Free Gifts

This holiday season seems grim, there is no doubt about it. At my flea market, we trotted out the holiday schwag, and we were taken aback at the reaction of so many people: Oh no! Not Christmas, I can't even think about Christmas, they said. In my view, having money has never been what Christmas is about. It is about doing something thoughtful for those you love, and going the extra mile to make it something they will enjoy. I am here to declare that this does not have to cost one red cent. This month at the flea market, we have been upcycling old clothes. For the uninitiated, "upcycling" is not just a smugger version of recycling, it means using stuff that is really only good for the trash, and making it worth more than it was even when it was new. In the fall, lots of people seem to go through their closets and get rid of the shabby ill fitting clothes that once they loved but no longer wear. We have been collecting these bags of clothes bound for the landfill, and making them into fabulous cloche hats and vintage looking handbags:

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I made the handbag and the cute hat out of old pajamas that had seen better days. The clothes were stained and faded in places, but most of the fabric was still pretty. I cut the shirts into strips, starting at the bottom hem, and working in a spiral, all the way to the top. You don't have to be neat or even accurate when cutting, all of the jagged edges go away later. Then I knitted the strips of fabric into a tube. Now here is the confession: I have no clue how to knit- I had my husband's cute Grandma try to teach me once, and she pronounced me hopeless. The trick is to purchase one of these kits:

These are knitting looms. The instructions are easy to follow, a child can do it. You simply loop yarn or in our case fabric strips, around the pegs, and use the tool to pop the loops over the top of each other. It is easy as breathing. There are lots of youtube vids on how to do this, so I won't clutter up this post with tutorials. And these take next to no time to make. I have found these sets at Wal-mart for under $10 dollars, but you could even make one yourself out of a bit of plywood and some old nails if you wanted to be super frugal.  After you have made the initial purchase of the looms, all the things you make out of it can be practically free. The bag and cloche hat I picture above were made from reclaimed jammies, some thread I had laying around from other projects, and some vintage brooches. The cameo on the bag was one that I bought a long time ago, but it ended up being too big and clunky to wear on it's own- but on the bag it is perfect. Look around you- do you have old clothes? Broken jewelry bits? you may be well on your way to fabulous upcycled gifts for all your dear ones that cost you almost nothing.

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Crafting vs. Art

I generally call myself an artist rather than a crafter for lots of reasons,  but generally it is in deference to crafters. It really isn't a snobby affectation- I have to much respect for crafters for that.  Here is a perfect example of what I mean: I was looking at Aimee's scarf post, and thinking-I could do that, that looks like fun, and I set about going to work. I settled on a pair of old pajama's to use for my scarf. The pants had a nice vintage rose pattern on them. I like using old clothes for projects. They are soft from lots of washing, and you can bet on the fabric holding up if it has been washed so many times and still looks pretty good. I also have this thing abut taking something useless and making it more than the sum of it's parts. I looked at the precise squares from Aimee's picture and said, no, that will take too much time, and I cut long strips out of the pj's. Now here is the difference: Crafters are careful. They probably iron. Crafters would have made sure that all the fabric strips were the same width, and length. Not me. I hacked random long sections of pajamas out, some of them were crooked. I was going to take pictures of my process, but I was too embarrassed.  The edges were jagged and pretty much a mess. I didn't care. I noticed that on one of my pieces, there was a stain I had missed when I was checking out the fabric for this project. Crafters would say eew, and throw it all out. I decided it was "organic" ( It looked like it was chocolate) and I was going to use it anyway. I fashioned a patch out of some scraps, and sewed it on in an "I meant to do that" kind of way. After I sewed the patch on, I noticed it looked all wonky. Crafters would have carefully picked the stitching out and redone it. I sort of trimmed it up with scissors and then abandoned it, rationalizing that no one will notice that anyway.

I sewed the hacked up pieces together, and made one long patterned strip, and one long pink strip. I put them right sides together, and sewed down the sides, making a huge tube. I didn't sew straight, really, which is why I will never be a quilter, which is a highly specialized kind of crafter. My tube was ragged and uneven everywhere, so I hacked off the bits that were sticking out egregiously. I turned it right side out. In some places the stitching had puckered up some. Crafters would call this "a mistake", I call it "charm".

The ends were ragged so I hacked them off, tucked them in, and top stitched them, which just means stitching really close to the edge, on top. That looked sort of cool, so I top stitched the whole thing. And It is finished, my pj pants scarf. Maybe you are thinking it looks like I have a pair of old pajamas slung around my neck. If you do, you are probably a crafter. Artists call this "eccentricity" and walk around like we own it. So which is your style? Do you carefully follow proven techniques, measure and come out with a fabulous looking stylized gift? Or do you scavenge thru your junk, apply vision, and dive in headlong, not worrying much about the outcome? You answer will tell you whether you are a crafter or an artist.

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