Welcome to my wanderware site and to a most unusual challenge ~ the very first Haberdashery Blog Hop - the brainchild of Melissa Trudinger of BeadRecipes from Melbourne, Australia. This is Melissa's first time hosting a blog hop and she challenged the participants to raid their fabric and trims stash to create jewelry pieces out of whatever they found. The descriptive subtitle for my wanderware line is "jewelry for the adventurous soul" and having a soul that fully meets that description made this a very fun endeavor for me!
I am very interested in upcycling materials and have been toying around with adding a line of these sorts of pieces to my wanderware collection. I would call this collection "re-knewed" which suggests the ability to enjoy something old and worn out in an completely new and unlikely manner. In a huge way, this blog hop has helped me jump start this new line and I am grateful to Melissa for setting the opportunity before me.
My first piece uses strips of material from four of my daughter's old t-shirts. I had already cut out the front panels to use for a t-shirt quilt but couldn't get myself to throw the remaining fabric away knowing that there existed a perfectly wonderful destiny for it! I braided these strips using a Kumihimo disc and came up with a soft, flexible eye-catching rope. I added a peyote beaded tube of brass triangle beads, brass end caps, a gold rolo style chain and a magnetic clasp to finish the piece. I thought I might add something dangling from the beaded tube but also really liked it just the way it is (which was convenient since I was running out of creating time!) Who knew that old t-shirts could become such an intriguing piece of jewelry?!
I was having so much fun that I returned to my stash and began playing with old torn up denim jeans. I cut the inseam strips from some jeans and rolled them up tightly to make solid flat fabric circles, arranged them symmetrically and bound them together with black leather lacing. I added a ceramic tube bead at the bottom, brass circles on the top two rolls and finished it with a complimentary brass chain. This is definitely a bold piece and with the right outfit would make quite a statement!
Loads of thanks to you, Melissa Trudinger, for this wonderful "out of the box" challenge and for being instumental in helping me open this new line of wanderware. I too had three blog hops this past weekend in addition to many other demands and appreciate the leniency of posting a bit late. I look forward to seeing all the other pieces that the artists below have created and invite you to visit their sites as well! Happy hopping!
Melissa Trudinger - hostess http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Ann Schroeder http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com
Tammy Adams http://www.paisleylizard.com/blog.html
Amanda Wacasey http://mandyinmystic.blogspot.com
Dolores Raml http://craftydscreations.wordpress.com
Divya N http://www.jewelsofsayuri.com
Michelle McCarthy http://www.fireflydesignstudio.BlogSpot.com
DiYana Brooks http://agapecreationsjewelry.blogspot.com/
Robin Kae Reed http://willowdragon.blogspot.com
Andrea Glick http://zenithjade.blogspot.com/
Karin Grosset Grange http://ginkgoetcoquelicot.blogspot.fr
Mitzie Crider http://needfulluxuries.blogspot.com
Janine Lucas http://www.esfera.me/travel/blog/travel-stories
Rosantia Petkova http://bairozan.blogspot.com/
Susan Kennedy http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Leithleach Alainn Seodra http://alainnjewelry.wordpress.com/
Kathleen Breeding http://99bobotw.blogspot.com/
Shiraz Biggie http://secretsongdesigns.blogspot.com
Chris Eisenberg http://www.wanderware.blogspot.com
Heather Richter http://desertjewelrydesigns.blogspot.com/
Lennis Carrier http://www.windbent.net/
Rebecca Anderson http://www.songbeads.blogspot.com
Jenny Kyrlach http://anafiassa.blogspot.com
Rita Toltec Jewels http://www.JewelSchoolFriends.com
Mischelle Fanucci http://www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com
Karen Mitchell http://overthemoon-design.com
Carol Briody http://Cbriody.blogspot.com
Karla Morgan http://TexasPepperJams.blogspot.com
Carolyn Lawson http://Carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com
Lori Anderson http://www.prettythingsblog.com/
Jami Shipp http://www.celebratinglifewithdamamashipp.blogspot.com
Lili Krist http://pcbylik.blogspot.com/
Evelyn Shelby http://raindropcreationsbyevelyn.blogspot.com/
Raissa de Guzman http://www.abloro.com
Niky Sayers http://silverniknats.blogspot.co.uk
Keren Panthaki http://vasdea.wordpress.com
I love how you upcycled old tshirts and jeans. Your designs are fabulous. I was holding on to a stack of faded shirts and jeans, not knowing what I might use them for but knowing I would come up with something. And then, wouldn't you know, I got a wild hair and donated the still wearable ones and threw out the rest just weeks before the Haby Hop sign-ups. Not that I would have come up with this idea. But now I know. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the up-cycles discs! Both are such creative idea! Love them!
ReplyDeleteLove your upcycling, you made two really cool pieces! Thanks for joining in with my blog hop!
ReplyDeleteFabulous upcycling! So creative! The t-shirt bracelet is my favorite! If you hadn't told us, we would never know that's what you braided! Sweet! :)
ReplyDeleteA great combination of upcycled and haberdashery itemss. The T-shirt necklace is awesome and the kumihimo looks much better than simple braiding. The beaded tube gave it a whole new look, love that idea! The abstract denim necklace is an eye-catcher!
ReplyDeleteThat bottom piece...wow!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is extraordinary! Your combination of upcycled materials with the beaded tube is stunning, the colors are do rich and complément so well. The bold denim necklace is very unique and creative. This is very inspirational.
ReplyDelete