This and That

Its been a while since I have blogged, with work, running the girls around and christmas just have not had the time. I have been crafting though, with a bit of this and that.

Here are a few photos of things I have finished.

The black bag is made from black and gold plastic shopping bags, the pin wheels are from scraps of wadding and fabric with gravy lids, and the door stop is out of 2 pair of jeans.

Swap

I have always wanted a Kool Aid bag like this Just found out they are called Capri sun bags.
We dont have these in Australia so I cant make myself one, so looking for someone who will swap with one of my bags made from plastic shopping bags. Any takers.
Here are the ones I have made at the moment.

Made from different blues and white

The base is made from a different bag to the top, the top is made from red dot bags.

Made from greys and white

Blue striped bag

scrubbie

I have spent all week trying to crochet a scrubbie out of plastic shopping bags, here is the pattern I used

Scrubbie

I made and pull out several, 2 got to the sewing up stage, I even made one out of wool to see if I was doing it right, but I think the plastic bags crochet up too thick as they just would not spiral.

Not to be out done I then knitted one out of plastic bags, this worked well although next time I will add extra stitches and maybe rows and will stuff it a bit with the plastic bags to make it more puffy. I used wool to sew the seams together and gather the ends as the plastic yarn was not thick enough. Will let the girls try it out on the dishes tonight to see how it goes.

2010 christmas cards

I dont give out christmas cards and have not done so for years, I find people just throw them out, instead i make them something they can keep. This year I am doing half eaten gingerbread men adapted from this pattern.

Elsie Marley

I have blanket stitch around mine and have not stuffed them, instead of putting the ric rac on I zig zagged mine on the machine.

Dish Cloths for free

We all use dish cloths of one form or another, well now you can make your own out of something that gets thrown in the bin in many households.

I have both crochet and knitted these, the crochet ones are more thicker and sturdy, where as the knitted ones are softer. I also use the knitted ones as a wash cloth in the bath and shower.

CROCHET DISH CLOTH

You can use a hook from 1.75 to 2.50

1.75 will be more thicker and sturdy where the 2.50 will be softer.

I prefer to do Granny Squares making sure I put all my ends on one side so I have a raggy side and a smooth side. This is a photo of a cloth that has been used and washed many times. Because it is cotton it can be boiled, bleached and washed in hot water.

I have not tried doing a cloth in rows of treble or double crochet, but should work just as well.

KNITTED DISH CLOTH
I use 2 or 2.25mm needles, using smaller needles than these will give you a tighter knit.
Cast on 60 stitches
Knit every row until square then cast off.
Because I like to crochet more than knitting I have not tried any fancy stitches with this and have not tried to get all my ends to one side like I do with crocheted ones. The knitted ones are more likely to get holes in them and dont last as long as the crochet ones.

Tea Bag Sting Crochet scarf

With a 1.75 hook chain 61

Miss 2 chain 1 treble in each chain to end [us double crochet]

Treble each row till it is long enough for you.

Mine is 1.70m long.

I worked my stitches so the knots all are on the same side, so one side you can see the different colours of the yarn, while the other side is more raggy with all the ends.

Next time I crachet one I will do it with a bigger hook, because as this one is soft would like it even softer.

How to make Tea Bag string yarn

All tea bag strings are different from brand to brand, thick or thin, long or short, if you always use the same brand and dont think you would get any from other people [although once people know you are collecting them they will collect them for you as well] it does not matter how you tie them, but for others it is important that you mix your tea bag strings so you dont get rows of very thin followed by rows of thick.

I use the knot where you put 2 ends level together wrap it around your finger and pull the ends through the circle you made, the knot ends up being about 1/2 inch from the end, it takes a lot of tea bag strings to make one project so make sure you have a couple of hundred before you start so you can get a variety, also make sure you and people saving them for you, still dip them as this makes the colours, some people take them off before they dip so they will have no brown on them at all.

My mum has more time to craft and does a variety of things, so she ties her strings while she has her morning cup of tea, she takes her tags of as she goes, then in the evening when she sits to watch TV she will knit her string. I on the other hand I dont get much time to craft so snatch bits and pieces though the week, so in one sitting I would take all the tags off, putting them in a container with 3 compartments, 1 thick, 1 thin and one for tea bag strings people have given me with no tags, then in another sitting I would tie them using one from each compartment.

Crafting with Tea Bag strings

At the beginning of 2009 a lady from one of my online quilting groups asked for tea bag strings so she could send to another lady who was going to make something out of them, I thought it a wonderful idea so gave my mum a challenge to do some thing also. She started to knit squares out of them to make a table cloth. When I saw how soft and lovely they where I started a project as well.

A crochet scarf was my first project, I then dyed a few and crochet some squares with flowers in them and made one into a pin cushion. Lately I have been fiddling with dish/wash cloths in both knitted and crochet form.

Teabag String Angel

I have been fiddling with Teabag Strings for awhile now here is one of my creations.

Requirements

40 plus teabag strings

1 large holed bead [can be any colour]

1 bone colour bead for head

1 sequin

1 star

2 beads

wings [I use a gold plastic flower that I can cut 2 petals off]

Teabag strings are all different sizes and thicknesses. The ones I use for the body are about 20cm [8in] long and quite thick so I use about 25. If yours are thinner you will need more.

Skirt Cushion

It is best if you can find a skirt that measures the same at the top to the bottom. If you take the waist band of most skirts it will just about be the same as the bottom. Pick sturdy fabric with not much stretch.



Requirements

Old or second hand skirt [make sure it has a zip or button opening]

Stuffing [I use plastic shopping bags]



Take off the waist band if needed, turn inside out, pin and sew across top[straight stitch and zigzag], open zip or buttons then pin and sew across bottom[straight stitch and zigzag]. Turn your skirt back out through the zip or button opening, stuff through this opening.
Will post a picture when I finish stuffing it, saving all my plastic shopping bags with holes in them.