Simon Sinek goes through the successful example of the Wright Brothers who, he argues, succeeded because they believed in the power of flight to change the world and thus inspired and attracted people working for them to give their blood, sweat and tears to the cause.

This opposed to Simon’s example of a guy named Langley who was the Wrights’ competitor, who had all the money and media backing any inventor could want, but who was doing it for the money and prestige and therefore had only people working for the paycheck for him.

Here’s the video if you’d like to see it:

So I ended the talk by asking Malcolm: “What do you think the ‘Why’ is behind Touchwood?” The ‘What’ is all the pilot projects and Power Off Weekends that we’re doing, but what is the reason behind our dedicating almost two years to it unpaid?

Well here’s why:

We believe we can do something bold about the environment, that we can take action right now, and that it should be fun.

Pretty simple, really.

It doesn’t sound to me like the kind of manifesto that would inspire millions off their chairs, but then again, who needs millions? I’ll start with the amazing people who have come our way already like Jess and Julie who helped us build a chicken pen, a compost bin, and plant our first garden. Or Victoria, who is leading the Upcycling Your Clothing pilot project this month (really, really need to write a post about these projects but have been so busy actually doing them to write about it). Or Kelly and Laura, who have inspired and led people to join the Power Off Weekend and fended off miserable people on the Guardian.

These people have been amazing and we all seem to share this same core belief that each of us can do something to help the planet and to help our own lives, and that it’s fun to do so.

So what do you believe?

The Power Off weekend is 48 hours, from 11pm on the Friday night to 11pm on the Sunday (19-21 March 2010), without electricity.

Playing board games by candle light, surprisingly wonderful fun!

Power Off is all about having time to have fun, play games, talk to people, have friends and neighbours round, spend time with your children – and all the other things that suffer as a result of 24/7 computers, emails, TV, games, chores, noise, 24 hour bright light and one endless season inside your artificial world, called home.

It is also a wake up call to how much we now use electrical items, how much we rely upon electricity generated far away by carbon guzzling technologies, how heavy our footprint and how little time we have left.

Keeping warm and reading by daylight, mid December Power Off

Power Off weekends are like mini-holidays at home. There are so many things you cannot do (and you might initially twitch at the prospect) but once released from their continual demand you are free, on holiday. It is fun, different, memorable, challenging, good for you and good for the planet.

Everybody’s situation is different – where you live will determine weather, alternatives (wood burning stove, summer in the southern hemisphere), support (neighbours) and limitations (like living in a block of flats in a city). However, this makes everyone aware of their relationship with electricity (especially those things hardest / impossible to give up). That is no bad thing.

Best of all, everyone who has done these before has been glad they did it, for some of us it is now a regular thing.

Our temporary kitchen and heating during the Power Off

So please, why not join us? It feels great to do this with like minded people, all over the world. Together in spirit on an adventure in our own homes.

We are aiming for at least 200 people to sign up.

Even if you cannot do it yourself, please forward this to everyone you know, sing its praises and maybe join us the next time, or just think of us on the weekend – March 20-21.

To sign up either email us at malcolm@touchwoodproject.com or go to our Facebook event and group for the Power Off Weekend and sign up there! Tell your friends, local media, and help this grow.

To find out more about previous Power Off weekends, discover hundreds of suggested things you can do, FAQs and lots of pictures, go to our earlier Power Off posts - and don’t miss the Radio interview!

Power Off Weekend - March 20-21, starts 11pm on the 19th

Finished and ready to use

Hello there,
Rachel asked me to do a guest post about this project, since it’s one she and I had worked on together before and that I recently took on all by myself. It probably would have been a good use of your Power-Off Weekend. Well, maybe next time. So! Let’s talk weaving.

Time required: Uh… several hours.
It took me an American football game (roughly 3.5 hours) and another hour or so to finish, but in fairness, I made a custom-size basket out of magazines, so there was a lot of time spent looking at things sideways and gluing bits together to make them as long as I needed them. So, if you use newspaper, or use magazines to make a smaller basket, it will take less time than that.

Materials needed: a newspaper or magazine, scissors, glue/tape/staples.

Skills needed:
cutting, using adhesives, patience, putting one thing on top of another.

The original idea: Rachel tells me she saw it here… http://www.craftstylish.com/item/47658/the-times-they-are-a-changing-how-to-make-a-basket-from-a-newspaper.

