Category: Eco-Friendly Living

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Clever & creative ideas to easily reuse your old towels

As a busy mother of 3 kids, there are times when I look around our family home and am shocked by the amount of stuff we have. Piles and piles of books, clothes splayed out on the kids’ bedroom floors, overflowing, disorganised cupboards… urgh.

That’s when I get all ranty and demand we start clearing out and organising some of our possessions.

But when I say “clearing out” I don’t mean throwing out. To our family, it means finding new life or new homes for our unwanted things.

As someone who loves sewing, I tend to squirrel away bits and pieces of unwanted textiles during our “clearing out” phases that I can upcycle sometime, somehow. (That’s one of the advantages of being able to sew, right?)

So, while “clearing out” recently I discovered that my collection of rescued old ratty towels was larger than I remembered it being 🙈. I decided I needed to find myself some DIY projects to make a couple of useful things out of them.

Which lead to me scouring the internet for ideas for myself. And then of course I had to share some of my favourite finds with you here!

And since I am all about simple sewing projects that are low-stress and no fuss, I’m know you’ll find something perfect for you and your old towels, no matter how advanced (or not) your sewing skills are!

Take a look for yourself and give your old towels a new lease on life with these fun upcycling sewing projects!

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Upcycling sewing project: How to turn your old towels into drawstring bags!

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself at the sewing machine when my kids need something. Sure, of course I enjoy sewing simply for the fun of it or because I discovered some amazing fabric I couldn’t bear to leave behind at the fabric store and I wanted something just for ME.

But there are frequent times when necessity really is the push behind creating a sewing pattern.

Like recently, when my kids were packing to go away camping and we realised that they each needed a bag to stuff in their plates, bowls, mugs, cutlery and tea towels. Something that could get banged around and dirty, but keep the contents inside clean, could fit in a suitcase with all their other gear, and still be suitable to go through the washing machine at the end of their outdoor adventure.

And that is where my idea for sewing drawstring bags came from.

I had been saving a stack of old, thinning, fraying bathroom towels for a handy upcycling project and a drawstring bag was perfect!

This sewing project will only take you about ½ an hour requires nothing but sewing straight lines! Which makes it perfect for all levels of sewing fans, even nervous newbies!

(If you’re on the lookout for more simple sewing fun, take a look at my other straight lines sewing projects .

Ready to put your old towels to good use too? Environmentally-friendly AND easy? Yes please! I have got the perfect, easy-to-follow sewing tutorial for you!

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7 Super Sewing Ideas to Make with Old Jeans

I read a quote about denim jeans once. It went something like “Jeans are like French fries. You can’t just have one”.

But have you got some old jeans around the house? And you like French fries sewing too? Then you are in EXACTLY the right place my friend!

Because in this post I am going to share a bunch of super sewing projects you can make with denim!

Best of course, is recycling those old jeans and upcycling them into something new and cool vs going out and purchasing yards of new denim fabric. 😉

Some of the best sewing advice I was given a few years back was to never, ever throw out any old jeans.

So now, thanks to that piece of wisdom, I have a sack of old jeans laying around in our roof waiting to be reused somehow.

Which is what inspired me to go searching for sewing projects using old denim and to share what I found with you!

In this post you’ll find 7 really cool ideas of what you can use that old denim to make. I’ve found a fun mix of projects, ranging from home décor to clothes to cute accessories. And all of them have loads of photos and easy to follow instructions to make your sewing time as productive as possible!

Get comfy and let yourself be inspired with these eco-friendly denim projects now!

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How to Make a Useful Fabric Box in ANY Size You Need!

Spring is finally in the air! Thank goodness! There is something about a sunny day that makes my heart sing after a grey, damp and loooooong German winter.  The sun and warmth sure do improve my mood and energy levels. BIG time! You too?

So, with that extra energy, you know what it is that we all tend to do each year? Spring cleaning! Get organised. Recycle what can be recycled. Throw away the accumulated crap. Tidy up.

What if you could do these things with one little sewing project?

One simple sewing project that can help you keep things organised, tidy (and cute!) is to create fabric baskets!

I published a sewing tutorial a while back, which walks you through how to make a square fabric basket step-by-step.

But what if that size fabric basket doesn’t suit you? What if you want to make a larger (or smaller) one?

I’ve seen other tutorials sharing how to make these fabric baskets in 2 different sizes. Or maybe even three.

What if I told you, that with the help of pen and paper (or maybe a calculator 😅) and this sewing tutorial here, I can show you exactly how you can make ANY size fabric storage cube you want! Then you will never be stuck for organising and tidying solutions to fit YOUR home.

Ready to get creative?

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Simple Plastic-Free Swaps You Can Do Now

Oh my gosh! The past week has been crazy around here. And not just because the children may or may not be recovering from their Halloween-induced sugar highs. No, mainly because I have been working my butt off behind the scenes putting some systems in place to get Everything’s Famtastic running better AND of course, trying to come up with some cool stuff for you. (Keep an eye on this site in the coming weeks or even better, you can subscribe to my newsletter to make sure you don’t miss a thing! **wink wink**)

So, it’s been a few weeks now since I interviewed my friend Birgitta about her (and her family’s) plastic-free lifestyle. You can read her story here . Personally, I’m no eco-warrior. But I’m also no climate change-denier. This planet we call home has a population focused on consuming, resulting some serious problems for which we all need to take responsibility.

In our family, we are open and honest about being NOT plastic-free… Yet. Like, I can clearly confess that the Halloween booty collected last week by the kids was 100% NOT environmentally friendly. What will all those wrappers and miniature sizes of everything. They had tons of fun collecting (and slowly eating) it all, no doubt. But the amount of plastic was, well, shameful.

