Today I used an old table cloth to make new collar and cuffs for this shirt, but then I realised what it really needed was a rabbit mask to go with it. I was thinking about making something for Easter, maybe in the guise of Ostara (the pagan Easter deity) when I thought 'why should Ostara be human? Why wouldn't she be a business rabbit?' So I clearly had to take a picture of Ostara the Business Rabbit to celebrate Easter.

You can make your own rabbit mask by printing out the below images at A4. pages 1&2 are the main mask, and pages 3&4 are the ears. I haven't shared a make like this beofre, so would love some feedback and any amendments you might have.

Upcycling knit can be a bit intimidating, but a simple approach can be to cross stitch into the knit stitches. Chunky knits are literally perfect for crossing stitching in as they open stitches are easy to use as a base, and if you go big (like I do!) then the oversize nature of the designs can give it a contmeporary edge. I rescued this cardigan from a second-hand shop and then spent a very happy (and lost) evening in Pinterest exploring Red Stitch. Red Stitch is an Eastern European folk tradition, and can be seen on beautiful Ukranian blouses. The design I came up with a mix of some of the patterns you can find free, online, with a few extra-Emma-elements.

I usually just get started, and often find that I have to unpick the first couple of attempts until I get everything in the right place. Doing it for the process is as much fun as the outcome for me, so I am really happy to do things that way. It's really easy if you want to try it yourself, and it can become totally addictive when you get going.

Use the knit stitches like a cross stitch base.

And here's the design I came up with is you would like to use it too.

To celebrate National Tree Week (yep, it's a thing), I'm sharing this collection of free Crochet Tree Sprite patterns as a gift. Each pattern encourages you to go outside and meet the trees in your neighbourhood, foraging for fallen twigs, leaves, berries and seeds to incorporate in your crochet makes. Each one is a yarny doodle, a way to make that invites you to meditate on the magic of the natural world without woryying about making something that is right or wrong. They are not 'pretty', but they ARE full of character. You can find the free PDF right here by clicking on the download below - at the moment it works best on a laptop or tablet in a 2 page-per view format, until I can work out how to make it better!

 It has been a very long time since I've had a chance to post things here, but that's becuase I have been super busy with the publication of this years two books. I have been working with the gorgeous Christine Leech on creating the new Zero Waste Craft collection for David & Charles books. 

These are an introduction to rethinking the things you have at home, from the recycling bin to stuff in your kitchen cupboards, and ways you can use simple craft skills to create the things that you need. Each book introduces new craft skills, helping you build up your confidence and demistifying the process, so that eventually you'll feel like you can make ANYTHING. And if you can make it, then you can fix it, and if you can make or fix it then we don't need to buy as much stuff, and that is better for everyone :)

 

So far there's Zero Waste Kitchen and Zero Waste Christmas, and as we are now hurtling toward the festive season I thought I'd share some of the Christmassy treats we have created for you.  Here's everything you need to know :)

It’s time to reclaim Christmas - this collection is all about using the things around you to bring festive cheer to your home. It’s about crafting and creating together and using what you’ve got to make unique, unusual items that you can enjoy year after year. By crafting your zero-waste Christmas you are also creating memories – something that cannot be bought online.

Upcycling and reuse gurus Emma Friedlander-Collins and Christine Leech show you how to turn Christmas into a zero-waste experience with step-by-step instructions and some clever crafting. Whether you’re a committed crafter or new to making, there is something for everyone no matter what your skill level is. 

 

Choose from projects and tutorials for a sustainable Christmas including sewing, crochet, upcycling and reuse ideas. You don’t need to have lots of craft skills to create these projects, there are step-by-step instructions for each one. There are also instructions for the basic craft techniques such as crochet and embroidery so you can get stuck in straightaway. 

There are four different Christmas themed chapters: Hot; Frosty; Skandi and Retro so you pick your favourite style or mix and match for festive mash-up! Projects include Coffee Cup Baubles; a minimalist wreath made using an old cake tin; a milk carton advent calendar and some magical fairy lights made using takeaway containers. 

These are made form my son's old PJ's.

 

Choose your favourite projects from this collection of 24 projects including no-waste decorations for the tree and zero-waste gift wrap. Packed full of original ideas, Zero Waste: Christmas will help you to celebrate the zero-waste way and improve your efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle while at the same time having fun.

The paint for this paper is made fom berries and old salad!

 

 

 A year ago 4 of us sat down and talked about making our own craft mag with sustainability at its heart and a democraftic vision to get everyone confident making things, sharing skills, tools, patterns and ideas to help us slowdown and reconnect. We started and then stumbled under the weight of Covid, homeschooling, writing 3 craft books (I know right, who does that?!) and generally trying to stay afloat.

It was a weird blessing, it forced us outside more and away from our screens. It took us to the woods, the park, the beach, anything to get the daily exercise and stop going mad. It revealed a whole world of birds, plants, bugs and beautiful nature. I've been collecting colours from nature for 5 years now, I have a whole archive of inspiration, but Covid seemed the right time to share it and you loved it.

January 2021 seems the perfect time to pick this back up and run with it. We've got our heads around how to work in lockdown, between us we have a years worth of craft tutorials, how tos and inspiration to share and we are all passionate about living in better balance as a way to Make It Better. So let me introduce you to the new mini-almanac-zine. (I figure we start small and crafty ;) )

Welcome to the Make It Better fold out almanac and craft zine. It includes monthly notes on the sky, sun and sea, things you can see and do outdoors, seasonal colour inspiration and stitching, sewing, crochet, papercraft and all round crafting ideas. 

