Category Archives: eco crafts & green projects

June 14, 2012 · 9:31 pm

How to make yarn butterflies and upcycled wooden tapestry bobbins

Some people love weaving with yarn butterflies.

And some people (like me) don’t.

I love wooden tapestry bobbins and I love making each one a unique piece- and I especially like using upcycled wood to make them.

So, for those of you who like yarn butterflies, here’s a video tutorial on how to make yarn butterflies:

And, here’s how I make my one of a kind tapestry bobbins, which wouldn’t suit everyone, but I love them and find them to be a pleasure to use:

Start with a piece of cast off wood. In this case, a wooden plaque (don’t use chipboard or mdf ! This needs to be hardwood)

a thrown away plaque from a garage sale

Flip it over, and draw in the rough lines for the first cuts:

next, saw them into rough shape:

Working on getting more definition and shaping:

All the wooden offcuts are going to be burned in the wood burning stove in the studio in the winter- nothing’s wasted!

When the rough saw shaping is done:

I move over to the belt sander:

and I do a whole bunch of sanding (very carefully)

Did I mention that this is a really slow, meditative process? Yup.

Go slowly… and pay attention….

Then, it’s off to work with a bunch of different small sanding drums:

and files:

And more sanding:

and then, I draw faces on each one, and get out my wood burning tool and draw and burn faces and the year on each one:

Here’s a closer look:

I just listen to what each bobbin wants, and then I draw on their faces. Some of them crack me up.

Like the ‘Get to the Point’ guy… 3rd from the left…. I know, I am easily amused….

And, here they are, all wrapped up and ready to weave!

I hope that the photos will all open for you!

So, happy butterflies, and happy bobbin-ing!

Happy weaving! 🙂

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Tagged as how to make tapestry bobbins from upcycled wood, how to wind yarn butterflies, Mirrix loom, Noreen Crone-Findlay, social networking for Mirrix loom, tapestry weaving, textile art, textiles, weaving

June 4, 2012 · 6:49 pm

A neat variation on Card stock bobbins for storing threads and yarn

I love buying vintage crochet cotton at the thrift shop. It speaks to me of the hands that it has passed through, and the pleasure it has brought to other thread lovers.

I like to use it in my weaving, crochet and tatting, as it gives me a sense of connection to needlewomen of the past.

BUT… storing balls of crochet cotton can be a problem. Those hollow cores take up a LOT of space!

So, for many years, I have been upcycling old credit cards or pieces of cardstock to make bobbins like this:

Because, storing yarn or thread on a small flat bobbin is so much more efficient than leaving it on the cardboard tubes:

Last night, I had insomnia, and was thinking about winding off a pile of vintage crochet cotton, when I had a flash of inspiration!!

Instead of making chubby little embroidery style bobbins, if I made ‘dog bone’ shape bobbins, I could use my bobbin winder to speed up the process of winding them. AND, they’d take up less room, as it would be a longer, leaner shape.

I jumped out of bed, and started cutting the new shape bobbins:

And, winding up balls of cotton:

In a twinkling of an eye, I have compactly wound bobbins that won’t tangle with other bobbins, as the thread is taken through a slot and secured. Another bonus! No snaggles!

This shape of bobbin is great for warping the Mirrix loom, as it’s so compact. Yep – it’s a win!

And, they can be easily stored in unusual containers, like this:

I made a video to show how quickly and easily this works:

I haven’t tried using these bobbins for tapestry weaving, but I will, and will let you know how I like them.

I love making tapestry bobbins from wood- especially upcycled wood, so I will be showing you how I do that in an upcoming post.

Happy weaving, and here’s to creative ways of storing yarn and thread stash! 😀

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Tagged as bobbin winder, card stock bobbins, creative storage solutions, Mirrix looms, textiles, thread storage, upcycling, weaving, yarn stash

February 18, 2012 · 2:52 pm

How to spool knit without a spool knitter

You can use spool knitted cords to decorate and embellish your crochet in a million different ways.

One way to do a thicker spool knitted or i cord is to use several strands of yarn held together.

And, if you don’t have a spool knitter, not to worry! You have your fingers!

