Sunday Fun with Fiber

On Saturday, I went to a quilt show; I wrote about the experience in this post.   Sunday afternoon I had a great time sorting through my cloth scraps and yarns--a great time with fiber.  I said I'd post pictures, in case anyone is interested, and so I shall.

I knew that I wanted to try making beads out of scraps of cloth, the way that my grandmother used to make beads out of old church bulletins.  First, I sorted through scraps.

I've had these scissors (below) for a long time, probably since I was 13.  I was taking a sewing class at the Singer store in Montgomery Mall (Alabama).  Nurse Ellie gave me these engraved scissors.  Nurse Ellie was stationed with my parents in France when/where I was born.  She was my nurse.  During the summer of 1978, she happened to be doing an Air Force stint in Montgomery, where we lived.  She gave me these scissors.  I need to get them sharpened.

I cut a piece of cloth into a triangle, and started rolling it into a bead.

I started with just a drop of glue at the tip of the triangle, which would probably be enough.  Later, I spread glue all over the back of the cloth.  And since I'm sewing the beads together, I didn't roll them around a toothpick or a rod, the way you'd need to if you were stringing them together.

You can make a variety of sizes.

You can make whatever size you'd like.  You could probably make them puffier too.

You don't even need to start out with a triangle.

Eventually, I'll sew them together into this shape.  Which brings me to my next project:  making a scarf out of various fibery strands.

I chose about 15 strands of things:  a remnant of cloth, a piece of a sequined scarf, a variety of yarns. 

I laid them out and started to knot, twine, and braid them together.

In the end, a fun scarf!

All in all, a fun Sunday--one that satisfied my fingers' itch to play with fabric and fiber.