Weaving T-shirts into a Rug

I began my Craft Unit, by teaching students how to macrame friendship bracelets. The next week, they learned to weave. Other teachers came answered my call for old t-shirts, which were cut and torn into strips before being strung on a six foot tall loom. Technique and craftsmanship are the focus skills but there's also life lessons such as "Each time you make a mistake, nip it in the bud. Don't put off correcting it, or you'll just heap more work on yourself later." 

It's also easy to teach formal design principles. Color theory and pattern were obvious things to talk about during the creation of our two rugs. Students chose bright and cheerful yellow greens, pinks, blues and whites for the first piece. For the second, we had more serious colors left: gray, black, dark green and dusty purple. We discussed how color pallets communicate mood in advertisements, paintings, and interior designs.

While individual students took turns on the big loom, the rest of the class made their own potholder on a small loom. Students could express their own aesthetic preferences in their individual pieces and have something a little something for a Mother's Day offering.

Self contained students did a simple pre-weaving project of creating yarn god's eyes. There are so many ways to differentiate and accommodate with weaving projects.