photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Recently, I found some delicious tea that comes in silk teabags.

Well… if that isn’t an invitation to upcycle, I don’t know what is!

After all, if I am going to pay for the silk

in those tea bags, I am certainly not

going to waste it!

It’s silk, for goodness sake!

and silk’s precious!

So, now, after I savour my cuppa tea,

I save the bag and turn it into all kinds of  upcycled embellishments.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I used to snip one edge of the teabag open,

but I realized that I can pull at the edges

and break the seal,

thereby saving some of the silk.

So, pull the teabag open,

and toss the used leaves in the compost.

Open all the seams, and you’ll have a small rectangle of silk.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I began my adventures

in upcycling silk teabags

by making one of my most favorite motifs:

The yo yo circle:

You can make a very small yo yo circle

by using just one bag,

or a larger yo yo by stitching 2

silk rectangles (2 flattened, opened silk teabags)

together and cutting a circle from them.

They are so sheer that you can barely

see them in the photo.

Challenging to photograph!

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

After you have cut the circle,

fold a tiny hem over

and stitch

around it

then

pull up

on it,

and stitch in place to anchor.

Voila! silk yo yo circles!

You can use them to embellish all manner of things.  I have stitched them to a sampler that I am weaving with natural cotton:

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I stitched a bead into the center of each yo yo circle.

Tomorrow…. other neat ways in which I have upcycled silk teabags.

Green living can be fun, even if it means having used silk teabags hanging up to dry in the studio….. 

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Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright 

Post from: Hankering for Yarn