Guitar Straps

The first time I saw guitar straps woven on an inkle loom I was inspired. Guitar straps are both useful and a perfect place to showcase your unique style. They also are a fairly simple shape that allows for a lot of variety in pattern and material. I wove the following four guitar straps to try out a few different techniques and yarns, and I love them all! Check them out!

This fiery strap is woven from recycled, hand-painted cotton yarn from an old sweater. I dyed it in stripes while it was still knit up in the sweater pieces, then unraveled it and wove this guitar strap. It is lightweight, flexible and smooth, yet still with the strength that comes from a warp-faced weave that you get on an inkle loom.

A more bulky version is this guitar strap woven from t-yarn. That's right, this one is made from recycled t-shirts! Unlike the other straps, I didn't have to dye the yarn to get these vibrant colors - each color came from a different t-shirt.

This close-up lets you see the texture of the woven t-yarn. It's very sturdy, and has a small amount of stretch that makes it comfortable to wear. Like all the other guitar straps, the end tabs are made from a recycled black leather jacket. Only the hardware is new!

This extra-long strap has two very neat features. It was card-woven, so it is a little thicker than the other cotton straps and features in intricate pattern unique to card-weaving. It also has a variegated yarn that was dyed in a rainbow, which makes the pattern shift from red to orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple as your eye travels down the length of the strap. It is made from recycled wool yarns, and is perfect for taller guitarists who need a longer strap.

Finally, my favorite one is woven from hand-dyed recycled purple and green cotton/acrylic blend yarn along with cassette tape. The cassette tape gives the strap a really fun retro feel, as well as an amazing sparkle. I love the effect and am looking forward to using it again in another guitar strap with a different color combination.

(By the way, when I say this one is my favorite, I mean that I couldn't bear to take it off my guitar after we were done taking photos this morning. It's still hiding in my guitar case, and I'm seriously considering weaving another one to sell, just so I can keep this one. It's so cool.)

All the guitar straps are 2 inches wide, and all except the rainbow-patterned one are the standard size of 30-60 inches. The extra-large size gives you another 6 inches, adjusting from 36-66 inches.

Suggested Retail: $30

The T-yarn Collection: Market Bags

T-shirt yarn makes really excellent heavy-duty market bags. They don't collapse down as small as a cotton yarn or plarn bag, but they're even better suited to hauling around a watermelon or a small pile of pumpkins. The stretch of the t-yarn and the structure of the net bag expand to fit a huge variety of shapes, and the handles feel good in your hands or on your shoulder.

The sturdy construction of these bags starts with a square base, comes up with netting on the sides, and finish with thick rolled handles.

Many of the t-shirts that went into these bags came from my closet, ones that were too old even for Goodwill but were either too-well loved to just throw away or simply had a bit of life left in them. It's a lot like the patchwork quilts of previous generations: making sure to get the last bit of use left from a nearly worn-out piece of fabric.

Currently I have two of these t-yarn market bags available: one in gradient shades from navy to sky blue, and one in greens, grays, and dark purple.

Suggested Retail: $20

The T-yarn collection: Seussian Bag Caddy

No matter how good our intentions are about always using re-usable shopping bags, collecting plastic shopping bags is inevitable. I'm generally pretty good about remembering my re-usable bags on regular shopping outings, but there are always spontaneous trips when I find myself without my bags. And that's ok! Plastic shopping bags are useful for so many things, not the least of which are trash can liners and packing my husband's lunch. But you need an attractive way to store all those bags so they don't get all over the place and so they'll be handy when you need them. Presenting: The t-yarn Seussian bag caddy!

T-yarn is yarn made from strips of cut-up t-shirts. Just like plarn, you can find lots of tutorials on how to make it. Basically, you cut a seamless t-shirt in a big spiral, pull on it so that the edges roll in on themselves and prevent any raveling, and then knit it like any other bulky yarn. It's super-strong, and can come in as many bright fun colors as the ubiquitous American t-shirt does. I used several colors of t-yarn to knit the bold stripes of this bag saver, and the end result reminds me of a Dr. Seuss top hat, hence the name "Seussian bag caddy."

This bag caddy can easily hold 30 regular-sized plastic bags. It probably can hold more, but I only had 28 to try it out. Just stuff the bags in the top. . .

. . . and pull them out the dispenser at the bottom. Hang the bag caddy in your utility room or in any handy location, and you'll always have bags ready for whatever new purpose you've got for them!

Suggested Retail: $20