I have made a video tutorial on how to make a spool knitted cord on just 3 of your fingers.
It works great!
🙂

Here’s the video tutorial:

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Tagged as corker, corking, crone, findlay, finger spool knitting, fingers, how to make a cord, how to spool knit with your fingers, icord, spool knitting techniques, spool knitting without a spool knitter, strands of yarn

January 14, 2012 · 12:24 pm

More little looms from recycled stuff part 2

If you are teaching a child to weave, or just want an impromptu, no cost small loom for sampling yarns and colorways, this little loom is very handy.

The project on the foam food tray loom is a bookmark, but you can weave amulet bags, rug mugs, small dolls and toys, doll house rugs or squares that you stitch together to make larger projects.

It’s great for traveling, as it’s light, and if you use a plastic darning needle for weaving, it’s fine to take through airport security.

Yesterday, I posted part one of the recycled and upcycled looms: Here’s the link: PART ONE

I think that one of the most accessible looms for beginning weavers is the weaving stick loom.

I am doing a lot of designing for it – here’s my post about the mermaid to weave on the stick weaving loom: LINK

Happy Weaving!!!!

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Tagged as children weaving, easy weaving, free patterns, how to make a loom from recycled materials, how to teach a child to weave, how to teach weaving, kids crafts, kids weaving, no cost weaving, recycling, small looms, teaching kids to weave, weaving with children

January 13, 2012 · 10:13 pm

Little looms from recycled things for teaching weaving or sampling etc part 1

Yesterday, I posted about teaching children to weave Link

One of the pleasures of weaving is that it can be done with tremendously complex machines, but, can also be done with small bits of this and that from around the house.

Today and tomorrow, I am going to be posting little how to’s on making recycled and upcycled looms that are great for teaching kids how to weave, or just for noodling about with sampling yarns and weaving little bags, or hacky sacks or bookmarks….

So, here’s today’s installment:

If you make each grid square 1/4 inch, then the loom is business card size, which is a charming size to work with, and to pop into a pocket or bag.

If you weave 2 tiny rectangles on the loom, and stitch them together, then add a beaded fringe, it makes a very pleasing little amulet bag.

I think that one of the most accessible looms for beginning weavers is the weaving stick loom.

I am doing a lot of designing for it – here’s my post about the mermaid to weave on the stick weaving loom: LINK

Happy weaving!

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Tagged as how to make a penny pouch, how to make an amulet bag, how to weave, loom pattern, recycled project, recycling, teaching children how to weave, upcycling

November 29, 2011 · 7:42 pm

More photos of projects from the Lily Speed-O-Weave loom book

A lady on Ravelry just asked for more of a preview of what is in the Lily Speed-O-Weave loom book (link to page on my website)

Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

The first two sections of the book teach a ton of useful and neat techniques for working with the Lily Speed-O-Weave looms- there are several different ways of wrapping the looms, how to tie the intersections, how to weave more than just hexagons on the hexagon loom ( half hexagon motifs and triangle motifs), how to make easy linings for projects, how to spool knit edgings over a core, how to make butterflies and hearts on little triangle looms (don’t have a small triangle loom? I’ve made a couple of video tutorials on how to weave triangles on the potholder loom. See Potholder loom page ), plus the special hexagonal grid paper that I drew to be able to design with the hexagons. (Hexagons are tricky critters until you unlock the code on them! 😀 ) As well, there are instructions on how to work with the square and rectangular Lily Speed-O-Weave loom. And a whole lot more….

Then, there are 19 different projects:

Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

How to make hexagonal AND square baskets from upcycled fabric strips from torn up clothing- of course, you can use yarn, roving, string or cord to make the baskets, but I really enjoy using fabric strips, so I did the baskets with them.

Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

I already wrote about this freeform stole: Link

Lily-Speed-O-Weave-monster-designed by Noreen Crone-Findlay (coppyright)

and Monster Dear and Little Bunny: Link

Lily-Speed-O-Weave-Snuggle-Bunny-designed by Noreen Crone-Findlay (coppyright)

And then, there’s the coat that is so awesome that someone bought it the first time I wore it!

Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

And this elegant and cozy capelet

Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

I love stoles and shawls, so I design, make, and wear a lot of them:

Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

And, I love vests:

Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

The Lily Speed-O-Weave loom is great for potholders and placemats:

Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

And, bags! Lots of bags! (and I also included a pattern for making your own wooden handles)

Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

I could keep going : ‘But wait! there’s more! ‘…. but I think that you get the picture- the book is full of wonderfulness!

