Jean Yarn to Coasters!

In my last post I made lots of jean yarn. I basically used up three pairs of large jeans and decided to make coasters for the fair next Saturday. 

My cuppa with hot buckwheat tea!

Here's a quick DIY tutorial on how to make them.

You will need:

a) Thick cardboard for weaving

b) Jean yarn and cotton yarn

c) Tapestry needle or small safety pin

d) Scissors

   

This pic shows one of my errors in making jean yarn. I didn't check the jeans to make sure it was made of pure cotton. In fact this pair was made from polyester and all the strips I cut ended up curling like crazy.  I had to make sure that I didn't stretch the strips when weaving.

My weaving board - it came from the Sponge Bob costume! My coaster size was approx 4.5 x 5 inches.

Wrap the cotton yarn around the slats. Remember to leave some "ends" at the end slats and use cellotape to tape all the yarn down at the back of the board.  This will prevent the weave from moving while you're weaving.

Start weaving with the cotton yarn - over, under, over. Tape down any ends. 

Make sure the weave is straight throughout!

Change to jean material. When you reach closer to the bottom, change back to the cotton yarn. Tuck in any ends by weaving back into coaster using needle or small safety pin. Once finished with weaving, flip over and cut the cotton yarn in the middle.

Slowly slide out your coaster from the board. Tie cotton yarn into bundles at top and bottom - I used 3 thread per bundle. 

Make tea or coffee in your favourite mug and place on new coaster. Hmmmm..... :-)