The process:
Rip pages out of your chosen newspaper or magazine. I chose, with all the irony I could muster, an old Martha Stewart Living. Fold each page in half the long way, then in half again, then in half again. I used the handle end of my scissors to get a nice strong crease on the last fold.

crease those bad boys.

Next, weave the pages together, using an alternating over-under technique.

that's as over-under as it gets.

you can see the strings i used to figure out when i needed to start the sides.

When you’re ready to start the sides, fold the paper up. I used as little adhesive as possible, so this was a little frustrating and seriously don’t feel bad if you use some glue or something. It would make your life (or at least this project) easier to stick it together a bit with something other than physics.

selective adhesion = lengthy project.

When you’ve got it as tall as you want, just fold the leftover bits at the top back over and weave them back down again; for extra security, tape, glue, or staple the ends.

Hey, it’s a basket!

and there she be.

The weather helped, with sunshine and no wind. At night, stars mesmerised me as the scent of wood smoke drifted down to my eager nostrils. Joy! The time has just flown by, and to be honest life was so enjoyable without the electricity that we are only re-introducing it selectively – I call that a success!

First day of the Power Off weekend, embracing light and the simple pleasures

We rode our bikes to the local Stenness store, only a 5 mile round trip but something was special, we were really enjoying the day, soaking everything up, like we were on holiday. We kept the open fire lit with driftwood, boiled water using an old coffee jug and embraced the smoky flavours! People called by every day, bringing gifts of food, warmth and friendship. We feasted on plentiful supplies of food, cooked over the fire, we read stories out loud and relaxed.

Oh dear, the freezer has defrosted, I'll have to cook all these sausages!

I’d say we gained more than we gave up. As the last evening drew to an end, we wondered what the time was? It was past 11pm, so we could have turned the power back on! Instead, we took the lamp to bed, luxuriating in the warmth of the flickering flame. I began a new book to read and we decided, next weekend, we’ll do it again.

This is not for everyone. However, for those who have missed out, I can now reveal, this was just the preliminary event. The next one is in January – but it will be slightly different. Watch this space!

For now, let us replenish the stores of vegetable oil, candles, gas, wood, and tea, and reconnect with friends and family. Life without electricity has a magic and ‘energy’ all of its own. Try it! It is such fun coming up with alternatives, and to be honest, we spend too much time on our backsides (looking at TV and computer). Real life has something special to offer, something we have lost sight of perhaps, blinded by the bright lights of modernity. After this weekend we can see a way to have the best of both.

Reading by the flickering flame of lamp and candle light

It has become so easy to work and shop on Sundays, with no rest. The churches have lost their hold on many of us, replaced by supermarkets, television and the internet. Weekends have become time to ‘catch up’ and get jobs done. Too busy. Maybe a little self-imposed simplicity would not be such a bad idea? A day or two without electric lights, the computer, the TV? Maybe a day leaving the car (if you have one) in the garage and dusting off the bicycles? The freezer could stay on. A few rhythms and variety seem like a good idea. It just seems we need a helping hand, a little bit of encouragement, to stop ourselves from slipping into more consuming and mindlessness. Some sort of mindfulness is one gift that comes from choosing a weekend different from the norm. Special moments and a sense of magic, of life, of who we are.

The act of turning off the electricity switched something in our heads too. We relaxed and embraced the time, behaved differently and so didn’t miss what we gave up. You know that holiday feeling? So, we consumed less energy, we spent far less, we found more time because we imposed limits on our own use of the internet. We lived in the moment, we smiled a lot, we rediscovered something precious. I’ll try in later posts to put my finger on just what this weekend has done but it is somewhat intangible – a feeling, a sense of life. Whatever, it is good!

Since the Power Off Weekend is just around the corner, here are 101 things to do with your friends and loved ones — all without electricity:

The wonderful game of French Cricket, as shown in this picture by William Linford

101 electricity-free games and activities

Note: Not familiar with any game? Get in touch with me and I’ll help you out.