Order link: Lily Speed-O-Weave Loom book by Noreen Crone-Findlay

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Tagged as hand woven, Lily Speed-O-Weave loom, Lily Speed-O-Weave loom book, small loom weaving, woven bags, woven basket, woven placemat, woven shawls, woven stole, woven toys

September 11, 2011 · 9:59 pm

Upcycled jeans become denim dress

Whoosh! Summer raced by, with renovations on our house, and helping out on renovations at our daughter and son-in-law’s house and weaving, weaving, weaving, weaving, weaving!

I’ve been working HARD on new books and am hunkering in and am ~FINALLY~ getting them closer to completion and releasing- oh my!

I took a little break from my looms the other evening to indulge in a little bit of upcycling.

My daughter in law gave me some of her torn blue jeans a few months ago.

Suddenly, the other evening, I felt the urge to take the scissors to them:

I have a couple of dress patterns that I am besotted with these days, and find myself making them over and over in various configurations.

In my previous blog post, (link to post) I showed how I used my fave dress pattern with fabric that I had woven on various narrow looms.

Snipping up the bluejeans to fit the pattern pieces was a touch tricky, and forced me to bend a few ‘good seamstressing’ rules, but what the heck, why not?

I am fanatical about pinning the living daylights out of the sections of garments when I am stitching them together, but I don’t pin my pattern pieces to the fabric when cutting out.

I like my rock collection that I have gathered up over the years. 🙂 They hold things in place without damaging the pattern tissues.

And, of course, I HAD to save and re-use the bum pockets!

I also saved a little pocket from the inside of one pair for a cellphone or glasses mini-pocket, too.

Unfortunately, when I picked the pockets off the backside of the jeans, there were 2 dark blue pocket shapes. Drat!

I thought about attempting to bleach them out, but then thought: Ah, why not consider them to be ‘design elements’? 😀

I am tickled pink with my upcycled denim dress, and am so happy that a couple of pairs of torn jeans have come back to life as a fun and comfy tunic that I am going to enjoy enormously! Whee!

I really should show you the dress that I made from a garage sale tablecloth… it’s great! I wove the neckband…. okay… must take pictures and get back into the habit of blogging again!

And, by the way…. Happy September!

: copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

: copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

: copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

: copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

: copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

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Tagged as creative adaptive reuse, denim dress, dressmaking, new clothes from old, recycle, recycled blue jeans, recycling, sewing, upcycled dress, upcycled tunic, upcycling

June 23, 2010 · 10:15 pm

Handmade-chunky-bead-teething-necklace-part-2

In my previous post, LINK, I shared my mis-adventure when I sliced the top of my knuckle off with the edge of the belt sander. Ouch.

So, that posting was more of a ‘how NOT to’ than a ‘how to’…..

Luckily, my finger is growing back 🙂 and I have finished the chunky 3 bead necklace….

I left the beads to soak in a bowl of vegetable oil for a few days. Because grandbaby is going to be chewing them, I don’t want to use anything that could be dangerous to him on the beads.

And, that is why I am using organic cotton to spool knit the cords that hold the beads together. (Lion Brand Organic cotton).

I spool knitted 2 short cords and stitched them into the spaces between 2 of the beads, and one long one for the neck cord.

NOTE: The neck cord NEVER goes around the baby’s neck!!!

It goes around the neck of his grown ups, or is looped through the tie of the sling , so he can retrieve it when he drops it.

He only has access to it when he is being held and supervised, and not when he’s sitting in the car seat.

The big holes are great for chubby little fingers to hold onto…..

And those big beads are just so satisfying for a little guy to gum away on! (Well… to bite with his TWO new teeth!!!)

He absolutely loves the necklaces, and so do we.

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Tagged as baby teething necklace, handmade wooden beads, spool knitted cords, spool knitting, what to make with spool knitted cords

June 23, 2010 · 9:55 pm

Handmade chunky bead teething necklace part 1

Our gorgeous grandbaby is teething and is chomping everything in sight as he tries to ease the pain of those pesky teeth pushing on his gums.

My daughter asked me to make her a necklace with large wooden beads so our wee fella could play with it and use it for teething.

I made her one necklace that was a great success: Minoan Goddess of the Bees necklace

So, I decided to make her another one- this time with several big chunky beads to keep him interested.

I cut a length of my favorite wood: Arbutus (also known as Madrona) that my sister in law had trimmed from a tree in her yard. (She saves me all their arbutus twigs and branches, bless her heart!)