Upcycled Cotton Yarn

Look at this great find I stumbled across.  Upcycled t-shirt yarn!  I love finding unique ways to reuse cast offs that may have served their useful purpose, but still have life.  This cute little shop on etsy, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin called Green Tee Yarns, has done just that! What a creative and eco-friendly way to keep t-shirts out of our landfills. This yarn has great texture and is 100% cotton so it won't get pilly.  I'm sitting here wishing I had better crochet or knitting skills.  See this sweet color, burnt orange. Are you lovin' it like me?!

Burnt Orange

Here are a couple other colors from the shop:

Rainbow Candy

Dusty Blue

Bubblegum

  I'm just giddy to see something made out of this.  Do I have any knitting or crochet followers out there willing to give it a try? Shoot me a note and I'll buy the first skein!

Every Gift has a Story

This video has some great earth friendly wrapping ideas.  Use old ties as a bow.  Wrap with an old funnies paper or maps you aren't using anymore.  Use Baker's Twine for a simpler look.  Recycle old cards into gift tags.  Use fabric reusable gift bags for a unique look and an an earth friendly touch.  Happy shopping and have fun wrapping! 

What's your gifts story?  

Hand Dying Fabric in a Rainbow of Colors

Have you done any fabric dying?  I used to have a loom that I made rugs on and I would aquire chenille bedspreads and dye them my desired color.  Most of them were white and white rugs are just not practical for many homes.  You wouldn't believe all the cool colors I came up with.  This is a pic of hand dying fabric from Burda Style . It looks to me like they used some containers that had a previous life somewhere else.  Kudos to these earth friendly peeps!

For more fabric goodness visit Grosgrain .  I have saved myself a lot of money by learning how to do this. Often when sewing I'll have to get a small piece of fabric that is a very specific color. Recently I needed fold over elastic and I needed it that day. The only fold over elastic I could find in the store was in black and white. Rather than buying some online and paying for shipping and waiting for over a week for it to come in the mail I bought some fabric dye and made my own in the perfect shade. For a FANTASTIC color guide for mixing RIT colors look here. Plus, people will be super impressed when you tell someone you 'hand dyed' it. It just so sounds so much more artsy and creative! Another thing I forgot to mention in the video is that if your fabric is not as saturated as you'd like try letting it dry completely then re-dye. This definitely has worked for me. Another neat idea that I'll be trying soon is tea dying for an antique look! I can't wait to show you that one. Top photo courtesy of Divânia Nogueira.