While needlework can be a delightful hobby to pick up, it can also be a very useful art to renew common household objects to level up the décor of your home. Here are just a few quick tips and tricks to put your needlework skills to use:
1. You can adorn your lampshade using the simple technique of Applique.
If your lampshade is printed, you can use plain colored fabric for your applique and if it is plain, pick up printed fabric. Pick up some old handkerchiefs or garments, preferably those synchronizing with the colour of your furniture or walls and with applique, you can give a new look to a regular lampshade.
2. For some extra warmth while you sit on your study chair or your favorite rocking chair watching the sun rise or that swing suspended from the ceiling of your balcony, you can place covers made by the technique of quilting. You can reach out to the local craftsmen and get it custom made, or learn the technique yourself and make some.
3. Knit and crochet to complement your furniture: With an elongated piece of crochet that can cover the entire length of your table, you can embellish your table cover by stitching the piece or simply placing it on your regular table cover. If you have long colored pieces of crochet, you can pair them up with curtains or blinds, suspending them at the ends of your curtain rod beside your regular curtains. You can also wrap a broad strip of crochet around your aquarium.
Learning crochet is a good idea if you want to make customized pieces. You can buy a beginner’s kit for crochet and start it as a new hobby for you and your kids. Else you can use old crochet garments no longer being used.
4. Nuno Felting for cozy covers: Using the technique of nuno felting, you can create little covers for sofas, backrest of reading chair or kindergarten stools.
5. Feltwork table mats: Felt is a multipurpose fabric for home furnishings, and a perfect choice for cold winter days. For example, if you are looking for new mats for your wooden floor, buffet, dresser, shelf or side table, neutral colored felt is something you might want to go for.
If you do not want to use a single large piece of felt, you can combine several pieces of different colours and sizes by stitching them together using basic stitches like cross stitch. E.g., one can stitch together few rectangular pieces of different dimensions and colours and make an unconventional door mat.
6. Dyeing plain fabric from old covers and garments with natural dyes can be a good way to create wall art.Explore traditional techniques like batik. Several agents can be used for dyeing, and if you want to go for natural or plant-based dyes, commonly available items in your kitchen can come handy, e.g., berries, tea, coffee and turmeric. You can also find such agents in your garden, the bark of certain trees might give you dye for your textile art endeavour.
Besides these, you can find out plenty of techniques from your grandmother that were passed to her by her mother, and liven up your living space while learning a new art.