Project #5

Recycling

So I had been working on a paper garbage bin made from old paper (you get it, recycling for my recycling bin). But the pattern took forever. It looks really cool, it just takes forever to make, so I decided I needed to just finish it, so I did. So here is my wastepaper basket from folded and woven magazines. (I had literally just finished gluing when I took pictures, so the paperclips are keeping the ends in place. Not permanent, those paperclips).

As you can see the bottom is the best feature. But to get it you have to fold 4 pieces of magazines for one square. A lot of folding in thirds. I dislike thirds in folding. Very difficult to be precise and I'm sort of a perfectionist in that way.

So I finished it up with just a simple basket weave, folded down the ends and glued them in place. It was a 'I need to finish something' day.

No-Sew Scarf Bag

No Sew bags are my favorite because they're usually really quick and easy and I get complimented on them more than any other bag. Sad, almost... This one is really amazing, though. Your materials include: a scarf. That's it. And two working hands; though all you need to do is tie knots, so you can probably even manage one-handed.


Start with a scarf, sarong, or any rectangular material. The thinner the better or the knots get too bulky. My scarf was about 56"x40" ish.


The next step is to fold the scarf in half like a hamburger, short ends together making it more like a square. I do wrong sides together so that the hem is on the inside of the sandwich. (If you have a thicker fabric, you can start off with a square piece and not fold it in half. Scarves tend to be thin and therefore need the doubling for durability)


Next, bring to opposite corners together...
...and tie them in a double knot. It's your choice how close to the corners to tie. I like a little bit of bunny ear flop.

Next, if the scarf is not perfectly square, find the shortest edge that leads to the right corner. In my case, this edge is coming from the lower half of my double knot.

Taking the right corner, wrap it around the lower half of the knot, over top first...

...then underneath so it comes up on the same side you started wrapping from.
Do the same for the left corner: find the shortest edge...

...wrap it over the top of the higher half of the knot...

...and pull it back under to the left of the knot.

Now the two corners are on the same sides they started on, but they're twisted around the double knot.
Tie the two ears corners together...
...into a double knot.
And there you have your final scarf bag. It's very simple and the best part is, you can undo it and use it as a scarf again. Once you get the hang of it you can do it in less than a minute.
If your scarf is still not close to square when you fold it, try putting the fold 1/3 of the way down instead of 1/2. That will be the bottom 'seam' of the bag.

If you put the excess fabric on the outside of the bag it hangs and, in this case, gives the bag a nice fringe along the bottom. You can also put the excess inside for a cleaner look.