Monthly Create, Make and Share Thread - December, 2022 (Formerly, 'Fiber Arts')

December 2, 2022 | Diana in Wisconsin/Qiviut

[Quilla]

Yes I did and thank you kindly!

[Quilla]

Hysterical! And thank you for the kind words.

[Albion Wilde]

I recycle T-shirts or other jersey clothing to make rugs from 95 to 100% cotton. I use this pastime while watching TV, waiting for appointments, and so forth. I've made over 20 as gifts for relatives and friends in various sizes in the 28"- 32" range—mostly circular, hexagonal or oval; but also some rectangular, or shaped like a heart, star, etc. They are machine-washable, unlike traditonal woolen braided rugs, and are more colorful, soft and appealing for bedrooms, bathrooms or children.

Yes, I have a dedicated shelf of folded jersey garments gleaned from family, yard sales, church bazaars, thrift shops or dollar stores, stacked by color. Sometimes the garment itself will inspire a color theme—I saw a dark red and loden green striped golf shirt in Good Will and grabbed it to make a Christmas rug -- someday! I put it in a tote bag, and when I've snagged another item of compatible colors, I've thrown it in the tote. I have a second bag containing "memories" shirts from a grown child of mine, to make a braided, washable cat basket. Hope I get around to both those projects while I can still see!

When I want to make one, I envision what color theme would work for the person who is having an occasion, and pick out the fabrics. I cut them in strips and sometimes join the strips on the sewing machine and roll them up; but they are bulky to braid that way. More often I just join by hand, piece by piece, as I am working and looking at how the colors are combining in the circle, which is almost impossible to pre-calculate. Once in awhile I have to buy one more item while a rug is in progress in order to round out the color palette.

They take 15 to 20 shirts and about 40 hours, so are not profitable to sell, but for special gifts like weddings, graduations, babies, or housewarmings, "there's love in every stitch":

This one below is an early experiment—it's over 20 years old. It's in front of a sink, so it gets walked on frequently, and you can see where I've spilled bleach on it here and there. When it looks grimy, I turn it over for the next few months. It has held up with a few spot cleanings, 2 machine washings per year on gentle cycle, and a few odd stitch repairs:

I sometimes include a jersey top from a beloved aunt or a polo shirt from a deceased great-grandpop when making a gift for a new baby:

I had a sewing room helper on that one:

I'm repairing a kitchen rug now that is 25 years old; it gets stood on many times every day, often with yard dirt from the back door; so it has also been washed and repaired more than any other, and it's still wearing like iron. I used thicker, poly-blend jersey like old sweat shirts in that one, so the rug itself is thicker and puffier. A couple of areas have become so ragged that I had to pull out a few inches of braid and work a replacement piece back in before its pre-Christmas laundering. That's kind of hard, but also kind of fun, like, "how long can I keep this one going?" It has strips of clothing in it from 3 generations of family.

[Red Badger]

I made a hot pad once with one of those loop weaver thingys................😜

[Red Badger]

[combat_boots]

Had an aunt who did this. Always busy, she was

[leaning conservative]

Those are beautiful! My grandmother had them throughout her house.

[WHATNEXT?]

Oooh, those eyes...

[Albion Wilde]

I made a hot pad once with one of those loop weaver thingys................😜

Yes! I think that's how I got my addiction to the feel of jersey loops -- in Brownie camp!

[Albion Wilde]

The colors are so lovely, and enhance the yoga atmosphere, no doubt!

[Qiviut]

I love your rugs! A few questions ...

How do you sew the braids together so they hold up so well? Most references say use a heavy polyester thread & an upholstery needle & whip stitch about an inch apart - do you do anything different?

Also, you’re stitching on one side so when you turn your rugs over to get a few more months out of them, does this mean your stitches are showing?

Your cat reminds me of my first kitty Noah - he was a good one!♥️

[Bon of Babble]

Those are absolutely beautiful!

My grandmother made similar rugs, she said out of “old scraps” - I was very young when she died so I never learned how to make them.

I don’t have any of her rugs but have two of her quilts - I only hope my daughter loves and appreciates them as much as I have, all were hand sewn.

[Albion Wilde]

How do you sew the braids together so they hold up so well? Most references say use a heavy polyester thread & an upholstery needle & whip stitch about an inch apart - do you do anything different?
Also, you’re stitching on one side so when you turn your rugs over to get a few more months out of them, does this mean your stitches are showing?

I stitch them, using a double strand of quilting thread or upholstery thread, and my stitches are about 3/16ths to 1/4th of an inch apart. I place the stitches in the inside center of the braid loops, so that they hardly show at all; and because they are in the center, the stress on them when they are walked upon is the same no matter which side is on top. It takes time; but it's worth it to make the rug last.

This is not a project I would ever try to knock out in a week; but rather just pick up now and again when I know I'll have some waiting for my car to be fixed time or open-eyed prayer time.

