Another Salvaging Adventure--Wool Cordage

On one of my scavenging adventures I scored a large bag of handmade vintage wool cordage, sewn from rolled strips of wool fabric. It appears that the previous owner had been working on braiding these cords together, and then perhaps intended to make one of those rustic braided and coiled throw rugs.  

I love all the different pinstripes, plaids and herringbone patterns of the wool fabrics. A few crafty things that immediately came to mind were belts, headbands, and chunky cowl necklaces, which seem quite the accessory these days. 

A length of wool cordage becomes the simplest chunky headband.

A few lengths of cordage and a tiny scrap of vintage lace combined so sweetly to make a funky, cozy tie belt.

I braided three strands of contrasting cord together and tied scrap leather at the ends to make this chunky tie belt. I think it looks adorable paired with one of my mini tunic dresses.

Then I decided to make a crochet chain using some of the cordage and came up with this design for a chunky cowl necklace. The ends of the cord are wrapped with ribbons for a smooth finish (and so the wool is not itchy on the neck). I think it came out nicely and adds just the right amount of indie pizazz to any variety of outfits.

Fancy Bits

This Wednesday, while taking a break from my more typical sewing projects (skirts and shirts mainly as of late) I grabbed a bag of scrap fabrics I scored at MECCA--Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts--and started messing around with some of the fabric pieces. It appeared as though someone had abandoned what he or she'd been working on mid-project. There were oval shapes cut from various silks and silky fabrics in awesome contrasting solids and prints pinned together in batches of 5 or 6. I really liked the color combinations of the pinned ovals so I decided to work with them.

The bottom right corner shows one I made with dark green blue and paisley silks.

The pieces were kind of like flower petals so, I experimented arranging them on a piece of fabric to form a shape suggestive of a lotus, one of my favorite flower shapes. Then, I did a basic applique, sewing the ovals in the desired shape onto the square of base fabric. I originally had in mind to make a patch, however, after sewing it didn't lay flat as I would've liked it. So I cut it out and began to see how it not only looked like a lotus flower, it also was very reminiscent of butterfly wings or even feathers. I hand sewed a couple matching vintage buttons, hot glued it to a new but salvaged headband and viola!

Me modeling the 1st Fancy Bits headbands

A unique and fancy bit of head decoration. I am pleased with the results; its retro, sort of flapper-ish, sort of burlesque/carnivalesque and it was entirely made from salvaged and scrap materials. I didn't record the process for the 1st one I made, but below are a few pictures from ones that followed.