A Loom Full!

I've been weaving and weaving! My loom is officially full! I've never woven till the rugs meet the beater bar. This batch is woven using old clothing like tshirts, sweats, denim jeans and khaki's. I love that I can recycle or upcycle, keeping all those things out of a landfill. I love even more that I am carrying on an old craft, weaving just like my grandmother did. Now I need to get them off the loom and get them tied. I think I'll put in an old movie and sit and tie and tie and tie!

Blessings~

May 27, 2010 What do you do with your worn jeans?

Some people patch with them, some people quilt or craft with them, some people throw them away and some people give them to me! This rug and 4 place mats were custom made for someone using the families worn jeans. Sometimes I get not just jeans but tshirs, sweats shirts, sheets and blankets and I weave something useful from it for them. Other times people clean their closets and I weave rugs for myself, for gifts and for sale. It's fun turning a bag of old clothes fit only for the garbage into something beautiful useful and environmentally friendly! So what do you do with your old jeans?

Blessings!

Old Pants February 26, 2010

Rag Rug, originally uploaded by pictureapromise.

I had a customer who brought me three bags of old clothing. There were t shirts, jeans and some slacks. Rather than throw these old worn out things in the garbage and eventually put them in a landfill, I was able to convert them into something useful, needed and if I do say so myself, attractive. From his three bags we got 6 40 inch rugs with just a couple shirts left over. We're saving them till next time.

There is much talk about being or doing the "green" thing. Seems funny to me. My grandmothers were weavers and long before there was such a thing they were doing the "green" thing. They used items that could no longer be used for bedding or clothing and made rugs. They also made quilts. Mom still has a couple of Grandma Ida's beautiful log cabins and Grandma Mabel's patchworks. They carded sheep's wool and put inside. So very warm. Sometimes the old ways really are better! And sometimes we can take the old ways, improve on them and they can be better yet!

Blessings!