deja vu

 

Another bubble-and-squeak-made-from-the-left-overs moment.

This rug is made from the seams of felted jumpers. I started it last year but when I pulled it out to continue this year and add some more seams, I didn't like the shape. So I've unpicked, reworked it and added all the seams I had. Much better, don't you think?

Now I just want it finished but I can't wait for more left over seams. So I've come up with another way to finish it....will show you how in a minute...

ps.do other countries have bubble and squeak? It's fried up left over mashed potato and vegies???It always tastes better than the original meal!

wilful waste makes woeful want

So says the Scottish proverb. Or, if you like, more simply - waste not, want not.

 The sister outlaws hate seeing something go to waste. So in our process of recycling jumpers for our re-sew-cool kits, we have to cut out and discard the seams.  I kept thinking I could do something with them and started collecting them.

I discovered that if you hot wash them again in batches (I pop them in an old pillow slip and seal it with a rubber band so they don’t get too tangled) they come out really strong and neater in appearance. 

When my craft queen friend Sue came to visit, her eyes shone when she saw them! She suggested I could crochet them together.

Once I had this big basket of seams, I began to sew them together. As a fan of random colour combinations, I tried not to blend the colours together too much.

Yesterday I got down to the business of crocheting and I must say it was quite a physical work out to crochet this thick stuff on a big hook!I'm attempting an oval rug for the kids room.




So far so good but I think I'll unpick the last few rows and try and keep the shape more regular. The seams vary in thickness and I'm just shaping as I go. The rug is small now but I know the outlaw stash will have more many seams for me!

  

posted by Julianne Sister Outlaw

Bubble and Squeak.

Sometimes leftovers become more than the sum of their parts. Like bubble and squeak. Is there anything yummier? And rag rugs. From rags torn into strips emerge these wonderful substantial creations. I love the idea of knitting and crocheting rags – of transforming a piece of fabric into a yarn-like medium. Of reincarnating a piece into something entirely different.

Sister Outlaw Lynne used t-shirt fabric to crochet into this ottoman. Considering the glut of second hand stretch fabric it’s such a great idea and doesn’t have fraying cotton edges either.  To achieve long lengths of t-shirt yarn she cut the t-shirts up like tearing mintie wrappers.

There is plenty of wonderful inspiration out there for rag rugs. These images remind me of paintings by Sonia Delaunay.

sonia delaunay rhthme 1938

Sonia Delaunay electric prisms 1914 oil on canvas Musee national d'art moderne

Here are some great tutorials.
http://crafts.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Crochet_Rag_Rug
http://goodtimesithinkso.blogspot.com/2009/10/circular-crochet-rag-rug-instructions.html
http://vintagechica.typepad.com/the_life_and_times_of_thi/2006/10/rag_rug_tutoria.html

Once we turned the cuffs and collars when they showed signs of wear and tear. Once, when the sheets became thin in the middle, we’d cut them down the centre and sew the two unworn sides together. This mending and maintaining came from being frugal, but also from a certain respect for the life of a piece of fabric. Old clothes were always kept for patchwork quilts that would contain a family’s history and take you on a sentimental journey. From the leftovers we can make a feast that is far from scrappy.  May your rags be glad rags that make you bubble and squeak.

posted by Julianne Sister Outlaw