Win a Copy of Sewing Green!
CONGRATULATIONS to Tina in Boston for winning our giveaway of Sewing Green! Be on the look out for an email from us for further details.
Thank you to everyone who entered. We here at CAGW have been rejuvenated and inspired by all of your upcycling ideas! Don’t forget your other chances to win this beautiful book, you can find out where to enter here.
I know you’ve waited with bated breath so here it is, your chance to win a copy of Sewing Green, the latest and greatest book by Betz White, author of Warm Fuzzies.
Sewing Green offers 25 cute projects made from repurposed or organic materials. Learn how to make aprons and wallets from dress shirts, and sandwich wraps, and lounge pants from organic and thrifted fabrics. The projects are are direct and easy to follow even for this crafter who likes to skip ahead and tweak things. I especially like the sandwich wrap project and the use of PUL - a material that is not vinyl and one that I need to look into more.
White’s favorite project from the book is the woodland draft buster, a much more refined version of the draft catcher that I created a while back. This version looks like an adorable tree branch that helps you save money on your heating bill. White wanted everything in the book to have a good purpose without being preachy. She wanted everything to be fun and easy and show that any one can do these projects and be eco-friendly. “You don’t have to suffer,” she said. “Suffering is not involved.”
Continue reading to enter the contest!
- » See also: Talent Search: Be a Green Writing Star
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Sewing Green also contains great features and side bars that showcase the history of repurposing, tips on thrifting, and advise on how to avoid thrifting pits falls. There are also several interviews and highlights with eco innovators - people in the crafting world, textile industry and various repurposers.
For example there is a write up on Claire Morsmen and Moresbags, a non-profit group based in the U.K. Morsbags was created by Marsmen who was put off by the wastefulness of plastic bags. Morsmen gathers people together to created the bags and then distributes them free to unsuspecting people. A technique she calls “social guerrilla bagging.” It is a great example of how one person can make a difference and perfect for this book full of eco-consciousness.
White worked hard to add dimension to the book. As you can tell it’s not just a project book, it teaches and encourages green living and for us to think about waste and reuse in positive ways. But the best and most amazing thing about this book? Crafting a Green World is mentioned as an additional resource.
We here at CAGW are in awe and completely touched to know that we’ve grown up so much to be considered a good and solid green crafting resource. Thanks Betz.
So now that you REALLY want to win this book, how do you enter?
Leave a comment about your favorite upcycled project that you’ve made or are thinking of making.
I’ll draw a random winner on Friday April 17th, so check back here for the winner’s announcement. Directions on how the winner can claim their prize will be posted here. If you are the winner and you don’t claim your prize within one week of the drawing, you forfeit and the book will be re-drawn.
For other chances to win Sewing Green see a complete listing of all the contests right here on CAGW and over at STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books blog.
Good luck and happy upcycling!
I have plans to make a child’s baptismal gown out of the fabric from my wedding dress…too often those sit in boxes or on hangers in the back of the closet, and I’d like to put mine to good use! Also, the symbolism of my child wearing something made from when my husband and I got married is especially meaningful to me.
Some other recycled items: grocery bags made from t-shirts. I’ve also spiced up baby onesies with appliques from scrap fabric or fabric from old clothes.
Oh, I hope I win this!!! It’s one of my new interests, green sewing, repurposing, etc. So far the only thing I’ve done in that area is to make my own fabric produce bags (which I love) out of sheer curtains that I bought at the flea market. Ideas and inspiration for my next project would be great!
I love the “soaker pants” I made for my daughter out of a thrifted wool sweater. She looks so cute in them (they are more capris than pants on her!) and they keep her a bit warmer on chilly nights.
I love taking any old mens dress shirts and using them for fabric to make pretty much anything! quilts, placemats, even skirts! there is a great tutorial on threadbanger on how to turn mens dress shirts into super cute underwear!
I love to use old wool sweaters - felt them - and make projects such as cupcake pincushions, brooches and whatever strikes my fancy. I also use old unwanted clothing and repurpose them into smaller quilts, pincushions and again, whatever strikes my fancy!! Fun to reuse and go green!!
Oh, where to start? I have a huge stack of clothes that are waiting to be upcycled. They’re all too worn to be donated, but I haven’t found the right inspiration yet.
I’ve been doing crafty upcycling crafts for a while now (jewellery from beer bottle tops, bead curtains from plastic bottles), but need some help in the sewing department. Fortunately my mom is a brilliant sewer, but she doesn’t get the whole upcycling thing. Hopefully with this book and my mom, I’ll finally be a green sewer too.
I upcycle/ recycle all sorts of things for my artist teddy bears… old hankies into dresses, felted sweater in bear clothes, old mohair upholstery into the bears themselves. I used to turn old mink stoles into bears…but the “flying fur” got to me. I still make “Memory bears” out of a loved ones clothing…
I think this book would have projects that would have me looking at upcycling in new ways!
As silly as it is…using clear plastic cupcake holders or egg cartons and 2 liter pop bottles as “ghetto greenhouses”.
I felted a few old sweaters and made a purse and an iPod pouch, but I think my favorite was re-finishing some old dressers that my Husband got from his Grandmother. We made them look ultra modern and I am very proud to show them off. Oh and just a fun thing to do is make old T-shirts into shopping bags by cutting off the arms and the neck band and sewing the bottom closed.