Rag Rugs all around

The better half of my evenings last week were made making t-shirt yarn. And what better to make out of all that loveliness than a rag rug! But wait, this is not the only way to make a rag rug. In fact, there are a few approaches to brightening your home up with handmade rugs.

Thankfully, all three ways of making a rag rug were trialled at the latest StitchUP. I had my mind set on a crochet one, with all that colourful t-shirt yarn and my still rudimentary crochet skills, I knew I needed a helping hand to get me started. By now it measures 3/4 of a metre in diameter and it's growing quickly. It's an ideal starter project, and quite satisfying because it's so super quick, while giving the beginner plenty of single crochet  practice. Result: I no longer feel I'm holding the yarn in the wrong hand AND I can crochet while holding a baby toddler.

Tutorial:
Make a chain of 6 stitches. Close to a round. single crochet into the hole as often as you can- I aimed for 10 but only managed 8. It's important you know that number.
Round 1: In the first round after this, increase the same number of stitches; i.e. single crochet into one stitch, then make a chain, single crochet into next stitch, make a chain etc.
Round 2: single crochet into next 2 stitches, make a chain, single crochet into next 2 stitches, make a chain until end.
Round 3: single crochet into next 3 stitches, make a chain repeat until end

To put it differently: you increase your number of stitches from the base round in every subsequent round. So in round 5 you single crochet 5 times, then make a chain; in round 10 you single crochet into 10 stitches then make one chain etc.
As to crochet hook: well, it depends on your t-shirt yarn. I used size 9 but that was on the tight side of things.

So this is an image of my work in progress, and considering I've only just learned how to crochet and this is my first proper project, I'm pretty pleased with it.

Next up is the one that I will be doing another time because it's been on my mind for a while. It's made from hessian (a type of rough linen/jute, the kind that used to be used for potato and coffee sacks). You will also need fabric scaps, approximate 2 inch long and 1/4 inch wide and a tool for threading (there are professional tools for this but a crochet hook will do failing all else). For a detailed tutorial, and more images, visit The Patchwork Heart:

Finally there's the no sew woven rag rug, also made from t-shirt yarn. It's pretty straight forward too, and as there is an existing tutorial I will spare my breath here and just point you to it.

All three methods are super simple - and yet you'll end up with a beautiful addition to your home, while recycling/upcycling fabric that is no longer useable.

You may end up not wanting to actually step on your rag rug, though.
Pray tell me, which one's your favourite?

Let there be T-Shirt Yarn

For a few months, there's been a fabulous initiative happening in the south of Glasgow. It's trading by the name of StitchUP and oh, it is so to my liking. Once a month from 6-9pm, one can drop into a very cosy basement of a very nice cafe, and get crafting with fabric and yarn. There's a state of the art sewing machine, fabric, buttons, threads, felt, all kinds of pieces, knitting yarn, crochet hooks and more. People come along and share their skills, and every instalment of StitchUP has a couple of projects that people may or may not make. One evening, I brought my knitting that needed a bit of a push to get finished, and I ended up showing someone how to change colours while knitting. Another time I made crochet snowflakes which really helped me not lose my very basic crochet skills and expand on them at the same time.

It's family friendly, so I can bring my kids, which is of course not particularly conducive to getting a project done (especially if your preschooler is so fascinated by the sewing machine that she needs constant supervision lest she brakes the needle or worse the machine) but everytime I went, I came home having learned something new.

Next up will be rug making. Which is just fabulous because for about 4 years I have been meaning to make some rag rugs. I collected and stored old t-shirts ready for making t-shirt yarn. Finally, I got to dig them out and start making t-shirt yarn, ready for the next StitchUP where the yarn will be made into a rag rug.

T-shirt yarn making is great fun and there's a bit of magic going on. It's extremely therapeutic I found, and nothing beats preschooler joining me at midnight for a round of tugging and spooling. Such a special surprise when my wee ghosty came down the stairs and joined me in some magic yarn making.
The magic lies in the fact that one t-shirt makes much more yarn than you think. And this is how:

For a tutorial, you're best visiting craftpassion - I can't really explain it any better. To get you started, it's important you have a proper pair of fabric scissors because otherwise you'll just get rather aggravated. You will also need t-shirts ideally with no print and no side seems (so many women's cuts don't work). Obviously the bigger the t-shirt the more yarn you'll get, but even so, a medium or small t-shirt will still yield rather a lot, so don't dismiss them! I have used t-shirts with some print and it's not all that bad, but you don't want to have too much print as it'll affect the quality of the yarn. Finally, check the label - the t-shirt should be 100% cotton. I'm not really sure what happens if it's not but may try out just to be radical. Once you're set, go to craftpassion for your tutorial. The magic happens when you get to tugging your yarn. For some reason (er, magic) the yarn lengthens when you do that, at least doubling your yarn length. I get quite a thrill out of that, and so did Cubling.

