I loved the focus that sewing the blinds required. I loved the sense of satisfaction that making some original lampshades (for a fraction of the price) gave me. In particular, sewing face masks and gifts for others made me feel useful. Searching for lovely fabrics was visually stimulating and waiting for them to arrive in the post gave me something to look forward to.

I started out making some blinds for our hallway. I found some blue and white floral Designers Guild fabric remnants on eBay. I made two matching lampshades as well. I’d never made lampshades before but was surprised at just how easy and satisfying they were to do using a kit.

I made two lampshades for the kitchen. Again Designers Guild fabric remnants. This colourful stripe fabric was chosen to match a piece of glass wall art that we’d picked up years ago on a Cornish holiday. I got two quite different looking lampshades out of one pice of fabric. I also managed to make two cushions, learning how to make cushions with a zip, which was new to me.

Having made around 70 face covering masks for friends in the summer using whatever scraps of material I could find, I decided to make some for charity for the festive season. I hadn’t charged any money for the summer masks and many people offered to give a charity donation, so I thought it would be a good idea to raise money at the same time (£120 made for Shelter in December.

A cheese plant leaf cushion and lampshade came next for our lounge. I’m rubbish at keeping real plants alive but had bought a cheese plant for the lounge. I couldn’t find a cushion to buy that matched the colour scheme and decor, so decided to make my own. This fabric came from Germany. The cushion just used up the scraps that were left after the lampshade, hence the patchwork design.

When looking for a lounge cushion I had seen an interesting one on Habitat that used tufted embroidery threads. I thought I’d have a go myself but using wool (as I thought it would be quicker) and so that I could choose the colours to match an oil painting that we have. I bought some cheese cloth material and an embroidery kit, tons of wool, and watched YouTube clips on using the right stitch. I’m really pleased with the results of this woolly cushion.

In winter I changed the blue/white blinds and lampshades I’d previously made for a grey tweed! As lovely as the blue/white fabric was, it really didn’t match the colour scheme we were building. So I unpicked the blinds and remade them. I also made a button-tufted cushion for the bench seat in the hallway. YouTube came in handy again on how to do the buttoning. I feel this one’s quite a triumph.

In the summer I’d made some blinds for a friend. Together we chose a lovely linen-look stag head fabric. She has enough material left over so I made two lampshades too. At Christmas I made her a table runner out of the scrap that was left. Thankfully she loves stags and wildlife! She’s since asked me to make some bedroom blinds for her but we’re waiting until lockdown is done so I can measure for them.

I’ve done a couple more cushions for friends or for myself, but they’re quite plain.