Transformational True-life
I live by a very special motto –don’t bin it, bag it instead…
Lisa Crick, 54, from Dilton Marsh, Wiltshire
Placing the new curtains on the pole, in front of the three bay windows, I stood back to admire the view.
‘Well, what you going to do with all this?’ my hubby Dave, 61, said, staring at the pile of old curtains draped on the floor in 2019.
Turning my hand to anything when given the chance, I wasn’t afraid to give something a go.
Plus, being quite an artsy person, the idea of getting crafty was the perfect excuse, too.
And I had just the idea in mind.
Recently coming back from holiday, Dave and I found ourselves standing at baggage claim, watching the conveyor belt as it churned out the same black holdalls and suitcases over and over again.
‘Well, I could make some luggage,’ I said, thinking about all the weird and wacky prints I could use for standout designs.
It felt like I was at a loose end
Only, the idea flopped almost instantly – and making a substantial luggage bag was going to be a little harder than I first imagined.
So deciding to take things one step at a time, I trotted off to my local haberdashery store, buying a bog-standard pattern for a tote bag that I could make from the pair of old curtains.
Sitting down with all the essentials that I needed, there was yet another problem.
I have no idea how to read a pattern, I thought.
Not only that, but it wasn’t just the curtain material that I needed – I had to fork out on a stiffener, bag base and even more materials.
There were so many extra additions, it defeated the whole idea of trying to use up the curtains that would have been going to waste.
It felt like I was at a bit of a loose end – my creative juices had stopped flowing all together.
‘Why don’t you have a look on Pinterest, Mum?’ my daughter Maddie, 29, suggested.
And as soon as I started looking, I got carried away.
Once worn and battered
Spotting a denim bag, something in my brain clicked and I found myself running up the stairs for a pair of jeans I could cut up instantly.
If I can’t read a pattern I’ll make my own, I thought.
And borrowing a domestic sewing machine from one of my friends, I wondered how hard it could be.
It turns out, extremely hard! Only, I wasn’t in the mood to give up – cutting up various shapes and sizes of scrap denim and somehow managing to sew them together, after a few hours, I had something that resembled a bag in front of me.
I mean, you wouldn’t have wanted to look at it too closely and flipping it upside down, it was clear that I’d made a little mishap.
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