Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Ideas for Recycling Old Sweatshirts

Old sweatshirts can be inspiration for new crafts. Useful and beautiful household items can be made from discarded sweatshirts. Launder them and cut them open at the seams to yield flat pieces of fabric for your crafting pleasure. Discard worn ribbing and cut out any stains. Save old sweatshirt pieces until you have a stash from which you can choose for crafting purposes. If you have no old sweatshirts, go to a local thrift store and find some. Extra-large men's shirts give you the most fabric for your money.

Blanket or Throw
Cut squares and rectangles from several sweatshirts in coordinating colors. Cut sleeves open at the underarm seam and lay flat to cut. If the sweatshirt has a logo or picture, center it on one of the squares. Arrange rectangles to make a blanket-sized piece and sew together like a patchwork quilt. The seams will not ravel, so there is no need to line the blanket unless extra warmth is desired. Bind the edges with wide bias tape for extra durability. If you have several large sweatshirts from the same college, use them to make a stadium blanket for football season or a picnic blanket for tailgate parties.
Braided or Crocheted Rug
Cut old sweatshirts into long strips, about two inches wide for a braided rug or one inch wide for a crocheted rug. Sew ends of strips together and roll strips into balls like yarn. Braid a rug using 3 balls of fabric strips. Coil braid and lace into a round or oval shape until rug is desired size. Crochet a rug using one ball of fabric strips and a size "P" or "Q" plastic crochet hook. Crochet in rows to make a rectangular rug or in rounds for a circular or oval rug. 100% cotton sweatshirts make absorbent bath mats as well. Craft stores sell non-slip backing for rugs, which can be applied to the finished project.
Baby Bibs

Children's sweatshirts or the sleeves of adult sweatshirts yield enough fabric for baby bibs. Use an existing bib to trace a pattern. Cut two fabric bib shapes for each bib. Place wrong sides together, pin, and sew seam binding around the edges, leaving enough binding at back edges to tie in a bow at the back of neck. Alternatively, use a bib pattern that overlaps in the back and use a snap or hook-and-loop closure. Bibs are another opportunity to recycle the school or team logo on a sweatshirt-use the logo centered in the front of bib.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

So, You Want to Work in Fashion? A Book Review

Here is a new resource coming soon for tweens and teens:

While television shows us models and fashion designers, this excellent book for children covers the entire world of fashion.  Buyers, stylists, dressmakers, photographers: Fashion is so much more than what we see on the runway.  Children are introduced to these professions and told what education/preparation they will need.  Profiles of people now working in fashion help give an idea of what a day-in-the-life might be like.

As a former bridal alterations specialist, I would recommend this book for school library collections and for use by 4-H leaders, art teachers, and anyone else who might meet fashion-inclined students.

I received a free advance review copy of So, You Want to Work in Fashion? through NetGalley.  Publication date for this book is September 16, 2014.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

New Yarns, New Projects

Here is Rogue's Skinny Scarf done in Caron Simply Soft Light.  I wish you could feel just how soft this scarf is!  Despite its great length (8-9 feet) it is light as a feather.  I plan to keep this scarf and wear it myself.

I reviewed Simply Soft Light as well as Hometown USA yarn on Squidoo recently.  Check out my reviews and try one of these two super-soft yarns: one sport/DK weight and one bulky.  Here is a swatch in Hometown USA:


Tuesday, July 1, 2014

E-Book Sale During July

Use coupon code SSW25 at checkout and get 25% off when you buy FiberFrau e-books direct from Smashwords. Happy knitting!

I'm planning to take a break from scarves to do some baby hats for charity.  If any readers have patterns to recommend, please let me know in the comments.  Baby hats are a fun way to try new yarn and patterns, and you can always donate them to a pregnancy care center, hospital, or women's shelter if you make more than your family and friends can use!