Tonight I’ve just finished making a costume for Book Week.
The material came from a brown corduroy beanbag that I sat on right through my childhood. Snuggled down in the middle of it, I’d sit in the sunny window in Warrnambool and read.
It travelled with me over the decades to Melbourne, Burnie and Penguin. Sadly, the years of use began to show and the splits in the seams started to let out the beans, despite the hand sewn repairs.
When our son decided to be Frodo for book week this year, I realized we would need a lot of worn-looking brown material. Bingo! I have just the thing! (In fact, it’s so faded, brown might be an overstatement, and it’s more likely to answer to beige.)
Some of my inspiration for upcycling something old into something new comes from having sewn with Heather Thorpe. Heather is an ex-TAFE textiles teacher with a passion for recycling and reusing.
Last time we brought her from the north of Tasmania to Penguin for a workshop, I learnt new things I could do with my sewing machine (that I’ve had since 1989), how to service it, and what those funny parts in the extras drawer actually do!
Heather is leading a workshop at the RESEED Centre on Sunday 26thAugust, 10.30am – 2.30pm.
You can bring along clothing to mend, adjust, recycle, or decorate.
Perhaps that gorgeous op shop piece that’s not exactly the right fit?
Bring your sewing machine if you have one, and your sewing bits and bobs.
The cost for the workshop is $50 or 50CENTs (see http://cent.net.au/ Community Exchange Network Tasmania).
Booking essential, please email Heather [email protected]
P.S. Brown / beige corduroy material available if you want some 🙂
