All posts tagged rag rug

ScrapHappy February 2023

There’s been a lot of ScrapHappiness at The Snail of Happiness this month.

The lovely Sew Social ladies who came for a class at the end of January really enjoyed experimenting with some sashiko. We used new sashiko thread, but all the stitching was on the same cream-coloured scrap fabric that I mentioned in last month’s post. Anyway, everyone seemed to have fun and I hope I’ve inspired future use of scraps.

Back in the land of crochet, there had to be bollard covers for Dydd Santes Dwynwen and Valentines day. As usual, these were made entirely from scrap yarn…

During the first covid lockdown I made some curtains for our bathroom out of a saree. The remaining fabric has been languishing in my scrap collection ever since. I use a small amount of it to make a gift bag last year, but in the past month I have finally got around to some more curtains for two small windows in the shop.

And finally, I’ve started work on another rag rug. For this one I’m using an old coffee sack kindly sourced for me by Conti’s Ice Cream. Their coffee supplier will send boxes of coffee sacks for re-use. I selected one with a lovely bird design on which to base my latest rag rug. I dug out lots of bits of beige/brown fabric and some bright blue and am making a simplified version of the bird in the original colours.

We are continuing to encourage the love of scraps and there are several more projects in the pipeline. Watch this space!

-oOo-

I’ve been inspired to write this (and future) ScrapHappy posts by Kate,  Tall Tales from Chiconia. On the fifteenth of every month lots of folk often publish a ScrapHappy post, do check them out:

Kate,  Gun, Eva,  Sue, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Edi, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti, Debbierose, Nóilin and Viv

If you fancy joining, contact Kate and she’ll add you to the list. It would be lovely to see more non-sewing posts, but any use of scraps is welcome.

15 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on February 15, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in craft, Scrap Happy
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on February 15, 2023

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2023/02/15/scraphappy-february-2023/

ScrapHappy February 2022 plus one

It’s really all been about scrap this month, so here is a third ScrapHappy make to share with you… finally the rag rug is finished, with the back possibly more interesting than the front:

Every bit of fabric except the hessian backing was scrap – bits left over from projects or worn out clothes (two whole dresses in there, amongst other things), so I think this may be my most scrappy project ever – it certainly is weight-wise. It’s really thick and heavy, and will be lovely and warm under the feet. The edges are curling under a bit, so I might have to add something to hold them flat (thick felt perhaps – ideas welcome), but at least the hard work is done now

-oOo-

I’ve been inspired to write this (and future) ScrapHappy posts by Kate,  Tall Tales from Chiconia. On the fifteenth of every month lots of folk often publish a ScrapHappy post, do check them out:

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan (me), Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2 , Bear, Noreen, Preeti, Edith and Jule

If you fancy joining, contact Kate and she’ll add you to the list. It would be lovely to see more non-sewing posts, but any use of scraps is welcome.

10 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on February 16, 2022  •  Permalink
Posted in craft, Scrap Happy
Tagged , ,

Posted by The Snail of Happiness on February 16, 2022

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2022/02/16/scraphappy-february-2022-plus-one/

ScrapHappy January 2022

This month I have been concentrating very hard on my rag rug… to the exclusion of pretty much all other evening craft activities. I was really hoping that it would be finished by now, but alas there is still some way to go. The picture on the right (which is the back of the rug) gives a good idea of how far I still have to go.

A large amount of scrap fabric and unmendable clothes have gone into this project and it’s really very heavy (as Sue warned me!). Every time I think I might have cut enough rags, it turns out I am wrong and my bags end up needing to be replenished. I am glad that I didn’t try to make a specific pattern, because I would probably have seriously underestimated the amount of fabric of each colour that was required. Fortunately my random assortment has worked out ok and I don’t mind that the mix changes across the rug.

I consider this to be a very successful way of using up scraps, particularly ones from worn or damaged fabric, but it’s not a quick win and I can imagine that many people who start give up because it really does take many, many hours to produce anything of any size. Still, it won’t be my last rag rug and it’s certainly something we’ll be selling tools for and running classes on in the shop.