The width of your strips determines how thick your rug will be, how wide the braid loops will be and how many stitches they will need. The ones I pictured above are regular medium-weight jersey cut in approx. 3" width strips, joined at a slant so they won't make a hard lump where sewn together lengthwise. Each braid gets two or three stitches to secure it to the next row. The rug ends up 1/2" to 3/4" thick before it's walked down.

Starting is hard -- Fold the long edges of your three starting strips inwards towards their own backs and fold again so all cut edges are farthest inside, and tack the three strips together with one or two stitches, so they can still fan out to braid. Make sure one strip extends out a little longer so it can be stitched over to cover the other two at the starting point. Trim the end of that long one in a half circle, do a running stitch around the edge and pull it tight to make a little cup. Tease the edges inside.

Start the braid. When you have braided a foot or so, go back and sew that little cup down over the ends of the other two strips to seal up the cut ends. Then start stitching your braid coil around this center "butt." This is the hardest part, so experiment first on a test braid.

I am right-handed, so when starting the circle, I work with the loose braid on top and the already-sewn part below, counter-clockwise from the center butt out and around.

To fasten one row to the next, insert the needle into the lower braid loop in its inside center. Then pierce up into the inside center of the braid loop that you are attaching above it, come back down 3/16" to the left in that same upper loop and pierce the lower loop again.

By then you should be able to move the needle into the next lower loop on the left and come upward again, repeating the method. When you have to change to new thread, knot on the inside of a loop, and start your next thread little behind, stitching an inch or two again in the loops you just finished, so there isn't a weak spot.

Sometimes it takes two stitches from one braid loop to the next, sometimes three; use your best judgment. Do make sure your thread doesn't knot up when you pull it through. I insert my finger into the lower and upper braid loops when positioning the needle, and then into the loop of the thread as I pull it through so it doesn't tangle.

The various fabrics can be easier or harder to pierce. I use a thimble or wax the needle sometimes. It helps immensely to prewash your fabrics and use liquid fabric softener!

As your braid strand gets longer, lay it flat and coil the braid around and check that the color pattern is pleasing. Don't stitch or braid too far without checking —I've pulled out many a foot of sewn braid rows because something just didn't look good and I should have checked. Stitch a few feet, braid a few more feet, check; repeat.

To get even tension while making the next section of braid, I throw the sewn center part over the back of a chair that faces where I'm sitting.

When coiling each new length of braid around the already-sewn center, it's helpful to put it flat on a table and attach the new row with a safety pin every few inches , rather than just eyeballing it in your lap. Once it's pinned, you can certainly stitch it in comfort in your easy chair.

You want the outer rows of braid to be stretchier than the inner rows of coils, so that when the rug will eventually be walked upon, there will be enough "give" as it's flattened out—so avoid stretching the outer braid tight, or you'll end up with a cone in the middle!

I keep going until I can count the same number of rows out from the center butt in every direction. You'll want to taper your your strips a little narrower lengthwise a foot or two from the end and secure the end point of the braid a similar way as the beginning.

After you have it sewn together, hold it up to the light and rotate it 360 degrees so you can see if there are any weak spots that need to have some reinforcement stitches. Wish I knew how to make you a video! LOL!

[Albion Wilde]

Thank you! See post 33.

[Qiviut]

As I read through your directions, I was just thinking: a video would be very helpful!

Thanks for the detailed instructions. I figured you had a good method of sewing the braids to hide stitches & also doing it in such a way as to have a sturdy end product & thus a long life :-)

[Oorang]

Sewing question for all...

I’m making a vest out of a heavier velveteen. I’ve read that invisible zippers should only be used on lighter weight fabrics as they are not as sturdy as standard zippers.

Obviously I’ll be using a separating zipper and would like it to not show so I need to use either an invisible zipper or a standard zipper with a fabric constructed placard. I’m not sure I want to use a placard with this velveteen as that might be too much bulk.

I’ve never used an invisible zipper. Any feedback, suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Pinging ‘The Gang’ for you, so you can get some help.

I am a terrible seamstress, other than ‘straight line sewing projects’ such as curtains and dish towels, MUCH to my Mother’s dismay, LOL!

I think I’ve installed TWO zippers in my entire lifetime - usually I just take them to my Mom to sew in for me. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL! That dog meme is HILARIOUS!

[Jamestown1630]

I’m no help. The one time I used an invisible zipper, it separated and exposed my back in the middle of a function. (Fortunately, the outfit had a jacket.) I gave up on them, then. But it was long ago, not long after they first came out; so maybe they’re better now.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Those rugs are so pretty! Normally, I’m cutting t-shirts into strips to make tie-ups for tomatoes and peppers in the garden; they like the softness and it doesn’t harm the stems at all if we get some wind.

I’m inspired, now! And that’s just braiding? Not crochet? Then just a slip-stitch to hold it together? Or do you machine stitch them?

My most prized possession is a Quilt my Grandma Edith made that has many pieces of clothing that we’ve all worn (and known and handed down) through they years. It’s the FIRST thing I’m grabbing in case of a fire - after the pets and Beau, of course! ;)