More rag runners......

Someone asked me for a table runner to go with her new furniture/décor so I finally put a warp on (she's waited for months) and am giving it a try. Special orders are difficult for me because I don't really know what someone is envisioning. Hopefully one of these will work.

The warp has two shades of aqua, a light green and gray....perfect for her colorway.....but getting fabric to end up weaving to match is more difficult.  I love the one above.

This one is much more subtle but I like it also.

This one turned out much lighter than I anticipated - still very nice but not sure if it will work.....

This one using a gray print is not long enough for her table but I had warp left so I wove it - maybe I'll keep this one for myself.

As I look at these photos I realize that they really don't show the colors in the warp or even in the fabric very well - much more attractive in person.

Rag weaving fini

 This is the last of the rag weaving for quite a while...........

 .......it's been really fun........

.........now to hem them all and wait for a brighter day for good photo taking......

More rag runners.....

 More rag runners came off the loom yesterday. They sure are quick to warp and weave......

.....next warp up will have corals, rust, tans - 3 runners each in a different fabric......then I put the rag weaving aside, it's been fun. I'll probably put on a towel warp next. I also have some sewing I'd like to do - I need to design and sew/quilt a quilted wall hanging for over our couch.  Our last house didn't have as much wall space as this one, I need something fairly big for the wall the couch is on. I've been looking at some commercial patterns - one is very intriguing - not sure if I'll end up using that or pull ideas from it and go off on my own.......which is what I'm thinking......

Rag weaving

This type of weaving is usually called rag weaving, as in rag rugs.....in this case rag table runners. This comes from times when true rags were used for rugs rather than throwing those old clothes and sheets out, we'd call it up-cycling today. But can these runners really be called rag weaving - this fabric was never rags, it's good quality quilting cottons straight from the store..........after a lengthy stay marinating in my fabric cupboard.  I need to come up with another name so those who may be interested in purchasing a table runner know it was not made of rags.

The other day I was getting ready to warp up the Macomber with another towel warp. Then I opened that cupboard and saw stacks and stacks of fabric and thought maybe some table runners were in order instead.

I pulled out enough fabric for 9 table runners, that 2 yards each, that's 18 yards.  Did it make a dent in the fabric cupboard - heck no.....but I'm giving it my best.

There is still so much fabric in that cupboard. Actually it outgrew that cupboard and has taken over some shelves in another cupboard.

But I'm making a small dent in it. After 9 table runners are woven I'll set aside this idea again and move on to that towel warp. 4 runners down, 5 to go........

Rags, rags, rags..........

Yes, I'm still here. This week has been crazy busy but not much of it spent in the studio.......makes for a grouchy me being out of the studio so much.......and next week isn't looking much better. I'm still researching compu-dobby looms but haven't had time to talk with all that have offered to help me. I did find out that AVL will be at the ANWG weaving conference the beginning of June and they will be bringing a V-Series loom for me to see and try in person - this is great as I've seen the Louet and have seen other AVL models but not the one I'm considering. I finally finished sewing the last of the handwoven rag tote bags for a while, they'll show up in my etsy shop soon.....all I need to do is find time to take 5 decent pictures of each to get them listed.....oh, how I need more hours in my day! I now need to get back to other weaving and sewing, first up is the sparkley pink handwoven fabric that's been waiting for me to cut into it for my guild challenge.

Dark blue bag with dark blue floral lining

Medium blue with natural/light blue lining

Light greens with light green floral lining (this really is lighter than it looks in the picture) 

Dark green with dark green flowered chintz lining

Dark red/neutral stripes with natural/red floral lining

Dark red/tan with very fun farm seed packet print fabric lining

Some loom time today.......

I got some time at the loom today, not enough but what time I spent there felt great. Three more bags woven, three more to go on this warp.

Dark blue with some taupe

Light blue which doesn't look very light in this picture because I forgot to take a picture of it so had to catch it from underneath the loom as it was winding on the front beam

Pale greens, these are really pretty

More rag tote bags on the horizon

More rag tote bags in the works, got the warp on today for 6 of them, blue fabrics cut and on shuttles ready to go.

Woven Rag Tote Bags

I finally got some time at the sewing machine yesterday to finish sewing together the rag tote bags. They're all lined with coordinating fabric and a pocket on the inside. The goal of weaving these and more to come is to rid my fabric cabinet of leftover cotton quilt fabrics, not sure I'm paring down the stash enough though. The bags are approximately 16" wide by 17" tall and around 3" wide at the bottom gusset. The strap is shoulder bag length. They'll make great knitting/project bags, grower's market bags, all around tote bags. They should be able to take quite a bit of weight but I wouldn't use them as a book bag full of heavy books or carry around bricks! They really aren't made to tolerate that much weight. Once I take better pictures they'll start showing up in my etsy shop. Still working on pricing, pretty much have the idea of what to charge but haven't firmed it up yet.

Medium Pink with pink english garden print lining

Light Pink with white/pink confetti print lining

Red with blue and white striped lining

Red with fun black & white cows on red fabric lining

Lavendar with tiny flowered lavendar lining

Purple with tiny purple flowers lining

These are the straps for the next 6 bags, hoping to get the warp on the loom tomorrow for them.

First rag bag sewn......

Phew, I got the first of the rag bags sewn this morning. I'm hoping the rest of them go quickly now that I'm over the learning curve. My first error was in figuring the strapping, I was thinking I had enough strapping to go around the bottom of the bag - uh, oh....no way.....but the straps are sewn on securely and very strong the way I did them. I decided I wanted to line them to make them nicer looking and more serviceable with a couple pockets, lining material also from the stash cupboard, hoping I'm making a dent in those leftovers but not so sure I have yet. So the size bag I'm making will make a great knitting/project bag, spinning bag, farmer's market bag (it is machine washable) or just all around nice big tote bag. It measures 17" tall by 16" wide and has a box bottom. Sure hope they eventually sell or everyone I know will be getting one for Christmas this year!  Will post pictures of more as they are sewn, another red, two purple colorway, two pink colorway. And I'm thinking I'll put more warp on to make other colorsways, heck, I've got plenty of fabric leftovers to use up.

No brains required........

I'm kind of loving this mindless weaving for tote bags, just cut strips and weave.......suits me just fine for right now.......will get back to more structured fine weaving after I rid myself of some of this cotton stash.........

Stash busting....

I'm hoping this warp and a few more are stash busters. I have tons of leftover cotton quilt fabric from projects over the past 30 years that I'd like to recycle into something useful and that will free up space in the fabric cabinet. So, I'm weaving rag fabric to make tote bags out of. Got the warp on the loom today for 6 of them, 2 in pinks, 2 in reds, 2 in purples....got this first one woven, don't think it touched the stash in the pink pile.