Upcycling the flea market found yarns

Flea markets never disappoint me.

Even if I don't find anything that makes your heart flutter. It is always fun to wander around or just look at the people.

It is especially a great joy to find a gem at a flea market. It is such an exciting moment when I find something which speaks me and asks me to take home with. So I was overexcited to find this box of colorful yarns at a flea market in former east Berlin.

This whole box of colorful cotton embroidery threads was extremly cheap, I think I paid like 5 euros to the vendor. The threads were not at all tangled or covered with dust. They did not even had a musty basemant smell (which I usually don't mind so much, since the smell nomally goes away after washing).

Yet, even though the condition of the threads were perfect and I loved the colors of all the threads, I was not sure what I should make out of these beautiful threads. So I just kept it on the shelf.

I opened the box again after a year or so, during my toe recovery period after the surgery. I was determined to be as crafty as possible, as much as my mobility allowed, and I also wanted to use only the materials I already have at home without buying new materials, like piled up fabrics which I have bought while I was working at the organic fabric shop and other materials which I collected over the years.

I hand crocheted bunch of small hand towels

... and wove a little wall hanging

Recently my friend asked me if I can put the string through a narrow neck hem in a pretty mexican inspired tunic with colorful embroidery which she found at a thrift shop. It had no string, so I decided to make a pretty string using these threads and attach a tassels. I used first a knitting dolly and made a string, but the string was too stretchy and came out a bit too thick. Then I remembered that I found once the method of making a strings using an electroric mixer. It sounds crazy but it really works!!

It was so much fun I made a couple more strings with different color combinations.

At the end I decided to use to the purple & yellow mix (very unusual choice of colors fo me), but since my friend really loves bright colors, I was sure she will like it.

I also made a little tassel and attached them at the end of string to make it little more decorative.

It was definitely worth trying this tecchnique... I am very happy that this second hand tunic has gotton a second chance to be loved and worn again. 

Don't you think it's pretty?