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Year: 2010

Recycled T-Shirt Bathmat Rug

Cindy22 Comments


Need a new bathmat? How about making one from your old t-shirts. I share with you all my recycled t-shirt bathmat rug. I crocheted this bathmat during a RAL (Rug A-Long) over at the Trash to Treasures group on Ravelry. If you are member of Ravelry, you should check out our group. It’s a fun bunch of people who love to create cool stuff using what some may call trash.

Anyway I crocheted this using about 3 different shirts and wanted a half circle rug to place in front of my shower. I had to rework my rug several times to get the shape right. Please keep in mind that you may have to add or subtract a stitch or two here and there to get your rug to lay down flat and to have the half circle shape. Remember that crafting with recycled materials is never an exact science so my patterns should be used as a guideline to help you create your own finished projects.

If you are new to crocheting or knitting with recycled t-shirts, you can learn the process by using my curled t-yarn tutorial. Enjoy this tarn rug project and happy recycled crafting to all!

Free Pattern for Crocheted T-Yarn Bathmat Rug

Materials needed:

3) t-shirts cut into 1/4 inch wide strip and stretched to curl into T-yarn

Hook:
N (9 mm) USA size aluminum crochet hook

Description:
Bathmat rug is 27″ tip to tip and 13-1/2″ wide at middle

Directions:
Row 1
Make magic circle and work 7 Dc in circle.

Plastic Ditty Bag

Cindy3 Comments


I fell in love with this crocheted ditty bag pattern when I first saw it. It’s so cute and has a handy strap that threads through the front of the bag. You may recognize this pattern by Dot Matthews that she created and used regular worst yarn to crochet her bag. I wanted to try crocheting the pattern using recycled plastic bags or plarn. Here is my finished plastic ditty bag.

Because plastic bag yarn is thicker, my ditty bag came out a bit larger than Dot’s bag. I followed Dot’s pattern except that I had to crochet 27 rounds before doing the handle rather than her pattern that calls for 22 rounds. Other than that, I crocheted the bag according to the free pattern available here.

Click on any of the photos to supersize

My finished plastic ditty bag measures 7 inches tall, 7 inches across the bottom and has a 14 inch long handle strap. So whether you want to crochet with regular yarn or plarn, this pattern makes for a cute ditty bag and would be wonderful reusable gift bag project too.

Recycled Valentine’s Day Craft Projects

Cindy4 Comments

Just in time for Valentine’s day, here are several recycled craft projects that you can make. First I want to share this cute Valentine’s bag that Carmen sent me a picture of. She crocheted this using my recycled Valentine’s bag pattern and added some red plastic bags to trim her creation.

Next maybe you need a holder for your Valentines, if so here is a fused plastic bag project with a full picture tutorial found here.

For those crafters that enjoy working with recycled denim, here are a few little denim heart purses. The purses are lined and have several different embellishment options as shown in the tutorial.

Well that concludes my recycled crafting roundup for Valentine’s day.

Happy Valentine’s day!

Diagonal T-Shirt Yarn Baby Bib

Cindy4 Comments


I love crocheting with recycled t-shirts. I cut this t-shirt into 1/4 inch strips and curled it as shown in my tutorial for curled t-yarn or tarn. I was inspired by the diagonal dishcloth pattern when I crocheted this baby bib. I had to frog the bib several times to get the size and shape right but I think the finished bib turned out pretty good. I cut the bottom hem off the t-shirt and used it for the two tie straps for the baby bib. You could also crochet your tie straps if you’d rather but I like using the hem strips as they are stretchy and already sewn for you.

I’m not sure why the bib looks red but it’s really pink. I think my camera is getting old and color blind — lol. Anyway here is my t-shirt yarn ball before I started which shows the pink color better.

This bib was crocheted for my little granddaughter. She’s four months old now and this should fit her nicely. It’s of course very washable and durable as it’s made completely from a recycled cotton t-shirt. The best part is that this baby bib was free making it a very frugal and green crafting project at the same time!

Free Pattern for Crocheted Diagonal T-Yarn Baby Bib

Materials needed:
One pink t-shirt cut into 1/4″ wide strip and stretched to curl into t-yarn approx. 110 yards
Cut two 14″ long strips using the t-shirt hem and stitch ends closed

Hook:
H (5 mm) USA size crochet hook

Description:
Baby Bib measures 9″ across and 8″ long from neck edge to bottom center
Straps are each 14″ long

Directions:
Ch 14

Three Years Old Today

Cindy11 Comments

My blog is three years old today! Wow it is exciting to have made it this long and I look forward to many more years of recycled crafting and blogging.

First and foremost I want to thank all my readers and fellow crafters who have inspired, shared, and otherwise supported me and my blog over the last three years. As many of you know, I’ve faced my worst fears when I discovered that I had cancer back in March of 2008. But I persevered and kept on crafting and so far thank God, have beaten cancer and kept this blog going.

So as I move into another year of blogging, I wish you all the best and hope you will continue the journey along with me and my blog. Thank you again for all your love and support over the past three years.