weavers

 

Last week was filled with lots of needles and thread, but my favorite part of camp was watching these girls weave with t-shirt scraps. I had been wanting to try a hula hoop rug project (spotted many of them on Pinterest) for such a long time. The original tutorial is impossible to access, so I used this one from my buddy Anne over at Flax and Twine. She used her son's finger knitting for a gorgeous result! However we stuck with recycled-'shirts cut into long strips for weaving and loops for creating the "spokes". 

 The cutting was their least favorite part, but they did love the leftover t-shirt parts… discarded hems morphed into necklaces, sleeves into kerchiefs and the upper torso became vests! By week's end I found myself helping to do lots of the strip cutting so they could get on with the weaving. 

The colors and patterns that they chose were such perfect representations of each of them. This was the ongoing work that they would come back to in between other projects, but I also would reserve a some time for just weaving to music. Jazz, piano solos or my daughter's Colbie Calliet pandora station were all in rotation depending on what mood I hoped to foster at any given moment.

 

They went home with the skills to complete their rugs, and I can't wait to show you at least that middle one, when my daughter is done. We need to make another trip this week to the thrift store. About a dozen t-shirts are needed for this project. So worth it too… look at how stunning they are already!

I plan on making one for myself, now! It's a great project to take to the lake. I even think it would make for wonderful work in the winter while watching movies or sitting by the fire… but let's not go there yet. August has only just begun!