ReCraft – The Buttonbag Book

It’s been a busy few days…  I don’t often manage to delegate my responsibilities and get away from home, but last week I packed my overnight bag and headed off to the big city for a book launch.  The fabulous new book from the lovely ladies behind Buttonbag, called ReCraft.   The launch was held at the Oxfam D.I.Y. Shop in Camden High Street, which is a giant leap away from the Charity shops I have come across in the past, and almost demands a blog post of it’s own as you will see from the photographs…

Camden High Street Oxfam D I Y store

Arriving in London feeling a real country bumpkin, (not quite with a straw in my mouth) I was slightly nervous when I first turned up at the shop.  However, after a warm and friendly welcome and a glass of  a delicious and (highly potent) cocktail I had pinned on my name badge and was circulating happily…

…camera in one hand…

…and a sandwich in the other!

Buttonbag has been around for a while with it’s kits and haberdashery…

but ReCraft came about after it’s founders Sarah Marks and Sara Duchars undertook a project to design a range of craft kits for the charity Oxfam.  Having created all manner of lovely things from the armfuls of charity shop finds, cardigans and men’s stripey shirts, tweed skirts and curtains, plastic jewellery and old records the next step was to share the ideas in a book.

Recraft Book Cover

It was very nice to meet Sarah….

Sarah Marks, co-author of ReCraft

…wearing a dress made from three pairs of jeans, and Sara…

Sara Duchars, co-author of Recraft

…here modelling an amazing creation giving an old tweed coat a new and flattering lease of life.

The evening was like the best children’s party for grown-ups, yummy food and drink, nice new chums and then the opportunity to sit down and make pretty things!   I opted for the Fabric Flower Corsage …

making a flower corsage from ReCraft Book

flower corsage from ReCraft Book

…and liked it so much I made another one!

At other tables old silk ties were being turned into purses, and woolly jumpers into penguins…

Penguins seemed to be making a bit of a takeover bid, both in the book…

and in the shop…

And it was great to be able to see the pieces featured on the pages in real life…

(You’ll notice there’s always a dachshund!)

And the fab deckchair from the front cover…

There is also a project to make my dear OH very afraid, he has a ‘thing’ about shirts, he’s always buying them on Ebay, because they are a bargain.  He has DOZENS!!!! We have no where to store them all.  But they would look great if I did this…

…or even this…

So you can tell…I LOVE this book, it’s inspired me to go back to my sewing roots and be a bit inventive again, and re-enthused me to go back to some unfinished projects. (Like the child’s chair I was going to decoupage when my first grandson was on the way – he’s now 8!)   A definite 5 star recommendation and you can buy it here!

So the sewing machine is calling, and I’d better get back to being creative again….See you soon….x

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

9 thoughts on “ReCraft – The Buttonbag Book

  1. Lucy

    haha yep was me! 😉

    Glad you liked him and glad you liked the evening – was definitely fun to do something a bit different!
    x

  2. Gaynor

    Brilliant! And loving the empty wine glasses all over the shop as much as the lovely crafts! Wish I knew one end of a sewing machine from the other, I’d be well away.

  3. Geraldine

    That looks wonderful ! It would be difficult to know what to try first …. though the penguins might win . I can just see one clamped in Younger Grandson’s paw !

  4. Mrs. Micawber

    What a fantastic book – I like so many of those ideas. That tweed dress is smashing, and I know a young man who would adore the Lego clock and the penguins. Shirt pillows – the wheels are really turning in my head. How fun! Thanks for this post.

  5. Pingback: Bexhill, Hastings...and a little bit of knitting! - planetpenny.co.uk | planetpenny.co.uk

  6. Pingback: Advent Calendar Giveaway | planetpenny.co.uk

Comments are closed.