1. science experiments, flames, and safety
2. card games
3. reading books or plays out loud
4. ghost stories
5. board games, many you can also make yourself, like othello!
6. darts
7. shove h’penny
8. hang man
9. moving around the house without touching the floor (pretending the floor is the ocean)
10. shadow puppets
11. christmas card writing
12. origami
13. ten pin bowling with old water bottles as pins
14. hunt the thimble
15. hide and seek
16. model making
17. knitting and felting
18. art, picture drawing, painting
19. clay working or plasticine
20. making christmas decorations
21. writing letters to forgotten family
22. bingo
23. keeping a diary of the weekend
24. hop scotch
25. knots
26. rope making
27. kitchen science and cookery
28. three-legged race, sack race or egg & spoon race
29. music
30. dress up
31. magic tricks
32. making false teeth out of orange peel,
33. pass the parcel,
34. musical chairs,
35. paper games such as connect 4, battleships, connect the dots, etc
36. rock-paper-scissors
37. building structures with objects like cardboard egg boxes and tin cans, such as the tallest tower or the largest bridge span,
38. paper aeroplane competition
39. elastic band powered vehicles
40. morse code and secret messages
41. photography
42. claymation
43. tidying and cleaning and polishing
44. chinese whispers
45. quoit or hoopla or horseshoes
46. skipping rope
47. football
48. juggling and catch
49. kite making and flying
50. beachcombing
51. stilt walking (even on tin cans and string)
52. making toast, s’mores or toasting marshmallows on a real fire
53. nature walk
54. pin hole box camera
55. jigsaw puzzles
56. indoor basketball
57. brass polishing
58. bicycle repair
59. potato printing
60. charades
61. quizes
62. coconut shy (see bowling above)
63. pick-up sticks
64. i spy
65. radio, battery or wind up
66. simon says
67. paper trails and scavenger hunt
68. treasure hunt
69. 20 questions, animal, vegetable, miracle
70. obstacle course
71. eating together and conversation
72. a walk in the dark
73. star gazing
74. blind man’s bluff
75. hula hoop
76. tent indoors with sheets
77. piggy in the middle
78. foursquare
79. mini table tennis
80. french cricket
81. boule
82. jacks and marbles
83. carol singing
84. pin the tail on the donkey
85. make popcorn
86. spin the bottle
87. balloons
88. homemade jenga
89. feely box
90. blind tasting or scent testing
91. indoor golf putting
92. newspaper construction
93. quick on the draw / pictionary
94. three draw – word, picture, word
95. dominoes
96. house of cards
97. mini tug o’ war
98. memory game
99. diy and using tools
100. story or poetry or cartoon writing
101. fishing indoors
102. Jack’s alive
103. bobbing for apples
104. crosswords and word puzzles
105. wildlife safari / snail hunt

Here is also a great website I found:

http://www.familyeducation.com/home/

Most of the games here you can make yourself, which adds to the fun:

http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/garden-games3.htm

Peanut butter chocolate balls

The reason for the rush is I looked up the date you have to post all your gifts to the USA, and it’s December 10th — Thursday. To be honest, I’m not sure I can make it in time, but we’re giving it our best shot.

To help spur our efforts, we’ve been watching Christmas movies one after another, and we’re in the middle of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory — the 1971 version with Gene Wilder mind you, which we both prefer.

So given the theme of candy deliciousness at the moment, today’s post is about making Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls. I use these as “Hitching Treats” to thank strangers who give me and Malcolm lifts, but I’m also going to use them to fill presents like the Felted Tin Cans I’ve made.

[Note: This is Part 3 of the Frugal and Green Christmas Gifts series. You can find all the projects by clicking on this tag (also on the righthand side of every page): Christmas.]

Time to make:

1 hour including freezer/fridge time

Materials needed:

Ingredients for chocolate peanut butter balls

• 450g (16oz) peanut butter — the cheaper, processed kind works best to be honest
• 200g (1 1/4cup) icing (confectioners’) sugar
• 50g (3/4 cup) powdered milk (optional)
• 115g (¼lb) butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla
• 450g (16oz) dark chocolate
• waxed paper

Original project from:

The BBC site had a good recipe that I modified. Because I used a lot less sugar, the peanut butter is gooier, so the milk helps it dry out a bit. But if you don’t mind it being softer, leave out the milk.

There are many recipes out there for chocolate and peanut butter treats, but most use milk chocolate and several call for paraffin wax, which I find slightly bizarre. I’m guessing the reason for the paraffin is to harden the chocolate so it doesn’t melt in your hand, but ugh.

Skills needed

• Measuring and mixing ingredients

What to watch while you make this

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory of course. You can eat about half what you make and feel completely justified in doing it.

Getting started

Mix the peanut butter, butter, sugar and vanilla together. I like to let the butter sit on the Aga to warm up for a while to make it easier to mix since I don’t use an electric mixer.

