What to do with an old favorite dress? Where to put things that you can't wear but feel bad throwing away? How to extend the life of your grandfather's sweater?
The whole world has embraced the idea of conscious consumption. Big brands are opening second-hand stores with their own products and accepting used clothes for recycling. We decided to be in trend and collected our instructions for things that can be given a second life.
This supports both the popular idea of zero waste today and ordinary economic thrift, and you can simply admire that cool T-shirt from the 1998 concert forever, but in the form of a potholder.
Of course, you can repurpose clothes into clothes :) But this often requires special skills and a sewing machine. Therefore, in this article we will not consider such complex alterations.
There are several advantages to conscious consumption of clothing.
The first is the idea of zero waste itself, environmental friendliness, and that's all.
The second is that your favorite item stays with you much longer than it would be appropriate to wear it outside.
Third, any handicraft improves mood, gives pride to the craftsman, and the visible result of the work can be touched and shown to others for a long time.
T-shirt paintings
If your printed T-shirt already looks like a rag but you still love it, you can make a painting out of it.
It is enough to cut a piece of fabric with a print, decoration or pocket with a slight margin, stretch it onto the stretcher and fix it with a frame. This is the easiest way, but you can go deeper and glue the edges, close the stretcher from the back and/or finish the edge with a furniture stapler. In the case of a stapler, you can do without a frame.
This art is not very popular in our country, but here's a hint: you can search for inspiration on English-language websites by searching for "t-shirt wall art."
Knitted yarn rug
Creating a cozy little knitted rug with your own hands has become so popular that even skeins of such "threads" made of cut knitwear have appeared on sale.
But you can make a simplified version of this yarn yourself. To do this, you need to cut old T-shirts into 5 cm wide strips, arm yourself with cardboard, thick thread, and turn on this video.
You can choose T-shirts of the same color, similar shades or completely contrasting. In the latter case, the product may, of course, be a little ragged. But this solution may be suitable for cold and restrained interiors. You can also dye old T-shirts (easier) or ready-made yarn (a little more difficult) in the same color using almost forgotten fabric dyes.
If you don't like our version, and the yarn turned out delicate and neat, you can sew the stripes into long threads and use crochet patterns. This way you can professionally knit not only a rug, but also delicate blankets, poufs, bags and even clothes. However, this is a completely different story :)
Children's fabric products
This item is very versatile. The number of ideas for crafts is limited only by your imagination.
One thing is for sure: by leaving an old blouse for scraps, Barbie can have gorgeous curtains in her dollhouse. Even a child can make a snowman out of socks. It's easy to make festive bright pompoms from threads from an old sweater. And also appliqués, finger puppets, Lego bags... Advanced needlewomen can even sew soft toys together with the baby.
And there's also an amazing technique for creating artificial flowers from fabric soaked in gelatin. Google it, it's truly fascinating.
Sweater pillows
A very cozy idea. You can turn an old button-down shirt and sweater into new pillows, sink into them, cover yourself with a blanket, have some mulled wine... Oh, we were dreaming :)
In general, the process of creating such pillows is incredibly simple. And the secret to success is how embossed, but not openwork, the knitting is. Volumetric braids and convex bumps will really decorate such a pillow.
The sleeves can be cut off, tucked in, or even deliberately tied on top of the pillow. And the pillow itself can be sewn on forever in a lazy way, or you can bother with a flap or zipper. When cutting a knitted sweater, don't forget to pick up the loops so that the new pillow doesn't unravel.
By the way, you can fill such a pillowcase not only with a ready-made pillow, but also with your own stuffing - with down, wool, padding polyester, or even buckwheat husks, hop cones, or hay.
Eco shopping bag
Universal shopping bags and beach bags are very popular and almost everyone already has one. They are comfortable, roomy, easy to wash or hide in the back of a handbag. You can also make them yourself - from jeans, linen, corduroy, coarse cotton fabric.
You can easily find a simple pattern online. The finished bag can be decorated with acrylic painting, applique, or a small identity using fabric markers.
You can complicate the task a bit and experiment with the shape, internal and external pockets, and fasteners.
Patchwork
The art of patchwork is a complex, time-consuming and requires patience. But the result will exceed all expectations.
You can use scraps from jeans, shirts, dresses, etc. Cotton and linen fabrics or fabrics with a small addition of synthetics are ideal. But knitwear will do a bad job: due to the elasticity, the product risks looking stretched and sloppy.
There are many patterns and techniques for patchwork. But to start with, the “rhombus” and the “square” are suitable. In such simple shapes, you can sew a cute blanket or chair cushions.
Of course, you won't be able to do much work without a sewing machine. But starting with, for example, a pillowcase, you can easily decide whether you want to continue.
Slippers from a coat or jacket
If thin pieces often come up with a lot of ideas, then it is quite difficult to come up with a second life for dense woolen fabrics. And throwing away a good old coat is often simply "not something to do." And here the idea with slippers will come to the rescue.
You can easily find patterns of your size online. For the base, you can use the sole from an old pair of shoes or thick felt insoles. But you can do without a thick base. A little life hack: small flat drops of glue from a glue gun will help make the sole non-slip. And as a lining, you can add cotton fabric that is pleasant to the foot.
Tildas, pumpkins and more
You can create unique interior toys from old blouses, skirts, dresses, scarves and curtains. This hobby is so addictive that be careful not to let new things from the closet go to waste ;)
Today, Tilda dolls, funny bunnies, and Easter decor are popular. There are many master classes and tutorials from all over the world online. And if you don't want to repeat yourself, come up with something of your own.
Gnomes, cats, houses, elephants, owls and about a million other ideas. And we especially liked the atmospheric pumpkins for autumn home decoration. Moreover, they are elementary simple to make and quite doable for beginners.
Take yellow or orange old sweaters, dresses or anything else. And by the way, why are we limiting you to orange? Take any colors and materials :)
You will also need linen or jute twine and filler (synthepone, foam rubber, etc.). Sew a bag, pulled into a bundle from the bottom and top with one thread. Insert any kind of cutting from above - from fabric, plastic or any unnecessary recyclable material. The similarity with a pumpkin will be given by a rope that imitates “particles”. Wrap the cutting (cutting) with it.
You can make pumpkins of different sizes and styles: from small glamorous pumpkins for tabletop arrangements to huge, rough floor poufs.
Beds and toys for animals
A dog bed is very easy to make from an old sweater, shirt or sweatshirt. The shoulders and sleeves will be the sides, and you just need to put a pillow in the base. You don’t even need any special sewing skills for this craft. You need to put padding polyester in the sides, you can take it out of an old jacket. If the sleeves are not long enough, as in the photo, you can sew any additional element.
You can weave a tight rope braid from old T-shirts or jeans, make an octopus rope with a tennis ball, or sew a bone with a bottle inside. We recommend looking for master classes on how to weave such toys on YouTube. There are plenty of them there :)
Kitchen accessories
The last item on our list is, in fact, often the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about reusing old things.
This is more due to the forced frugality of our mothers, grandmothers, and ourselves in times of scarcity than to creativity. Today, buying potholders will not be difficult. But if we talk about activities for the soul and conscious consumption, then why not sew them yourself?! :)
Bright cotton, calico, denim, and linen fabrics are good for the outside, but as a filler, you can use an old drape coat, batting, felt, or, in extreme cases, synthetic winterizer. The latter is flammable, so it is better to refuse to use it.
You can start your creative journey with simple square or round potholders. And later you can swing for a comfortable, thick mitten. By the way, patchwork-style potholders look especially impressive.
Write a comment