A Yarn to Tell

Iris Keeper of the Rainbow

Due to needing whole pages for participation in the HAED Challenges, I'd skipped ahead and completed page 4 and 5 on Iris.  So I've gone back to finish working on page 3.  The confetti has again gotten the better of me though and I've not yet gotten the page finish I'd hoped for! At this stage it's not looking like I will finish my yearly goals, but I'll keep stitching anyway!

Previous progress:

Some more progress:

Current Progress:

 T- Shirt Yarn

I took a short break from stitching this week to work on a crafty side project. I've been making t-shirt yarn! A visit to several local Op Shops supplied a fantastic range of different coloured t-shirts to cut up. After washing them all I laid them out on the floor and there ended up being 29 t-shirts:

T-shirt yarn is an awesome way to recycle used or old t-shirts lying around.  Not to mention any money spent at local Charity Shops goes to a great cause! The plan is to use the t-shirt yarn in a creative project, but you'll have to wait and see what it is! The yarn will be part of my Christmas present.  So I can start working on making the project after Christmas. From what I've read usually T-shirts without side seams are used to make the yarn. However, most of my shirts had side seams. This meant in order to create continuous strips of yarn I had to cut in a spiral (by cutting off all the seams, rounding the corners off and cutting in a spiral), rather than the quicker method of folding the shirt over and cutting strips.

I had 29 t-shirts and also found an old pair of pink pyjama pants in my wardrobe to chop up too!  So other clothing items can also work.  Larger sized pieces are generally better because more fabric will obviously give you more yarn!  I was more concerned about focusing on getting the colours I wanted than being too concerned about sizes though.

It's amazing how so many shirts can condense down into such a small pile of yarn! I have no idea how much yarn will be needed for the project! I can always make more if I run out of a colour though and it wouldn't be surprising if it all got used with the project I've got planned! :)

So I'll get back to my stitching for now and fingers crossed on the yearly goals... I would really love to achieve them!

Happy Stitching! xxx




Comments

  1. Mii Stitch1 December 2016 at 04:59

    Confetti is such hard work, I take my hat off to you for sticking to it... it looks so nice!! Not much left, come on you can do it!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Joelle1 December 2016 at 05:43

      Thanks Ingrid😊 I've still got the Queen of Spades page to finish and another page to do on the Phelan piece as well!

      Delete
  2. Faith...2 December 2016 at 16:44

    I just looked up that chart on the site and wow...that is full of colors! Looks like you will have tons of confetti. I am interested in seeing what you do with the t-shirt yarn. I have never seen anyone use it before.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Joelle2 December 2016 at 21:15

      Yes! In the next row of this design the confetti gets heaps more intense than the first row! It will be exciting to get stuck into making the t-shirt yarn project :D

      Delete
  3. Bekah2 December 2016 at 19:21

    Iris keeper is really coming along. The detail in the butterflies and the rainbow changes is beautiful but the confetti is extreme. Good luck on finishing up this page.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Joelle2 December 2016 at 21:19

      Thanks Rebekah! Hope you're going well with your J Wall piece too :)

      Delete
  4. The Maiden4 December 2016 at 09:29

    Can't wait to see what you do with that T shirt yarn!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Megan Joelle4 December 2016 at 16:11

    I'm looking forward to starting the project! Thank you! :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Crafty Princess13 December 2016 at 02:46

    Iris is amazing but I can see why the confetti is hectic. You're doing really well though so keep at it. Wow I have never heard of t-shirt yarn. I love the amazing colours you have come up with. I can't wait to see how this project turns out.
    xo Alicia

    ReplyDelete
  7. Megan Joelle13 December 2016 at 04:53

    Since posting I've figured out the project will most likely need more shirts.... It will be quite a large creation! So there are even more colours now❣🌈❤️ Iris is taking a short break for the moment but I intended to come back and power through the last bit of confetti! Thanks Alicia!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Heather17 December 2016 at 11:14

    I have to say I'm very intrigued by this project! I love all of the rainbow yarn and your progress is amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Natascha Kooijman18 December 2016 at 14:17

    Great progress on your stitching. The colors of this work are awesome.
    And your project makes me curious.. What a creative idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Joelle18 December 2016 at 14:30

      I'm looking foward to revealing what I'm going to make! Thanks Natascha😃

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nocturne

Image
Nocturne It's been a long time since Nocturne has seen the light of day!  This project was one of the three pieces with the highest amount of votes, when everyone voted for the projects they wanted to see more progress on.   I really wanted to complete page 8 for this blog but I'm only about halfway through.  The chart I'm working on is the old version.   After discovering the art was re-charted, I put the wip aside for awhile to decide whether or not to restart with the newer chart.  I've decided to continue working on the original chart though.  I've already restarted this one before and don't have the heart to restart it again, especially since quite a decent amount has been completed.  Anyway, the newer chart may blend better and have more depth but I still think the original is pretty!  They both have their strengths and weaknesses. Mock-up Comparison; Old Chart on the Left and New Chart on the Right: Added Mini Mock-up for Chart Comparison.  Left:
Keep reading

Thread Bear

Image
I’ve made a start on The Enchanted Manor by Josephine Wall. This one is being stitched on 14 count aida to boost the finished size of the crop.  I've never stitched on such a low count before and was curious to try it out! I’ve been working on this on and off over the past couple of months.  I'm using 4 over 1 full cross on dark colours and 3 over 1 full cross on everything else. Progress since December: I love it how Josephine painted a koala bear in the corner of this piece. The koala is native to Australia (my home country), which gives this piece a special resonance for me. Did you know that despite the fact they are often called Koala bears, Koalas aren't related to bears?! They are actually more closely related to kangaroos and wombats! They are often referred to as a koala bear because they have an obvious resemblance to a teddy bear… Currently I'm about halfway through the first page: Wishing everyone a safe and fun time over the Easter period
Keep reading

A Rainbow Checkerboard

Image
Diagonal Challenge #1 There are six challenges to be posted on the Official HAED Facebook page this year. The first challenge involved stitching 1000 stitches in 10x10 diagonal blocks. I pulled out Rainbow Girl for this and it was nice to change things up and work differently to normal! A Game of Chess! I don't usually park but it made sense to do so when working in blocks.   Even though lines are not meant to form working diagonally, I still felt slightly apprehensive about the possibly of this happening.  I figured parking may lessen the risk by helping to even out the tension between squares. Before:  After: Although I kind of like the checkerboard effect, overall I didn’t take to this way of stitching and found it more time consuming than my usual preferred cross country method.  I didn’t enjoy being confined to working in blocks...  Having to stay in the box drove me crazy lol!  I did like the fact I wasn’t reaching for floss bobbins much when working
Keep reading