Hello everyone!
Hope your week is going well! Today I want to tell you guys about one of my less-frequently mentioned hobbies, which is DIY. Other than drawing cards, my other crafty passion is sewing.
(Psst… Giveaway details at the bottom of this post!)
First is a small square scarf that I made from this lovely red Rayon fabric, which I love immensely. Typically I wear it as a neck scarf, however you can wear this on your wrist as well!
As you guys know, one of my goals this year is to be sustainable! Just a few months ago, I was so guilty of using plastic bags. How else can we hold the gazillion items that we’ve bought from the supermarket?!
One solution is to use reusable bags! Here in Canada, we can buy big reusable bags to replace the plastic bags that the cashier gives us. However, how about those small plastic produce bags that we use to bag up groceries before going to the cashier?
Well, the solution is reusable produce bags, of course! Where I live, these are incredibly hard to find. Therefore I decided to make my own!
These are made from lightweight muslin, which is 100% cotton and compostable. Each bag is only 35 grams, so they wouldn’t add much to the weight of my groceries. They are much more durable than plastic bags, and I love the drawstring feature!
If you want to make some of your own, check out this tutorial here!
On the sustainability note, another one of my resolutions is to use less paper napkins. So…….. I’ve made cloth ones!
However, it is hard to make a change in mentality to use cloth napkins: Do I blow my nose on a cloth napkin and then use it again!? Isn’t that super gross!?
Then I realized that we can throw the cloth napkin into the laundry basket after using it. (Easy!) The key is to have enough cloth napkins so that we can cycle through them. (Hard…)
These napkins are also made from 100% cotton. Also! Do you see those lovely mitred corners!? (Made from sweat and blood, you guys…) If you want to try your hand at this, check out this video here!
Thanks for sticking around, you guys. Now time for the giveaway!
Something magical kind of happened this weekend… This blog now has 400 followers!? Really!? Like, what is that even!? This number is too high for me to process O_O
Blogging has become such a big part of my life, and I am so glad to have met each one of you guys. Thank you for giving me an online home 🙂
Anyway! To celebrate, I want to give you guys something special. I know there has been lots of bookish giveaways out there. However, I don’t own anything special book-wise. (Seriously, I bought 95% of my books second-hand haha :’) )
So, I thought it would be special to give you guys something I made! The special item will be… [Drumroll please!]
It turns out that I actually have extra fabric to make a couple more of these guys. The dimensions are 17.5 inches x 17.5 inches.
To join this giveaway, leave a comment with one way you plan to be sustainable this year! It could be something that you are already doing, or something you want to start doing. (Some ideas: Reusable bags! Public transit! Reusable coffee mug! Buying second-hand or donating to the second-hand store!)
Do you love DIY? Is sustainability on your radar this year? How do you plan to be kind to the environment this year? Let me know if you want to join the giveaway!
Sophie Li 
Do you still get plastic bags from the cashier (for free?). We can only buy big sturdy ones in the supermarket if we forget our own at home 🙂 but we almost never get free ones anywhere. If we get one it’s usually a paper bag.. which I don’t mind because I can put other paper in it for easy collection. It’s great to see you so creative!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Inge! Right now we have the option to pay 5 cents to buy a plastic bag in most major chain stores, however, other stores still give them out for free unfortunately! It sounds like a good system where you live, since it forces everyone to use reusable bags. It is so interesting to hear about how things are different around the world 🙂 Thank you Inge!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sewing is also a hobby of mine besides reading. I love taking clothes my family is going to get rid of and resizing them to fit me or reusing the fabric to make something new. I’m not the best at sewing but practice makes perfect. It’s my small way of making fashion sustainable, along with not using paper towels, plates, or cups.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Cassie!
That’s great to hear that you also love sewing! Isn’t it a great feeling to make a piece of clothing into something that fits and looks better? It’s something that I love to do too 🙂 Thank you ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
It really is a great feeling!
LikeLike
I’ve been donating a lot of the books I’m not reading or don’t want on my shelves to the library recently as well as getting rid of a lot of old clothing I don’t wear so maybe someone else can enjoy them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Tiana!
