Make Something Every Month/52 Projects in 2014 Challenges - January Reveal/Project 1

Last Saturday was a quiet day spent mostly at home, often the best kind in my book.  After lunch I decided to head up to my sewing room and complete my make for January on the above challenge and for the first week in January on Living a Slow and Simple Life's challenge to complete 52 Projects in 2014, namely the reversible runner for the blanket box in our living room.  When the decorations came down on Monday I needed a runner to replace the Christmas one I've had out for the last few weeks, and my others were down at the bottom of the ironing/washing baskets, so the timing was perfect.

It was really simple to make.  Just two strips of fabric 18" x 54" wide, sewn together all around leaving a gap to turn out and then the gap was hand stitched closed and the runner ironed ready for use.

The fabrics I've used here are two favourites of mine.  The botanical/insect print one is a current IKEA fabric called Blavinge which is currently stocked by my local IKEA.  The other printed fabric is a vintage Laura Ashley design from 1975.

I figured that by making it reversible I could utilise two fabrics that I've been itching to use for something for a while now and also minimise the need for washing as the runner can be turned over when dusty/dirty to reveal a clean new design on the reverse.  Because the fabric is so dark, I wanted to do this to minimise fading, not because I'm slovenly might I add.

I intend to make reversible cushion covers for my living room in the same way too so that if I get fed up of looking at one design, I can turn them over and display the other side instead.  Perhaps these will be my make in February, we'll see.

I must admit that I did have to buy some of the IKEA fabric for this project, but at £4 per meter, and having used less than half a meter it worked out very inexpensive.  The thread and Laura Ashley fabric I already had, so costs were kept to a minimum where possible.  In the case of the cushion covers, I may need to buy some zips of the right length or I may manage with 9" skirt zips which I have already.  A quick and simple start to this challenge to ease me back into making.  I'm looking forward to making more things in the coming months.

This is the first make for my challenge Make Something Every Month in 2014 and doubles as my first project for the 52 Projects challenge devised by and featured on Living a Slow and Simple Life's blog.  (A bit of a cheat I know, but otherwise the workload might be too extensive).