Farming in the shade

Actually, I'm not going to show you the complete life cycle of a blue jean rag rug. I suspect most of you are familiar enough with the intended use of jeans that I don't have to go over that.  But once they're worn out... First I fillet the jeans--I cut away everything but the front and back leg panels. A friend uses pockets for her creations, so she and I trade bits of jeans that we don't want. I discard any leg panels that are extremely stained or worn.  Because I like a lot of different color sprinkled throughout my rugs, I obsessively lay out random colors and work around a circle. I figure I'm getting some exercise at the same time.  The Fraser rag cutter is primarily meant to cut narrow wool strips for hooked wool rugs, but I find it works very well for my purposes, too. The strips fall into a box on the floor, and I mix them up in the box as I cut. Then I (or my dear mother) sew them end to end to make one very long chain of blue jeans...

Each year during Kerstmarkt (an outdoor, European-style Christmas market) we are so focused that I neglect the blog. This year I wanted to give you some pictures of what we have made to bring to the market. We are busy all year long making these items.  My mom and one of our daughters make these mittens from recycled wool sweaters. Yes, many people make this style of mitten, but ours are especially well-made and cute! The famous sock-maker has been very focused on his task. His mom and one of our nieces did a huge batch of dyeing this fall. Despite his head-start, the shoppers are quick to snap them up. This year I have a decent stock of rugs for the market. I make these rugs the traditional way--by cutting recycled fabric into strips, sewing them together, and weaving them into rugs on a loom. The one in the right foreground on the top is made from blue jeans. I cannot keep blue jean rugs in stock. They are very durable and beautiful. We offer our heirloom bean...