Creating my way to Success

Second attempt at weaving a t-shirt yarn rug

A couple of weeks ago, I tried out weaving a t-shirt yarn rug on a hula hoop.

Instead of a rug, I ended up with a bowl - but hey, it's a pretty bowl!

I thought that maybe I'd got the tension wrong as I wove the yarn, so I decided to cut up the remaining t-shirts in my clothes upcycling stash and try again.

Lucky I had a nice bowl to keep the balls of yarn in!

So once again I started with the hula hoop..

And slowly started weaving, trying to keep my tension even as I went.

Unfortunately, as I neared the end of my balls of yarn, things didn't seem to have gone as planned..

I cut and tied the ends and...

Another bowl!

I've put my little dumbbells in this one.

Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

I've run out of t-shirt yarn now, but I'm sure I'll have more t-shirts in my upcycling stash again one day, and will want to try again to make a RUG!

Any hints or tips much appreciated!

I think it's a great way to upcycle old t-shirts, whether you make rugs or bowls!

Ok, so I knew this one was going to be tricky! I mean, do people really want to upcycle their underwear? Isn't that just a little bit weird and ikky? So yes, I struggled to find ideas to feature here!

Cleaning

So, you can just cut them up and use the scraps for stuffing, or rags for cleaning. Some people may even find cleaning with old knickers just not right - but you could use them for those spills and messes that you just want to wipe up and throw away!

Quilts

Some underwear - particular kids ones have pretty pictures on. I've found plenty of mention of cutting out these parts and saving them to add to a memory quilt later.

Compost

If your underwear is 100% cotton, you can cut off the elastic and put them in the compost! At least then they are getting recycled!

Donate

You can of course donate your old underwear to charity shops.

For bras - there is a company in Australia I found called

Project Uplift

They collect bras and send them to women in disadvantaged countries for whom bras are often unobtainable or unaffordable. They have collection points in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

Make something new

One of the best uses I found for a bra, was to make it into a purse!

Also on the same site is a tutorial for a scented bra purse, and a

bra evening purse.

Or perhaps you could use a pretty bra for a planter:

And that I'm afraid is all I could find!

I have set up a pinterest board for upcycling underwear - but it's very sparse too!

Do you have any more ideas for old underwear?

Another duffel bag

Earlier this week I made myself a new sports duffel bag which I was really happy with.

However - my daughter claimed it for her swimming to use until I could make her one! So that I had to do quick smart!

Here's hers - made with her chosen fabrics, and lined with rip-stop nylon as she'll put wet towels and swimmers inside it!

She wanted not just one - but two zipped pockets on the inside to hold her snacks, purse and any other little bits and pieces she can think of!

Cute!

I'll be glad to have mine back now!

(you can see my sports bag here and there's also a link to the tutorial and pattern sizes if you want to make your own!)

A new duffel bag

I've been wanting a new sports bag for myself for a while now, and when I found one of my favourite tank tops becoming stretched and out of shape, it gave me the idea to use that for my sports bag!

You know I love to upcycle clothes!

I used my own duffel bag tutorial but changed the sizes to suit what I needed.

The quote from my tank top became the outside pocket. I did use some fusible webbing to iron the tank top fabric to a piece of the bag fabric to make it sturdier and hold the shape better.

If anyone is interested, here's the measurements I used for this bag:

Circular sides - 26cm (10.25") diameter

Main bag part - 82 x 40 cm (32.23 x 15.75")

Bag straps - 2 (120 x 10cm) (47.25 x 4")

Large bag strap - 80 x 10 cm (31.5 x 4")

I added extra loops and metal rings to the large bag strap - just for a bit of extra interest:

And an orange zip for a bit of colour too.

I'm really happy with how it turned out - and that I can keep my favourite tank top going for longer - just in a different way!

My only problem now is that my elder daughter has pinched my bag to use for her swimming gear! I'll have to make her one this size so I can get mine back!!

The tutorial for this duffel bag includes several different size measurements (in both cm and inches) and templates - plus instructions on how work out the measurements to make a duffel bag any size you choose.