Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Tarn - Have You Made Some?

This necklace features braided tarn.  What is tarn you ask?
T-shirt fabric stretched into yarn = Tarn.
 This long weekend will be remembered for the tarn making blisters my Mom and I both have.  Now I know what it must have been like to spin your own wool.
 You need really great scissors (Westcott is my brand) to cut t-shirts into strips.  To save time I was cutting through four peices of t-shirt fabric and needed a super titanium blade.
 The technique is perfectly illustrated in this 1979 book called Rags: Making a Little Something Out of Almost Nothing, written by sisters Linda and Stella Allison.  The chawed rosin blogger had a great link explaining how to make a rag rug with old t-shirts.  I am so glad I saw this post.  My Mom and I made several balls of Tarn.  We could not believe how easy it was to stretch the fabric so it curled into itself...hence the yarn idea.  It was the constant stretching needed to make the bigger balls that caused the blisters.  I wore gloves after rolling the first ball of stretched tarn.
 I have seen lots of online posts turning the tarn into flowers.  
I wanted to try braiding it.  
I set up my tarn so I could use the classic kumihimo braiding 8-strand technique.
Isn't it great?  More tarn ideas to come!

5 comments:

  1. love it...i use "tarn" in many of my creations...i'm thinking of making a hat next...fun fun fun... :)

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  2. I've never done this but what a great idea. i may have to now. I think that necklace is adorable!

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  3. Love the colors! I use tarn in many of my creations too Eileen. I just made a scarf. I also recycle plastic shopping bags and make plarn

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  4. Wow - awesome! Love the brooch.

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  5. Great ideas! Carmi, I met you at the outlet a few months ago. I have a bunch of old and unmatched socks I am going to cut up for bracelets. I'll try to get you pics! Also love your Catherine the Great necklace!!!! A great Lady indeed!

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