Her work is so professional. Great bags!
Can We Show Off Our Crafts?
- Thread starter Dana Jean
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Wow! Those are awesome bags! I like them a lot.I go in cycles with my craft du jour and lately I've been leaning toward weaving. I don't have a floor loom--just a rigid heddle and recently acquired an inkle loom to do bands. While looking through Pinterest for ideas for rigid heddle projects (not as easy to find as floor looms), I came across an idea to recycle plastic grocery and department store bags to make totes. You cut the bags into one long strip and then weave it into a warp of cotton carpet yarn. Macy's gets top ranks for theirs BTW.
Here are the results of the first couple. I've put them in as thumbnails as the white one got huge as a full image. Just click on the thumbnail if you want to see more detail.
The white one was the first but the yarn I used for the straps turned out to be way too skinny even though it looked bulky before braiding it. To reinforce it I made the black/red/white band and zigzagged the black yarn in the center. I've added a fabric lining to each of the bags. The one with the horizontal stripes was the second attempt after finding actual bulky yarn to do the handles and for this one added Decor bond to the lining to give it more stiffness.
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Thanks! I can't wait to get home tonight as I'm expecting a shipment of more yarn colors to make another one with 5 or 6 thinner stripes. Each tote uses up about 5 grocery bags so I'm putting a good dent in the stash I'd had.
I go in cycles with my craft du jour and lately I've been leaning toward weaving. I don't have a floor loom--just a rigid heddle and recently acquired an inkle loom to do bands. While looking through Pinterest for ideas for rigid heddle projects (not as easy to find as floor looms), I came across an idea to recycle plastic grocery and department store bags to make totes. You cut the bags into one long strip and then weave it into a warp of cotton carpet yarn. Macy's gets top ranks for theirs BTW.
Here are the results of the first couple. I've put them in as thumbnails as the white one got huge as a full image. Just click on the thumbnail if you want to see more detail.
The white one was the first but the yarn I used for the straps turned out to be way too skinny even though it looked bulky before braiding it. To reinforce it I made the black/red/white band and zigzagged the black yarn in the center. I've added a fabric lining to each of the bags. The one with the horizontal stripes was the second attempt after finding actual bulky yarn to do the handles and for this one added Decor bond to the lining to give it more stiffness.
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I want to learn to weave! Those are really great looking totes!
(This is one of the few threads I can safely look at... I'm only halfway through Revival and I haven't watched the last episode of The Walking Dead yet lol)
I was looking around for a Christmas present for a Harry Potter fan. I found this:
This is awesome but you have to make it. I'm not good at this so...
If anyone is interested, instructions:
Make your own Mandrake
Peace.
Very cool
The rigid heddle loom is a great introduction to weaving and with some advanced techniques, there's a lot you can do with it besides just a plain weave.
Ohmygosh... I just looked at some rigid heddle loom projects
Carl asked me this weekend what I wanted for Christmas... I didn't know what I wanted but now I do Ohmygosh... I just looked at some rigid heddle loom projects
If you have any questions or want to share ideas, let me know!
I'll sell you my grocery bags Ms. Mod.............
You send them to me for free and I'll send you back a finished tote.
Tell all your family/friends Christmas gifts must be wrapped in plastic bags, NOT wrapping paper!!!You send them to me for free and I'll send you back a finished tote.
That's a great idea! I think I've got enough plastic bags saved up (I'd had another project in mind before finding this) to make a few dozen totes already but having a nice variety of colors to choose from never hurts.
Around here we gets lots of different colored bags, blue,yellow,Blackish grey and white. Perhaps if you want more of a certain bag at the store get them double bagged.
Can they be scented? Dollar Store sells roll in pink, blue and white- with a variety of scents. The white has the least. The scent disappears after awhile.That's a great idea! I think I've got enough plastic bags saved up (I'd had another project in mind before finding this) to make a few dozen totes already but having a nice variety of colors to choose from never hurts.
Good idea!
Hadn't thought about that as I've been using grocery and department store bags as a way of recycling or I guess the current buzz word is upcycling when you turn it into something else. They'd probably work fine, though. The local Hannaford is using a brownish color that makes a nice neutral background and the older ones they'd used were gray which is also a good neutral color to have the carpet yarn show up.
I never would have guessed the material!! So different!
That is just wonderful, a masterpiece in itself!!Just going to put this in a couple places, here and in the Random Thoughts thread.
You know those old overhead projectors in school? Well time has marched on. They use technology differently in the schools now and have phased out those things. I heard a local school district was selling theirs for 10 bucks a piece. Some are those ancient ones from my time but some are a newer version that they only had in the school for a short time.
These things are absolutely fantastic for transferring images onto your walls for murals, or what I needed one for is I'm transferring a picasso like picture of The Beatles onto a huge canvas I have. (An ugly picture was on it and I am painting over it with The Beatles.) Now I can do it easily. And for 10 bucks--awesomeness.
My point of this, if you crafters out there even remotely consider doing this stuff, checking with school districts in your area might snag you a cheap one too.
And, when they took me to the storage shed where all this stuff is? They have tons of other things they sell that the schools don't use anymore. It was crazy! I will definitely be looking into possible other acquisitions (maybe one of those old school desks with the flip up top?)
Here is my Beatle picture I'm transferring.
Why can't I seem to get this image out of my head?
Why can't I seem to get this image out of my head?
Nothing that complicated yet. I'm still in the novice level with this one.
LOVE LOVE LOVE! That does NOT look novice to me.