Who needs an electric mixer?

At this point, you need to decide which you want to make: clusters or balls.

Chocolate peanut butter clusters

Clusters instead

If you want clusters, just dip your spoon in and drop a bit onto the waxed paper.

Peanut butter clusters ready for freezing

Then place the tray of clusters into the freezer to harden for 10 minutes.

Rolling into balls

If you’re making balls, pop the bowl of peanut butter mixture into the fridge (or freezer if you’re in a hurry) to harden it up. I’d say 30 minutes in the fridge, 10 in the freezer will do it.

I forgot to take a photo of these next sections because I got so caught up in what I was doing…

Then bring the bowl out and, taking a spoonful at a time, roll into balls in the palms of your hands as quickly as possible.

Drop onto the tray and place back in the fridge or freezer to cool down and harden a bit.

Heating the chocolate

5 minutes before you take out the peanut butter mixture, start heating the chocolate.

Just use any old saucepan and put it on the stove with water to heat up to simmering. Place any bowl that fits over the pan on top.

Break up the chocolate into squares or pieces and let them sit in the bowl for a few minutes until they start to melt. You can stir with a spoon to check they’re completely melted.

Drop into chocolate

Drop the clusters or balls into the chocolate. The BBC recipe says you can use toothpicks to dip them, but I didn’t have any so I just used 2 spoons to roll the clusters and balls in the chocolate.

Alternatively, you can just drizzle chocolate on top of the peanut butter if you don’t mind it being more like a cookie.

Let cool and decorate

Sifting sugar on top

After letting cool for 15 minutes, I sifted some icing sugar on the top of several because I actually used even less sugar than I’ve given for this recipe and I found it not sweet enough. But try one without and see what you think.

For variation, you could add chopped nuts on top, or substitute a different nut butter like cashew or almond.

Enjoy.

Doesn't that look tempting?

Click here to listen to Power Off Weekend BBC Radio interview

For more details about the Weekend:

http://www.touchwoodproject.com/your-chance-to-join-the-power-off-weekend/

To join us on Facebook event:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=331440595181&index=1

.

Felted tin cans: one with lining, one without

For example, taking my cat Caper down to the beach this morning was a simple thing that seems to make her ridiculously happy.

Caper and I comb the beach this morning

Funny what it took to bring that lesson home to me.

It took reaching the brink of ruin, where the bank balance was shrinking, the bills were mounting, and I felt one of the worst feelings ever: I am a failure.

A failure as an adult, as a person

That’s the point we were at just six weeks ago.

I felt like I’d failed to be a success in business, failed to earn the money I thought I would when I went to university, failed to own a house, go on vacations or have retirement savings.

I remember we had The Talk, to figure out whether should move from Orkney to a city where we’d have more of a chance at getting so-called real jobs. Were we just being naive, irresponsible, to think we could continue spending our days doing what we wanted to do?

Malcolm and I spent hours discussing, trying to keep the fear from overwhelming us and staying focused on coming up with solutions.

We woke up the next morning and Malcolm said to me, “I think we should sell the car.”

The adventure of frugality

That touched off a chain of events that led not only to getting rid of our one and only car, but to examining every aspect of our lives, looking for ways to cut expenses and prioritise what really matters: our health, our relationship, and our belief in Touchwood and its goal of helping people to transition to a more environmentally responsible way that’s all about being happy and enjoying it.

I got Frugal Living for Dummies out of the library and read up on how to make a grocery list and comparison shop. We combed through the bills, making cuts in every area.

We decided to live during the day in kitchen where the Aga keeps it warm and not have heating on anywhere else. It’s where I’m writing this now, curled up in a cushy chair dragged from the living room.

Malcolm started planning the Power Off Weekend project, and we decided to try to make all of our Christmas gifts.

A doorway to plenty

The reason I share this with you — and you’ll be wondering what happened to my tutorial, which I promise is coming shortly — is that I’ve been…awed by the generosity, creativity and energy from people reading this blog and participating in our lives.

It’s been our new friends, Michelle and Erlend, organic farmers a few miles down the road who have offered to teach us the ropes of milking cows, shearing sheep and other farm skills we’d love to learn and haven’t a clue how to do.

It’s been the many people writing in to offer lifts into town and those who’ve stopped to pick some big bearded man with a rucksack on the side of the road and given him a lift.