You may be able to get some more t-shirt supplies from charity shops, however I found that plain, side seem free, 100% cotton t-shirts are not considered to be good enough to be sold in charity shops, maybe they tend to be too plain. It may be worth while building up a relationship with one or two charity shops and telling them about your passion for plain cotton t-shirts and get them set aside for you before they go into the fabric bin. What worked for me was just asking a few friends and colleagues for unused old t-shirts.

Apparently, now that I've got t-shirt yarn, I'm all set to crochet (!!!) my rag rug. This is where StitchUP comes in - there is no way I could actually do that by myself, even in the age of youtube, I need someone to show me and to check that what I'm doing is actually what I'm supposed to be doing. So I'll be bartering t-shirt yarn for expanding my crochet skills ;)

Next up I'll run through a few ways of making rag rugs, but I'll wait with that until I actually know how to make them!

Present choices - new, second hand, recycled, upcycled

Last year around about this time I pondered consumerism around Christmas, whether a levy of spend is a good idea or not. This year, for the past month, I'd intended to look at the choices we can make for giving, but life kind of got the better of me.

And for all the good intentions I had, I didn't put them into practice because of time constraints, circumstances and something having to give. I'm ok with that. And quite enjoyed some one stop shop (shopping centre) shopping which got me out of the house when spirits were low and made me rather pleased that my worry not to get presents in time was quickly kicked into the very back drawer. And you know what? I think I got rather nice presents that suit their recipients, and will be used - at least I hope.

However, in an ideal world, I'd like to have a handmade and recycled/upcycled Christmas, one where none of the presents given are bought from a chain store. There are so many alternatives. Handmade items from etsy, folksy and other incarnations of the same idea. Local businesses upcycling, just look at Glasgow Wood Recycling's range as a great example. Charities with shops often have a lovely selection of fairtrade or environmentally sound presents - Oxfam, Amnesty International and Save the Children are just some examples.

I've also come across online shops with a difference, such as Gifted People, or some other ethical store like Natural Collection.

It's really the same idea as giving someone the gift of a service, which you could do locally as well. Something like the felt making workshop I gifted myself for my 40th birthday, which in turn supported crafting people passing on their skills, but which also means that I now have a new skill myself, something that's going to be very lasting and not gather dust.

Then of course there is also the possibility of second hand. Now, personally, I have nothing against getting something that is second hand. I'd be very happy with that, as it gives an item a new lease of life rather than going to landfill, and it avoids the making of the same item again, which in my eyes is a waste of limited and precious resources.

The problem is that of course we don't have a culture where giving second hand items is acceptable. Yet. While I'm happy to announce that I'd rather get something second hand than new, would I give a second hand item to friends or family? I'm hypocritical that way and most would be I expect.

There's also the pressure element. Some time ago I announced that I felt there were too many presents going around and it was getting a bit over the top and how about reducing it all and just do less but let it be handmade? The thought behind this not being that we have to all make every present, but to give less, and make or buy handmade. The idea was to reduce the pressure to buy so much, not to add another pressure. But of course, for many, this does result in a new pressure, maybe because it's easier to stick with the shops you know, maybe because handmade takes more time, or if bought, is more expensive.

Personally, I always feel that a present given that is not used is a waste, not of money but of resources. Yes, I do appreciate that it's the thought that counts, but if I give a present that I don't see used, I'd rather not have given it. Look at toys for instance. They're all over the place in our house. Yet Cubling hardly plays with them at all. When I think of the amount of money that goes into them and how better that money could have been used, I get a bit flustered. It's not about my money being wasted, it's about money in general having been wasted, because it could have been spend on something more worthy, as well as resources to make the thing that just sits and doesn't get used.

So in the Christmas spirit, and I know I'm a bit late in throwing this thought into your Christmas shopping, do we really need all that we buy? Would we not be better off being a bit more selective, even offering to friends and family to not gift quite so much? In a time where most of us just buy what we need anyway, what is it we need really? Not another thing, but surely time together, help where we don't manage something ourself. Do you know more ethical shopping outlets that you can share, including handmade and upcycling initiatives? Please do share them in the comments! And finally, could you imagine to give and receive a second hand present?

My plan, again, for next year will be to give handmade, home baked, ethical and maybe even second hand. At least to some extent, because some is always better than none. In this spirit, some of my Christmas shopping did in fact come from some of the places mentioned. I also made some presents. Next time it will be more I hope.