Recycling Old Clothes etc...

Riversong

Can any of you suggest any ( easy things) I can make from old clothes. So far I have made...

Memory blanket from baby items.

Peg bag from an old t shirt.

Carrier bag tidy from old baby jeans.

Fruball

I love the memory blanket idea - Really wish I had done one of those

Draught excluder from old trousers/jeans
Rag rug

VeggieCatLady

Patch work cushion covers? Drawer/wardrobe smellies (nice small piece of smelly soap sewn into a little bag)?I don't know if you have cats but little balls of fabric with cat nip in go down well :-)

Rainy-Days

Allot of my clothes get split up between an Aunt and a lady at work who is in dire need of financial help. So, although not in the sense that you have suggested, I have put mine to another use by seeing someone else benefit from my things. Sometimes, I have customised things with big bold buttons and used a defuzzer on woollens to give them a new lease of life as well.

deb68_2

I am trying so hard in making a patchwork, have only sewn 20 patches togeth so far (not small ones) im not a good sewer an when ive done another 40 patches i am sewing on to a fleece blanket
so it will have patches top an bottom maybe sides
in the middle i have a long lilac curtain i am goinf to sew foe the middle
on the reverse rhe other long lilac curtain an maybe patches round that
i can only do a few patches a day as i dont have much vision left in my left eye
an my hands an arms go into spasms
but i am trying
it prob wont be fantastic but i will of made it so we can have it on the sofa at night
hubby has to thread the needles as i cant see the hole no matter how big it is

but like i said i am trying to do something for our home
i used to be able to ebroiyder really well but again my eyes let me down
even when got glasses on and the light on full

its so disheartening that i can no longer do these things
i used all old clothes for the patches so that is saving money the cotton has come out of my mums sewing tin (she died an bros were going to chuck it an laughed when said i would have it)

im not perfect in any sense of the word i always try my best
think this sounds bit like wow is me lol
dont mean it too just wanted to say what im doing with old clothes

take care all
deb

lindens

I make denim bags and coasters from old jeans, there are tutorials on the web to make bags out of whole t shirts as well. also there are sock monkeys.

Seakay

I have made a hot water bottle cover out of a baby's fleecy jacket.

I once made a patchwork quilt using husband's old shirts that he didn't wear but would not throw or give to charity. Used patchwork with a sheet as backing, then a blanket, then a bigger sheet that folded up and over at the edges to create a boarder at the front.

Think that your patchwork idea sounds great deb68.

Somewhere on the web are patterns for pillow slip dresses - ie very simple childrens' sundresses. You can use any bed linen or other fabric - doesn't have to be a pillow case!

Currently have a great book out of the library called:
"Chic on a Shoestring" by Mary Jane Baxter
which has loads of reuse ideas.

PixieDust

T-shirts can be used to make re-useableshopping bags. They are VERY simple. We have two or three and they have been in use for over 18 months now.

http://www.instructables.com/id/FASTEST-RECYCLED-T-SHIRT-TOTE-BAG/

T-shirts and towels can be cut up (and hemmed if you so wish....I don't bother), stuck into another carrier-bag holder somewhere handy and used as semi-disposable mucky cloths

If you know how to "podge" you can make a rug out of old t-shirts (and similar material) quite easily. I can't help on this one, I've not got the hang of it myself!

I've also made a rough kind of patchwork into mats for the dog and ferrets...it doesn't matter about colours or quality for them...once they've hoofed and hoiked and scrabbled they all look pretty much the same!!!!

And draught excluders, of course

deb68_2

Thank you Seakay
im really not very good but i am trying thank you telling us about a sheet as a backingan a blanket bigger than the sheet folded over
really clever
thank you
any help is gratefully recieved

katieowl_2

My middle DD is now 21 and I have a peg bag made from a gorgeous little Monsoon waistcoat she had when she was about three. It's denim and embroidered, and I simply sewed the bottom shut, and hung it on a cute little wooden hanger.

Served me well for many years! I hasten to add I wasn't in the habit of shopping in Monsoon, it was probably bought in the sale by my mum or from a charity shop - so long ago I can't remember!

Kate

newlywed

i did see cushion covers made from old jumpers.
http://easygreenliving.co.nz/pc/recycled-jumper-cushion-cover-9027/

draft excluders made from the leg of trousers/jeans.

I once made a cushion cover out of a tea towel -but it was a new one.

I've seen jeans cut up and made into a skirt.