Hearing Birgitta talk so passionately about why she refuses to have plastic in her house and how she makes it possible in a family of 4 really spurred me on to Do.Something.

I thought it might be helpful to you (and me!) to revisit the tips she shared with us and to check out the small steps that ANYONE can implement quickly and easily to reduce their plastic waste. Come on, let’s take a look…

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What It’s Like to Live Plastic-Free (and How You Can Do It Too!)

In case you have been living in a dark cave for a looong time, you have surely noticed the ever-increasing amount of news surrounding climate change, food production and wastage, plastics polluting the oceans and much, much more.

Now I don’t know about you, but a lot of this news scares me. And to be honest, it’s intimidating. What are we humans doing to the planet? To the environment? Why is it that so many goods are needed for our ever-increasing consumption, while at the same time landfill is stuffed with ever more food and plastic waste? And what can I, what can any of us, do about it?

Have you ever heard terms like “plastic-free” and “zero-waste” before? I am certainly aware of these concepts. Ask my whether I actually live plastic-free though, and I would probably um and ah and say how desperately I wish I did, but that I haven’t started. Yet.

I’m all for upcycling (such as in these sewing projects) and recycling (like giving new life to old toothbrushes). But still…

I needed to find some more information, something which I could latch onto and quickly implement to kick-start a plastic-free way of living. What does it even mean to live plastic-free? Would it be hard?

I decided to speak with my friend, Birgitta, as she is one of the only people I know who really does live plastic-free. And has done for a while. She would surely have some ideas for me!

Lucky for all of us, she was happy for me to share her story and some of her top tips with you! Plus, she shares one of her favourite recipes with us 😉. Read on to find out how Birgitta got started and how she successfully maintains a plastic-free household.

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5 Easy Ways to Reuse Old Toothbrushes & Reduce Waste

recycling, old toothbrushes, eco-friendly, tips, how-to

Hey! Another week has gone by, so it’s time for another episode of Jenny’s Everything’s Famtastic!!! Just to help you imagine that better, that should be announced in goofy, game-show-host voice. 😉

This week has been crazy busy between still getting our school routine down pat and juggling everybody’s extracurricular activities. I am sure I have mentioned before that German school times tend not be the same each day of the week. Mondays til 11.15? Sure! And Tuesdays? Nah, let’s schedule ‘em til 1.00!. *rolls eyes*

And not forgetting, that halfway through the school year everybody gets a whole new timetable and the adjusting and juggling starts all over again. Which of course also impacts on the extracurricular activities start times! Like currently. When I foolishly thought music lessons would always and forever be on Thursday afternoon. Apparently I am just some naïve, clueless foreigner…

Can you tell I sound a little frazzled?!?

But I’m not here today to rant about the German school system, believe it or not, LOL. No, in a convoluted way, I wanted to write about trying to reduce waste in our household. A few weeks back I talked about upcycling fabrics for sewing projects. And in a couple of weeks I will be sharing some helpful tips from my friend who is well along the path to living plastic-free. I am REALLY looking forward to her insights. Watch this space!!

I myself, still have a looooong way to go on that track. But I am aware that every person should be trying to do a little more to reduce waste in this world. Me included, of course! This week, one small event reactivated my thinking about reusing a simple household item.

“Surely you don’t mean….?” you ask.

**drumroll please**

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Sewing + Upcycling = Win

sewing, sewing projects, diy, diy sewing, upcycling

Yo, hello! I hope you have all been having a Famtastic week! Here it was the last full week of summer school holidays. Just a couple of days left and then we are thrown back into the (so very, very early, every morning) school schedule.

I truly imagined having some time to pursue my own hobbies these holidays. Yes, snigger at me, if you wish. But I really had fantasised about getting some sewing done. Leggings for the girls, a shirt for me, perhaps a shirt for Master 5. Let us take a moment to contemplate whether I did any of those things…

**3 milliseconds later**

Alas, NO. I did not. Is this how it is for you during school holidays too? Imagine squeezing in some Mama time and end up with perhaps a microscopic amount of Mama time?!?

Anyway, I did, however, repair a stack of holes in children’s clothes. “Wow!” I hear you say. Yes, I find that neither fun nor satisfying. What I DO enjoy is creating handmade clothes and other goodies. Like shirts and leggings and skirts.

What I have been experimenting with more recently though is UPCYCLING in my sewing projects.

So what is upcycling anyway? And why would anyone want to do it? Hint: Upcycling does not mean riding a bike up a steep hill 😉.

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Sew Yourself Cute Fabric Baskets with this Easy Tutorial

pin pinterest, sewing, sewing project, diy, diy sewing, fabric basket

Hello and willkommen to Everything’s Famtastic this week! How’s things looking in your part of the world? Here it’s been all a bit hectic. Mostly a typical week actually 😉. But I did squeeze in some more sewing at home. Sitting at the sewing machine is certainly a happy place for me 😊. A definite highlight of the week was Miss 7’s school music concert. It was really sweet- nearly 60 second-graders had been practising a number of song and dance moves for a few months. **so proud**

Do you remember the other week I wrote about how we have begun the mammoth task of decluttering and tidying our house with the KonMari method as inspiration, so far we have been tackling clothes. At last count, 4 out of 5 of us have decluttered and superbly (if I do say so myself) stored our clothes in a more ordered manner in the wardrobes. The billions of books in the house are still terrifying me and will definitely need an all-hands-on-deck approach.

But what I wanted to share with you today- for FREE!-  is how I made those cute fabric baskets I had also talked about in that post.Easy to sew, multi-purpose, use any leftover fabric you have lying around, look great… WINNER!

So, are you keen? Without further ado, start your sewing engines! Here’s what you’ll need to sew your own collection of handmade baskets:

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