Perhaps best of all, it’s been the stories from my mother and grandmother who have started sharing their own frugal tips, ways that were once everyday years ago but which have largely been put aside in recent times. These stories nourish a new kind of relationship with my family, across thousands of miles and with a very different lifestyle.

So reaching a point where I thought we had nothing, where I thought I’d failed as a grown-up, has been the means for a sense of success, for discovering a wealth of friends, resources and creativity I’ve never felt before.

I’m in the middle of that maelstrom of things happening and have no idea yet where much of it will lead, but for probably the first time in my life, I have long periods of a kind of calm, deep happiness alongside a genuine sense of bounty.

It’s that energy that motivates me to keep writing, to share with you my dorky little projects and our late night thoughts, in the hopes that you too won’t feel alone and will keep going down the road that’s uniquely your own, even when it looks crazy or like something other people might call failure.

Project: Felted Tin Can Containers

[Note: This is Part 2 of the Frugal and Green Christmas Gifts series. You can find all the projects by clicking on this tag (also on the righthand side of every page): Christmas.]

Today we’re going to use leftover pieces from our first project, the Felted Sweater Bag, to make this next project: Felted Tin Can Containers.

Felted tin cans are great for beachcombing

I wanted to create a simple container that could hold pencils or knitting needles or kitchen utensils. They could be used as a small gift for a neighbour or coworker, or even as stocking stuffers.

You could easily buy some chocolates — Ferrero Rochers or Lindt truffles would be excellent — to stuff inside.

Reusing tin cans

There are many websites out there touting cleaning and reusing your old cat food or tomato tin cans, but one of the biggest problems I’ve always had with reusing cans is it can look too unfinished for me to want to give it as a gift.

A nice solution is from CraftStylish, which uses them as herbal plant pots.

I would have done that for this post, except there weren’t any around to use.

So I had to come up with something else that hides the inside of the can, which is too industrial looking for my taste, at least as a present to someone else. By adding a simple liner, you can give it a little bit of prettiness.

Adding a liner in one

Here’s how you make it.

Time to make:

1/2 – 1 hour

Materials needed:

• leftover sleeves from Felted Sweater Bag project
• empty, clean tin can
• scrap of fabric approximately 12 cm x 24 cm, or to fit your tin can
• Ferrero Rocher, Lindt or similar chocolates (I used my own Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters)
• optional: fabric glue

Original project from:

This is a different take on Timary at CraftStylish’s Recycled Sweater and Tin Can Herb Garden. See also Re-Nest’s “10 Ways to Use Tin Cans”, which includes using them to hold your kitchen utensils or as a flower vase.

Skills needed

• How to sew a seam (see Felted Sweater Bag post for demonstration videos)

What to watch while you make this

It’s the little kind things you do that matter.

That’s one of the themes of It’s a Wonderful Life, and so while you may have seen it 20 times — or just feel like you have because it always seems to be on television — it’s a film worth seeing again to be reminded of that as you make your humble tin can project. Malcolm and I watch this every year, well up a bit, and feel rejuvenated, grateful for the little things. I hope you will too.

Getting started

Now let’s get started making something. Grab some used tin cans from your recycling. We have so many from cat food that I’m thrilled to be actually doing something with them.

Empty cans, ready for reusing

Remove the labels and wash cans thoroughly.

Next, grab the sleeves left over from the Felted Sweater Bag project.

Leftover scraps from bag

Measure the length of the can. If you don’t have a measuring tape handy, just mark the length on a scrap of paper. Add 1 cm or 1/2 inch to this measurement. My can was 11cm long, so I’m going to cut 12 cm section off the sleeve.

Cut the sleeve slightly longer than the can

If you don’t give some extra length when you cut the fabric, it’ll look like my first attempt:

Oops

Check out that vastly uneven cutting job I did too. Luckily I could make 2 more from one sleeve.

You could stop here

Now at this point, you could fill it with soil and a plant. Pick up some basil or cilantro at the grocery store and call it a day. Or if you like the look of the tin, leave it.

Alternatively, add a simple liner.

Adding the fabric liner

I hunted around until I found a scrap of fabric to use. See what spare fabric you can unearth. Then measure around your tin can. Add 1 cm or 1/2 inch to length and width, then cut.

In my case, I cut out a rectangle 24 cm long by 12 cm high (11 cm height of can + 1 cm).

Cut the lining with 1cm added to length and width

Now fold the rectangle in half, right sides together, so that the long ends meet and then sew a simple straight seam. If you don’t have a sewing machine, you can sew this by hand.