That’s great to hear that you are donating used books and clothing! It’s also a relief to get rid of things that we don’t want anymore, right? 🙂 I just had a major clothing unhaul and a (smaller) book unhaul, which both felt great! Thank you for dropping by!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are indeed multi-talented! This scarf looks great! Sewing is a great skill to have, you can make so much stuff! I also a DIYer but more into repairing/fixing/maintaining things. This year is also the year against the plastic bag (as in so many countries) and I am proud to say that we are quite successful so far. And replacing of course all light bulbs with led ones (which is easier said than done).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Michael!
Yes I remember you mention that you also do DIY, though different types of projects! What are you working on right now?
That’s great that you are successful with avoiding plastic bags. I haven’t even thought about LED light bulbs, but I will have to look more into that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
To be honest I am not working in anything at the moment since it’s still wintery here and I don’t have room inside for my projects. But I am planning on doing some wall painting and maybe some woodworking later on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh I see! Nice 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
love this posttt!! to be sustainable this year and to lower my carbon foot print a little would be to take one of those travel mugs to places like starbucks or costa instead of having them use their plastic cups because they are really rubbish to recycle and so they arent, they go straight into the bin and obviously that is terrible in the sense the process of burning waste is not only expensive but increases that blanket of toxic gas blanketed around the earth that stops how the earth naturally gets rid of heat and so captures that heat… which is what is causing global warming as the earth is increasingly getting more hot than it naturally would!
Lovely post
sareena
http://www.theallofitblog.wordpress.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Sareena! Yes I agree! Disposable containers are terrible for the environment, even if they are recyclable. It is also one of my goals this year to use reusable containers instead 🙂 Thank you for dropping by ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
that is sooo okayyyyy ❤ good luck with your sewing and stuff!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Sareena ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
my pleasure gorg ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
We use reusable snack bags instead of ziplocks. I’ve brought my own jars to the bulk food store before, but hadn’t thought about using my own bags for produce!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello!
That’s awesome that you are using reusable snack bags! And I love bringing my own containers to the bulk food store as well! Thank you for dropping by ❤
LikeLike
Oh this is such a lovely post, Sophie and it’s so amazing that you’re sewing, that scarf is ADORABLE, I love it so much! ❤ I really wish I could do that, too, maybe I'll have to try it myself someday, you're definitely inspiring me to 🙂
Congratulations on 400 followers – what an amazing accomplishment – though I am not surprised, you are such a lovely blogger and it's always such a pleasure to read all of your blog posts ❤ ❤ And thank you for this great giveaway, I love it! ❤ To answer your question, I always use reusable bags and mugs 🙂 x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your sweet and encouraging comment Marie ❤ 🙂 I think anyone can sew or do crafts if they have the patience. It is all about following instructions (kind of like baking 🙂 )
Kudos for using reusable bags and mugs 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re so welcome! Yes, I guess you’re right about that… I need to get to baking, too, hahaha 🙂 x
LikeLiked by 1 person
So much to do, so little time haha 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
GAH! You are an amazing sewer Sophie! Those mitered corners are gorgeous!! I was sick this week and went through so many tissue you would probably die from all the unsustainability of it… I so admire your cloth tissue!! And congratulations on 400 followers!! You’re posts are always fascinating and I love your perspective ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Dani 🙂 You are so sweet ❤ It's hard to avoid paper napkins I think! I try my best with cloth napkins but still use a lot of paper ones especially when I am out and about.
LikeLike
Lovely creations!! And massive congrats on all the followers- so well deserved!! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you ❤ ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just started my blog today. I wanted to check some blogs out and came across yours while looking up craft blogs. I love crafts, including sewing. One sustainable project I’ve done lately is I took a shirt my older daughter loves but had a hole on the shoulder. Then, I just cut it under the arms and added elastic to make a skirt for my youngest daughter. It actually came out really cute and I didn’t have to get rid of the shirt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s awesome that you enjoy sewing and crafts as well. Turning a shirt into a skirt sounds like a great idea 🙂 Yes finding ways to reuse clothes is a good way to be sustainable!
LikeLiked by 1 person