Friday 24 February 2012

Book with sharp content

This needle book is made of small piece of printed corduroy and black felt. Some flowers on the fabric are outlined with seed beads - it is very convenient to embroider when a template is already provided.

Black corduroy needle book


The book cover is padded with felt sheet and another layer of felt is sewn to the inside, so that needles can feel safe and comfortable.

Black, blue, grey fabric and felt needle book


The backstrip is made of grey blue lace, suggesting a romantic sewing story.

Lace backstrip book binding



Friday 17 February 2012

When out of yarn...

When I was a child, old ladies used to crochet bathroom floor mats out of strips of white plastic milk bags. I found these really ugly. Nowadays the selection of plastic bags has increased tremendously, all sorts of colours and qualities are available, even bags with colour blends.

Knitted basket of plastic bags


I cut some bags to spiral strips 10-15 mm wide and used 4 mm metallic needles for knitting. Not hard at all. The most useful know-how learned, was to hold the strip folded in double, if the bag's inside colour would not fit the project. Some sample swatches:

Knitted transparent plastic bags

Plastic bags knitted stripes

Plastic bags knitted colourwork


Floor mats for bathroom or mud room would probably still be the best usage for plastic knits. Perhaps a shopping tote or swimsuit bag for a hiking trip? But seriously, nothing really pretty and cosy can hardly be brought about.