DYI Recycled Cloth Yarn

Being a mom to many children, the thing I hate most (well, one of the top ten, anyway) is waste!  I hate to throw thing out.

I am a huge recycler...not necessarily for the sake of saving the planet...that is a bonus.  I recycle to save money!!  I will use whatever I can find to make something I need or want.  

So...many kids...large family...loads and loads of laundry...  

Brings me to bedding.  Let’s face it.  Fitted sheets have a short life span.  At my house, if I get two years out of a fitted sheet, that is truly amazing!  

What I am left with is a fitted sheet WITH a huge rip in it.  Toss it, right?

This is a Queen size fitted sheet...about to become yarn!!  

Wrong!!

There is a HUGE amount of usable material on that sheet!  So many things you can make with it!  

Cut squares for a quilt.

Cut squares for a Patchwork Skirt or dress.

Cut piece to make Bees Wax Cloths.

OR...

...make some Cloth Yarn!

A friend of mine taught this to me years ago.  We have since lost touch but I miss her and think of her whenever I rip material or crochet using this type of yarn.

Whether you have many kids or just like to recycle/up cycle/repurpose, this is for you!!

Start by cutting the elastic and hems out of the fitted sheet. 

 You can make a little snip with sicciors then rip the material instead of cutting.  Makes a nice straight edge for when you start to rip your strips.  Make sure to cut out the seams that make the corners.  I rip one side, up to the corner.  Then cut out the corner.  Then rip the next side.

Now, you have a large rectangle of material with weird corners and a tear, or hole, in the middle-ish.

Now...you want to start on one of the short ends.  That would be the left or right side in the picture above.

Measure about two inches in from the edge and make a small snip with your scissors.  Now, rip the strip of material! It kind of fun!  Stress reliever.  

Keep ripping until you are an inch or two from the end.  Then make another snip 4 inches from the edge of your material...that is two inches for the first strip and two inches for the next strip.

Now, rip it again!!  

Oh...don’t forget to start rolling it all into a ball!

I usually just do all of this on my lap while watching a show or playing a game with the kids.  Well, I could do this while paying a board game but it hasn’t happened yet.

I want to like board games...I just don’t!  

Ripping and rolling all on the floor (or large table) keeps the threads from getting too crazy.  I had to move to the upstairs living room because I was getting too much help...from the puppy.  The treads then went nuts!

Just keeping it real.

And repeat.  Just keep going.  

Eventually, you will reach the rip or hole in the sheet.  When you get there, just rip the strip right to the edge of the strip.  Remove the "hole" section and start ripping strips again, starting like I wrote ^^up there^^.  

You can chose to join the new strip to the ball you have been rolling or you can roll a new ball.  

To join...

Tie the end of the “yarn” ball around the new strip ending with the “tail” pointing toward the new strip.  Then tie the end of the new strip around the ball strip with the “tail” pointing towards the ball.  

Pull the knots together and tighten them up.

Then, trim the ends into points.

All done joining.  Keep ripping and rolling.  

These purple balls of “yard” where made from one queen sized fitted sheet.  The green one is from a twin sheet.  

The purple had much more wear on it so it made less.  The green twin was much less worn, just ripped, so it is a larger ball.  Also, I had to cut out a large area of the purple because it was just too thin.

You can always cut the strips thinner to make more length or wider if your sheet is more worn or to give your yarn more bulk.

So pretty!!  And comfy!

I crocheted this rug using yarn that I had ripped from sheets!  Cool, eh?  I love it!  I have it laying in front of my washing machine.  The laundry room is so cold, so this keeps my feet warmer while trying to do some laundry!  Trying!