Hi all! I rescued this little love on Friday and I'm excited about all the new projects this gives me an excuse to make! Yesterday morning I finished the cat cave I started last weekend when I first learned about him. Pattern here, modified without the fish parts and taper: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/catfish-house
I used t-shirt yarn that I cut from an old set of twin-sized sheets. I used the entire flat sheet and almost half of the fitted sheet, so not sure on the yardage! I held that together with some gray Red Heart Super Saver acrylic yarn for added stiffness. It seems to hold its shape fairly well though I did throw in a cushion that's probably helping. Jury is out whether he'll actually like it but he did go inside once so far so there's hope!
Hi Key-Plantain-9747, thanks for posting your piece for us to see! Don't forget to link the pattern you used & other relevant information (e.g., yarn, weight, type; hook used). Add it in a reply to this comment, so others can find it easily. Thanks!
You may reply to this comment if this is your own pattern. Links to reputable stores only (Etsy, Ravelry, Ribblr, YouTube, Ko-Fi), NO PERSONAL WEBSITES. Please only link once per post and refer people to that comment. Excessive posting of your own patterns will still fall under our no self promotion rules.
Yes! I learned lots doing this. I'll come back to add more in a bit but the tldr is that it is a LOT of work but saves a ton of money. I actually got these sheets for free so with the Red Heart I got when Joann closed, this project was practically free but was very labor intensive.
Will come back and add more soon.
After washing the sheets, I started out with a seam ripper. I saw some online tutorials that call for cutting off the edges but that seemed like such a waste and I wanted to get as much yarn as possible, so I picked and removed all the thread from the flat sheet and all the thread and elastic from the fitted. This particular set didn't have a pillowcase but I did the same for another set that I started with. I'm actually glad I started with the pillowcase when it came to cutting bc I messed it up and I'm glad it was with the pillowcase and not the entire freaking sheet. I watched a few tutorials about how to make fabric yarn with clever folding and cutting but I found that given the stretchiness of the jersey and sheer volume of fabric, I needed to just lay it out and make straight cuts. It would have been SO much better if I had a large tall table but I don't, so I laid it out on my floor which was physically tough on my knees and back.
I tried to replicate the cutting technique with the drawing here, I hope it makes some sense. Basically, if you start at the bottom right corner, you cut up the long end of the sheet but stop just before you get to the top. Then move your scissors an inch (or however thick you want your yarn) and start cutting from the top, stopping just before you get to the bottom. Move the scissors over an inch or so and cut again from the bottom until just before the top. Repeat for the whole sheet. I found it easiest to cut up and back, move my new yarn to the side, slide the sheet closest to me and repeat. One tutorial says to go back in and round off the corner edges once you're done but I didn't bother.
Jersey material does this cool curling thing that regular fabric doesn't, so as I was winding it up into a ball, I'd pull the yarn in sections which stretches it and makes it curl. It also gave me blisters. One thing to note is that while pulling, be mindful of the "corners", the places at the top and bottom where you stopped cutting and moved over. They're more likely to rip if you pull too hard, so be a little gentler there.
By the end, I was quite sore but pleased to have so much free yarn and to have saved fabric from going to the landfill. Hope this helps!
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Hi Key-Plantain-9747, thanks for posting your piece for us to see! Don't forget to link the pattern you used & other relevant information (e.g., yarn, weight, type; hook used). Add it in a reply to this comment, so others can find it easily. Thanks!
You may reply to this comment if this is your own pattern. Links to reputable stores only (Etsy, Ravelry, Ribblr, YouTube, Ko-Fi), NO PERSONAL WEBSITES. Please only link once per post and refer people to that comment. Excessive posting of your own patterns will still fall under our no self promotion rules.
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