Creating a Garden Spot

Do you have the perfect sunny spot for a garden, except that it is currently covered with lawn? You can make it into a garden spot with a little time and very little work.

Start collecting newspaper. Save the part of the newspaper that doesn't include the ads. The ads are generally made out of a different, shinier paper. Regular newspaper uses soy-based dyes, which decompose quickly and don't harm the environment. Ads on shiny paper may contain petroleum-based dyes which don't decompose for a long time and can be harmful to plants and people

Pick a garden spot. Make sure it gets at least 6 hours of sun if you want to use

it for vegetables or sun-loving flowers.

Cover with 4-6 layers of newspaper, and use compost, grass clippings, dirt, or (temporarily) rocks to keep the wind from blowing the paper away. Watering down the paper helps it stay in place, and if it gets snowed on that's fine, too. In six weeks the paper will have mostly decomposed, the grass underneath will have disappeared, and you now have a patch to plant vegetables and flowers in. It works amazingly well and is a good way to recycle your newspaper. If your weeds got away from you last summer, you can use this method to keep them from germinating this spring. Just lay down a layer of paper over the problem spot and new weeds won't grow.

Recycling Jeans: Making a Rag Quilt

Jeans make great quilts. The fabric is durable, washable, and best of all, free! Begin by stockpiling old jeans. This quilt was made from quilts worn and outgrown by my daughter. The jeans are sizes 12, 14, 0, and 2. I used a total of 8 pair and had leftovers. You could also purchase jeans from secondhand stores for a low cost.

This is an easy-to-make project, requiring a minimal amount of sewing ability.

Cut the jean leg open along a seam.


You are going to cut the leg of the jean into squares. I decided on a 6 inch square, as this size could be cut from all the jean sizes I am using. Your squares can be larger or smaller. Remember that the smaller the square, the more you will need, and the more time it will take.


I used a rotary cutter and ruler, but you could also use a pattern cut from paper and pinned onto the fabric. Obviously, that would take a lot longer!


Now cut squares which are the same size from flannel. In my case that is 6". Cut one flannel square for each levi square you cut.

Place the wrong side of the jean square to the wrong side of a flannel square and sew an "X".
You may want to buy a machine needle specifically made for jean fabric.

Close-up of one side of the x:

After you've sewn all of the squares together, sew the squares to each other, placing flannel sides together like this:

I used a half inch seam. You can use up to a 7/8 inch seam, but don't go smaller then 1/2.
Sew a long strip of squares together. My strips were 15 squares long.

Next, sew the strips together, again with flannel sides together.

My finished quilt is 15 squares by 12 squares. You can make yours any size you want. Sew all the way around the outside of the quilt, making sure the seams are open when you sew over them. Sew a half inch from the edge, or whatever size of seam you used on the rest of the quilt. Now cut "fringes" in your seams to the stitching, taking care not to cut through the seam. Make your fringe about 1/4 to 1/2 apart. You will want to use your sharpest scissors.

This step takes the most work. Don't forget to cut a fringe all around the outside of your quilt.

Now all you need to do is wash and dry your quilt. This is want makes the fringe look ruffly. When you dry your quilt, you need to empty your dryer lint trap a few times. This step creates lots of lint!

This is the flannel side. You can make a random pattern like I did, or arrange your flannel to make a pattern--checkerboard, diagonal, or whatever you'd like.

Recycling Jeans

Denim Stand-up Bag

If you are like me, you probably have a pile of worn-out or out-grown jeans waiting to be recycled. Denim jeans are a great source of free fabric and are good for a variety of projects.

This project uses one leg of a pair of jeans.

Cut the raggedy edge off the bottom


Measure 12-18 inches up from the bottom of the leg. My example is 12"


Mark with a marker and cut.


You will now have a "tube" . Set on top of a flat piece of denim fabric from the jeans you are using. Using a marker, mark around the fabric the tube is on, about 1/2" out from the edge of the tube.

Now your fabric will be marked like the picture below. If you look closely, you can see my black marker dots marking the fabric. My bag bottom is oval, but you can also set the tube in a more circular shape and make it round
.

Cut it out.

Pin to the bottom of the tube, right sides together and stitch, using a 1/2" seam.

Fold top down, toward the wrong side, about 1/2" to 1" .

Stitch close to raw edge, leaving an opening for the drawstring.

Now your bag looks like this:

Cut a piece of string or cording about 1 yard long. Pin a safety pin to one end to make it easier to thread through the casing

Knot the ends of the cord to keep it from
fraying.

Decorate with buttons, ribbons, or other decorations.

Now you have a bag for lunch, toys, gifts, or anything else you can think of,

and best of all it is fast (less than 30 minutes) and free!