Sew the seam

Now insert the tube inside the tin can. Roll down the felted outside fabric half way, then fold the lining over the top of the can.

Fold over lining fabric

Now you can roll back up the felted outside and leave it as is, or if you want to secure it more firmly, you can add a bit of fabric glue. Malcolm’s just asked me if he can help, so I’ve sent him to go ahead and do this step.

Fabric glue is nice, but not necessary

If you don’t have any fabric glue, don’t worry about it. You could also use a rubber band. Or just leave it.

Filled with chocolates in one, seashells in the other

Now just add some Ferrero Rocher, Lindt chocolates or your own treats and you’re good to go!

Made this project?

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Why work hard to make something from scratch when you can be lazy and reuse someone else’s stuff?

Today we’re going to be recycling an old sweater into a fabulous felted bag, all ready to wrap and present with a flourish to your Aunt Rebecca or best friend Steph.

From old sweater to lovely new bag

Time to make:

3 hours

Materials needed:

• old woolen sweater (acrylic and other synthetics won’t work so check the label)
• scissors
• needle and thread or sewing machine
• embroidery thread
• embroidery or large sewing needle

Original project from:

Alterknits will get you knitting creatively

Skills needed (if you don’t already know them, you’ll learn right here)

• How to sew a seam

What to watch while you make this

Like the right glass of wine improves your meal, the right film makes a craft project that much better. Since these projects can take some time, watching a great show while you’re doing it adds to the fun.

So for every Christmas gift project, I’ll also recommend a film, TV show or audiobook which fits into the theme of the project.

Recommendation: Being Erica, Season 1, currently on Channel 4 in the UK, and Soapnet in the US.

Being Erica is about a 30-something who’s given an extraordinary chance to do over the events in her life she most regrets. Each episode sees Erica going back in time into her past to try to set right something and make her life better now.

Theme: Going back to the old to become something new. That’s just what we’re doing with the old sweater to new bag.

Here’s a quick preview:

Felting the sweater

First, find an old woolen sweater, one you don’t, or someone you know doesn’t, wear anymore.

Or try a charity shop and wade through the old lady and old gents’ sweaters.

Now we’re going to do a neat little trick to it to transform it something your aunt or good friend would love for Christmas. Felting.

Once you’ve gotten your old sweater, squeeze a few bursts of dishwashing liquid (or detergent if you don’t have any dishwashing liquid) onto the sweater.

The sweater to start with. Add soap.

Break a sacred rule

Never put your woolens in hot water.

Except for today. Break the rules and throw your slightly gooey sweater into the washer and turn to the hottest wash you have.

I used “Boil wash”, which to be honest, I was a bit nervous about doing, but it came out great. A regular hot wash will probably work just fine too.

Let the cycle run, including the spin cycle.

When you take it out, it will have shrunk magically to about half the size. You shouldn’t see any stitches — it should all be a fuzzy mass. If it’s not, put it through the cycle again.

Whip out the scissors

Time to cut up your sweater. You’re going to remove the collar and sleeves, so that it looks like this when you’re done:

After cutting the basic shape out

Perfection is for machines, mistakes show you care

Cutting up a sweater for the first time caused me a bit of anxiety. It seemed so permanent, and what if I cut it wrong or something?

I find I often worry like this when I’m learning something new, whether it’s cooking or playing my violin or riding a bicycle. I’m afraid I’ll mess everything up, I’ll ruin something or somehow hold other people back.

Or I worry I’ll make something and the person I give it to won’t like it because it’s a few million mistakes in it.

The problem with that thinking is that it’s kept me from doing a lot of stuff and I think it keeps a lot of other people from doing stuff too. I didn’t know how to cook so I never did and I made do instead with a lot of macaroni and cheese, pizza and Ben & Jerry’s.

The other problem is that something with no mistakes in it, something that’s perfect, looks just like something you’d buy at Ikea or H&M.

Perfection comes mostly from machines, not real people, and I like to think that when I give someone something with a few mistakes in it, they’re reminded of how hard I tried, of how much time and effort I put into it just for them.

So if you make a mistake or 100 on this project, consider just leaving it as a nice reminder of your gift’s handmade provenance.

Sew seams around the top edges

Stitch a seam around the top and handles about 1/4 inch (.5 cm) in

If you’ve got a sewing machine and know how to use it, then sew a simple straight stitch about 1/4 inch from the edge along the top. This should help reinforce the fabric.

