Words and pics by Jo Green, a former allotmenteer, forager, amateur herbalist, pickler and jam maker who squeezed her allotment greenery into her tiny garden.

You know when you have that one favourite jacket that doesn’t fit any more; It sits in the wardrobe eyeing you judgementally to see if there is hope for a continued relationship?
Well, I found the perfect guilt-free solution!
We have an old chair which needs recovering. I gathered the jacket and remnants of baby clothes I could not be parted from. Rescued scattered material memories from the high-days and holidays of our lives and fast tracked them for recycling!
Looking online for the hows and whys was not very helpful and I started to think I couldn’t possibly do it . But no – in the end I just threaded a needle and got stuck in! It is quite hard on the old fingers (don’t think I have quite mastered a thimble yet). The sewing would not bear scrutiny but I am not competing in the Great British Sewing Bee so that’s okay. And yet, the final product is, I think, a success!
I especially liked re-using the jacket pocket which is just big enough for one of the TV remotes! I must confess I started this project three years ago.
I am now waiting for a favourite coat to reach the point of no return so I can harvest its pockets for the other side of the chair!