Hit, Miss and Maybe…

You may or not be aware that My Make Do and Mend Year is now a whole 9 months old, so we are three-quarters of the way through our adventure! (A sobering thought, that I could have gestated a baby in that time, and in many ways, I guess I kind of have-the blog seems to take up an inordinate of time, and sometimes keep me awake at night-much like  a newborn, but with less poo…)
And in that time, we have acheived a phenomenal amount-over 100,000 hits, nearly 350 blog followers, finalist in the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Awards, over 2,300 Twitter followers (you can follow me too…@makeandmendyear ;)). Oh, and we’ve bought nothing new (with only 3 teeny tiny slips!)

I thought I would share with you some of the best makes/make-dos/mends, some of the fails, and some of the ‘not quite sures’…

HIT

1. One of the first things I made was a new strap for my watch.

And I am delighted to report it is still going strong. I wear it everyday, and get lots of compliments on it!

2. My second attempt at a crocheted hat (attempt number 1 was a very definite MISS-see below..)

3. Homemade deodorant! Who would have thought it? But this is a definite hit. I would even go so far as to say I think it is better then the ‘real stuff’…

4. The EggBox Christmas Tree. I know I wasn’t entirely sure about it to start with, but by the end of Christmas, I loved it!

5. The visible mending of our salt pig fish thing with Sugru

MISS

1. As I have already alluded to, my first attempt at a crocheted hat was fairly disastrous….

2. Our attempts at fixing my slippers with Sugru-we tried twice, the second time with more success, but it still failed after about 3 weeks 🙁

3. The Trailgator-this particular secondhand purchase, resulted in BigSmall face planting on the floor at speed-ooops….

4. My boots-those of you who have been following from the beginning will be sick to the back teeth of my moaning on about my trials and tribulations finding new boots. If by some miracle, you have escaped reading about them, you can catch up here, here, here, and here. I am still searching…

5. The Dino hats I made for the Boys at Christmas. It took me 3 attempts to get vaguely the right size, and then they still just a fraction too small and have never really been worn.

MAYBE

1. Patches on jeans. It has taken me several attempts, and I am still not sure I am really doing it ‘right’ but the monster patch I put on BigSmall’s jeans seems to be holding-for now….

2. The Trailgator-hubby has instigated a Make Do and Mend job on it, and it seems to be doing the job at the moment…

3. My homemade slippers. I made them, and wore them quite happily until my brother and his wife gave me a pair for Christmas. So then I wore the ‘normal’ slippers, and they were admittedly much warmer, but then they fell apart, so maybe my slippers weren’t all that bad after all..!!

4. The washing basket-it is still holding out. Will it make it to end of My Make Do and Mend Year..??!

5. My crocheted cushion. It was my first ever crocheting project, and I was (and still am) delighted with the crocheting, BUT I made my own insert for it, and it only occurred to me after I had made it that I should really have made it out of really thick material to stop the feathers poking out. And now the feathers keep poking out and the cushion is slowly deflating… It is also pointlessly small for a cushion.

So it hasn’t all been plain-sailing, but I wouldn’t have changed any of it-it is proving to be a huge learning curve, and one I am thoroughly enjoying. And I hope you all are too!