More Recycled Scarves!

I have had a couple of extra days off this week and am catching up on projects and my inspiration has returned after a long needed rest!

I am perfecting the New Pioneer Scarf.  To catch up those who are new here, I make a circular scarf from thrifted t-shirts that are white and 100% cotton.  I cut off the bottom section, tie-dye them and wa-la!  A terrific recycled item with several uses.

This time I went with extra large t-shirts which gave me a longer, wider scarf, and used darker dyes.

How about those colors?

Blue. bronze and green.  Aren't they great?  So soft and comfy too.  You can wear them around your neck, or over your head, or even both.  Visit my page NP Styles for more images on how to do this here.

I have all three listed for sale for only $22 each including free shipping in the U.S.!  They are available on my page Products here with PayPal buttons.  Only three of these at the moment as I need to go out thrift shopping for more t-shirts.

Hey, if you can think of any new ways to wear these, please share!
Till next time..  :)

Scarf Ideas

OK, I promised to post some photo ideas for how to wear the new 100% cotton up-cycled scarves made from thrifted t-shirts.
For those you who haven't been following the posts, or are new to the blog, these scarves have been hand dyed and made from recycled white cotton t-shirts.  It's basically a no sew project that anyone can do.  Just cut off the bottom half of a t-shirt!

OK, starting off the fashion show with our glass head model (who is nameless right now), showing above is the bronze colored scarf dyed solid, which comes out marbled, wrapped twice around our models neck.  This is the most practical way to wear it.  They stretch well and are quite warm by the way!

This scarf is tie dyed by using a twist method.  I have wrapped it once around the neck and then over the head.  A little spooky looking on our model here, but you get the idea!

Now this is both of them together, intertwined.  On a real person they would hang down in front.  But this is an example of how to combine the two colors together.

I thought this version was really cute for a bad hair day.  Twisted, and wrapped twice around the head.

So those are the first few ideas I had on how to wear these.  They will be available for sale at the Wandering Wardrobe  http://wanderingwardrobe.com/ in Port Townsend after Tuesday Oct. 18th.  They sell for only $10 each!  The colors available now are the above bronze, amethyst (which is closer to hot pink), deep purple, dark green, new black, olive drab and teal blue.  There are about four of each color, two are solids and two are tie dyed. ( Please see the previous posts for photos of these colors.)

It's been really fun making them.  They tend to be unique unto themselves as they are all different sizes, lengths and weights.  Even the dye takes differently to some of them.
I hope you have enjoyed the process as much I have!

New Scarves!

Finally!  Here are four of the 20 new scarves.  These are upcycled from pieces of white cotton t-shirts, and dyed.

I have been working like a maniac to get these done.  I have an appointment in Port Townsend in October at the Wandering Wardrobe where my dear friend Beverly has graciously invited me to show and sell these little gems.

Shown here are teal blue, amethyst, deep purple and new black.  I also have two shades of green and camel, not shown.

I need a name for them folks!  Any ideas?  Neck warmers comes to mind, but they can also be worn as a head scarf.  Please post all ideas.  Keep in mind they are true to the New Pioneer Style.

I have already made the first sale, right out of my studio.  I don't even have the labels made up yet.

These scarves are circular, can be wrapped once, twice, and some of them three times around.  They are soft cotton in scrumptious colors, and they retail for only $10 each!

I will make an announcement here when they are available at the Wandering Wardrobe.  Then my next goal will be to make them available on-line.

Odds & Ends

Playing with t-shirt scraps today and came up with this.

The hat band is made from the bottom hems of three t-shirts!  I just braided them and put them on this cute hat.

Recycling and re-purposing.  Good for garden wear.

More Scarfing...

OK, carrying on with the up-cycling theme.  This double project came from two white cotton t-shirts.
The neck scarf (worn by our wicker model) is an infinity scarf that is longer and narrower than the first one I made, it wraps four times.  This scarf is for my friend Mira, who is donating a load of clothing and fabric to me!  (My pledge to all donators btw!)

The headband / scarf is my little creation for working out in the yard... probably the hummingbirds will love it!
Both are dyed Deep Purple.

 And pictured here is Mira wearing her new scarf! 

Scarf it Up!

My next project was to create a spin off of my favorite infinity scarf, I'm sure you've seen them, a long hoop of fabulous fabric you can wrap around your neck once, twice, or even three times.

My new scarf would be made using a recycled t-shirt from the local thrift store.  I started with an extra large, white, 100% cotton t-shirt.  The best use of the fabric was to cut it in to two pieces about 10 inches wide, by about 24 inches long.  Not as long as I had hoped, but it works out in the end.

I sewed the two ends together, forming a loop.  Washed and dried it to see if the sides would hold up without seams, and yes!  It worked.


Next I dyed it.  My favorite colors are earth tones, so I used the Khaki color Dharma Fiber Reactive dye.

Here is the finished product.  If you can zoom in on the scarf, note how the dye has a marbled effect.  I do this by pouring the dye over the item inside the zip-lock bag and soaking it in its crunched up form.


This scarf is not as long I had hoped, but it can still be folded twice, as in the photo below.  I like how the soft cotton folds nicely and isn't bulky.

You can easily make one of these yourself.  Stay tuned for more!!!