In a departure from my usual sewing of clothes, I've had a brief foray into homeware. I saw these rope bowls popping up here and there and thought I'd give one a go. Rather than using plain or dyed rope, I raided my remnant bin and found some bits I liked. I tore or cut the scraps into strips about an inch wide and wrapped them around the rope as I sewed. The rope is 100% cotton, approximately 7mm in diameter, from Bunnings.
I used a zig-zag stitch for the sewing, the longest and widest on my machine. I began sewing a spiral and just shaped the size of the base and the shape of the bowl as I went. As I came to the end of a wrapped strip of fabric, I just overlapped the next one slightly and carried on. The stitches hold the wrapping in place.
I like how the torn and frayed edges add texture to the bowl and I also like the bits and pieces of sparkly fabric I included as they catch the light.
I have this sitting near my computer and currently use it to store all the ear phones that used to disappear up the vacuum cleaner. I find myself gazing at it often. It's not perfect, but it makes me happy.
The other things I've been making are patchwork throw rugs.
Look at those jewel colours and lovely fabrics. 'They must have cost a fortune', I hear you exclaim! Well no they didn't because look!
All free upholstery samples that are no longer needed by the fancy shops. What's more, they are already grouped in coordinating colours and like fabrics and cut into rectangles ready to stitch together! I got these samples from Remida creative reuse centre in Perth.
I'm no quilter and this is supposed to look rustic (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). I just arranged the colours in a pleasing way and sewed them together, first by sewing strips and then sewing the strips to each other.
The larger pieces in the sample packs tended to be darker colours and I used these for the back of the rug, just piecing, then trimming, until I had the right size. Next I did stitch-in-the-ditch quilting along the front stitching lines to hold the front and back pieces together. Finally, I cut wide bias strips from burgundy corduroy and used that to bind the edges.
This throw rug, my second and better attempt, was tied up with a bow to form part of the present I gave my parents for their recent golden wedding anniversary.
Here is the first rug I made:
This one looks lovely in my house and feels very nice to sit on.
It goes well with my bowl too!