-oOo-

I’ve been inspired to write this (and future) ScrapHappy posts by Kate,  Tall Tales from Chiconia. On the fifteenth of every month lots of folk often publish a ScrapHappy post, do check them out:

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan (me), Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2 , Bear, Noreen, Preeti, Edith and Jule

If you fancy joining, contact Kate and she’ll add you to the list. It would be lovely to see more non-sewing posts, but any use of scraps is welcome.

21 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on January 15, 2022  •  Permalink
Posted in Scrap Happy
Tagged , , ,

Posted by The Snail of Happiness on January 15, 2022

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2022/01/15/scraphappy-january-2022/

ScrapHappy October 2021

Some months ago, you may recall, I started making a rag rug. The idea is to use up all sorts of fabric scraps without having to co-ordinate colours or worry about odd shapes. Back in May I had got this far:

Progress in May

I haven’t wanted to bore you every month with a picture of progress, as it isn’t very exciting and there have been some periods when I haven’t worked on it much. However, as autumn is now upon us, I have been a bit more focused on it. As well as scraps left over from making, I’ve also started incorporating fabric from old clothes. Once I have cut useable cloths from old t-shirts, for example, there are usually some bits left over, and these are going into the rug. I’ve dismantled several garments and been able to retrieve fabric from the waistbands that has been suitable too, even it it’s a bit worn. So, this is progress so far.

As you can see, my tester seems to approve.

It is very time-consuming, but I do like the fact that fabric I would otherwise struggle to find a use for can be incorporated. It’s going to be a while before it’s finished, but, the scrap bag will certainly be much emptier once it is.

-oOo-

I’ve been inspired to write this (and future) ScrapHappy posts by Kate,  Tall Tales from Chiconia. On the fifteenth of every month lots of folk s often publish a ScrapHappy post, do check them out:

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan (me), Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2 , Bear, Carol, Noreen, Preeti, Edith, Jule and Esther

If you fancy joining, contact Kate and she’ll add you to the list. It would be lovely to see more non-sewing posts, but any use of scraps is welcome.

26 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on October 15, 2021  •  Permalink
Posted in craft, Scrap Happy
Tagged , ,

Posted by The Snail of Happiness on October 15, 2021

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2021/10/15/scraphappy-october-2021/

ScrapHappy May 2021

For a while now I’ve been pondering what to do with my expanding heap of fabric scraps. I don’t feel particularly excited about quilting, you can only use so many small bits of fabric on greetings cards and there’s only a limited number of things that I want to stuff, so the pieces have been building up. However, I have been toying with the idea of a rag rug and so a few weeks ago I did a bit of research into my options and decided to take the plunge. My initial thought was a hooked rug made using a latch-hook, but then I came across an old-fashioned spring tool and immediately decided that this was something I’d like to try. I also came across a simple gauge for cutting the strips and this seemed like something that would make the job much easier, so I placed an order with Ragged Life.

There are lots of ideas on the internet for designs, but I wanted something truly scraphappy, which meant it would have to be random. This being the case, I cut out lots of strips and got started. It’s not going to be a quick make, so it will certainly be appearing in scraphappy posts for some time to come. I’m not quite sure how much fabric it will use up, but it’s already quite heavy and I’ve only done half a dozen rows. The hessian base started off about 1m x 75cm, but it will end up smaller than this as the rags draw the threads up and together. The best thing is that I can use any fabric in this project – I’m just cutting thinner strips of heavier fabric.

-oOo-

I’ve been inspired to write this (and future) ScrapHappy posts by Kate,  Tall Tales from Chiconia. On the fifteenth of every month lots of folks often publish a ScrapHappy post, do check them out:

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan (me), Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2 , Bear, Carol, Noreen, Preeti and Edith

If you fancy joining, contact Kate and she’ll add you to the list. It would be lovely to see more non-sewing posts, but any use of scraps is welcome.

47 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on May 15, 2021  •  Permalink
Posted in craft, Scrap Happy
Tagged , , ,

Posted by The Snail of Happiness on May 15, 2021

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2021/05/15/scraphappy-may-2021/

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