So, before yesterday I had absolutely no idea what the hell a chindi rug was and it took Terri and I going to “Five Below” for her to hold one up and say: “Look at this chindi rug.” Sis and I had eaten Mexican for lunch, and then she wanted to go to the new “Five Below” to browse. I ended up spending $107 and she got away with $74. We’re good browsers.
Anyhoot, she told me that you can take the rug apart by cutting the strings and then pulling the fabric out! It’s obviously strips of fabric and then you can use it for other things. So, I sat down on the floor and cut the rug apart on a big sheet so the strings would be in one place. It was a good thought…but Edward liked pawing through them so much I just let him make a mess. But I did too!
Then after cleaning all of the fuzz and strings up, I started perusing Pinterest and YouTube for project ideas and didn’t see anything that caught my eye. So, since I’m a quilter, I thought “What the hell?” Might as well see if it could be done. The sari fabric is polyester and some is very thin, or gauzy, or silky so sewing was a bit (cough cough) difficult.
I decided to add strips to a back and used felt batting for it. I just started sewing strips across the batting using a 3.0 stitch and regular presser foot. It was a nightmare! The little frayed threads got caught in the presser foot and it was easy to get the fabric bunched up. But being able to see all the colors and patterns as I was sewing made it worthwhile!
After the strips were sewn, the actual hard part began! Squaring the darn thing up made me cuss a few times out loud, and then the backing. Ugh. I knew I couldn’t do a binding on something like this, so I did a turn and flip (sew backing and pretty side together…leave a space…then turn the piece inside out and sew up the turning space). It worked pretty well but the top and bottom looked crappy…particularly where I flipped it. So, I just sewed an extra scarf on the sides and it helped a lot!
Now, the finished project isn’t ready for the National Quilt Museum, nor am I going to make a 1000 of these and go on QVC. However, I do like the way it brightens up a dingy wall in my bedroom! I like a LOT of color in my house!
Then, the really fun part started after this was done and hung…cleaning my sewing/greenhouse room up! Actually, I like puttering in there and getting it ready for my next project is fun. At least it’s more fun than picking up poop in the backyard, or vacuuming 3x a day because your dogs shed, or going to Wal-Mart on a Saturday. You get the point!
Anyway, it was cool to work with something new and I still have a ton of sari strips. I’m trying to think of some other things to do with them…maybe I’ll just take them all to Terri, and she can make a project herself. 😐
Kristi xoxo
P.S. Love you ma. 🌞
"Just Let it Grow" 🌞 