BIO OF THE DESIGNER MAKERS MANUAL #22 Black Girl Knit Club (BGKC) is a knitwear collective based in East London Black Girl Knit Club started by friends Sicgmone & Vea. Created in January 2019 following the recent social media hashtag #diversknitty, where knit- wear designers and makers were calling for more diversity within the craft community. They host monthly knit workshops, talks and provide learning content for their online community of knitters.
FURTHER READING
→ - Black Girl Knit Club – how to create your own T- Shirt Yarn. https://media.craftscouncil.org.uk/docu- ments/Make_your_own_T_Shirt_Yarn_w._ KNITTED link.pdf → Knit Innovations in Fashion, Art, Design – LIST OF THINGS by Samantha Elliott, 2015
T-Shirt Bag MATERIALS Finishing your Knitted Bag (finishing tech- → 800g of Jersey Yarn or 6 X T- Shirts niques):
TOOLS → Casting off technique → 12mm Knitting Needles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9b7KS- → Tapestry Needle 9jaAo → Scissors → How to Knit: Horizontal invisible Seaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhbM_ ZsoOgE
→ How to knit: Vertical Invisible Seaming INTRODUCTION https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lULXx- This manual provides step-by step instructions on how to uAcIEg create your own knitted bag from recycling a cotton T- shirt into jersey yarn. This is a very simple technique where you cut the top of your T shirt and fold it together to create a continuous piece of Makers Manual is a collaborative This project is supported by Coal yarn to knit with. This is a great sustainable solution which intro- project between exciting makers Drops Yard. and STORE STORE. Participation duces the idea of recycling old clothes to create something new. is free and no design background is necessary. You can share your cre- ations using #makersmanual. We STORE You will learn a simple knit technique called the garter stitch, will pick our favourite submissions and publish the results in a limited STORE which involves knitting every row on your knitting needles to cre- printed edition of all of the manu- als. Everyone who makes it into the www.storeprojects.org ate your bag pattern. book will receive a free copy. @storeprojects
STEP 1 STEP 6 STEP 10 To create your T-shirt yarn- Cut straight Create your first stitch by going into the When you reach your final stitch cut across your t-shirt just under the armpits, and loop at the front of your slipknot, take your your working yarn and take this through trim off the bottom hem. working yarn from right to left (clockwise). the Loop. You now have a completed flat A4 Bring your yarn through the stitch on your piece of knit for the bag. STEP 2 needle and place this loop back onto your left Rotate your t-shirt by 90 degrees, as needle. STEP 11 shown in the image below. Remove the two Fold the bag in half and sew along the excess pieces from the top and bottom. Fold side of the bag to complete, using a tapestry the remaining section in half widthways, needle and a vertical invisible seam along STEP 15 leaving a gap of about 1 inch between the the side. Take the tapestry needle and thread When you have completed the horizon- two edges. through the jersey yarn. Take this through the tal seam at the bottom of your bag, weave in bottom right of the bag through the first stitch any loose ends by using the tapestry needle at the bottom and across through the corre- to go through the knitted stitches at the sponding stitch on the left-hand side. (see corner of the bag. Then cut off the working vertical invisible seam in further reading) yarn. STEP 16 Knit your separate bag handle strap. STEP 7 Cast on 31 stitches onto your left- hand Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you have 30 needle. stitches on your needle. You should now have 30 stitches casted onto your left-hand needle. STEP 3 Now knit your stitches onto your right-hand Now cut 1inch strips along the whole of needle and continue to knit these stitches for the T-shirt from bottom to top, cutting both 34 more rows. sides. Cut to the edge of the lower fold but STEP 12 not into the top inch you have left. When you have finished sewing along the side of the bag, weave in the ends by using the tapestry needle to go through the knitting stitches on the top inside of the bag.
STEP 13 STEP 17 Now sew along the bottom of the bag. Knit for two more rows and then cast Take the tapestry needle and thread through off your knitting. the jersey yarn. Thread this through the bot- tom right corner of the knitted bag. STEP 18 STEP 8 Attach the knitted strap to both sides of When you reach row 34, cast off your STEP 14 the bag. Begin by attaching the right- hand STEP 4 knitting. Thread the jersey yarn through the first strap, place this on the right-hand side of the Continue following the black girl knit knitted stitch on the right-hand side of your bag along the seam. Sew through the knitted club T-shirt yarn guide in the further reading STEP 9 knitting and then through the corresponding loops using a tapestry needle and jersey yarn section, to complete your yarn ball. Cast off technique - Knit 2 stitches stitch on the left-hand side. Continue doing to attach the strap to the side of the bag, onto your right -hand needle this from right to left to form a horizontal going through the knitted loops. Repeat this STEP 5 Take the first stitch over the second invisible seam at the bottom of the bag (see step on the other side of the bag to secure. Create a slip knot onto your left -hand stitch so you now have one stitch on your horizontal invisible seam in further reading) needle. Cast on 30 stitches on to your left- right- hand needle. Continue with step 9 STEP 19 hand needle (*tip - leave a long edge of yarn until you reach your final stitch. (see casting To complete your bag weave in any for sewing up the bag at the end - minimising off technique in further reading) loose ends through the loops of your knitting. ends to weave in) You now have a completed bag pattern.
MAKERS MANUAL #22 KNITTED T-SHIRT BAG BLACK GIRL KNIT CLUB STORE STORE