Bags from Bags

I recently had about a yard of rug warp left on my 4 harness loom, without a project in mind.  I had seen several posts about using plastic bags as weft.  Plastic bags cut up into strips and used as the yarn in weaving, knitting or crocheting is called "plarn".  I liked the idea of re-using grocery bags, since they seem to multiply in my house.  Cutting the bags into 1 1/2" strips is a pretty quick and easy process and can be seen on this you tube video here.  I used Ingles Grocery bags which are tan in color with red and black printing, the red and black showing up occasionally as red or black streaks in the cloth. I alternated the plarn with a weft of the same cotton rug yarn used in the warp.  The bag size is approximately 7 1/2" X 7" with a 72 inch strap.  The straps were made from an 8 element Kumihimo braid.  Each element has 2 strands of 8/4 carpet warp in 2 or 3 colors matching the color of the warp.

Many Projects - One Warp

Warping the loom is the part of weaving that I like the least. One of the things I love best about weaving is planning projects and identifying as many projects as possible from a single warp using different weft or different treadlings. Because of this, my recent projects involve putting a 6-7 yard warp on the loom and working on a number of projects.  I recently put on a 7 yard warp of two colors of 8/4 cotton rug yarn, planning to make fabric for a couple of rag rug bags and maybe some placemats.

I ended up making fabric for two bags and not making any placemats.  The bags are lined with fabric and one has cotton webbing straps and the other uses leather belts for handles. The finished size of the bags are 15" X 17" tall.







Fabric to cover the pillow on my weaving bench.

A small rag rug

3 small bags.  More on these bags in a separate post.

Date Finished  October 2013

Loom  Newcomb

Weave Structure  Plain Weave, log cabin thick and thin

Reed  12 epi

Warp     Fiber  Cotton

              Count  8/4

              Color Dusty Rose and Eggplant

              Mfr  Maysville

              Source  Earthguild

Warp     Width in Reed  20"

              Ends  240

              Length  7 yds

Weft      Fiber  blue flowered cotton rags cut in 1 1/2 inch strips and carpet warp alternating

              Count 6 ppi - 3 rags, 3 carpet warp

              Color

              Mfr

              Source  Old Curtains

Beat                       50/50                     

Size

Notes

Huck Lace Bamboo Shawl

Handwoven recently published a pattern for making a shawl with Aunt Lydia's Bamboo.  The big benefit of this yarn is that it is readily available at Michael's and Joann's and many other local craft stores and it is cheap, under $3 per 300 yd ball of yarn.  I purchased 9 balls of white bamboo, hoping to weave two shawls on a single warp.  The bamboo has a wonderful silky feel, however that results in several issues.  The first is that it is hard to beat consistently, because the weft has a tendency to pack down too easily.  The second issue also relates to it's slipperiness.  Even after wet finishing, the warp and weft have a tendency to move around.  This is exacerbated by the Huck Lace weave, which has some longer floats.  And lastly, since the yarn did pack down more than I wanted, I ended up using more in the weft than I had planned.  So when it was time to weave the second shawl, I did not have sufficient white bamboo to complete the shawl.  At that time, I was 70 miles from the closest yarn store, so I used a black 8/2 rayon that I had in my stash for the weft in the second shawl.

The bamboo makes for a wonderfully drape-y fabric, which works as either a shawl or a scarf.  The black and white shawl looks a little like the head gear of Yasser Arafat, a shemagh.

Date Finished  August, 2013

Loom  Baby Wolf

Weave Structure  Huck Lace

Reed   15 epi, 10 dent reed

Warp     Fiber  bamboo

              Count  Crochet 10

              Color  White

              Mfr  Aunt Lydia's

              Source  Joann's

Warp     Width in Reed  17 1/2"

              Ends  262

              Length  5 yds

Weft  #1 - Same as warp
Weft #2   Fiber  Rayon

              Count 8/2

              Color  Black

              Mfr

              Source  Earth Guild

Beat                       50/50                     

Size  15" X 70" not counting 3" fringe

Notes