What if I don’t have a machine or know how to sew with one?

If you don’t have a sewing machine, you can often get older models for free on Freecycle or Freegle, which is how I got mine. Or ask to borrow a friend’s or a family member’s machine.

Once you get a hold of a machine, it’s really easy to sew the simple line you need for this project, so it’s worth taking the time to learn.

A good place to start is “The Basic Sewing Lesson Class 1″, which will show you all the basics to getting started with a sewing machine.

How to sew a straight stitch by hand

Another option is to sew the seams by hand. Here’s a good video tutorial showing how:

Sew up the bottom of the bag

Now you’re going to sew up the bottom of the sweater. In Alterknits, she shows sewing right across the bottom of the bag on the outside. I used a zigzag stitch for extra reinforcement.

You could just use a straight stitch here, particularly if you double up the thread for added strength.

This is what mine looked like:

You can use a zigzag seam on the outside.

I thought this looked ugly, so I redid it.

Alternative: the I-shape seam

The seam creates a T shape at each end, forming an "I"

Many bags, if you look at the bottom, have this kind of seam. It looks like a long capital “I” turned on its side.

This is a stronger, more finished-looking seam.

Here’s how to do it.

Turn your fabric inside out. Sew both layers together using a zigzag (or straight stitch if you’re sewing by hand).

Fold the fabric at one end to create a triangle shape.

Fold fabric to create a triangle shape

Then sew across each side like so:

Sew across the first seam

Now on to the handles.

Sewing the handles

To make the handles, fold over the fabric and hold it in your hand. This way, you can see how far down you need to sew to keep the handle folded over.

Fold over the fabric in your hand to decide how long to make the handle seams

Then you sew the two pieces together, about 2 1/2 inches on either side or 5 inches overall.

Since the fabric is so thick, I used embroidery thread and a big needle to do this, but you don’t need to.  I happen to have a bunch of embroidery thread because I got suckered in by all the pretty colours in a job lot selling for next to nothing on eBay.

Sewing up the handles with embroidery thread and needle

And you’re done!

Optional: add a back pocket

I wanted to add a bit of the Fair Isle pattern back to the bag, so I added a back pocket made out of the leftover pieces from the neckline.

I just sewed another straight seam using embroidery thread and needle.

Optional: Sew on the back pocket

Now here’s the finished product, which I think I’ll give to my sister-in-law to gather her eggs in the morning with.

This side shows the buttons:

The end result

The other side with the pocket:

With the pocket showing

Done!

Made this project?

Share pictures of your project here:

Your feedback on the tutorial

My goal is to help more people make their own Christmas presents and not put it off till next year, when it’s more convenient.

I’m hoping by making this project and the others I’ll be doing in the Frugal and Green Christmas Gifts series, people who might feel nervous or reluctant to make their own gifts actually give it a go.

So did I give enough information? Too much? How could I improve it?

If the power went off wouldn’t it be nice to know you could not only cope, but even have a great time?

Playing games by candlelight

Imagine, instead of panic in the dark and cold, you just smile and get on.

In fact you are so prepared, you don’t even miss the electricity because you are too busy talking to your family, visiting your neighbours, and enjoying life without the distractions of the internet, television and telephones.

Or maybe you would completely panic.

What would you do?

Do you know how you would cope if the power went off for longer than a few hours?

Well, I invite you to try this little experiment – a weekend without electricity: Power Off ! December 11 – 13, 2009.

December 11 - 13, 2009

Join others in this adventure, get support from us, have fun, come up with alternative ways to do things and afterwards know you are more in control of your life!

“But right now isn’t convenient”

If you think this inconvenient then ask yourself, if there are power cuts again, will it ever be convenient, will you get advance notice? No.

Better to try it out when you can be in control.

Join us December 11 – 13, 2009

The Poweroff Weekend starts 11pm, Friday night on the 11th.

Come and join us now – sign up to this private Facebook event so we can send you information about what to do to prepare and suggest tips for the weekend. See below for details and FAQs.

If you’d rather not use Facebook you can also email us directly to sign up: malcolm@touchwoodproject.com

There will be a lot of information and advice sent out to all who sign up for this adventure, so what are you waiting for? Join the Power Off tribe! And why not invite your neighbours and friends to join too, and share in the experience?

P.S. If you want to know what it is like to try these adventures, read about the harder version Malcolm and Rachel did a couple of years back: “this is not a good time”

FAQs

What do I have to do?

