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  • From: "Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>
  • To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Thread, was Braided rugs
  • Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:31:39 -0800

I've repaired them but never made them. It was our "job" as kids to do the braiding. I would think the math on the thing would depend on the material you use to start with. Wool would braid thicker and thus would take less in length than another lighter weight fabric because the braids would have a smaller diameter. I do know that she didn't sew the strips. She folded and ironed them so that they looked like double-fold binding.

She also made patchwork quilts out of men's suits and the reverse was made from the lining. Very pretty.

Right now youngest and I are making a couple of quilts out of old Levis. Figure that will be plenty warm when the snow flies!

I bought the carpet thread from a guy that did horse blankets, so I don't know what it says on it. I do know it holds canvas horse blankets together and they take a beating!

Don't know about fish line except for surgery <g> I've used it to stitch up horses when I couldn't get a vet out and the trip to a vet would have been too much stress. Or rather, would have meant a whole bunch of bleeding before the critter got stitched up. Amazing what you can do with a curved needle, some needle nose pliars and fish line!

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- From: "EarthNSky" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>

It doesn't say heavy duty, but it is Singer Carpet Thread. I don't see
a number on the package.
What's your opinion of using the braided fishing line? Are you familiar
with it? I looks more like string than typical fishing line, and it is
very, very strong.

I'm guessing that with wool, you don't have to worry about raveling
edges-it's more like felting?
Sorry to seem dense, but A. Wool isn't that popular of a clothing
material in the South and B. I'm allergic to wool. I do have some wool
socks that I wear in the coldest of weather, but never more than once a
week.

Something I don't have a good sense of is how the strip length will
convert to rug size. If I have 1000 feet of strips, divide by 3 is 333
feet of strips...Once you braid that, I'm guessing the length would be
reduced by 1/3 yet again, so you might end up with a 200 ft braid. Is
that long enough to make 6 chair cushions? Is is long enough for a 3x5
oval rug? I'd hate to start something and not have enough, or have to
change the colors and patterns if that isn't what I intended to do.

I've got two piles of sheets and material, sorted based on color
coordination and groups. I have a 'jewel tone' pile of burgundy, blue,
and some green, and I have a 'flowery' pile of sage greens, mauvey
pinks, etc. The latter is the smaller pile and I'm thinking of making a
bedside rug for the future guest bedroom. The jewel tones will be the
chair pads and maybe some rugs. I just would like to be able to figure
out how many rugs I can make or how large of rug I can make.

I'm probably jumping the gun as I still have a lot of strips to sew up.

When people make rugs out of rags and clothing, that sure seems like a
lot of sewing work due to the number of strips and small lengths. I'm
using sheets and it is still slow work! It's kind of neat though. One
set of sheet carries a lot of memories..they were a wedding present, and
our favorite sheets for years-nice, soft, about 450 thread count..they
were worn to the point of getting a few tears and the elastic was weak.
Another set was also a wedding gift, but Ron almost burnt the house
down smoking in bed, so that set has a number of holes, which were cut
out for the rugs. It's nice because we keep the colors, but after
braiding, the pattern is lost, so while you know what it was, it looks
totally different and new, yet soft and worn and familiar. Kind of strange.

Bev




--
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
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