This months mini mag includes an exclusive crochet hacking pattern to upcycle and reuse your Christmas sweaters, inspiring ways to use sashiko stitching and as it's our first zine, a fold out poster of our manifesto to help you set your New Years intentions and kick things off as you mean to go on.

There's a paper copy is printed, folded and posted to your door or you can download it and make it yourself (for extra advice on how to cut and fold your mag follow @makeitbettermag on Instagram). Both versions can be found over on Etsy.

Make It Better is a modern, multi-platform magazine with sustainability at its heart. It has a democratic vision to get everyone confident in making things and shares ways to slowdown and connect. Based in the UK, we have tried to keep it as universal as possible, so while you may not have the same flora, fauna or seasonal weather, the ideas, patterns and info will still inspire you.

Editor Emma is the successful author of six crochet, zerowaste and craft books. She regularly contributes to craft and crochet magazines, and Make It Better was nominated for the Mollie Makes Handmade Champion Award. The team behind this mag include Christine Leech & Katie Jones, both presenters and judges on Kirstie's Handmade Christmas and craft legends, and Emily Ashborne, instagram sensation and maker extraordinaire. They share a passion for sustainability and how craft can be a vital part of our toolkit to Make It Better.

Here's the free pattern for the crochet hexagon stars. I'm not going to bore you with all the EPIC stuff that has been happening since my last post, the very quick version is: new online course in upcycling with crochet out May 2020, new upcycling with crochet book out in June 2020, new 'magazine' in development over at Make It Better  and hoping for first edition out by Summer.

This though guys, is the pattern for you to crochet your own starry blanket. It's a lockdown special as it's designed to be easy, and as endless (cos who knows how long we'll be at home for!) I've chosen the colours by finding treasures on my 'daily exercise' walk and from around the house and my plan is to find a new colour each day and then make a star. It takes me roughly a movie to make one star so is ideal.

I also have no idea how I'm going to finish the edges or anything at the moment but I figure we can work that out together :) You'll need to make basic plain hexagons and stars.


 Parrot & Pear Blossom Blanket
You can see why it's called that ;)

Aran Yarn - Yarn A = Star, Yarn B = Joining Hexagon

5mm Hook

Ch - chain

Ss - slip stitch

Dc - UK double crochet, US single crochet

Tr - UK tr, US dc

Dc2tog - UK double 2 stitches togther, US single 2 stitches together

Tr2tog - UK treble 2 stitches together, US dc 2 stitches together

Hexagon

Yarn A or B, Ch4, ss ends to make loop

Rnd 1: ch2, tr, *ch2, 2tr* x 5, ch2, ss

Rnd 2 - 7: (tr, ch2, tr) in ch sp, tr in each st

If turning into a star continue with the instructions to create the points below, if making a plain hexagon do round 8

Rnd 8: (dc, ch1, dc) in ch sp, dc in each st, ss and fasten off

Adding points to make a star

Yarn A, join on in chain space

Row 1: ch2, tr2tog, tr 10, tr2tog, tr in ch sp, ch2, turn

Row 2: tr2tog, tr 8, tr2tog, tr in start ch, ch2, turn

Row 3: tr2tog, tr 6, tr2tog, tr in start ch, ch2, turn

Row 4: tr2tog, tr 4, tr2tog, tr in start ch, ch2, turn

Row 5: tr2tog, tr 2, tr2tog, tr in start ch, ch2, turn

Row 6: tr2tog, tr2tog, tr in start ch, ch2, turn

Row 7: ch2, sk 2, tr in start ch, ss fasten off

Repeat on each side of the hexagon until you have 6 points

In Yarn A work dc stitches around the outside edge of that star, to do this: 

Rnd : join on in the chp space between the points,

ch1, 2dc around each tr post on the point edge,

at the tip of the point (2dc, ch1, 2dc), rpt all the way around the edge.

Rnd: Yarn B, dc in each st, at tip of point (dc, ch1, dc) and where points meet at the bottom dc2tog, ss to finish 

Katie Jones and I are getting together some AWESOME crochet hacks to share with y'all right now, but I've got far too excited over this particular one not to share it immediately.

This denim jacket has spent months as a too-small shirt, languishing in a drawer. Initially it was gonna get a crop to make a bit more of a summer affair but the tightness around the arms and shoulders was still a massive problem. Then ping! The crochet brain kicked in and the scissors came out. Now it's got a badass retro cowboy vibe that I'm am completely in love with.

And being in love is the point. It's all very well to tell people to think about mending things rather than throwing them out, but it's not a holey clothes that's the problem. It's cheap, easy to by, throw-away clothes that's the problem. Once that initial crush is over we happily discard things and move on to the next one. There's no love. Ok, ok, every now and then it's the Real Thing and you fall for a top that you will be with forever, but mostly it's just a phase.

Finding ways to fall back in love with your clothes and give them a new life, or finding a preloved thing that you can make your own helps massively in the fight for the planet. Keeping stuff out of landfill, saving on resources to make new stuff, learning how to make your own stuff, this aaaaall helps. and if that means adding an Evil Keneaval tripe to a denim shirt then so be it.