Prepare for the weekend (see below). Fill out the pre-weekend questionnaire. Then turn off your power supply at the mains where it comes into the house. Keep a written diary of your experience in the two days and photographs and complete the daily questionnaire.

What if I have a deep freeze or a lot of food in my fridge/freezer? What should I do?

Either cook it all, eat it and cook it and put it in the fridge which will keep some residual coolness. Some people are able to keep the freezer closed and try to insulate it to keep the coldness in there. Or you could find neighbours or friends that you could store the food with. Have a communal feast.

The point here is to be aware of how much you’ve invested in your fridge/freezer that’s vulnerable to a power cut. So if you have a lot of meat for example, you might want to consider an alternative power source.

What if all my heating is powered by electricity?

Close all rooms you’re not using. Put on more clothing to keep you warm. Get more physically active to generate heat. Consider alternative sources of heat like a camping stove, fireplace.

Consider visiting your neighbours. In this experiment, you are allowed (even encouraged) to rely on your neighbours, so use them as a resource. The human body generates a lot of heat — so invite friends round or your family into one room and keep warm. Put up cardboard on your windows to reduce loss of heat in your main room. Put blankets and newspaper on the bottom of doors and gaps to keep heat in.

Camp out in your own house — Consider sleeping in a different room. If your bedroom is really cold, move your bed into the warm room. Drape a sheet over to create a tent. Have the family sleep in one room together.

What if my partner/children/housemates don’t want to participate?

Talk to them and explain why this is important and only do it if you get them to agree. They must at least agree to do it for your benefit, but they really need to see the benefits of the challenge because otherwise you most likely won’t complete it. It might also cause too much upset between people — you need to be a team.

Why should I do this anyway?

To know how to deal with the situation if does actually happen. To experience something different. To face a challenge and succeed at it. To become aware of how much we rely upon electricity and take it for granted. To spend more time with people in our lives rather than watch television or sit at a computer. It forces us to be more involved with people. To be aware of addictive tendencies. To know how you would react in a crisis, to know yourself better.

Can I only do this for part of the time or only turn off electricity for some things?

When things are beyond our control, were not able to set the rules. So part of the experiment is to experience discomfort, to not be in control. So if you set your own rules in this experiment, you’re missing out on that lesson. Also the most realistic scenario is a total loss of energy in the event of a powercut.

When does it start and end?

Just before bedtime on Friday and finishes Sunday just before midnight. Weekend of the 12th & 13th December, 2009.

How should I prepare?

Get matches, candles, fire extinguisher and check smoke detectors will work without electricity. If your telephones are powered by electricity, make sure your mobile is charged. Print off any essential info you might need, like phone numbers of people or important ID. Start by preparing, such as backing up your computer, sorting out what to do with you excess food.

Have some alternatives ready to occupy your time, like board or card games, walks or bicycles planned. Consider whether you need to tell anybody what you’re doing, who might be concerned if you aren’t answering your emails for 2 days or picking up the phone. Here are 101 things to do, if you need inspiration!

What happens when it’s done?

Write up your experience and complete the post-weekend questionnaire.
What if my child or partner has some urgent project or homework to be completed during the weekend?

The more the challenge this weekend is, the more you’ll get out of it. But you need to ask all people participating whether they are prepared to adapt. For example, they may be able to tell their teacher or boss that they’re doing this and get their support. If their boss or mentor isn’t understanding, another possibility is to write something on paper or go to a neighbour’s house.

What if this weekend isn’t a convenient weekend? Can I do it another weekend?

It is supposed to be dealing with the unexpected. If it’s not inconvenient, then you perhaps won’t gain anything from it. Ultimately, it’s for you to decide but you will miss out on the shared experience of others doing it at the same time as you if you choose not to go this weekend.

What if we have problems like the kids throw a tantrum, or someone wants to watch an “essential” TV show, or a partner refuses midway to continue?

Pain is temporary, giving up is forever. However the point of the experiment is more about being aware of your relationship with electricity rather than simply completing two days without.

Spread the word and click on the Power Off picture below to sign up, now.

More FAQs:

What is an eco-friendly and cheap alternative to candles?

Since regular candles use petrochemicals, and beeswax candles are expensive, we suggest using scallop shell lanterns, which are cheap/free to make, very bright, and beautiful. Have a look:

Make your own scallop shell lanterns