I Found It!

I’m so happy that I’ve finally re-discovered the ‘Bliss Strip Slitter’ that I bought years ago. Yeah!!

I knew I’d stored it in the attic! You would think I would have put it in a clearly labeled box or a clear plastic bag, but Noooo, instead, I had hidden it from myself by putting it in an opaque tan bag! What was I thinking!?!?

Anyway… someday, soon I hope, I’ll use it to cut wool fabrics into narrow little strips that I can then hook into my first rug!

Trim one edge of a wool piece with scissors, following the fabric’s grain. Then set it under the roller blades with the fabric’s straight edge tight against the sidewall of the cutter and…

just as soon as you’ve learned how to keep the fabric piece aligned while holding the cutter still and turning its handle, you’ll be able to make beautiful 1/8″ wide wool strips!

The two brown blobs that look like wads of gum were once two of the cutter’s four suction feet. I bet they were very helpful! I’ll order new ones once I’ve decided if I also want to order a blade that cuts wider strips.

DH brought in the box of wool fabrics and garments that we had stored out in our garage with the rug frame.

It’s not a bad start. I can dye parts of the large lighter-colored pieces to get more colors for my first hooking project.

You may have noticed I haven’t been buying any yarn lately, (Good Girl!) but I couldn’t resist buying some skirts for my rug wool collection. They were only a couple of dollars a piece at Sal’s!

I read that hooking with plaid fabrics is an easy way to give a rug an ‘antique’ look, by creating a mottled look, or just by helping you put several colors together even in a very small area. Cindi Gay shows an example here (scroll down) of how one plaid fabric looks when hooked. And the background of this rug, from Jan Goos, was also once a plaid! I can’t wait to see how my two plaids will look once hooked. I can cut a strip of brown, blue, or brown and blue fabric from the skirt on the left. Since they say fabric looks darker once hooked, I’m not so sure about the forest and navy one on the right. Maybe it would be perfect as a night sky or a forest.