Tag Archives: cover

IMG_5325.JPG

From milk carton to book cover

Trying to reduce as much packaging as possible there is still some around. Milk cartons from soy or oat milk for example – when there was no time to make it myself. Instead of throwing them away they are cut at the bottom and rinsed out. Sometimes they get a second life as a storage container for soup that goes in the freezer. In spring they are turned into tubs to grow seedlings for the garden. They also work as a book cover for note books or calendars. The silver inside of the carton is a great contrast to the outside print. With an older tough sewing machine there was no trouble getting through two layers of carton. With one of the newer “plastic” ones I would not recommend this. Instead maybe try hot glue, a staple gun or a hole puncher plus a thick string. For decoration and further attachment options I wrapped a bicycle tyre around the front cover. Inside the book cover is a school calendar. An elastic around the back of the cover allows for the attachment of an additional note book. Here is the story in pictures:

Front with pen holder and tyre decoIMG_5317.JPGLast page. I did a bad sewing job at the top…getting used to the material.IMG_5322.JPGFirst page inside. The colorful note book on the right is attached via a blue elastic that you can see in the next picture.IMG_5318.JPG

IMG_5319.JPGLast page with the calender and a drawing booklet inside.IMG_5321.JPG

 

From milk carton…IMG_5324.JPG

 

..to book cover.IMG_5323.JPG

IMG_5325.JPG

upcycled tent

Outdoor umbrella cover from an old tent

A while ago in a rush to go to a festival I bought a second hand tent. Only to realize it was broken and had some mould on the inside. The festival was great so the tent did not get used much. I did not want to use it as a tent again and replaced it with a tent I found at another festival when I volunteered for the cleanup. I noticed that a few people leave their broken tents on the venue, too lazy to pack and carry home. The festival team has to clean it up and threw it away. What a waste when there is so much material and reusable items on one tent. You can use the hooks, clips, zippers, bands, nets and bags for sewing and repairing projects. The bottom layer can be used as a tarp. The waterproof top can be a cover, the inner tent material can be a wind or sun shade. My first project besides cutting out the tarp — this umbrella cover:

20140624-235533.jpg

For sun shade we got a local secondhand umbrella through ebay. To save storage inside the house and leave the umbrella outside all season we needed a cover. I sewed this cover from the outer waterproof layer of a tent. I used a part that had a zipper for easy removal.

20140624-235552.jpg

Now the next project is to sew a sunshade triangle from the inner thinner fabric of the tent.