A Second Hand and Handmade Christmas

This year our family is endevouring to have a second hand or homemade christmas.  It has been lots of fun so far, with many hours spent scouring op shops for unique christmas presents and pursuing creative ideas. 

My most exciting items this year in terms of the homemade element are 1. a quilt for my nephew Hugh, and 2. dish scourers and cotton dishwashing cloths. 

Hughie's quilt is coming along nicely, however I horrified the lady at GJs fabrics (the specialised quilting shop in Brunswick) when I explained that I just measured my fabric into 11cm pieces and then snipped the edge and ripped along the grain.  This approach is quick and easy to create my 11cm by 11cm squares, but not really true to the meticulousness of the quilting tradition.  She also explained to me that I need to quilt in inches not centimetres.  Never mind.  I am happy with the result. 

My other exciting homemade christmas gifts which come as a set are scourers, knitted out of garden twine or jute from the $2 shop and knitted cotton dishcloths.  I bought the cotton at Spotlight.  I know they are a bit time consuming, but I remember when my Nanna bought me a metallic pot scourer (for some strange reason) and how I thought about her every day when I used it, and how I was sad when it finally fell apart and I had to chuck it out.  So hopefully, the people who receive these special (and very practical) gifts will think of me when they use them (and will dispose of them in their compost bin when they finally disintigrate). 

Chairs

Each year our school has an art show and family and friends are invited to decorate a chair and then donate it to be auctioned with proceeds going to the school.  Chairs make a couple of hundred dollars each. 

This year my idea was to screenprint our postcode onto fabric and then recover a chair. 

I found a great stool to cover at the Tip Shop at Reservoir.  I bought the fabric at Rathdowne Remnants (it is heavy duty synthetic stretchy stuff).  I was very happy with the results. 

And then someone donated a chair to the school that I couldn't resist recovering with hessian and tacks.  It is very 2011, but I am a little concerned as to how it will stand the test of time. Whilst all the rage in current home magazines, it seems to me that tacks and hessians aren't the most robust materials when combined as a chair covering material, and I had to glue and screw the chair in the first place.  Anyway, it looks good.  Just as I imagined.  Fingers crossed.