Upcycle / Recycle competition in aid of the “Sue Ryder Care” charity
I made this striking and bold necklace entirely out of recycled material
Vintage men’s shirts have always been an obsession of mine. I love the way old washed fabric feels, the way the cotton and linen yarn takes on a soft smooth finish with a subtle sheen. I love the repeat pattern prints, the shaded stripes and plaids, the beautiful textiles and for many years, I have browsed endless flee markets and vintage fairs in search of men’s shirts.
What do I do with them? I wash and press them, cut them into scraps of fabric and make all sorts of things out of them: bags, wallets, purses, aprons, children’s dresses, and my all time favourites which are the fabric flowers.
When I heard of the Sue Ryder Upcycle Christmas competition on Folksy, I thought I have to enter for two reasons: because it is in aid of charity and because it gives me the opportunity to create something fun. The competition criteria stipulates that the item needs to be made entirely out of recycled material, which is right up my street 
I played around with ideas and in the end I decided to make a fabric necklace which started life as a pair of Lycra leggings, some glass beads, a toddler’s linen top and scraps of red fabric taken out of a man’s shirt.
I will be posting a full tutorial on how to make this lovely necklace on my Big & Little Artist blog, so make sure you sign up to my blog with friends connect (left corner) to get the updates on all my free tutorials.
Anyway, making this piece of jewelery was great fun and if you like it as much as I do (insert cheeky grin with dramatic sigh here), then visit my shop page on folksy and vote for it by clicking on the “favourite this item” button.
