Thursday, August 4, 2011

Under foot... the garden rug

Inspiration arrived last weekend for the recycled shirt project. That's the rug I'm going to hook using several old shirts that no longer fit. So I took a piece of rough linen out back and drew the design I'd had loosely in mind--something floral. It came together at the last minute and I kinda like how it looks. I'll have to tweek here and there. There's a flying saucer like thingy next to the blue morning glory what will end up being an orange poppy and the Asiatic Lily needs a bit of adjustment. I think it will also benefit from a few more vines and bigger leaves over the "pavement" border.

These are the first three flowers hooked--a rose, the bottom flower of a yellow hollyhock, and a blue morning glory.


The rose contains some bright red and shiny pink fabric that does not come from one of my old shirts. It comes from a costume kimono that I wore in the Village Halloween Parade a few years back. My friend from Cape Ann came down and we dressed up as geishas. I was the 'ghoulish' geisha. You can see the fabric in this pic... fun times... don't I look a treat?
And this is my lovely friend from MA...



Here's the total rug design... I think with the adjustments I've mentioned it should be OK...

And the pile of shirt backs. I'll save the sleeves till last if I need them...
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5 comments:

  1. pdxknitterati/MicheleLBAugust 5, 2011 at 1:23 AM

    That's going to be very lovely!

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  2. jakAugust 11, 2011 at 1:32 AM

    That's an awesome looking rug 'to be', Bernard. Great pattern.
    How do you like working with the shirting materials as compared to the wool strips?
    The ghoulish geisha pic was a treat! : ). That fabric will certainly add some sparkle to your rug.

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  3. BernardAugust 13, 2011 at 1:00 AM

    Thanks, Michele. Nice to 'see' you! :)

    jak, Thanks. I *love* working with these (mostly) cotton shirts. I have quickly discovered though that tee-shirt material is hard to hook! The strips curl under on both sides creating bulk that is hard to pull through the fabric. I am certainly going to minimize the amount of jersey in my rug. In fact I may stop by the thrift store to pick up some replacement for the jersey I'm currently using--yes, it's that hard to hook. Maybe if the strips were narrower it would be easier... I may try that.

    Otherwise I'm experiencing a freedom with this rug that I did not feel with the uniform cut of the last 2 rugs I hooked. I'm quite enjoying a certain abandon. I'm cutting all the strips by hand when I need them... they aren't straight and they aren't meant to be. They hook fuller than the narrow wool strips and so it's easier to disguise inconsistencies. ;) Plus when it's all done I'll be able to point to certain flowers and recollect wearing them as shirts! :)

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  4. Weaving RoseAugust 20, 2011 at 2:23 PM

    I love the design, the concept, and how nice it is coming out. Lovely! I'm looking forward to seeing it progress.

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  5. BernardAugust 20, 2011 at 11:02 PM

    Thank you, Craftsteader. :)

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