My Contribution to an Eco-Friendly Fashion Show!

June 5, 2017 By Nadia Fuad in Crafts, Crochet Projects Tags: ar, art, artist, bags, basic, beginner, best interpretation, catwalk, catwalk for water, chicago, coachella, create, creative, crochet, crochet tutorial, crocheted, crocheting, cycle, eco, ecofriendly, fashion, fashionable, festival, fiore, free crochet pattern, free pattern, friendly, granny, granny square, grocery bag, grocery bags, handmade, how to, how to crochet, indira, interpretation, learn, model, modelling, music fest, music festival, necktie, outfit, outfits, owner, plarn, plarning, plastic, plastic bag, plastic bags, plastic yarn, plastics, rags, recycle, reduce, reuse, riches, salon, slay, spa, square, stitch, theme, tutorial, up cycle, video tutorial, walmart, water, yarn, yarnie, yarnutopia 2 Comments

For those of you following my blog posts, I had showcased back in early May, a blog about a recycled halter top that I created using plastic bags. The item was created for an eco-friendly fashion show: Catwalk for Water held on May 7, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. This environmentally friendly fashion show featured “creative and inspiring hair, makeup, and fashion created by area artists. This event was sponsored by Indira Aveda Salon Spa in Chicago. All proceeds benefit their Earth Month Partner – Alliance for the Great Lakes.”

I was contacted earlier this year by a friend who was the driving force behind this Chicago event. She asked me if I could create a piece using plastic bags, and together we collaborated on a vision. Using her guidelines, I created this fun piece that used 70 recycled plastic grocery bags that I cut into “plarn” and crocheted into this wild halter top.

I sent the piece to Chicago for it to be added to an ensemble created by my friend Tracey, owner of Indira Salon and Spa, and used in her vision for this outfit. All items used were recycled, re-used, re-purposed pieces that were put together to make amazing fashion statements.

Many incredible creations were part of the show and it was a lot of fun to be a small part of such a great event even from a distance. The photos from the event show a lot of amazing talent! What a great event for such a fabulous cause that inspires change for our planet and environment besides providing enormous inspiration for creating environmentally fashion.

The ensemble created for the event included my eco-friendly plarn halter top, vintage sunglasses from Fiore in Green Bay, WI, a handmade up-cycle necktie skirt, braided rags to riches Coachella inspired hair both done by Tracey herself. Her entire vision came together perfectly and was worn by a remarkable model who flawlessly showcased all of these items together! She SLAYED! This attire won Best Interpretation of the Theme: Coachella-Art and Music Festival! What an awesome win!

I want to say a special thanks to Tracey and Indira for asking me to take part in this project. It was a great experience to create a piece for this event and expand my talent in such an imaginative way. It was a lot of fun! I hope to do more events like this in the future!

Photos from event were provided with permission by Tracey (Indira Salon and Spa, Chicago Illinois)

Earth Day: Using Plarn to Make a Market Bag

April 21, 2017 By Nadia Fuad in Crochet Projects Tags: bag, baggy, bags, basic, beginner, conserve, crochet, crochet tutorial, crocheted, crocheting, earth day, farmers market, fashion, fashion blogger, fashionable, free crochet pattern, free pattern, handmade, how to, learn, market, pattern, plarn, plastic, plastic yarn, recycle, reduce, resourceful, reuse, stitch, teach, tutorial, video, video tutorial, yarn, yarnie, yarnutopia 4 Comments

“Plarn is short for “plastic yarn.” Plarn is made by cutting plastic grocery bags into strips, which are then strung together into a single long strand. You can use plarn instead of regular yarn to crochet sturdy, reusable tote bags, purses, doormats, and more.” ~Plastic Bag Crafts

We all collect bags from various shopping centers. If you don’t have an option for paper bags at your local stores or if you don’t carry-in your personal market bags, you end up stock-piling a collection of plastic bags that can one day end up in our landfills. BOOOO!! We don’t want that!!! So, what do we do with this accumulation? Well, I’ve got a solution! I did an experiment to make my own reusable market bag recycling about 35 plastic bags.

Once you determine what you plan to make, and you have accumulated a significant amount of plastic, the biggest “chore” of this entire project is cutting the strips to make the plarn. In this case, I use the term “chore” lightly. This literally takes little to no time, but I find it to be the one thing most people complain about.

I followed the instructions in this link to make my plarn. This information is very helpful in helping you create the amount of plarn needed for your project!

Once my plarn was cut, I rolled each bag up into a ball of plarn! I used a variety of Target bags and some gray grocery bags. I used a J-6.00mm crochet hook and a single crochet method to make this bag.

These are very easy to make and end up being very durable! There are various tutorials online to show you how to make your own! Then, you’re all set to use your new bag the next time you go to the market! I gave this one to my sister-in-law and she uses it ever summer at the farmers market! Use this idea on a smaller scale to make your own lunch bag or for other creative ideas using plarn! Enjoy!!

Have you tried this technique before? Share what you’ve made with plarn in the comments section!!
~Nadia

Crochet Tutorial: No-Sew Market Bag with Crocheted Edge

March 14, 2016 By Nadia Fuad in Crochet Pattern, Crochet Projects, Video Tutorial Tags: bag, baggy, basic, beginner, crochet, crochet tutorial, crocheted, crocheting, diaper bag, fashion, fashion blogger, free crochet pattern, free pattern, handbag, handmade, how to, how to crochet, learn, market bag, pattern, purse, recycle, reduce, repurpose, reuse, teach, tee shirt, tee shirt bag, teeshirt bag, tote bag, tutorial, video, yarn, yarnie, yarnutopia 5 Comments

The internet is flooded with ways to “go green” and help the environment. Whenever there is a way to help our great planet, I am a big fan of doing what I can! I have run across many how-to videos on ways to convert a t-shirt into a tote bag.

As a huge advocate for the four R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Re-purpose I will show step by step in this photo blog with an accompanying video, a detailed way on how you can do all four in one great project and add in a bit of crochet magic to make this project even more amazing!! We will be Recycling an old t-shirt and Re-purposing it into a market bag, thus Reducing the amount of plastic bags that go into the landfills. ANDDD, you can Reuse it over and over! Help the environment and look stylish while doing it! It’s a win/win!

Market Bag
Materials you will need:
Tee shirt, Yarn, Crochet Hook, Ruler, Sharpie, Cardboard, Scissors, Rotary Cutter (skip stitch blade), Yarn Needle

Market Bag 27
Lay your tee shirt out flat

Market Bag Shirt 1
Market Bag 3
Draw lines around the neckline and the sleeves to cut

Market Bag 5

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Market Bag 2
Cut those lines (Cutting off sleeves and neckline)

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Market Bag 9
Market Bag 10
Turn your shirt inside out and grab your ruler

Market Bag 11
Draw 3 inch lines 1 inch apart all along the bottom

Market Bag 12
Market Bag 13
Cut along those lines (see video tutorial for visual instructions)

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Market Bag 14
Tie those strips into knots

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Market Bag 18
The bottom will “bunch up,” do not stretch it out. Tie some more knots to reinforce the bottom

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Market Bag 20
The next step is optional as you can crochet around the handles.
Get your skip-stitch blade and run it along the edges to create holes.
You can get your own skip stitch blade here