Where do old clothes go to die? Surely, not buried in the dustbin or abandoned in the nearest landfill.
Let’s revisit grandmother’s smart strategies of sewing and reusing old clothes to turn them into a melange of useful objects that come in handy, daily. Using these six easy ideas, recycle and judiciously reuse your old clothes before they are returned to nature a wee bit organically.
Make Pillow Covers: Stop splurging on those aesthetic set of cushion clothes and try your hands on the fun and simple ways of turning a tee into pillowcase. With scissors, pencil, ruler and acrylic, dazzle the nooks of your home with sustainable pillowcases. Cut the shirts to eliminate the sleeves and hemmed portion. The bottom and upper portion should be open but stitch the sides. Now, paint the fabric if you wish and let it dry for hours. Cut slits at the two open ends. Once the pillow is inside the rug, knot tightly the slits.
Sew a Coin Pouch: You can sew hundreds such to gift or store the mini essentials safely. Dust the old sewing machines and do the needlework. Try dainty little shapes or a huge, casual pouch for the paperwork.
Shape a Tote Bag: The easiest project to reuse the humble piece of cloth. Cut the cloth into a bag. The choice of keeping the pockets is yours. However, sew the top and bottom edges of the pockets to avoid frayed ends. Now stitch the three sides of the larger cloth. For the handle, you may buy a few leather straps and hand-stitch them to the bag.
Gift Fabric Bookmarks: Design the shape and size of these bookmarks with a pencil and ruler. Generally, a 2*6” rectangle serves the purpose. Cut out the cloth and trim the edges. For the ornamentation, you can sew on top or just settle for some paintworks.
Use a DIY T-Shirt Headband: Cut, fold and stitch the fabric. Insert an elastic portion. Flatten out the fabric and the elastic.
Wear as Tank Tops: The tank top hack will gift you a bucket full of comfort clothes for the long movie night or the sultry summer afternoons. With simple cutting, stitching, folding, pairing, you can have an interesting array of shapes. You can opt for fringes or chop-chop the sleeves of a long blouse to turn into a sleeveless dress shirt. Redo the old sleeves to sew into halter tees as well. The easiest way is to cut the neckline, sleeves and backside and tug in.
