Ehm...What's that?

It is a waterproof cover for our newly installed washing line.

 The line is actually meant for indoor use, but as we had it, we decided to use it as long as it lasts in our yard. To prolong its life, I sewed a cover for it against the UV radiation and water. It is used when the line is not in use.

This is the type of sewing is what I probably do most; mending, altering and making stuff, which is not necessarily pretty, but useful. It might not be the most inspiring to show, but it is very satisfying for me to know that I can do these things and prolong the usage.

It pains me when I hear that people don't know how to sew a button back on their clothing. In sewing terms it is equal of "I don't know how to boil an egg". Even if your needlework lessons were useless or in worst case non-existent, you can certainly find instructions on YouTube and other places on the net. A packet of needles and a reel of cotton lasts long and is a low cost investment to keep your garments going.  Sorry. I think I might be preaching for converted. I just could not believe this "cannot sew a button" statement, when I first heard it uttered, but had to revise my beliefs when I had heard it several times.

Hopefully you can sew a button on. If not, here are the instructions:

www.videojug.com/film/how-to-sew-on-a-button

Happy Mending!

E Coli Happens or Ei menny niin ku Strömsössä

Just to keep things real. It is not all crafts, baking and sunshine here in the hut.

I was struggling yesterday to make our ten day food plan. This is by the way one most effective ways of reducing food waste and keep the budget under control in my opinion and experience.  I was begging suggestions from my family as my brain just wouldn't yield anything interesting and easy enough and made it in the end with a herculean effort.  I even compiled a shopping list for this morning. Pleased with my staying power I ripped the old menu off the fridge and threw it into the kitchen bin, put the new one on and used an extra magnet to hang my shopping list overnight on the fridge door. Or that is what I thought...
This morning, almost ready to roll I was grabbing my list just to realise that it was the old menu. The new one was where it should be, so the shopping list was naturally in the BIN! And as  I was a lazy bone last night, I threw it in the mixed waste bin.

AAARGHHHHHHH!!!! I had to fish it out under tealeaves and other waste, so that I didn't have to do all the thinking and checking the ingredients again. (I did copy it out rather than using the manky copy for shopping!)

 Note to self: Use recycling bin for ALL writing paper waste.

Life, Universe and Everything

 Long time no see. Well. I have been humming and haring about what to do to this blog, to my life and the Universe. I am back and intend to blog more about the life in general and keep this as my personal diary of what I am thinking and doing. You are welcome to read it too, if it interests you.

Lately I have been in process of making patterns for a line of bags I intend to make and sell. Deciding what type of materials and models I am producing has taken quite a while and I have been bothering both friends and family with questions and musings. I hope to show you soon the first fruits of the production.

My philosophy of making things for sale is in line with my own values; they need to be simple, practical, durable and hopefully beautiful. I have had qualms of whether I can justify to produce more goods into the world, which is already bursting with things. By making bags and dolls, both something pretty personal and useful, I hope that I can persuade a few people to buy with thought of sustainability.

Personally, I use both my bags and clothes until they are not fit to use any more. When I make or buy new, I try to choose well-made and good quality natural materials. I repair, re-use and recycle, in that order. I just patched up a couple of flat sheets, which had holes in them. To my surprise I could still remember from the school needle craft lessons how to do this. I doubt that very many people do it any more or even know how to.  A quick look on Google didn't reveal an article or video on this! That's a first. Maybe I should make one.

We have used fabric napkins for a good while and this has a big effect on how much paper kitchen towel  is used in our kitchen. Washing of the napkins is no extra load as the white washing they go into, would have been done anyway. We have tried a number of different napkins, but my favourite ones are made out of IKEA tea towels by cutting each towel in four pieces and hemming them. I have just sewed a new set as our old ones are quite grubby.

Now that I am back, I will show you some of the things I have made while it has been quiet here on the blog. Stay tuned in!

Pretty Everyday Items or Gifts for the Nest

I made some "house warming" presents for ourselves when we were in the process of buying this house. I needed to have these items anyway, as the old plastic bag tube was worn out and the arrangement for my clothes pegs wasn't suitable for this house.

