Leftover Green Beans

Just this evening my husband showed me a brief spot on Eco Company TV -- a tv show that features the latest green technologies, advancements in recycling & organic materials, as well as tons of other Earth-friendly ideas, all geared specifically to teens-- & this spot just so happened to showcase the talents of two California teenagers who began their own green fashion line called Leftover Green Beans. (Watch the spot here.) The line is green due to the fact that all materials used in their pieces are either organic, or vintage, a fabulous form of recycling. While i, & i'm quite sure many more like me, have been repurposing old clothes, fabrics, thrift store finds & the like into new, usuable & wearable clothing for years & years now, it is nice to see that it's actually getting noticed by the fashion world, something quite refreshing. Watching these young girls' story unfold gives me inspiration & joy... & maybe it will reach out to someone else too.

Check out the links, & if you're bold check out your local flea market & refashion something of your own!

DIY dog bed

My husband & i had been looking for a dog bed for our beagle/bulldog Indie (also known throughout our friend circle as Milwaukee, Jezebel, Derby, Oscar, Binder&Binder, and IndieBindieBuddha) for a while now. In her younger years Indie loved to chew, on everything. We gave her an old chair that had been in my grandpa's old house that ended up with us, and over the course of a year and a half she destroyed it. Plus it was gross, the cushion was old and the holes she had made allowed the gross yellow foam inside leak out all over our floor, so moving it was a pain. Thankfully she got over her chewing phase, at least on the things on which she slept. Still, we needed another solution. While dog beds are relatively inexpensive, they are also insanely easy to make yourself, & convenient if you need a way to use up those old pillows or batting. Which is exactly what i did. i'll tell you how.

Materials:
2 yards of fleece (6 ' x 5') (Fleece is not the cheapest, but when it's on sale --quite often at Joann's, it can be as little as $2.99/yard)
Stuffing material-- you can use foam, batting, old pillows, or do what i did, a set of old worn-out sheets
Needle & thread &/or sewing machine


This finished bed measures 2'x2'

1. Arrange your stuffing in a square shape, to make an approximate 2' x 2' square-- i folded my sheets thus. The stuffing needs to fit inside your folded fleece. (See 2nd photo below)

2. Fold your fleece in half lengthwise, so you have a piece that is 30" wide and 6' long.
Fold the fleece again, almost in half, leaving 6-8" unfolded...






3. Stitch up the edges of the fleece, making a kind of giant pocket. Leave the excess fleece unstitched. You should have 3 sides closed up once finished.



4. Turn the fleece inside out, so the stitches you made are now on the inside of the pocket.

5. Carefully slide the stuffing into the pocket. When using sheets or other loose materials this can be tricky. Take care to spread the stuffing to the bottom & sides of the pocket, & make sure there are no bunched up patches or bumps inside.


6. Now you have a few options: You can stich up the 4th side enclosing the stuffing, & you have a simple square bed. Be sure to make a few hand stitches into the center & around the sides of the finished bed, to hold the stuffing in place, as you would to hold the batting in place in a quilt.

i, however, had pillow cases from the sheet set that i made into an attached pillow. To do that, fold the pillowcases into a piece that measures approximately 10" x 4", lay this on the excess piece of fleece.





7. Fold the fleece over your "pillow," almost so you are rolling it up until it sits on top of the bed. Stitch it into place. There you go!


Aww. IndieBindieBuddha loves her new bed.

DIY "snood?" Yep that's what it's called.

After a 2 month hiatus (due mostly to laziness, business & overall lack of craftiness) I am back! For a while I found this blog to be more of a hassle than a good experience but after being encouraged by friends & family, I feel like I need to get back at it. I still have lots of ideas & projects & I am the only one benefitting from such if I don’t keep at this blog. With that being said, I’m back, hopefully for good.

The first project I have is the most ridiculously easy thing ever. A few weeks ago (yes, weeks) I was perusing the Elle magazine website which is weird, because it’s me, and anyone who knows me knows that Elle is not something I’m too… well, “in to.” But setting that aside, I still browse it occasionally, to check out the latest fashion trends etc. as well as gather inspiration. Anyway, I stumbled across this article about this thing called a “snood,” found here

Really it’s just a scarf, only the ends are connected, I guess. I thought it was crazy that these things, the designer versions anyway, are going for hundreds of dollars. That’s nuts!! It’s just a scarf! I like fashion trends as much as the next girl but forking out hundreds, let alone anything under 5 dollars is nuts, especially when you can make one yourself out of items you probably already own, and I will show you how.

For the easiest version, this piece only takes one step. Cutting!You can use anything you have, a T shirt, a sweater, a dress. I used a dress that i got at a thrift shop that needed to be hemmed anyway. I cut off a large chunk at the bottom, about 16 inches long, and... yeah that's it. You have a snood. The only thing you have to watch is that the section of fabric you cut can wrap around your head/ neck easily, so stretchy fabric is good, and a wide section is ideal.

Another way to create this piece is to use a scarf you already have, and sew the ends together (or pin them with safety pins for a more temporary solution) ... and again, that's it.

The more difficult and time-consuming snood project is to actually knit or crochet one yourself, which again, is just a scarf with the ends stitched together, so if you need a knitting project, go for it. It's easy and apparently, in style right now.

So while i don't agree with the idea of the snood, fashion is fashion, and if i can say anything positive about it, it's that it shows how easy and affordable is actually it is to be a trend-setter.