The Evolution of a Crafter

How did LibbyLuLa come about?

1. Sheets, I had kept old sheets. I felt bad throwing them into the garbage. It seemed so wasteful.. I kept them.
2. Why? I am a craft person and my parents grew up in the depression. My Mom used recite this poem: 

Use it up

Wear it Out

Make it do

Or do without

     3. I made up a counted cross stitch of this poem for my Mom for her birthday one year. It is on my   

Youtube page, and other sites. 

     

     4. Looking at this Crosstitch one day I thought, 'How could I use up my old jeans...old sheets...It led to my making purses. Knitting or crocheting home made jean yarn and putting old jean linings into the purse for all that we carry in our purses.

    

     5. I made quite a few of these purses but they were very time consuming. So I searched for other ways to use up my cache of sheets, jeans etc.

     6. Meanwhile my husband was selling on line and suggested I start a store. A friend suggested Etsy was a good match for my personality! So an Etsy shop it was. We made and sold things I would like for our house for others to purchase. Then I found twining.

     

     7. Mmmm, I have my grandmothers old weaving tool. I searched for what it was and found out it's a rigid hettle. But my dad said it took two people, that tool and a doorknob to make her rugs! With no other tools, no rug loom I used the laptop to search for other ways to weave without a floor loom. Wha-la...I found twining. My husband, with his fine woodworking back round, figured a way to make a loom for me that made a nice size rug! 

     8. We figured out how to twine and after a awhile I wanted to make other sized twining projects without more looms to store and he came up with an adjustable loom. And it is so cool. One loom: so many sizes. I used up all old my sheets, jeans, my families sheets and jeans and well you get the picture. 

    9. Now I thought there have to be others with stashes of old material that could use them to make rugs for themselves and others! So I nervously made in detailed videos on youtube to show how anyone could do this. Many wanted a loom so I nudged my husband to make more. Now we sell them on Etsy! How my mom would have loved this whole 'story'!