I love old textiles and linen tea towels are no exception. This was a tea towel, which already had a hole in it, but there was enough good fabric to make a bag for my pegs. I made the strap and the channel for closing strings of a fabric from my stash, in this case shirting from Elf Husband's old shirt.

 

I left the original embroidered initials on the bag, of course.

 

The plastic bag tube was made from IKEA fabric left over from another project. I gave our kitchen door key a "ticking" string to match the other items. I like my everyday objects being pretty and homemade, bringing me joy while doing my mundane housekeeping chores.
 Have you given yourself gifts lately?

Organised

I cannot say that I am that organised at the moment, although I am an organised person by nature. I made some more of the jars I showed here to use in the kitchen. I am not sure how often I actually need the painted label on the jars, but decided to add them anyway. These jars have dried rose and Calendula petals for later use in my homemade soaps.

The great achievement was this: I finally got around to paint all the jar lids of my spice jars. They are ordinary glass jars from mustard, mint jelly etc. I always keep these little ones as they come handy often. Previously I had put a little white sticker on the lid with the name of the spice and cellotape over it to make it waterproof(ish). It was entirely functional, but not nice to look at and at times difficult to spot the spice I needed.

I am so pleased with the result, especially as I am nearing the age when reading glasses might become a must. The bigger and bolder the writing the longer I can pretend that I don't need them as yet.

A good while ago I found an old ugly folder and covered it in IKEA waterproof fabric. (I am a messy lady in the kitchen). I used PVA glue to attach all the fabrics, easy-peasy!

Inside I clothed this home organiser in polka-dots and pockets. I keep my home accounts, recipes for food and homemade cleaning stuff in it as well as the receipts of the current month. I also pop into the pockets all sorts of coupons, which I am unsure whether I need or not and weed them out regularly.
 

  In the picture you see a chart. It tells me how much children should sleep at different ages. That's just an example what ends up here. I also have extra labels for preserves, stickers(??) and shopping lists. Basically random stuff which is used , but does not merit a folder for itself. I don't really want a home-planner with cleaning routines, Christmas count-downs, party planning and so on like some uber organised ladies. This is enough for me and it can be changed as needs must. I do like that the folder looks and feels good in my hand as I use it almost daily.

Cleaning the Hut part 1

I am sure that I am the last one to get on the cheap/environmentally friendly/home made cleaning stuff. The web seems to be full of recipes for different concoctions, so I thought that I will show you what I use at the moment, just to add to the general merriment! My cupboard gets edited if I find better stuff. On the other hand, if something works I seldom bother seeking alternatives. It is more that I might stumble on a bright idea on my internet journeys.

I plan to wash our clothes in washing powder made of :

2 part soap flakes or grated soap
1 part or borax
1 part of soda crystals

I need approximately 2 tablespoons of this per wash. (I have a big 9kg machine).
I did a test run or two. It worked beautifully and now I am working through my stash of shop bought detergents. You could add an essential oil into the mixture if you want a scent. Our family is happiest with unscented stuff in general.

I am really, really excited about dishwasher powder I have been making and using

1/2 part  borax
1/2 part  washing soda
Little squirt normal dish washing liquid

White vinegar for rinsing.

I use maybe 1-2 tbs of the powder per wash.

If you have a grim shower screen, here is a whopper:

Make a paste of water and flour. Any flour does it; corn, potato, wheat, as long as it thickens the sauce.   It doesn't need to be awfully thick, aim at a cream cleaner consistency. When the sauce is thickened and hot, add some white vinegar. Now spread the paste on your grim shower screen and wait. Go on, have a cup of tea or go and clean something else. If it is really bad, you might even want to leave it overnight.  Then you just rinse the thing away with the help of a sponge. Voila, shiny screen!

One thing I have not really found is a dish washing detergent I could make. I am well aware of that you can use washing soda to this end, but that means using rubber gloves all the time. What I need is a gentle enough for hands, but enough oomph to get the grease off the pans. At the moment I am using a commercial eco-friendly product. Any ideas?

PS. The picture does have very little to do with the post apart from the fact that I often wear an apron while cleaning and always when cooking and washing dishes. My aprons get a lot of use and look disgusting after being used for a year. The one above was a Christmas present to my mother-in-law.