts.com.
Fabric gift bags are so much fun to make, and so easy to make with just three seams to sew that I’ll be teaching others how to make their own. Look for three gift bag-making classes this summer through the Fraser Valley Metropolitan Recreation District. Dates, times and the location will be announced soon. Anyone age 12 and older with basic sewing machine skills can register for any of the classes. Check the rec district’s web site at www.fraservalleyrec.org.
The word, coined a few years ago, refers to taking something destined for the trash and turning it into an entirely different useful product. It goes beyond simple recycling to create something new. Think of jewelry made from bottle caps, sculptures made from electronics parts, rugs made of woven strips of plastic bags. Upcycling removes items from the waste stream and provides free materials for artists and crafters.
I love the word and the idea. I’ve often used dumpster-destined materials in my quilting: pieces of tattered shirts, pockets taken off of worn-through
jeans, ribbons from a no-longer-loved doll and remnants from other people’s sewing projects. I dig through thrift shops and yard sales for cast-off curtains or drapes, tablecloths, pillow covers or the contents of grandma’s sewing room – anything made of fabric that can be cleaned up and re-used.Recently, I’ve been turning this collection of what many may call junk into cute little gift bags. The wine-bottle-size bags are perfect for, well, a bottle of wine. Many of them are embellished with fabric copies of vintage wine-related posters or postcards, old labels and amusing wine-themed quotations:
“Wine is the most civilized thing in the world” – Ernest Hemingway
“Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Lewis Stevenson
“I like best the wine drunk at the cost of others” – Diogenese the Cynic
The bags are lined with a corresponding fabric that’s turned over for a cuff-like top, decorated with buttons or beads and tied up in a complementary ribbon. These photos show a series of golf-themed wine bottle bags (golfers love to buy anything that’s golf-related) and a couple of the wine-themed bags.
At just $8 per bag, there’s no reason for naked wine bottles to be given as gifts. There’s a selection for sale at www.ArtFire.com. Just do an artist search for Day Dream Crafts and find my studio.
I’m also making larger gift bags, lunch bags and the cutest little dog treat bags made from dog-related prints (paws, bones, breeds) left over from my mother’s last quilt project. Each bag holds a zip-lock bag of homemade natural dog treats. Look for them soon at ArtFire.com and my web site, www.daydreamcrafts.com.
Fabric gift bags are so much fun to make, and so easy to make with just three seams to sew that I’ll be teaching others how to make their own. Look for three gift bag-making classes this summer through the Fraser Valley Metropolitan Recreation District. Dates, times and the location will be announced soon. Anyone age 12 and older with basic sewing machine skills can register for any of the classes. Check the rec district’s web site at www.fraservalleyrec.org.
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