useful things

When I unpacked my trusty old ironing board this week, I found that its cover had seen better days. It had burn-marks and rips, and holes from where I strongly suspect rats and mice had been feasting. Hmm, not so good. So I used an old, worn tablecloth - cream linen with yellow roses - to make another one. To make it, I traced around the top of the ironing board, added several inches to that pattern, then cut it out and sewed a casing for some narrow elastic. I did the same with an old woollen blanket and laid that underneath the linen layer.

And another little project this week was a hot water bottle cover- cut from a felted cashmere vest and blanket-stitched together. The back has an envelope-type opening, utilising the ribbed hem of the garment to hold it closed. Easy and cosy.