Friday, April 27, 2007

my twist on wardrobe refashioning

I love the whole idea of wardrobe refashioning that folks are trying. I am too chicken to give it a go, but someday I hope to.

I also LOVE rag rugs. My sister crochets gorgeous ones, and she gave this one to me for my birthday a few years back.

I love this rug! It is made from all cotton strips that she cut on the bias. I have wanted to attempt something like this as well, but I don't work with fabric cut on the bias if I can help it. I would rather make a quilt out of cotton fabrics. (the rug reminds me of some of the Gee's Bend Quilts...love those!)

So, my solution to all of this...

I am cutting up my old stained t-shirt (that was destined for the rag basket anyway) into 1/2" strips. Slip knotting the loops into a long string...

and crocheting those loops into my very own (cushy) rag rug.

I am using a huge (pink!) P hook and it is going quickly. That blue section is all from the one t-shirt (woman's L). We have a lot of clothing around my house that I can recycle in this way. I can not tell you how excited I am about this project!

And I did cut up my dictionary.
Some of the S pages are on their way to Sarah P.

Thanks to all of you who commented on my blog this week!
I appreciate it so much.

13 comments:

Roxanne said...

This is such a great idea!! I was at the thrift store just yesterday stocking up on refashioning supplies!! I also found a great link with a pattern to make pants out of t-shirts. Course I can't find it now, but I'll post about it next week. Can't wait to see the finished rug...are you going to make it all white?

Sarah said...

That's a good idea! A great way to use up a stained shirt, and now you'll have a nice soft rug.

Thanks for the dictionary pages, I can't wait to see what words I end up with!

Mama Urchin said...

I bet the t-shirt rug would be nice in a bathroom. Hmm, thinking about that.

Anina said...

What a great idea! We have TONS of freebie t-shirts around here. You could even dye them before you cut them up and have funky colors.

lera said...

A jersey rug. Sounds like the perfect landing out of a hot shower.

LeeAnn said...

I need to learn how to crochet and make some rag rugs! Someday.

Unknown said...

Wow--I just discovered your blog a few days ago, and then what do you post today? Nothing but the idea that I just had last week! Great minds think alike, I suppose :-)

Love your site, btw.

Oh, and if you don't mind--those corners are a b*tch since that jersey is so thick. How many stitches to you put in each corner? I can't get mine to lay flat...

Anonymous said...

Hey, I recognize that rug.
The t-shirt version looks promising. Once I get the two rugs that I'm working on done, I'll have to give it a try.

Amanda Jean said...

katie,

I am not crocheting in a rectangle, so there are no corners to turn. I am single crocheting in each stitch of the foundation chain. to turn I just add one chain at the end of the row. flip the rug and work back and forth. and back and forth again, flipping the rug at the end of each row.
does that make sense? does that help? It seems to be working out great this way and I have no problems with it laying flat...let me know if you have any more questions.
and do you have a blog? I can't see a link to you anywhere on your profile page. I would love to see your rug in progress.

Alisa said...

You are giving me ideas I want to try... but can't right now! Oh well, I will just have to dream about it for now! Thanks for visiting my blog.

Anonymous said...

amandajean--thanks for the response!

OK I see what you were doing, now...What I've tried so far is variations on working in the round (oval), and a sort of granny square-esque bit. So far I've just fiddled with scraps, though, so I haven't put it up on my blog.

If you want to see my site, it's currently at:

www.xanga.com/KTtheKCbride

though in a couple of months I hope to launch my own WP blog as an outlet for my craftiness :-)

I just went garage saleing this morning and picked up a bunch of new tees; once I get those cut up and have some sort of finished product I'll be sure to put up an entry.

Anonymous said...

AH, now I have some ideas for all those old t-shirts that I have. I've been cutting them up as rags, but this sounds like more fun :)

LuĂ­sa Silva said...

Clever and ecological idea. I never now what to do with the old t-shirts. Now I have a solution. Thanks.