Sewing: How I mended a duvet cover and added ribbons so the duvet wouldn't slip

ties to anchor duvet in duvet cover

I’m still working on mending some things that Lilo the cat ate before she was taking medicine for her fabric-eating compulsion. This project is a duvet cover that she nibbled near one of the corners. I sewed a seam around the hole, at an angle that connected the side and bottom (using white thread, below). I trimmed off the excess … Read more

Water-saving tip for gardens: Re-use water!

Gray water is water that’s not clean enough for drinking, but is fine for using in vegetable and flower gardens. It can include gently used water from showers, baths, dishwashing and laundry. You can build a gray water system that collects water from sink or tub drains, then pipes it outdoors. Instructions on building a gray water system are at the website of California’s … Read more

Sewing a sixteen-point star

16-point lone star quilt piecing

As I shared last week, my current piecing obsession is eight-pointed stars. I’ve gotten better at matching up all the points in the center, so of course I immediately decided to make things challenging again by turning one of my eight-point stars into a sixteen-point star. Usually, you would finish off an eight-point star by sewing triangles and squares into the … Read more

Found in the trash: Furniture, free money, and fuel

archer farms vanilla creme brulee K-cups and toaster

Dekalb and I went downtown again to harvest ‘garbage‘ today – one of our favorite ways to save money and recycle at the same time. Here’s the first spot we hit: A lot of this furniture was in good condition even after being thrown into a dumpster, but neither of us needed any so we left it there. Both of … Read more

Upcycling 101: The Annual Garbage Gleaning

Lilo checks out the pizza oven

It’s that time of year again, when consumer goods grow on the curb and around dumpsters as if by magic, all sitting there just ripe for the picking. In other words: the leases downtown are almost up, university students suddenly realize they have no desire to move all their crap with them, and they end up throwing perfectly good stuff out as trash: … Read more