ragmin | Made of Rags

Upcycling- Change of Style

You don´t need some professional tools to change the style of a hat. This was a 1960s widebrim-hat with a front damage. It suited me, so all I had to do was to change the hatband, cut out the damaged part and secure it with some ribbon, hand sewn around the now open space. A decoratíon made of art déco brass stampings, vintage ribbons and leaves, made of self-dyed gaze and framed over millinery wire.

So if you possess a hat, that is damaged or you don´t really like and also don´t want to donate, change it so something better. Use whatever you can find: Fabric, ribbon, leather, metal, chaines, flowers, veils……

You lack ideas?

There a some books that will help you. For example “Hat Tricks” by Terence Terry.

Everything is better than dump things!

Jacket to Hat

I had d a tobacco-colored jacket, I made years ago from a piece of wool fabric, found in a second hand store. Unfortunately it made the acquaintance of the moth (which found the jacket highly delicious). The holes where to big to mend and I didn´t want another patchwork thing at that time. So I turned the jacket into a collapsible autumn-hat, style 1920s with a huge decoration made of vintage ribbons.

Lace Tunic

Old lace, new lace….It doesn´t matter, what you have in stock or what you personally prefer. There is no right oder wrong. Just be creative.

I wanted a tunic for a special occasion. So I looked, whatever I could find in my trunks and finally got enough to sew this off white piece.

Ricebag Summerdress

Some companies sell rice in bags made of rough cotton fabric. That´s much better than the plastic bags. But what to do with the bags, when the rice is gone?

There are some possibilities to be creative with them. I used my rice bags to create a loose summer dress. All I needed was the bags, some shreds and rough ribbon, made of cotton. I dyed it all in a soft tone, so the writings on the bags are still visible.

Avoid Waste! Avoid Plastic!

Early morning on a beautiful beach somewhere on this planet….And LOOK, what fine gifts came in with the flood!

A big mattress and a nice purse! And that wasn´t all….We also got some old clothes, broken glass, shards of tiles, plastic-waste in every size and shape and finally a coin!

And look at this astonishing amount of plastic trash! Isn´t it lovely?

Waste, especially plastic waste is one of the major problems today.

You don´t need to be a hero and save the world. Just try to avoid waste and prevent plastic products, wherever it´s possible. Remember: Every step counts!

Flowerfrogs

Until the 1960s, “Flowerfrogs” from bohemia were popular decoration items in Germany. Today they´re mega-out. They´re said to be old fashioned, square and unsophisticated. Thats why you can find lots of them on flea markets and in social departments.

But acctually they are highly practical, if you don´t fix them on being boring vases. I use my “flowerfrogs” as halters for some pens, sewing items, thread, kohl and lipsticks.

So why buying another cheep, mass produced plastic item with harmful contents, if there are so many low rate or even free glassy flowerfrogs? Or use some other second hand items you really like!

Millinery Flowers

Small bits and pieces of fabric from former sewing projects can make some nice millinery flowers, if you have patience, starch, wire and creped paper. Patterns can be cut of paper or cardboard. The flowers on the pics are made of satin, ribbon, velvet and dyed scraps of a vintage bedcover.

Patchwork-Combination

Three-piece-combination: Dress, jacket and bag.

The dress is predominantly made from self-dyed napkins, which someone homemade from an art déco fabric centurys ago, combined with vintage and new lace. For the jacket I used some scraps and bits of former projects and for the lower part I added four no longer needed chair-covers with their cords on. The remainings made a little matching patchwork-bag.

When the leaves fall…

When the leaves change their colors and the shrubbery is full of berrys, comes the time to crochet a jacket in matching autumn colors. I took some new wool, part of it dyed with plants and crochet in simple linen-stitch.

Another Poncho

Autumn crochet-poncho. The design for the square in the back isn´t mine. It belongs to Dedri Uys, a gifted crocheter. You can find the free pattern for the “prince protea square” on her website www.lookatwhatimade.net.

I combined the square with linen-stitch in various Colors. The yarn is simple Cotton.