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Embroidered hearts

 

Okay, here's a festive question for you.  Are you happy buying people presents from charity shops?  (And when I say charity shops, I really mean any source of secondhand items, such as jumble sales or Facebook marketplace.)  Also, would you be happy to receive 'pre-loved' gifts?  It's tempting to jump in with an immediate and enthusiastic 'yes!', but I wonder if that's more about virtue signalling than cold, hard truth.  I've been mooching around charity shops today, and bought a crafty minded relative three good-as-new craft books.  In all I paid £3.25, and brand new they would've cost me at least £40.00.  I'm hoping she'll be happy with secondhand - money going to charity not Amazon, recycling is greener than buying new - but you never know whether the recipient might smile and seem happy, but be privately thinking 'cheapskate!'.  I'd be perfectly happy receiving thrifted books in good condition as that's how I buy the majority of my books anyway.  But would I be just as pleased with secondhand clothes, despite the fact I'm a constant charity shopper when it comes to tops, skirts, jackets and so on?  There's a niggling feeling that 'new is better' when it comes to gifts we accept from others, even though we know always buying new stuff isn't environmentally friendly or sustainable.  As a planet we can't keep churning out more and more, endlessly using valuable resources.  Oh look, I'm not coming to any firm conclusions here.  It's simply food for thought as this very consumer-driven time of year.  

Right, let's get back to making things, shall we?  

My still-under-construction 'Angel of Wrath' has been put aside, mainly because working with dark, moody colours when the day's been grey skies and not a bright light to be seen isn't ideal.  Instead I've been embroidering another Jessie Chorley style heart.  My first effort was all embroidery, but I've used applique on this next version.  
The bow has been lightly padded out with polyester wadding, and I'm thinking about doing the same with the oval shape.  I've used blanket stitch to outline that oval, which I think works well.  I've a bag of little silver coloured charms somewhere, and may attach one or two of those to the heart.  That's if I can find them ... now, where did they go?  

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  1. Sharon13 December 2024 at 19:07

    Lovely embroidery.
    I would be happy with a charity shop gift. I'd love an old bird book or several fiction books (they are SO cheap in charity shops compared to new and some look as though they haven't been read at all!). I'd love an oversized jumper that's comfy and looks barely used. So much of what goes to Charity/Thrift Shops are barely used items. I think I have bought my last few clothing items from charity shops and am well pleased with them. I think, if there were like-minded people it would be fun to do a gift exchange with thrifted items below a certain amount!

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    1. Valerie blogs at rubykittyruby18 December 2024 at 01:23

      Hi Sharon. A kindred spirit! Yes, we need to normalize giving secondhand presents, and take a huge chunk of the consumerism out of Christmas. In a cruel kind of way, maybe the cost of living crisis is doing that already for lots of people who just can't afford new stuff, especially all the high-tech gadgets we're bombarded with ads for.

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