"Repurposing" things - what have YOU done? Or what do you have that needs a purpose?

AndyCF

The thought on the carrier bags (the plastic hessian type ones that are extra thick maybe?) for growing is excellent.

Without wanting to go into why I have a new empty wheelie bin (that I can't return, I have tried!) I had visions of cutting it in half either to make two long 'trays' or two deep tubs, depending if the cut was horizontal or vertical. Then using it to grow some veg perhaps.

With the 'lid' sealed down it would then make two long trays or two deepish tubs. hmm. Not sure what to do.

[Deleted User]

Don't cut it up, it would make the most fantastic potato tower as it stands. plant spuds at varying depths and as they sprout top up with soil and it ought to give you a decent harvest, particularly if it's a black bin, it ought to work exactly as a tyre tower does.

unrecordings

Funnily enough we got a nice brand new unwanted wheelie bin recently too. I was half tempted to turn it into a water butt

GreyQueen

I inherited a builder's bag full of weedy trash when I took on my second (half sized) plot. This year it is growing a very healthy patty pan squash plant!

AndyCF

Thanks all re wheelie bin comments. I did wonder if at 'full size' it would be OK for potato's as I would really love to grow some non-common varieties ideally pre-war ones or something if I could merely for the difference. I do see it is possible to get them, there was a really good site I've lost with loads of details and another one that would sell too.

The bin is a regular 240l size, the same as the 'regular' black bins, its not black though. I guess here I just mean its not the mini type ones you sometimes get.

thriftwizard

This is part of a challenge I've set myself: has anyone got any ideas for re-purposing cut-off shirt collars? So far I've managed to make a sleeve for my poundland specs, but I'm really struggling to make anything else useful from them, though they do lend themselves to various decorative things like little mobiles, mini-bunting etc. because they're stiffened. I suppose with a bit of nifty stitching I could make some bookmarks from them? What else?

AndyCF

thriftwizard wrote: »

This is part of a challenge I've set myself: has anyone got any ideas for re-purposing cut-off shirt collars? So far I've managed to make a sleeve for my poundland specs, but I'm really struggling to make anything else useful from them, though they do lend themselves to various decorative things like little mobiles, mini-bunting etc. because they're stiffened. I suppose with a bit of nifty stitching I could make some bookmarks from them? What else?

Sew them up so they are a bit like a pocket perhaps then you could use (if its fixed somewhere) to hold something like a marker pen or perhaps some small utensils ? I guess because I have a small A4 whiteboard on the fridge and the pen is always rolling off and the piece of string I attached it to is not ideal, I was thinking of some kind of plastic pocket hence the thought on the collar "pocket" for something.

That may be a silly thought I'm not quite sure. I know what I mean though, well kind of.

DigForVictory

A cables carrying pouch? Along the lines of a glasses case but made of collars? My lot seem to need at least one to charge their phone & another for other gadgets & it soon turns into a mouse-nest (sorry!) of cables where some kind of confining coherence would be welcomed.

Or perhaps a portable sewing kit with a couple of reels of thread, some needles and safety pins, maybe even a couple of arm lengths of darning wool & a thimble...

Anything you might make of cardboard & cover in fabric - perhaps a very exotic ebook reader case (getting the notches and holes right will be a labour of love!) or even a tablet case (how many collars & could you 'log cabin' them for decorative effect?!)

Make your own unique notebooks - start with the paper, apply basic bookmaking (I mean book binding!) techniques but then use collars as the cover/spine - and again, look to the quilting & patchworking sororities (apologies to an needle-savvy chaps out there) for how to make that visually remarkable?

Savvy_Sue

GreyQueen wrote: »

You cab also tie a set of buttons together on a piece of yarn, takes moments to thread them through using a big needle.

My yarn sewing needles definitely won't go through my shirt buttons ...

GreyQueen wrote: »

My preferred button storage method is a bit slower but I sew them in sets onto a small piece of thin scrap card, such as from food packaging. Then add them to a jar which, once full, is donated to the chazzer. They love button jars and sell them the same day in most cases.

Actually thriftwizard might want to sew buttons to shirt collars in a similar way ...

DigForVictory wrote: »

Where do you find them? I have eight, getting increasingly bent & have struggled to source more other than by the thousand or fiendishly overpriced (by the etsy enthusiasts) modded for Brides...

To be fair, I have not looked to buy any for several years, and I did wonder as I typed whether they were still available. However, they are available on Amazon, first search brought up 36 for £1.33 and I think I'm going to pop them into my basket ready for Next Time I Order because I don't have any spare ones, plus I have a feeling that I could use them in various ways when knitting!

thriftwizard

Brilliant! Thanks, peeps, that's given me a few great ideas to work on. Now the only bit I'm stuck with - and that's not very stuck - is the bit at the back of the cuff placket - which makes a good loop, where a loop is needed for buttons or carrying rods or - well, anything loopy!