Fabric yarn basket
numero uno
Lots of beaten up weary
clothing, bed-sheets, pillow covers, saris, lying around....to throw or not to
throw? A real crafter...housewife... never throws away anything. Every bit can
be used! That’s creativity!
Salwar-Suit basket:In
previous life, this fabric was a salwar suit with matching chunni/dupatta, 100%
cotton. Radha one of the crocheter in the slum had transformed it by crocheting into a
basket..tearing the textile into strips created a plethora of raw edges and
texture, and gives this finely crochet work a coarse look. She made a lid with a button cinch to handle it
.Dimensions are 8-1/4 ×4-3/8 inch
I decided to post
dedicated to show off her skills. But I don’t know if you can crochet with a
fabric? But I myself going to try I’m thinking my solid colour, bed sheet to
crochet a big basket.
Radha is a refugee from Pakistan. Several Hindus and Sikhs moved
to India from Pakistan immediately after Partition. It was the biggest
migration ever of the world to which these people bear a raw witness.
Harman her husband says, he left his place in Sialkot (now in
Pakistan) for India.”I came along with my mother. We took to whatever work we
could lay our hands on(we were earth digger ST’s there), but did not compromise
with honesty and integrity, “asserts Harman. Showing a sense of content the
proud man says that they have shouldered all the responsibilities of a family
and now content with their lives in India and completely forgotten Pakistan.
Radha learned to crochet and weaved while in a refugee camp in
Hisar. Like so many refugees sojourning through life, Radha lived in the camp
for 6 long years. As she recalls, she was about 20 years old when someone
taught her how to crochet, and I imagine she crocheted through many a tough
year of waiting and wondering, loss and heartache.
We find her four years back, during my research work, gracing us
with her warm smile and talented hands, which I have come to appreciate more
and more as her story unfolds. She is a woman whose life has been seared much
loss and pain, yet today at our NGO she was dressed in an array of brilliant
maroon from head to toe, a silent yet loud pronouncement of her living in the
present...just as she chose to do many years ago in Hisar refugee camp when she
took up that crochet needle and made a choice to learn and earn. Also, she
taught s slum women to adopt earning skills to make their living at their home.
Radha asserts ....”now crochet is my life, I crochet clothing of
all sorts. This is my passion, my livelihood and I love to make wonderful
accessories for babies, kids, and the occasional adult.”
Her recession experiments
Economic challenges led her to evolve some cheaper ways of yarn.
Not able to afford yarn to work with, “I cut fabric into strips making fabric
yarn from my fabric stash in the house and borrowed from the relatives.
Lightweight cotton like salwar-suits, sheets worked best for my crochet work.
The same concept and thicker fabric can be used to construct baskets.
Previously her work was in hibernation; slowly it got into public and became
popular as well.
Those old unused clothes, strips of fabric, unwanted apparel and
such stuff can be made useful instead of being thrown away. Equipped with
little skill of single crochet only, one can easily crochet, from the cloths
that aren't good enough to wear any way, and would have been totally discarded.
Radha has so many great
items worthy to display, but I chose to feature this Crocheted Basket for
several reasons. First, this crocheted piece is unique. Second, I think it's
fabulous that this fabric basket is made from up-cycled salwar-suit. Up-cycling
is a great way to help save items that may not be usable for their intended
purposes any more, or to give an older item a sort of makeover in to something
beautiful and useful again. Third, this Crocheted Basket is gorgeous! The
colors are beautiful and would create such a cheerful tone to any room you add
this to.
Here's the how to of
making a crocheted fabric basket.
1. Pick your fabric. This basket takes a lot of fabric to make
so be sure to use a very large piece like an old sheet. This particular basket
took about 2 or 3 yards of fabric.
2. Cut the fabric into strips 3/4" to 1" wide.
3. Tie the strips together to form a ball of fabric yarn.
4. Crochet a circle for the base of the basket. Here, 5 mm crochet hook was used. Stitch using the single crochet.
5. Crochet the sides as per your fabric or your choice.
6.Crochet a circular like base of the basket for the lid.
7. Crochet a small button with thinner strips and attach in the center of the lid for knob.
8. Show off and impress your friends!
Do you have discarded cloth articles? May be a salwar-suit a soiled table cloth, or hubby’s t-shirts, bed sheets, outdated curtains, the possibilities are endless! Start cutting them into ½ to 2 inches wide strips to make your stash of rag yarn, and crochet a basket to stack your tit-bits-now!! Yes its cool!!!.
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